I'm going to start this post with no clear idea of what I want to say. I'd say a lot has happened since my last post but I can't figure out how to tackle it and decide what might be significant or even interesting to read. Since it's the holiday season, the time season of gifts (which in my case are usually gadgets), I'll write about my latest gadget acquisition.
Currently there are 3 gadgets that above all others stand out and have changed the way I live life. In no order at all, Tivo, iPod, and my wireless Powerbook rein supreme in my house. These are devices that I never live a day without. My Powerbook connects me to the world wirelessly everywhere I go. My iPod calms the rage frothing inside during my congested commute to work every morning. My Tivo does all the rest. I see all of my favorite shows, catch every bad call during the Pistons game, and never miss a TV appearance from my favorite girl, Kelly Clarkson. What can I say, we all have our crushes, but that is a another post. Anyway, all of these gadgets have been with me for a few years now and nothing else has come close to cracking the lineup since. I think I've found a perfect contender though.
A couple weeks ago when I was at Apple in California, I rented a car from Hertz. The car came equipped with the "Never Lost" GPS system. I had always thought GPS was kind of cool but never really thought about wanting one. Well, I pulled out of the rental car garage, entered my hotel's address and the darn thing took me turn by turn all of the way there. Needless to say, I was hooked. When I got home later that weekend, I spent hours researching road GPS units. I thought I had settled on about 5 different units from either Magellan, Navman, or Garmin but I always seemed to be compromising a feature on one unit for a different feature on another. So, I kept reading review after review and each one led me to another cool GPS. The search seemed endless and confusing until one excellent review from PC Magazine led me to the unmistakably iMac inspired TomTom Go. Surprisingly, this GPS had everything I was looking for. A nice big bright screen, a battery, 3D maps, a car mount kit, an AC and DC power cord, and most importantly, a very easy to use touch screen interface. How could an Apple geek resist? I couldn't, so the next day, I called up TomTom and ordered my GPS, the latest gadget contender.
The TomTom Go meets all the criteria of a promising contender. It improves an old system, replacing mapquest and my very poor sense of direction. It also adds a nice convenience, eliminating unintentional sight seeing. It also has a whole lot of gadget appeal. The TomTom Go comes in a box very reminiscent to the iPod, and as I opened the box for the first time, it even evoked a similar emotion to the one I felt the first time I paused live TV. Yes sir, this thing is for real, it's on the verge of joining my team of top geek toys. I've had it for less than a week and have only managed a trip to the local Steak and Shake, and a quick demo trip for my dad to Jerusalem Pizza. I'll post a full review once I've given the GPS a true workout. So until then the jury is still out, but it looks like TomTom Go will work it's way onto the team.
