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Gadget bag dreaming

March 21st, 2004 · 1 Comment

I’m missing my husband but I’m also missing our camera. He took it with him to D.C. and in the past three days I’ve had quite a few times when I wished I could take a picture. We have a film camera, but I hardly use it any more. It seems archaic and insufficient. The other day, when I went to find it, I had to brush away the dust.

So we’re dreaming about becoming a two-camera family. Not that we are apart that often, but it would be fun for us to each have one at times like these. When we bought our digital camera, before our second daughter’s birth, neither one of us were addicted to photography. If anyone liked cameras, it probably was me. I’m responsible for our extensive photograph collections, rows of Kodak envelopes stacked in boxes, myriad moments of babies eating bananas and other wonders….

But after we got our digital camera, Ted started taking more pictures. He liked how easy and inexpensive it was, compared to purchasing and developing film. And since I’ve started blogging, I’ve enjoyed posting photos. Already this week I’ve had to say “maybe I’ll wait to blog that until the camera comes home…”

This winter, I’ve started carrying the camera with me all the time. It goes in one coat pocket, along with my phone. The camera though is a bit bulky. It’s almost four years old, and many smaller ones abound on the market. The other day Ted showed me the Elixim site and I tried not to drool.

I’m not happy with my phone either. Maybe I should get a new one, a camera phone. Last year we were looking at the Nokia 3650 but decided at the time we should wait.

At the least, when I daydream about phones, I’d love to have one that was easier to carry. Right now I lock the keys and put it in my coat pocket with the camera. But that means if someone calls I have to unlock the keys first. I wonder how the camera was designed to be carried, especially by someone like me who doesn’t use a purse or belt or bag.

Although my oldest daughter right now is carrying around a large fringed denim purse, I’ve never been a faithful purse user. I’m not crazy about them, taking them along with me only on special occasions. Now that I’ve got little kids to carry, I fear that a purse or a bag would be one more item to remember, something to get left behind or lost on an outing, when kids are crying or clamoring. In the winter time I use coat pockets. In summer time I use a fanny pack or pockets for my wallet and keys. Now that I’m carrying a phone and camera around I’ll need to find another way to do it.

The other day I went for a jog around the block, keys in hand. As I was running, I wished I had had my camera. I thought to myself how wonderful it would be to have a camera and phone that was the size of my key remote in my hand. It probably wouldn’t be able to take great pictures. Tiny gadgets could be difficult to use. But that would be so much more convenient than the bulky camera and phone that weighs down my coat.

I was already thinking about these issues of gadgets and how to transport them around with me, so when Lisa Williams posted the contents of her gadget bag , I paid attention.

Lisa’s Canon SD 100 compact digital camera sounds cool.

I’m glad she likes the Space Pen . I don’t own one but I gave one as a gift.

I fear I am in severe need of the Brookstone Smart Find Remote Control Key Locator . Too many times the kids have had to wait for me to “find my keys” before we could go.

I appreciate that Lisa included links to the actual bags she uses. Here’s a question I have for her: what is the intersection and/or union between your gadget bags, diaper bag and purse? I have a diaper backpack that probably could have enough space for my camera and phone, as well as any “purse”-type items. But, depending on the situation (such as a trek to a museum or park outing to a picnic), since my gadgets are more valuable than a stack of disposable diapers, I end up leaving the diaper bag lying around and trying to keep the more precious items in a pocket or close to me as I wander around after the children.

I shopped many stores for a diaper backpack when I was pregnant with Abigail, seeking something practical, ergonomic and easy to carry with a baby in arms. What would be cool would be a tripartite bag, with a section specialized for gadgets (phone, camera, keys & wallet too?), one for various feminine and hygiene necessities (lipstick, comb, kleenex etc.) and a third section with space for diapers, wipes, changing pad, garbage sack, a few amusement toys for baby. And, while I’m dreaming, I can imagine that these three sections could interconnect, zip and unzip together – so, for example, I could leave the diaper bag at home if I were going out sans kids. That way there would only be one bag to carry, no matter what I was doing. Maybe it could have interchangable straps too – so it could go from being a larger bag to a more slender silhouetted purse. The gadget one should be especially portable: I can imagine taking the entire bag in the van with me, but removing the gadget section when I go shopping (especially if I wanted to use my phone as a bar code scanner ). If this bag hasn’t already been made, I imagine there would be a market for it….

Tags: geek

1 response so far ↓

  • 1 Lisa Williams // Mar 22, 2004 at 8:39 am

    Yeah! In terms of baby stuff, my large bag (the Courierware one) has an internal divider that velcros shut — and in it I keep a gallon-size Ziploc bag that contains a small thingie of wipes and a diaper for each of the kids, and a small-size ziploc for diaper disposal. I squeeze the air out and fold it flat until it’s about the size of a Reader’s Digest. In one of the front three interior pockets I keep waterless hand cleaner, but I keep that in there all the time, kids or no. If I’m going out for a longer time with my older son in tow I also take a few of his small die-cast trains and some raisins or Veggie Wheels in a small ziploc.

    Basically I take only the small bag and its contents if I’m going out alone and I’m not going to be using my computer while I’m out. If I have either the kids or my laptop I use the large bag.

    I like your idea of a “reducible” bag — it would save me moving things between bags. If I ever replaced the Transit (small) bag, I’d probably get one of these lust-inducing “Pod” bags from RoadWired:http://www.roadwired.com/store/Product.cfm?categoryid=5&Productid=57