gadget: December 2004 Archives

I'm very surprised, with our current hyper-sensitivity to all things terrorist, that Virgin Mobile is allowed by law to provide anonymous cell phone service in this country. But they do. And I'm glad. I probably wouldn't own a cell phone otherwise.

Furthermore, you aren't required to sign any long-term contract for service -- it is strictly pay-as-you-go. There are a ton of cool extras available from their web site too (sold separately, of course), like this hilarious voicemail message for $3.

At a minimum rate of only $20 every 90 days, if you are a person who only carries a cell for emergencies, it is hard to go wrong with this phone plan.

Everyone is talking about it. TV shows such as The King of Queens and Sex and the City have devoted entire episodes to it. Now I have one, and I see what all the hype is about.

TiVo certainly has a lot of benefits, although I see a few drawbacks as well. Saying goodbye to the hassles of a VCR -- programming it, shuffling around videotapes, forgetting what you taped and taping over "important" stuff that your spouse taped -- is certainly a plus. Pausing live TV with TiVo's built in 30-minute buffer is very cool too.

However, I'm a little disappointed with the processing speed of the latest Series 2 unit (the one with the night light). Paging up and down through the guide is simply painful, waiting for it to load data and render each page.

And, if your New Year's resolution this year is to watch less television, this is not the gadget for you. Not only does TiVo make it terribly easy to record your favorite shows (an entire season's worth, if you like), but it also incessantly records other shows that it thinks you might like to watch (some of which you actually would), so you will most likely find yourself watching *more* TV than you ever have before.