Gadget Queen? Me?

I do try not to covet new gadgets ... but I have to admit I do enjoy nifty little techy things. I have had an iPhone on my mental wishlist for a while, even though it is clearly under the section labelled "no chance". The UK deal on iPhones requires commitment to a monthly service package that is way, way out of our budget. In any case, so is the iPhone itself. I have also been wanting an iPod, especially since we switched to Macs and I discovered iTunes. Then ... ta da! ... I spotted the iPod Touch. iPhone meets iPod! Cue shameless coveting. Fortunately I have a very nice husband and a very nice mother, who between them bought me an iPod Touch as a birthday-and-Christmas present.

After playing with it for a month - I love it! On the one hand it is an iPhone without the phone and camera (and therefore without the service charge), and on the other it is an iPod that has wireless internet and runs Safari (the Mac equivalent of Windows Explorer). The screen is clear enough for it to be genuinely useful for reading web pages, blogs and so on - obviously not as good as a full size computer, but a handy extra. There are an increasing number of WiFi hotspots locally, including the library, which means I can use it when I am out and about. I can access my Google Calendars, my booklists, and even at a pinch write email or blog entries (a bit slow and painful on the touchscreen keyboard, but manageable). It has a smaller memory than the classic iPods, which doesn't bother me as I don't want to use it as a storage device, but it does all the obvious iPod things - plays music, podcasts and movies. It also has a built in YouTube widget. In the last week or so Apple have brought out new software that adds an email program, Google maps and a notepad.

I don't just like what the iPod Touch does, I like how it does it. The touchscreen is so futuristic and clever - a gadget lover's gem. Stroke it to move a web page up or down, pinch to make things smaller, tap it to make the view larger. To switch from portrait to landscape, you just turn the iPod round and the screen follows. It's just so ... neat!