April 29, 2005 at 2 PM

Heavy Pockets

For years I escaped the house carrying only “analogue” paraphernalia. I had my wallet, my keys, and occasionally I’d take a little notebook to jot down whatever thoughts came to me. (A Moleskine, in case you were wondering, because they’re elegant and it makes me feel like my thoughts are important.)

Then early last year I bought a small digital camera, and I started wanting to have it with me often because I love taking photos. It fit in my jacket side pocket, and that was grand.

Then last summer I got a cell phone to keep in touch while travelling in Canada and because there were finally some cheap monthly plans for people like me that just want to be able to be reached, yet who don’t intend to spend every waking moment on the phone. The cell phone was small and fit nicely in the inside breast pocket of my favourite jacket, and that was grand.

Then I bought a PowerBook last autumn, knowing that I’d soon be moving to England and would want a portable computer. This didn’t fit in my pocket at all, but it was an excuse to buy a nice new bag, and that was grand, if a little expensive.

Then early this year, I received an iPod Shuffle as a gift. It’s tiny, and it weighs nothing, so I carry it around with me, and that’s grand.

Only, it’s not so grand anymore. I’m starting to feel like a bulging-pocket nerd. Either I need to carry a bag with me everywhere (and I do, sheepishly accepting taunts of “man purse”), or I forego these mainstays of 21st century digital life. What is a modern man to do?

I don’t think the one-gadget-does-all paradigm quite works. I’ve scoffed at camera phones for awhile now as mere party favours — surely nobody could take decent photos with such a tiny and grainy little lens. And who wants to surf the web on a screen smaller than one’s palm?

Nevertheless, there is clearly room for some streamlining, and I think I’m beginning to glimpse the future. Or I’m noticing that someone else is glimpsing it. Nokia’s new N91 phone has a 4 GB hard drive — about the size of the original iPod — and a seemingly similar interface for listening to music to match. They’re also talking about new phones with Zeiss lenses, which might still be a few millimetres in diameter, but sound like they might capture a more decent image.

Might there just be an ultimate camera/iPod/phone thing down the line that fits in one’s pocket and does it all? Can the digital man dream?

Previously: Happy Birthday, Mom

Subsequently: Don’t Forget Your Backpack

April 2005
the Archives
Home