Yesterday while visiting a loft for a house tour for our city sister site, Apartment Therapy Los Angeles, the person whose homes I was photographing and I began discussing the issue of accumulating things...things we need vs. the things we want. The conversation mostly revolved around the topic of knowing when to stop adding more things into your home. But then that got me thinking specifically how the ideas apply to a realm where owning the latest and greatest often means owning more than what you need: home technology....
What Are Your Tech Essentials?
I've noted I'm prone to redundancy of ownership of certain technologies. For example, I own an iPod Touch, Shuffle, and Nano. Why? Well, I rationalized initially I'd be fine with the screen-less Shuffle for running/gym, but then soon upgraded to the slightly larger Nano because the inclusion of a screen seemed an improvement. But a little while after, I moved over to the Touch because...well...because I was trying to make myself feel better I wasn't getting myself an iPhone. This was a bad case of over-buying when one device could suffice, although to my credit I still use all three in various and specific situations as intended.
In similar fashion, I own two digital cameras: one, a larger DSLR for professional work, sidekicked with a smaller pocket camera for everyday travels, hiking and personal photos. Do I really need two cameras? No, but each fulfills a duty in my life that I've convinced myself as useful, if not necessary. The same can be said for our two screen household, where an LCD screen hangs on the wall, while a larger 92" pull down projector screen above it provides a cinematic experience when desired. The rationalization is a LCD is better for daytime use and preserving the bulb on the precious DLP projector, the larger screen saved for the watching movies. But once again, in reality the redundancy is pure luxury.
Don't get me started on remote controls (and yes, I own a "universal" remote).
A few friends own multiple cell phones, one for work and one for personal. Other friends have a multitude of gaming consoles, while others seem to believe they're a CERN lab, with more computers in their household than fingers on their hand. Sometimes it's just a case of purchasing something new and not ridding/selling/donating the previous version. Other times it's just loving the idea of having options. But it is interesting when we stop to take inventory of how much we accumulate, not just in tech gear, but in overall "stuff" (especially for many where the garage, attics and closets is where we hide our deepest secrets and our most shameful purchases).
In any case, I began wondering if I was to whittle down my tech possessions to just three items, what would they be. I think we could easily live without the television/projector (we don't subscribe to cable and depend on streaming media or iTunes at this time, but probably average somewhere in the ballpark of 2 hours of viewing). I just purchased a GPS unit, but this is more of insurance for travel than a necessity. I love my vintage home audio system, but to be honest, both Emily and I listen to most of our music collection from a digital source instead of from the collection of vinyl we've held onto. So when it comes down to it, the three home tech or appliance I've deemed essential in my life are:
Between those three devices, I've got home audio, video, gaming, communications, online connection and various other functions covered. Two of the three also are actual necessities for my professional field, so they made the cut by default. I could probably even drop the Touch off that list, as the functions are redundant with the inclusion of a laptop. So a camera and a computer...those are the only two things I now realize are real necessities in the scope of my personal and professional life. Huh...and this whole time I thought I just had to have that panini press and 12 remote controls.
If you were to boil down your tech possessions to three essential items, which would they be?
Comments (36)
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DS lite: gaming, movies, music, homebrew
iMac: web, music, movies, imovie
iPhone: phone, txts, web, games, movies, apps, camera
if i had a fourth, it'd be my canon sd960
view mfpants's profile
HP Mini 1030 -- On the Go (Class, Vacation,)
Acer Aspire Laptop -- Desktop Replacement (Main Worker)
Zune HD -- Music, Movies
Xbox 360 -- Media Center and Gaming
BB Curve -- Email Capture, Phone, Apps (LOVE Poynt)
I need all 5 or thats at least what I tell the spouse..LOL
view tcleaves's profile
MacBook Pro -- work, gaming, browsing
iPhone -- work, gaming, browsing, gps, (and occasionally a phone)
Kindle -- reading for work, learning, and fun
D40, Nintendo DS, Wii, XBox 360, PS3, TiVo, big TV, 1st gen iPod, and Shuffle all failed to make the cut.
