I confess. I'm not a James Bond fan. I can’t recall if I’ve ever seen a James Bond movie all the way through, much less, read an Ian Fleming novel. I will lay claim to a love for the satirical side of spy novels, dashing operatives and clever technology. James Coburn’s "In Like Flynn" is one of my favorite comedies and Don Adam’s "Get Smart" was television genius. After all, which will you remember best, some cool car that Bond drove or the shoe phone and cone of silence?
"Not only are you able to take your portfolio with you, you can take the software and passwords and notes and alternate files that make your work work!"
|
Even the X-Files had a poke at technological advances when visiting Mulder’s past, full of boxy cell phones and the Lone Gunmen trying to sell cable splitters. I like geeky entertainment that appreciates the absurd level geeks will go to have cool gear. Who didn’t laugh when under cover spy/male model Derek Zoolander whipped out his thimble-size cellphone?
That’s why I have to giggle when I see row after row of portable data devices on sale at stores and online. I have to stare at that tiny pen drive capable of storing the contents of an entire hard disk and wonder, is this some kind of joke? Surely something that diminutive and that cute cannot possibly work! Then I glance over to another wee device that can store data, plus it comes with different plugs and ports for almost any electronics. I look these miniature wonders and debate whether or not I need a pinch to wake up.
I’m not dreaming. Cool gadgets keep getting cooler and everybody is James Bond, baby!
Imagine you need to hit a quick, two-day conference where you are to make a presentation about your new affiliate program. You’ve built this awesome multi-media production, complete with screen caps, flash demos and a little power point thrown in. The speaking venue has a wonderful projection/sound system and all you need to do is bring the show. Before, you would have had to lug your laptop along to store your work. You would have taken the chance of it getting stolen or dropped. You would have had to shove it under your seat where it got kicked by the kid in the row behind you. You would have had to constantly make sure your notebook safely passed through security handlers, x-ray detectors and forget about keeping it nicely tucked away in a padded briefcase.
From PDAs, to camera phones, to BlackBerries, to IPods to pen drives to USB Flash drives, portable storage is real life spy stuff, no joke.
Untitled Page
With today’s amazing portable storage, you are free from CDs and Floppies are but a memory. Not only are you able to take your portfolio with you, you can take the software and passwords and notes and alternate files that make your work work! Everything that resides on the hard drive on your desktop can come with you, down the street, down state or across the ocean.
Some of these devices specialize in multimedia and come with sound and screen. Watch movies; catch up with the day’s events via recorded satellite news feeds, downloaded to your device. Listen to hours of your favorite mp3s or enjoy and audio book on a long plane ride. Take dictation with digital recorders and capture a once-in-a-lifetime moment easily with your portable camera - no film, no film processing.
When it comes to portable data devices, it’s a buyer’s market. What you need to concern yourself with is compatibility. For instance, most computers have a USB port, as do many portable players. If you want to take your data with you but you’re not sure about the strange machines you’ll be hooking up with; you should consider portable devices that are USB compatible. Don’t worry too much because there are all sorts of port and plug converters to make sure you can upload almost anywhere.
As for buying one or two or four of these wonderful portable data gadgets, they’re everywhere. From Best Buy to WalMart to Amazon to Ebay. Try to go for familiar brand names and fill out your warranty cards. Read the specs and determine the System Requirements before you any money. Read reviews and comparisons with other manufacturers. Get all that info and more at my favorite value gadget search portal: