One-Trick Tech Ponies To Avoid

(CNET)  Cisco's release Tuesday of the Flipshare TV brought to mind other overpriced single-purpose devices that have cluttered my computer desk and stereo rack over the years. Like the over-specific kitchen appliances you use once or only once in a while and don't really need in your life (yogurt makers, margarita mixers, hot-dog toasters), there are plenty of technological products that are better at taking up your space and money than providing ongoing value.

Here are my top categories of tech's version of yogurt makers:

TV Media viewers

Worst example: The Microsoft TV Photo Viewer. Released in 2001, this was a floppy disk drive with a TV output. It was for viewing digital photos on a TV. Of course, if you had a digital camera and a computer, you already had a good way to view photos, and at a better resolution than the TVs of the day. But with the TV Photo Viewer, you could set your parents up with a viewing station for your digital photos. Great -- but then you had to teach them how to use it, make sure it stayed connected to their TV, and worse, crunch your photos down to fit on a floppy and get them said floppies to see the pictures. I tried to set one of these up for my mother. She rolled here eyes and said, "Just mail me the snapshots, dear."

Also in this category, the aforementioned Flipshare TV, a $149 device whose main function can be duplicated by a $0.31 HDMI cable. For that matter, the Flip camera itself is a bit of a one-trick pony. Sure, it's easy to use, but a standard digital camera will also take videos. I have a Flip camera myself and I do love it -- in theory. But when I leave the house, I don't want to take a video camera that duplicates only one thing that my point-and-shoot digicam does (and without a zoom lens, no less), so the Flip stays home almost all the time.

Related: The Sandisk Take TV, which was a bunch of wires and parts that let you watch videos stored on SD cards on your TV. It was a great product for all those illegal vids you got from BitTorrent. It, like the the TV Photo Viewer, is no longer sold.

HP's Printing Mailbox for Presto Service

(Credit: CNET)

Other gizmos for your parents

There are more products that seem to exist to tell your parents that they're technological klutzes. The Presto printer, from 2006, comes to mind: It's an HP-sourced photo printer that prints only what you, the loving child, sends to it over the Internet. It can't print from a local computer, and there's a monthly service fee to be able to send to it. Eventually you will grow tired of the one-way sending of photos and articles to the printer, and replace it with a real computer so your loved ones can communicate back to you. Hopefully you'll still have money left for the computer after paying the monthly fee to use the Presto.

My co-worker Molly Woods thinks digital photo frames fall into this category, since nobody ever bothers to update them after they're first loaded with images. But I happen to like these devices, and even if they are never updated, they're unobtrusive and have great gift appeal.

Ion's Tape 2 PC USB cassette deck

(Credit: Ion Audio)

Scanners and converters

A device that converts old analog media to new, archivable digital files is a useful thing, but the majority of dedicated consumer scanners and converters (USB turntables, digital slide scanners, business card scanners) are used once for a single project, and then hang around gathering dust.

The consumer-grade scanners and converters, in particular, can be a real drag. Scanning photos and negatives is extremely time-consuming for a shoebox archive of realistic size. When my in-laws asked me for advice on getting a new, low-cost scanner, I advised them to try either buying a good one used and then reselling it quickly, going in with other friends or family all at once, or, better yet, using a scanning service instead. It's not cheap, but time is money. Even if you're retired.

USB missile launcher

(Credit: ThinkGeek)

USB Desk Toys

I actually asked for a computer-controlled USB foam missile launcher for my birthday once. It was fun for about 10 minutes. That was three years ago. It's still in my office, gathering dust, shooting no missiles. These little toys make fun gifts, but who wants to take up a valuable USB port and load up poorly-written software just to poke out the eyes of nice people who come to visit. I was misguided. This is a dumb idea.

Rewinders and cleaners

Once the VHS era started to wane, the hopes and dreams of companies making tape rewinders faded too. DVDs and CDs, sadly, need no rewinding. Then the companies reaslized that they could take their one-trick-pony appliance chops and make disc cleaners. These gizmos do the same thing as a soft cloth dampened with water and a few drops of soap -- but unlike the homebrew solution, they can't also wash your eyeglasses. You don't need one.

TwitterPeek

(Credit: CNET)

One-trick wireless gizmos

TwitterPeek. Need we say more? In a world of marvelously competent multifunction mobile devices that make calls, browse the Web, play games and music, and run apps, you can now also spend money for a device that only does one thing -- poorly. Just don't.

Some wiseacres here at CNET suggested I add mobile phones that only make phone calls into this list. I'm on the fence on that. Despite what I said about the Presto printer, there's a mobile phone designed for simplicity, the Jitterbug, that I can see making sense for some people.

To conclude: I'm in favor of simplicity and focus, in gadgets and in software. But even simple, focused devices can add complexity to our lives if we load up on too many of them.