view muddlizard's profile
macbook pro
iphone
ps3
:)
view ekoshyun's profile
iPod Touch, cell phone w/ camera, laptop
view taoflower's profile
PS3 LCD TV
PowerMac G5 (hopefully replaced w/ a MBP)
iPhone
iPod Nano w/ nike
view FightTheFuture's profile
MacBook Air
iPhone
Nonin Onyx II %Sp02 monitor
view ccbweb's profile
* Microwave: food prep, water boiling (hahaha, I'm sure you all gonna starve to death without this)
* Self-assembled over-bloated Core 2 Duo PC right out of CERN lab: media, internet, work, room heating, phone charging, Google Voice, everything.
* T-Mobile G1: communication and work on the go, camera, Twitter, nah, no Twitter during zombie attacks.
* Car (with power inverter): transportation, closet, storage, carry my body and all of above away from zombie invasion.
Honorary List
* Lumix LX-3: to document a frugal life in high def.
view Pak-Kei Mak's profile
Note that the car also acts as a weapon against zombies during an emergency situation.
view Pak-Kei Mak's profile
imac
iphone
nikon p5100
my DS would be the fourth
view aneelee's profile
Asus Eeepc
HTC Touch Diamond 2
Ipod Touch 32gb
Xbox 360
3g Data - in South Africa there aren't enough wifi hotpsots to always have internet!
view Mayur Patel ZA's profile
macbook pro - college, t.v., social networks, etc.
Headset - communications
Digital Camera - photo's and video
Cell phone - for data, calling, twitter etc.
Ipod nano - music
Flash drive - text files etc.
Stereo for ipod - gotta listen to tunes around the house
e-reader - textbooks, novels, notes etc.
view cafegurl19's profile
5D mk2 (i'm assuming i can keep my lens collection?)
iphone 3GS
macbook pro
view Matt. M's profile
Daily use/Can't do without:
iMac 27"
iPhone 3G
Canon XS
For entertaining/could easily do without:
LED HDTV
XMBC net top box
view gas0line7's profile
Honestly, all I would ever need is an iPhone, and a MacBook to sync it with. I rarely leave the house with my MBP anymore thanks to the iPhone, and the only real advantages the MacBook has is a bigger screen and keyboard.
So there you go,
* iPhone
* MacBook
view BoFranklin's profile
15" MacBook Pro
iPhone 3GS
Nikon DSLR with Sigma 18-125 lens.
That's it.
I could do without my Panasonic HD TV, Blu-ray player, home cinema system, Apple TV and iPods. I rarely use my iPods now, just my iPhone. One addition to that lot (which I don't really count) is my home ADSL connection and AirPort Express.
view grrrth's profile
13" MacBook Pro
iPhone 2G
Nikon D70s
If this was all I had, I would definitely upgrade to the 3GS to get the improved photo quality and video capability since I would no longer have a point and shoot.
I'm moving house soon, so this setup might actually become reality :)
view beamsoflight's profile
iMac
Mouse for the iMac
Keyboard for the iMac
view flapjack's profile
15" Macbook Pro
iPhone 3G
Thats it I think. The MBP only made it because I'm a web designer / developer, and neither Photoshop or Textmate run on the iPhone yet :)
view Harry Llewelyn's profile
My Dell laptop with dsl...and now I'm playing with my new Garmin GPS tracking system. I don't have many tech toys.
view junklover's profile
my iPhone, HP computer and canon camera.
could list more for sure!
view Cristin at Simplified Bee's profile
27" iMac (amazing and can double as a TV)
Wii (live in Chicago and need something to do when it is freezing)
view ChicagoDesign's profile
Macbook
Cell Phone
Wii
view Priscatip's profile
Samsung netbook (win 7 and hackintosh)
Iphone 3Gs
Mac mini for downloading and media centre
view wufflebunny's profile
1) MacBook Pro
2) iPhone
3) Shure SE210 Headphones
view dklamerus's profile
Laptop with internet, digital camera, cell phone (and that's only because I don't have a landline). Easy.
view Sanayhs's profile
Lenovo x200 Tablet PC (very handy for notes and ideas and fast enough for photoshop)
Acer Windows Home Server (essential home backup and media server)
Dell Media Center (because I love my tv but hate the ads!)
view jtenniswood's profile
I could get by with only two:
iPhone
Macbook Pro
Everything else is fun, but inessential.
view ascott's profile
"iphone, mac, iphone, mac, iphone, mac...". Way to Think Different, guys.
