I’m rather attached to my insulin pump. (OK, pun intended.)
[ol]
[li]I don’t have to remember the specific carb:insulin ratio for a given meal (they do vary[/li][li]I can take fractional units of insulin[/li][li]I don’t have to fiddle with pens, needle tips[/li][li]I don’t have to stab myself 4+ times a day, just once every 3 days[/li][li]It gives me my basal insulin throughout the day, instead of all at once[/li][li]It’ll split a bolus dose into a combo: some now and the rest throughout the next half to 8 hours[/li][li]The glucose meter adds extra in it’s calculations if I have high BG, or subtracts if it’s low[/li][li]The meter also subtracts if it figures I have insulin still active in my system[/li][li]The meter radios my pump to administer my bolus[/li][li]The system can be programmed with my favorite dishes/recipes and their carb content[/li][li]The pump is waterproof; I can swim with it[/li][li]The pump is a pretty blue :D[/li][/ol]
My HTC Desire phone. Even more magic in a box. Has actually changed my life.
Also, can I vote for digital photography in general, rather than any specific gadget or camera? The ability to take so many pix without worrying about consumables, the lack of any need to ‘take the film in for processing’, the ability to instantly view the pix and near-instantly download them to my PC, and all the fun and creative aspects of tweaking images in Pshop or other progs… these have all changed my life.
I have a deep, deep love for my electric kettle. I had managed to burn two teapots before I decided I needed something that would turn off automatically.
I broke a bone in my foot recently and after a week of agony trying to deal with crutches with a bad shoulder and tendinitis in my wrists I got a Invacare Knee Walker from a guy on craig’s list. It’s really, really great. I’ve got a free hand, and a little basket for a bottle of water and a book.
My Mac laptop, three years on. My Mac desktop, six months on. Macs are by far the most flexible computers I’ve owned. I run Windows on them when I need to; I run Linux; I set up a Drupal virtual machine to test a web server…
Even though Macs don’t do Blu-Ray movie playback natively, there are ways around that (an external BD drive for reading and writing discs, and the OS sttill supports BDs as computer discs; I can still play back BD movies by connecting the BD player I already had to the iMac’s screen via an HDMI-to-mini-DisplayPort converter and scaler).
My iPhone, two years on. It goes everywhere with me, and it has maps in case I want to know where I’m going, and I have all sorts of useful apps in it, plus books and cartoons and a squillion songs, and, oh yeah, it’s a phone.
My set of Pilot DR drawing markers. For the art I do, they’re perfect. Waterproof, too.
Kindle, hands down the best investment.
Docking station for the iPod, since we downsized all of our stereo equipment.
The iPod itself, for the same reason.
KitchenAid mixer.
Microplane graters.
Weed Eater.
DeWalt palm sander.
Ryoku belt sander.
DeWalt circular saw
Black & Decker rechargeable screwdriver (similar to this little guy).
Combined VCR/DVD in one machine. Collapsible mixing/storage bowls for the RV.
I guess most of these are either tools or appliances, but a good product is always worth mentioning.
Seconded. I have one of those that I bought at CostCo, and it works great. That, and I know if it fails, I have their amazing warranty so I can get a replacement unit. I’m drinking a cup of tea made with it as I type this.
My iPod Touch. I’m never without it. There are a few things that I dislike about it - lack of an external volume control is unforgivable - but it does so many other things so well that I just can’t stay mad at it.
My Canon XH-A1 camera. I shot a concert with it last night.
I bought a portable Initial DVD player. It fell off my moped while driving home, but it still worked. I’ve had it for around 7 years now, and it still works great. It is the main DVD player in my house now. I had to jump through some hoops to get the Universal Remote code from Initial, but it’s not a problem. The real key though is that I bought it from a Japanese store in my area, so it’s region-free, back in the day (2003) when they were rare and/or illegal. However, you can put anything in it and it will play. I think I have only one VCD that won’t play in it but will play in another device. Usually, it’s the other way around.
On the same topic, universal remotes are a godsend. I recently went to my friend’s house, and I was shocked that his family uses 4 different remotes (DVD, VCR, TV, Cable box.)
I also love my rechargable batteries, 15 minute charger, and battery tester. Each rechargable battery costs like $4, but I use each one like 5 years. When the universal remote goes out, its batteries get charged before we need to change the channel again.
Another device that is probably pretty common now are the digital alarm clocks with the battery backup. The piece of mind you get with this thing is amazing.
I’d also like to give a shout out to optical mice. Screw you forever mice balls!
I’m also currently loving my wireless router. I’m typing this from the bedroom…
…While lying on my Tempurpedic bed, another great device. I haven’t had a stiff neck or back in years.
My TV, stereo and DVD player all different makers and vary widely in age. You program “activities.” For instance, I press one button and all three devices come on. If the receiver has previously been playing a CD it also switches it to DVD. Best $35 I’ve ever spent.
Also all my Dremel tools.
Oh, now I feel guilty that I didn’t think of my Logitech Harmony. It works perfectly, does exactly what I told it to, is reliable and were it to be destroyed, I could buy a replacement and not lose any of the programming.
I love my small George Foreman grill. It’s as easy to clean as they said it would be. It cooks without me having to stand over a skillet, drains the grease automatically, and doesn’t release a lot of heat into the air.
Many of the above, especially the iPhone. Plus my pedometer. I wear it every day and count steps. It cost $3 and encourages me to walk more. I love seeing the numbers grow.
My GPS data logger. Whenever I am traveling, I turn it on when I leave the hostel, and leave it on until I go to bed. Here is one track I made last year. With these files, I can tag all of my photos with geographical coordinates with a batch process, then mass upload them all with the locations showing up on the map in Flickr and Panoramio (Google Maps/Earth). The battery lasts for a couple of days of use. Ideally it would have more storage space, but with constant use it can go for three or four weeks before I need to offload the data. Before I bought this, I would have no idea where my photos were taken. Now I can pull up a map and immediately see all of my photos sorted geographically.
I haven’t had a stiff neck or back in years.