Contents of the Bag of Holding
Over the years I've written out a list of the things I tend to carry around a few timesI thought it might be interesting to re-visit the theme, and take a look.
Google ChromebookIt's a first generation Samsung Chromebook, and gets used by all of us from time to time. Its my go-to computer around the house, owing mainly to it's sub-10 second startup from cold, and all-day battery life. If all you need is a browser, it's perfect.Well that was predictablewithin an hour of writing this post, my other half commandeered the Chromebook. I can't argueshe has been using an 8 year old Dell laptop that is physically disintegrating. Several keys are missing, and it lasts about 20 seconds on battery if you're lucky.
ASUS NetbookIt's an ASUS 1005PX, bought about six years ago. It started life running Windows 7 Starter Edition, but that got replaced with Ubuntu Linux some time ago. I often take it on work trips with me, because it's small, and “just works”. Spares for it are cheap-as-chips. Just recently I've been debating replacing it's hard drive with an SSD, but may end up replacing it completely later in the year. We'll see.
Kindle Fire HDOriginally bought for the kids to use, and subsequently retired to my bag (they are far happier with the iPad). I use itall the time, and have come to the conclusion that as a device for consuming content such as movies, music, news, and books, it'sfarbetter than equivalent iOS or Android tablets (and far cheaper).
KindleMy family bought the Kindle for my birthday this year, and had it shipped to the hotel where I was staying with work at the time. I think I'm right in saying it's the “7th generation” Kindleit's small, has a touch-screen, and a magnetic cover that switches it off. It's brilliant, and has accompanied me on long train journeys all year.
External Hard DriveI have a Western Digital “Passport” exteral hard drive that runs off a Micro-USB port. It's only a 500Mb drive, but it's survived for about six years nowcarrying movies, TV shows, and music on the road with me during my various work adventures.
Nintendo DS LiteBeing entirely honest, the Nintendo DS is only in the bag because I can't bring myself to get rid of it. I haven't played anything on it for a couple of yearseven though there is a huge stack of game cartridges on the shelf in the study.
FilofaxIt seems like an anachronism, given all the computers in the bag, but I'm still a huge fan of the Filofax organisers. I double up Google Calendar entries into the paper calendar, and keep work notes in a tabbed section at the back. It's batteries never go flat.
Paper NotebookI have carried a Moleskine notebook around for years. While on the road, I occasionally write journal entries. While on conference calls, I draw doodles. While stuck on trains I've been known to fill entire pages with madcap drawings of nonsense machines. One day my notebooks will be worth millions (not).
That's it!Years ago I used to carry 3G dongles, USB memory sticks, and all manner of other junkall of that has been replaced by the smartphone in my pocket, and online storage from the likes of DropBox and Google Drive.
I wonder if the list of stuff will go down even further next year ?