Ok, perhaps not just in your pocket, but backpack/laptop bag, etc. The number of devices we carry really seem to be going up and up these days, despite the fact that devices are converging and doing so much more. My personal “battle load” consists of the following:
Devices that require power
- Dell E6500 Latitude (with 9 and 6 cell batteries)
- Nokia N97 (read my other blog postings for my opinion on this device)
- Zoom 4506-N 3G Travel Router
- Microsoft wireless travel mouse
- Jabber BT3030 headset
- Power adapter for laptop (travel adapter for use with mains, car and air plane (I’ve never been fortunate enough to travel in the right class where I can use it on a plane 🙁 )
Devices that use power but leech off other sources
- Vodafone K3820 3G/HSDPA modem
- 500GB portable USB drive
- Numerous Flash drives of various capacities, some have bootable OSes on them some just for data
Misc items that I carry that don’t need any power themselves
- A number of 8cm CD’s and DVD’s with bootable OSes on them (all Re-Writable for reuse, and for those machines that can’t boot of USB, WTF?)
- A couple of sets of head phones (in case of loss or damage)
- Various cables to connect devices for data transfer or charging, most use the same USB cables so it keeps these to a minimum
All in all it’s a fair bit of gear slung on my shoulder. The double batteries for the laptop are really just to make sure I can go for hours and hours.. One question I’m sure many are asking themselves – Is all that gear really necessary? Of course the answer is NO, BUT it’s just become the norm for so many years now, not just with me but so many people. I can do just nicely with only my phone in most cases. I managed quite nicely last year to post very long blog postings while out camping. However, it wasn’t as convenient as it would have been had I had my laptop with me. I should put my normal “battle load” into my backpack and weight it. I’m sure it’s the best part of 8KG, might be a bit more.
The only reason I decided to write this blog posting now was because while I sit in the Starbucks here in Newmarket Road in Cambridge I pulled out my travel mouse to find the battery was flat in it. That got me thinking about what else I have in my bag that might need a change of batteries. Thankfully that’s really the only device that can’t be recharged (however that’s a bad thing too really). By that I mean I can’t plug the mouse in to charge the battery, it’s just a single AA battery. That in itself is a good thing really, I can get replacements anywhere for it, that however can’t be said for any of the other power hungry devices I carry. They all have bespoke batteries, so they require having some sort of charger/power adapter (be it wall wart, USB cable or some such).
So, What do you carry with you on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could carry with you but choose to leave at home for some reason?
