All through the year we use so much technology to do our everyday work that we sometimes don’t stop to think of the cool gizmos that we use to make our liveable. There are more an more people who are being converted to technological geeks than we would like…but its for sure that technology is here to stay. With every passing year the trends of technology will change and more new gizmos will try to take over our daily chores. How much we appreciate it…kind of depends from person to person and how much geekdom he/she has attained. For example, my mom leaned to operate the mobile phone while my dad relationship with the mobile phone is non-existent except maybe to remind us if the mobile phone rings. When my mom was learning to operate a mobile phone, she would tell us all about it, and now she thinks she is quite proficient at it.

Well, anyway, such is life. But the main point of this blog is to explore some of the cool gizmos that are available, and which are to my mind belong to the “Cool Sphere”. The key word here is “my mind”, because I am sure that there will be many more that people in blogland won’t agree mainly because either I don’t know about them or didn’t think of it as I am writing this blog. People are more than welcome to input their thoughts about the latest gizmos in the comments page, since knowledge is infinite.

Anyway, here it goes… well at least 10 of them…..

1. Internet – What would we do without it, Right from shopping to emails and business, its probably one of the most used gizmos used in the world.
2. Mobile Phones – Need to say anymore. With India adding about 80 + million mobiles per year, mobile phones seem to have become a part of our daily lives. Some of the mobile phones are so advanced that it seems that the mobile phone part was only an after thought, since it operates like a small mini computer, with a OS, GPS, camera, PDA, video and many more.
3. iChat – This is a gizmo from Apple, that is on your computer with a video camera. One can talk to your loved ones using this gizmo. Very useful when you have small kids and they need to be comforted when the man/woman is out of town/ home.
4. Computers – Of course. There isn’t much to write about. But the fact matter is that computers have definitely taken over our lives especially in the workplace.
5. Google Earth – Being a geographer and in the GIS business, I find google earth to be handy tool that allows viewing of different places without going there. The spatial resolutions of the images are so good it is possible to pinpoint your house on Google Earth. Recently one friend of mine showed me how he used google earth images on his XDA to move about in Mumbai. All he needed was GPRS and Bluetooth for connection. It seemed amazing.
6. Digital Kiosks  - These are kiosks that are put common places like the railway stations, governments buildings, banks, etc that provide either information or allow people to make appointments, train reservations, etc. In fact, there are GIS companies that have enabled villagers in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and some other states where it is possible for the landowners to pay revenue taxes. A map based information system has been developed to help the landowners.  Even in some municipalities with the help of the Internet, citizens will be able to pay their taxes, bills and other things using these digital kiosks.
7. Nano Cameras – Very small cameras that can be taken as a pill is being used to reconstruct the insides of a human body. This has helped doctors diagnose diseases, and other ailments with lot more confidence that before.
8. Set of Wheels – Keeps us mobile. Possibly the best amongst all gizmos. Newer set of wheels whether 2/ 4/ or innumerable is the desired gizmo for almost all types of people, rich or poor, thin or fat, tall or short, in the air, underwater, over water or on land.
9. Packaged Music/ Video – Well… some may not agree with me…but I find this to be one of the greatest miracles. Listening to music that soothe our souls, or watch old home movies, or watch a great picture ….nothing like packaged music or video. There are so many forms of this, CD, DVD, TV, radio, and many more in the future that are yet to be discovered.
10.  Household gizmos – need I say more…Washing machines, dryers, microwave, grinder, etc are some of the very few things that come to mind, that have become very important gizmos that in fact manage our lives.

Ok So that’s it folks. Keep the comments coming.