The iPhone
Two of us held off buying iPhones – deterred by the cost and by the fact that Apple’s gadget is not 3G. We said that, while Apple’s marketing would revolutionise the mobile market, the iPhone was a flawed device. Fools! We were fools. It’s not only gorgeous, it’s a joy to use and puts our clunky Nokia E61s to shame. When you’re browsing the web you can turn the iPhone sideways and the page turns with it. You can zoom into text just by brushing your fingers across the screen in a gesture that’s halfway between the Great Lafayette and Gipsy Rose Lee. As well as being enormously sensual this demonstrates our dictum that only the content matters – the website’s design is swept away by the fingertips.

The Flip
Posting video online is easy. Shooting it sometimes isn’t, especially if you want good quality, access to editing and the ability to email or post it easily. This is why we want a Flip. It offers all that in one package for $149.

In terms of computing technology, our Content Marketing Director has identified the system he requires for reading his emails and browsing the web. He apparently requires a fully specced Alienware Area 51 laptop. While it’s a bit steep at 4,074.90 it’s a bargain compared to the Area 51 ALX CrossFire he wants for his desktop:

This reminds us of the time he tried to persuade us that he needed a Lamborghini Countach to help carry his work home. And we hope he won’t be too disappointed when he gets the much more Web 2.0 Asus Minibook instead. It’s Linux-based and is packed with these features:

• With a 7″ screen and weighing less than 1Kg, it’s smaller and lighter than many textbooks.
• Robust solid-state hard drive provides fast boot-up / shut-down and preserves pupils’ files.
• Integrated webcam (4G model only), microphone and speakers for easy web video-conferencing.
• Integrated 802.11b/g wireless and optional 3G module provide great connectivity.
• Integrated card-reader and three USB 2.0 ports provide a simple way to add additional storage and easy connection for peripherals.
• Full-size VGA-out for connection to projectors or monitors

Best of all it costs around £170!

Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard

We’re bored – bored I tell you – of lugging around keyboards. Bah to their QWERTY awkwardness and pocket-unfriendly rectangularity. Two of us bought Nokia E61s because they had an integral keyboard (see “fools, fools” above). If only we’d known about the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard. It’s the size of a matchbox yet projects a QWERTY layout onto any flat surface and then – thanks to magical creatures that live inside its small yet monolithic form (or something like that) – it follows your fingers as you type.

It even makes clicking noises as you thump away at the “keys”. We wantssss it, my precioussss. We wantssss it now. Even if it does cost $149 (or £3.79 at the current exchange rate). One of these wee fellas will keep us happy until we can buy neuroheadsets that are sophisticate enough to read your thoughts and transfer them into a computer.