Next must-have gizmos
I am a gadget freak. People are always asking me what I think of this or that gadget. In the back of my mind I keep a running wishlist of must-have gadgets. What's there now?
A digital camera that achieves similar image quality to, say, Fuji Velvia 35mm film. Once that accepts regular lenses and costs the same as a 35mm camera body--use of my regular camera lenses would allow me to get much better zoom than the wimpy zooms on current cameras. 25 megapixel CCDs (equivalent to 400 speed film). That's not to say I don't think current digital cameras are good buys. Today, for the casual photographer, I think a digital camera is a better choice than an APS camera. In a few years, I would not recommend any casual photographer buy a 35mm camera, not with the quality and convenience of a digital camera. I'm waiting for a medium format quality digital camera. It will be a few years.
A PDA that is also a cell phone. Must have built in synching to my regular Microsoft applications, like my Outlook address book. WAP enabled. Those new Palm and Handspring devices won't get us there. That Sanyo phone and Kyocera Palm phone get us closer. It will be here soon. I will be able to scrap my Palm Pilot, which I hardly use because it won't synch to Outlook without additional software which I refuse to pay for.
A DVD recorder that's compatible with all DVD drives on computers and DVD players. Re-writable DVDs. Built in PVR. Web surfing optional. Dual tuners. Component outputs. The ability to record Dolby Digital or other digital surround sound formats would be a real bonus. Ability to record hi-def video signals. Some of these are available today, but none have all these features at once. Basically, this would replace my VCR and my PVR. If you can build a satellite dish decoder into it as well, all the better.
DVD-RW drives in every computer. Same as in your DVD Recorder so that anything you record on one can be ported over to the other. Let's just replace all the current recording media (CD-RW, CD-R, floppy disk, zip disks) with DVD-RW.
Combination SACD/DVD-Audio/DVD player with progressive scan. Software and modular card upgradeable. Capable of handling multi-channel SACD.
Wireless LAN in the home.
That new Bang and Olufsen Beocom 2 phone, when it comes out in the U.S.
HDTV--why people insist on 4:3 TVs is beyond me. You'd hate to go to a movie theater and watch a movie on just the center third of the screen. Why is television any different? Totally irrational. HDTV rocks, but unfortunately silly U.S. standards battles mean it won't take off for a while.
True anamorphic PAL camcorder at less than $3000.
A digital camera that achieves similar image quality to, say, Fuji Velvia 35mm film. Once that accepts regular lenses and costs the same as a 35mm camera body--use of my regular camera lenses would allow me to get much better zoom than the wimpy zooms on current cameras. 25 megapixel CCDs (equivalent to 400 speed film). That's not to say I don't think current digital cameras are good buys. Today, for the casual photographer, I think a digital camera is a better choice than an APS camera. In a few years, I would not recommend any casual photographer buy a 35mm camera, not with the quality and convenience of a digital camera. I'm waiting for a medium format quality digital camera. It will be a few years.
A PDA that is also a cell phone. Must have built in synching to my regular Microsoft applications, like my Outlook address book. WAP enabled. Those new Palm and Handspring devices won't get us there. That Sanyo phone and Kyocera Palm phone get us closer. It will be here soon. I will be able to scrap my Palm Pilot, which I hardly use because it won't synch to Outlook without additional software which I refuse to pay for.
A DVD recorder that's compatible with all DVD drives on computers and DVD players. Re-writable DVDs. Built in PVR. Web surfing optional. Dual tuners. Component outputs. The ability to record Dolby Digital or other digital surround sound formats would be a real bonus. Ability to record hi-def video signals. Some of these are available today, but none have all these features at once. Basically, this would replace my VCR and my PVR. If you can build a satellite dish decoder into it as well, all the better.
DVD-RW drives in every computer. Same as in your DVD Recorder so that anything you record on one can be ported over to the other. Let's just replace all the current recording media (CD-RW, CD-R, floppy disk, zip disks) with DVD-RW.
Combination SACD/DVD-Audio/DVD player with progressive scan. Software and modular card upgradeable. Capable of handling multi-channel SACD.
Wireless LAN in the home.
That new Bang and Olufsen Beocom 2 phone, when it comes out in the U.S.
HDTV--why people insist on 4:3 TVs is beyond me. You'd hate to go to a movie theater and watch a movie on just the center third of the screen. Why is television any different? Totally irrational. HDTV rocks, but unfortunately silly U.S. standards battles mean it won't take off for a while.
True anamorphic PAL camcorder at less than $3000.