New laptop

We bought a new laptop yesterday, to replace our desktop which is showing signs of passing over to the big computer network in the sky.

I love new gadgets - I'm not hugely into technology but I do have a tendency to get excited about shiny new things. This laptop is definitely shiny. Much more exciting than a desktop PC!

One of the rather useless but very exciting things about it is that it has a fingerprint reader on it. To login when I switch the laptop on, I don't have to type a password - I just swipe my finger over a little panel! This is probably old news to anyone who knows about laptops, but I hadn't seen it before and it makes me feel like I am living in "the future" (George Jetson style).

In fact, a lot of things that were futuristic in cartoons when I was a kid are now a part of everyday life. I remember in particular how the characters in Inspector Gadget had wristwatches they could communicate through - just like mobile phones today.

I do find, however, that new gadgets are a bit like hotel rooms - exciting to get to but after you've opened all the cupboards and checked out the mini-bar, there's not much to do and you sit there twiddling your thumbs! Perhaps it's the thrill of something new, which by definition must wear off sooner or later.

I'm not at the twiddling stage with this laptop yet though...