Are you the sort of person who sees a new gadget for the home, and

[wolram]

Are you the sort of person who sees a new gadget for the home, and thinks it's a must have,
or are you the type of person who still has such like a none electric can opener.

 

[lisab]

I'm not a big fan of electric appliances. I've never owned an electric can opener, for example...but I have 4 manual ones, from the tried-and-true standard design to one that only I can figure out how to work .

 

[╔(σ_σ)╝]

I sort of am. XD
Lately, I have been coveting the blendtec blender. I really what to get it to try out my different smothee recipes.

 

[turbo]

I am not a fan of gizmos. I have a cell phone and bought one for myself and for my 85-year-old father. They do not take pictures or surf the 'web. They are for making phone calls.

That said, I enjoy owning stuff that works and saves me time and/or effort. I could get by without my tractor, but I'm glad I don't have to. I could get by without my DMM or clamp-on meter, but I'd be flying blind and it would cost me more money to find out what's happening when something electrical starts giving me trouble.

 

[Proton Soup]

gadgets? i like manual can openers, too. the big, heavy kind that are made to last for 20 years. in fact, good design is the most important thing to me. i abhor cheap schlock that is manufactured using the planned obsolescence model.

or at least that's my ideal. i can be easily distracted.

 

[rootX]

I cannot talk about kitchen gadgets because I don't have my own kitchen; I move every 4 months.

I am not too much into gadgets. I don't even have a phone currently. Last time, when I was living near my parents, they gave me a phone that I didn't use much. But now, I have moved away from them and haven't bought a new plan. I have iPod that my sister got me during Christmas.

 

[NeoDevin]

I love gadgets when they allow me to de-clutter. If I can get a gadget that will do the job of multiple manual tools, then I'm happy. Gadgets just for the sake of using electricity to complete a task that can be done perfectly well without it I can do without.

 

[caljuice]

There are electric can openers? I never even thought about electrical ones. Seems like a downgrade. It's easier to just do it manually then replace the batteries for an electric one.

The only gadgets I seem to get too into is computer parts. However, the idea of going to buy something is usually more satisfying than when you actually get it.

 

[wolram]

I am surprised, i thought there would be at one gadget nerd

 

[Nicodemus]

I used to love gadgets for their own sake, but I never could afford them. I DID go through a phase when I started making money, but before I had real responsibilities to anyone except myself, when I was gadget NUTS. I bought DVDs I always wanted, a game system I knew I wouldn't play enough to justify the purchase... that kind of thing.

It was a VERY brief period: it lasted exactly as long as it took for me to find a girlfriend, and then, I knew I was supposed to spehnd my money on HER. I no longer have to worry about gadgets.

By the way, how do all of you make those amazing faces?

 

[Borg]

Manual can opener for me also.

Speaking of gadgets, this looks like fun:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innova...water.sports/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular"

 

[Nicodemus]

Manual can opener for me also.

Speaking of gadgets, this looks like fun:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innova...water.sports/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular"

I've never wanted $130,000 to burn so much in my life before this.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I am surprised, i thought there would be at one gadget nerd

That would be me. An electric can opener, an electric beer warmer, an electric nose hair remover, an electric exercise machine and my pride and joy, an electric chair.

 

[turbo]

I have a 28 hp diesel tractor. I guess that's a gadget, though not something handy for the kitchen. Pretty nice to have when it's time to tend the garden or clear out a blizzard, though.

 

[Mech_Engineer]

I'm an engineer- I'm required to love gadgets by natural law :!)

 

[hypatia]

I tend to have a lot of gadgets, most of which I have used only once or twice. My favorite ones are still the old fashioned, non-electric kitchen ones. Hand cranked egg beaters, nut choppers, cherry piters and apple peelers.

 

[wolram]

I have a 28 hp diesel tractor. I guess that's a gadget, though not something handy for the kitchen. Pretty nice to have when it's time to tend the garden or clear out a blizzard, though.

I bet you could adapt it to open cans too

 

[pallidin]

Well, kitchen gadgets offered by some companies have a useful life-span far less than I would like.
Maybe that's why I like browsing through pawn shops for stuff made more than 20 years ago. "Keeps on ticking"...

 

[mugaliens]

Well, kitchen gadgets offered by some companies have a useful life-span far less than I would like.

My parents bought a Hamilton Beach can opener, model 76380. They liked it so much that when it began grinding a lot more than usual, often failing to finish opening a can, they gave their old one to me and bought a new one.