By Rafe Needleman

[curtis41]

Yes, Linux is a good alternative, free, and getting very easy to install and use. CentOS is available free for business use and is only about a month behind the Red Hat version. I personally got very tired of beta testing Windows commercial releases, that ran slower and slower with each release. My sense is it past time to consider MAC for graphics, Linux for home and business, and Windows for Solitaire.

[barbaram99]

I am running Vista, I will not down load IE8. Nope. Vista uses IE7. I use the boxes to type a word in. I went to Vista as MS Anna. I use the Speaking Clock. It is not part of the OS. Vista uses MS Anna. XP uses MS Sam. I have no plans to move to Win 7. Iam told it is faster than Vista. xp is good if ye can stand Sam. I am a legally blind person in my 50s.

[gman1951]

Sorry folks; I hate to burst everyones bubble but I don't think Win7 is any better that Vista! In fact, I put it in the same category as Millenium!!! I just got the full install dvd last weekend {Win 7 Pro 64 bit} and spent the better part of the day getting it set up, which went well but then behold, you have to use it day after day! The biggest problem is internet explorer freezing up when you try to close it. Also on some web sites you can click on a link and it does not do any thing. Another problem I have is they got rid of "Search" in all of the window panes bummer; I use to use that a lot. This and a few small glitches I have found, I wish I would have stayed with XP Pro. Thant was flawless as long as I used it for 6 + years. The only problem I had with it was when I installed IE8 {which is part of Win7].
Good luck Micrsoft! I used to be a computer builder/reseller and was a Microsoft system builder but I am really glad I am out of the headache track now!

[ToolMangler1]

I guess that experiences differ with the installation.
I am running XP Pro (IE 8) on 5 Machines right now with no problems. I gutted each install to the Items I would be accessing the most and ripped out all bloatware the first day.
I am running Vista Premium SP2 on two Laptops (also gutted and trimmed) and they are running 'kinda ok' with (IE 7). I have Win 7 Pro right now (not installed yet) because I am waiting for my 'free' upgrade copys (win 7 home premium) to arrive from HP. Once it is here I will upgrade the laptops to 7 premium then upgrade 7 Pro over that.. Then I will see if 7 is as Good as Microsoft says it is..
(wish me luck)

[thesevenveils]

Wait there is a better solution already available. FREE OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE. That's right, Sun Solaris and Linux operating systems are both free. And so are their upgrades. And their innovations are what both Apple and Microsoft Mimic. While 64 bit operating systems for both Apple and Microsoft are relatively new, Both Solaris and Linux have had 64 bit operating systems for better than a decade.

If the great circus owner Barnum were still alive, he'd switch over to selling operating systems. "There is a sucker born every minute".

[ToolMangler1]

The learning curve for the two is much higher than PC (or even Mac)and they are not "Bug Free" either.
Business software is mostly Microsoft based and will remain that way for the near future.

[rf35]

I hate subscriptions. It's like I bought the software and now I have to continue to cough up money every month for the privilege of actually using it?!? That's why I go with prepaid cell phone service...why pay for time I might not use. Especially given the amount of time I spend away from home. It's bad enough that I have to pay for things like the phone, satellite TV, and home Internet that I'm not using for 6 months out of the year, but there's no way around that because the business models are already too solidly established. Maybe if I eventually get into a career or position that allows me to stay home more often, subscriptions wouldn't seem like such a waste. For now, I'll buy what I need and just pay for it once, thank you very much.

[SusanStoHelit]

Win 7 is simply a final fix to Vista - they shouldn't have charged for it. Wouldn't having an OS they can sell, that people aren't hiding from, be enough for them? It's an insult that they charge us for the upgrade, to fix their crappy OS.

[us_1776]

I got off the Microsoft merry-go-round back in 2002. Went to Mac laptops and Linux servers. And every upgrade has been much easier, especially with Linux. The package manager just takes care of it all and presto you're on the new version. And while my cohorts have been cursing at the windows machines we've had nothing but smooth sailing. Best business decision we ever made.

[rwstutler]

Maybe I'm too old at 51, but I do not like, do not use, will not use and can not reccomend the use of subscription services. They are a predatory business model, designed to take money from suckers for providing (virtually) no service at all to most of their subscribers. If I want a tool, I buy it, I don't rent it - same with software.

[us_1776]

Spoken like a true dinosaur. Subscriptions are ten times more convenient and cost less.

[askagain]

I, too, see no sense in subscriptions. To me it is like buying or leasing an automobile. Leasing, in my case, would be a poor choice for a number of factors such as the mileage I drive and the restrictions placed on leasing. Ongoing charges simply enhance the corporate profits on an ongoing basis. Perhaps being a dinosaur has its advantages.

[jbeckett5]

You could also go to openoffice.org, where the upgrade prices are...uh...much more reasonable. If you haven't seen anything useful come through the pipe in the last four years, you'll be happy.