For me:
Blackberry - web, messenger, facebook, gps, music, movies, games, apps, etc etc
Xbox - XBMC (though the xbox will be going the way of the dodo once I get a new media box )
Media server - low power server running a torrent client that lets me access videos and music from both xbox and blackberry
Amp/Tuner/Speakers - Vintage tube amp, circa late 70's or so. Has a warm incandescent glow that makes me feel happy and has full, rich, warm sound. Hooked up to the proper speakers it sounds divine.
Looking at getting that MusicHall DAC that was reviewed a while back, too. That might join my essentials if it happens.
view Oneisco's profile
@oneisco " 'iphone, mac, iphone, mac, iphone, mac....' Way to Think Different, guys."
Obviously it works for many people quite well.
view gas0line7's profile
13" Macbook
Olympus Digital Recorder--recording accents is my work
Cell Phone--currently a Palm Pre
This is great to have to think about!
view accentjim's profile
My 3 essentials:
*MacBook Pro
*iPhone (BTW, you can now get a free Kindle app for it - my first book that I bought was the Apartment Cure!!!!)
*Canon G7 (I need a camera for my work and travels)
I also sometimes use a big clunky Nikon DSLR, but definitely don't "need" it.
I have a whole pile of other cameras and gadgets floating around. It's hard to part with my sentimental things like old film cameras given to me by my family, but they really aren't being used. And the GPS unit is pretty much rendered obsolete now.
view darcitananda's profile
blackberry
pc
itouch
tv
only really need the pc to burn cd's for the itouch and for access to internet while at home. with the blackberry, i don't really need a lap top.
view davidsl's profile
Macbook
iphone 16GB 3GS
Nikon coolpix camera
JVC Everio camcorder
Nintendo DS Lite
Wii
:)
view wipstar7's profile
@gas0line7
Apple stuff works well enough for most people, but only if you don't care that it looks exactly the same as every other mac setup out there, and so long as you value convenience of initial setup over final functionality. Buying a macbook, airport, and apple tv will give you a basic home setup, but it will look pretty bland, cost a little more, and not be quite as capable as something you set up yourself. It surprises me that on a forum where people are so focused on finding interesting, different things to put in their homes, and so focused on decorating, that people would be so ok with displaying bland, generic Apple gear in their otherwise lovely homes. I can't tell you the number of posts I've seen that show a beautiful space, only to be marred by the presence of yet-another-macbook proudly displayed on their coffee table. I was sort of expecting to see more vintage and/or high end audio gear, more creative tech solutions that people have come up with, etc. Where are all the dedicated, custom media boxes? Where are the music servers that allow multiple clients that are not ipods to connect simultaneously? Where are the record players and turntables and vintage amps? What happened to decorating taste and having an actual style and taking some pride in your media setup to yield something that looks good, functions well, and produces sound that's just the way you like it?
Unfortunately, it seems most people are satisfied with the "good enough" approach of just buying an overpriced apple product and forcing it into their setup.
view Oneisco's profile
@Oneisco
Short of creating or modding your case, any computer you buy is going to look like someone else’s computer. Compared to most PC notebooks, MacBooks have a refreshingly clean design. If anything, the design gets out of the way, letting the surroundings become the point of interest, unlike flashy notebooks from other companies (I’m looking at you, HP). There are very few PCs that have actually had thought put into their industrial design (Dell Adamo comes to mind).
And as for “where are all the …”, the point of the article was to choose three tech essentials. I’m definitely going to put my phone, computer, and camera above things like file servers, media boxes, and turntables.
And frankly, I’ve been far more functional on my Mac than I’ve ever been on Windows or Linux, and I spend plenty of time tweaking. You can argue that the Apple TV is anemic, but broadly generalizing Macs as dysfunctional is, well…
view furrybeagle's profile