The Cat

Ok, it is not an invention, but the cat as a phenomenon is certainly interesting. My calendar on my desk is one that gives me a new picture of a cat every day except for some days when it gives citations of things said about cats and the citation for today is "Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function.". I kind of like that citation even if I don't consider it to be true: cats have a function even if it is a very subtle one. Cats are company. Cats are companions. Cats can make the owners feel good about themselves. If you make a cat purr you feel a warm lump in your stomach of satisfaction for some reason. Cats as individuals might be the most selfish creatures in the world, but for some reason they still have the ability to make us feel good. They are soft, warm, and, if you have befriended them enough, very loyal. Well.... in short: cats are, if you are frank about it, completely useless, but we still are prepared to shape our lives around them.

The Mechanical Pencil

I am not completely sure that that is the proper name for it. If it is not the people at ARM in Cambridge are evil or illiterate. What I hope it means is a pencil that never goes dull because it is loaded with thin graphite leads that you can replace with new ones when they run out. I just recently came to value this type of pencil because I was forced to use one of the old kind, i.e. the ones you have to sharpen every 5 minutes or so. Another good thing about it compared to the old ones is that it stays the same length during its entire lifetime. A regular pencil goes shorter with every sharpening which makes it increasingly difficult to hold and write with. A reusable pen that never goes dull is a simple, but oh so useful invention.

My Swiss Army Phone

How I adore my little Swiss army phone. Well... it is not its actual name. Officially it is called SonyEricsson W300, but the idea is the same. It has a little bit of everything. As Weiser argued it does not do everything as good as if the things it does were done by specified applications, but for me it is still a delight to use. Ok. It is the budget version of a mobile all-in-one-phone, but the concept it represents is what makes my all warm inside. So what is it that is so good about it?

• It is a mp3-player! I have already an mp3-player which also doubles like a usb memory stick, but by using my phone as a mp3-player I just need to bring one gadget instead of two.
• It uses memory sticks. I am not all that thrilled about there being so many different kinds of memory sticks on the market since I really like to be able to use the same stick in different gadgets, but as a concept the memory stick is really, really good. In this particular gadget using a memory stick means that when the technology so allows I can trade my 1GB stick to a larger one. I have already discarded the 256MB stick that came with the phone for this one...
• It has a camera. Not a very good one, I admit, but it is always with me when I feel the urge to capture something I see.
• I can send the pictures I take with my camera to my friends. Seeing something funny when being alone is not half as fun as when you share it with someone. By sending it the experience is shared and the happiness twice as large.
• It has games. When waiting for the bus or just being plain bored I can pick out my phone from my pocket and entertain myself with some game for a while.
• It has Internet. Surfing on a small screen is NOT a delight when it comes to regular pages, but some helpful companies has realised that their services are more useful when you are on the go than when you sit at home in front of your usual computer screen. The ability to look up bus or train schedules, or read your mail (where you might have your travel plan sent to you from your airline), or look up someones address, or trying to figure out where you are with the help of a very tiny map... Let's just say - there are lots of useful pages out there...
• It has a clock. I don't wear a wristwatch anymore and am therefore completely dependent on my surroundings or my mobile phone to know what time it is. The bonus of it having an alarm clock so you don't need to bring one when you travel is also a good thing. Not to mention a timer when you just want to take a quick nap for 20 minutes or so.
• It has a calendar. Here is something I still miss: the ability to seamlessly synchronize my calendar with my other calendars since I do not want to use Outlook. However, it still has a calendar that keeps track of where I am supposed to be and when. By giving me reminders it keeps me organized.
  
• Radio! Even with 1GB of mp3:s you might still want to listen to something new every now and then. By providing me with a radio, the phone gives me this possibility. I like it.
• It uses Bluetooth. This is a standard I have not really come to grips with yet, but if it at some point should start working as intended it would be really useful. By connecting all sorts of devices all sorts of applications could be built. I mainly use it for controlling my computer with my phone, but if I had enough money I probably would have bought a GPS and tried to us my phone as a navigational aid. For people who needs to talk while they drive, it enables a seamless connection to a hands free system built into the car.
• Last, but not least: I can call my friends and family with it. This does admittedly depend on where I am, but in the majority of cases this function can actually be used.

My phone might not be the best example, but the concept it represents suggests that our phones will more and more be one of our most used tools and sources of entertainment in the future. Maybe we are already there...