Saturday, 3 March 2012
Whilst I try and keep up with the latest technology ideas I don't tend to actually buy a lot of new "must have" gadgets. For example, my mobile phone is still just that: it's mobile and it makes phone calls, but it doesn't do much else. Now and again, however, I see a new piece of technology that I know I must have. Over the last decade that has probably happened just three times. The first was when I knew I had to get a When I travel I get really annoyed by UK plugs. They are really bulky and if I'm trying to get away with just cabin luggage when flying I've often ended up damaging books when trying to cram everything into a small bag. One of the things I try and do is avoid buying anything that I would want to travel with that can't be charged from a USB socket. This way I take my netbook (which is tiny), it's charger (which is basically an over sized plug) and a few USB cables so that I can then charge my phone, my iPod, GPS track logger, and Bryony's Kindle as well as being able to access the photos on my cameras whilst only packing a single UK plug. Whilst this works well it does mean that I have to have my computer on to charge anything. So I'd be quite happy to add a small flat plug to my luggage if it meant I could charge my devices easier when traveling.
So when I saw that the designer had finally turned the concept into a saleable product I pre-ordered what is now called the Mu USB Adapter. They went on sale last Tuesday and mine turned up on Thursday. The packaging is very Apple like (white and well designed) as you can see from this nice unboxing sequence.
The design has changed slightly since the original concept (most notable the foldable sections now fold forwards in the opposite direction) but as you can see from this short, badly shot, video, it still works well and most importantly folds down really small.
I haven't had the chance to use it in anger yet (I was actually away with work when it arrived), but I'm already convinced that it's going to make my life so much easier when I'm trying to travel light. If you travel a lot and have a number of USB powered devices (I'm sure most of us do) then I'd certainly recommend you think about buying one.
I have to admit, the RaspberryPi has really captured my attention. I feel very fortunate to have grown up in the programing generation, fuelled by affordable machines that powered up to a command prompt. Let us know when it arrives!
I can guarantee there will be a post or two on the Raspberry Pi once it turns up. They had made a batch of 10,000 before the launch but the suggestion is that they had over 100,000 people try to place an order. My order details currently show it as arriving the week commencing 12th of March, but I'll believe that when it actually ships!
Looks very clever and, for travellers like you, very useful.
This is genius! I will definitely have to grab one next time I'm overseas!
And although I cannot understand your fascination with black coffee,no sugar(wow)...I have a great product for you to try, its a gourmet blend of rich black coffee and "Ganoderma" extract...
I can attest to its smoothness, although I add plenty sugar,lol... www.phreshcoffee.organogold.com
If you email me I will send you a free sample!
Arghhhhh. Pre-order! Surely you order or you don't! How can you pre-order something. Sorry. Just one of my foibles.
Even having read the blurb I haven't worked out what a Raspberry Pi is/does except that you obviously don't eat it with custard.
The Mu Adapter looks brilliant. Carrying all the various chargers and plugs around is one of the bugbears of modern travel.
The phrase "pre-order" annoys me as well. If I've placed the order then it's placed, regardless of whether or not they actually have stock. Mind you my current phrase of hate comes from the BBC where they are describing the Formula 1 coverage that isn't shown live as "extended highlights". How on earth can highlights be extended. They are either highlights or not!
As for the Raspberry Pi, I'll blog about it in detail when it actually arrives but in essence it's a cheap ($35) credit card sized computer that kids can use to learn to programme on without worrying about messing up their parents computer. I want one as it contains an ARM processor (something I've not played with before, but which powers nearly every smartphone on the planet), rather than an x86 which you'll find in most PCs, and because I actually quite like the idea of helping to produce educational material. Students arrive at University to do a Computer Science degree thinking they know all there is to know about computers as the can use Office and play games. They can't code anything useful, and even when they graduate a lot of them still can't programme well enough that I'd be willing to hire them. Anything that helps reverse that trend is good, so I get a small computer and the charity gets a small donation, and I might get more involved (time permitting).
Thanks Mark. I wish that Wiki and RaspberryPi had made it that clear!
As for extended highlights - you've said it all!
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