I've since thrown their "old" one away, and continue to use the hand-driven opener I've had since college, in the 1980s. I've opened thousands of cans with it, and it's still going strong.

So's my hand.

Meanwhile, their "new" Hamilton Beach can opener is beginning to grind and hang up on cans...

Maybe that's why I like browsing through pawn shops for stuff made more than 20 years ago. "Keeps on ticking"...

They also have a hand-operated "food and vegetable cutter" made by Duncan Hines from Kitchen-Quip, Inc., circa 1960. It's still going strong, too, despite being used quite often.

I've good friends in New Hamphire. She grew up in Vermont. Around 1900, her grandfather bought a hand-operated apple peeler that works like a champ to this day!

My favortie "gadget" is a set of cast iron pans I bought back in college. I use them all the time, but I'm fairly certain they'll be going strong about 500 years from now.

My second favorite is a cooking stone I've had for a decade on which I throw bread, pizza, fish, taters, you name it. If something's to be cooked in the oven, it's usually cooked on that stone.

So, yes - a lot of gadgets from days gone by work far better than the ones we're saddled with today. I'm not sure if that's due to planned obsolescence, shoddy engineering, over-concern on controlling costs, or some mix of the three. Regardless, phooey! My kitchen is stocked with older stuff, and I absolutely love using them.

 

[Nicodemus]

I really like a good stick blender; that is a gadget that really was well concieved.

Condoms aren't half bad either, and they were definitely "gadgety" once. ;)

 

[NeoDevin]

So, yes - a lot of gadgets from days gone by work far better than the ones we're saddled with today. I'm not sure if that's due to planned obsolescence, shoddy engineering, over-concern on controlling costs, or some mix of the three. Regardless, phooey! My kitchen is stocked with older stuff, and I absolutely love using them.

I'm not so sure it's even a real effect. Gadgets which didn't survive aren't still here to remind us of themselves. The few gadgets from days gone by that still work are still around.

There are probably a few more modern gadgets that will survive similarly long, and in 20 years or so we'll assume that all gadgets used to be built to this standard.

 

[drankin]

"I AM GADGET MAN", is there such comic book hero?

I'm all about the electronic gadgetry. My phone is not a phone, it's a handheld laptop. I use it more for pictures, internet surfing, solitaire, spreadsheets, email, audiobooks & music, than to talk to people. I hate getting phone calls and I hate texting.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

"I AM GADGET MAN", is there such comic book hero?

I'm all about the electronic gadgetry. My phone is not a phone, it's a handheld laptop. I use it more for pictures, internet surfing, solitaire, spreadsheets, email, audiobooks & music, than to talk to people. I hate getting phone calls and I hate texting.

Inspector Gadget.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspector_Gadget"

 

[Nicodemus]

"I AM GADGET MAN", is there such comic book hero?

I'm all about the electronic gadgetry. My phone is not a phone, it's a handheld laptop. I use it more for pictures, internet surfing, solitaire, spreadsheets, email, audiobooks & music, than to talk to people. I hate getting phone calls and I hate texting.

Yeah... he's called Batman!

Think about it, he's a normal guy with training and more gadgets than god. You could definitely call him gadget man and get away with it, and frankly it would be more accurate than "bat" man.

Wouldn't say it where he could hear it though! ;)

 

[turbo]

My wife is a kitchen gadget freak. She had a revelation this weekend when I asked her how often she used a piece of gear, and she said "never". She started cleaning out kitchen drawers and filled a box with stuff for a lawn sale. Citrus squeezers, garlic presses, zesters, peelers, ancient can openers that never get used...

I have gadgets that get used infrequently, but when I need them they are very useful. DMM, clamp-on ammeter, trickle-type battery charger with cycle feature and auto-shutoff. Even less-frequently used are my oscilloscope and military-spec tube-tester, but they are very handy when I need them.

 

[Nicodemus]

My wife is a kitchen gadget freak. She had a revelation this weekend when I asked her how often she used a piece of gear, and she said "never". She started cleaning out kitchen drawers and filled a box with stuff for a lawn sale. Citrus squeezers, garlic presses, zesters, peelers, ancient can openers that never get used...

I have gadgets that get used infrequently, but when I need them they are very useful. DMM, clamp-on ammeter, trickle-type battery charger with cycle feature and auto-shutoff. Even less-frequently used are my oscilloscope and military-spec tube-tester, but they are very handy when I need them.

I like your standard of what a gadget should be, like a pal who's still into HAM radio. I'm not sure I'd call them gadgets though; they sound pretty useful at all times.