I've sung its praises before, but this very simple sub-£10 device is still my favourite gadget:
It's simple. It's reliable. It's cheap. It does a useful job. It not only reduces the number of hassles in life but also the number of cables you need to make equipment work.
It's a USB memory card reader. It means that when I take a photo with my digital camera, I can just pop the camera's card in this reader, stick the reader into any computer with a USB port and - bingo! - there are the photos or film clips, ready to use. Similarly, if I need a photo off anyone else's camera, no messing about with who has got which cable or emailing photos. One memory card, one stick, one problem sorted.
No more "the cable doesn't fit" or "I left the cable at home" or "I've not got a slot on this computer for that sort of memory card".
Simple, cheap, effective. If only more technology were like that...
The one I bought is made by SanDisk and sold by Amazon for just over £5, just though there are several other good brands and models on the market too.
Makes sense, though I am hopeless at keeping hold of little USB devices. Will certainly consider it nevertheless!
With the move towards the universal USB Micro chargers, hopefully we'll see the move towards using the Micro USB port as the coms port, meaning that one cable will rule them all.
Still my favourite piece of technology | Mark Pack http://tinyurl.com/yj587me