Are You A Gadget Geek?

By Kimberly A. Cook             (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

One of the great things about being a writer is how few tools we really need to practice our craft. Having progressed from feathers and ink to computers, we can make up stories and novels with very few tools. Paper is everywhere.  But then along came the gadgets.

Having survived my recent computer upgrade, barely, we’ve gone from simple tools in the old days to a geek gadget space race. It’s getting complicated.  Smart phone or dumb phone? Tablet or iPad? Android, Apple or Blackberry? Flip video, camcorder or a digital camera that also records video? Nook, Kindle Fire or iPad?

It’s enough to make even a semi-sane writer cower under the bed. No matter how much research I do to make my life easier, it seems I always run aground on the gadget reef in the tech ocean. If I pick the product and then buy it, it’s going to tank and be upstaged by another upgrade or innovation. I’ve got bread older than some of my now past-their-prime gadgets. Palm PDA anyone?

Sometimes the good old days look pretty darn good. So after much soul-searching and trying to figure out how to consolidate my gadgets and reduce my costs for roaming and wandering, or whatever they charge us for, here is my next wish list.

I’m keeping the Flip video cameras and my Canon PowerShot cameras for photos and video. Get the new iPad to combine my Nook eReader and Kindle accounts, transfer my email to the iPad off my Blackberry, go back to a prepaid phone for talk and text only, have a screen large enough I can read and carry around with a wireless keyboard to replace my pink notebook and be able to use Squareup to sell books using credit cards at my talks.

Finally, a decision. Looks like I will buy in June. Expect Apple to tank in July. You heard it here first!