happy (early) birthday to me.

so because he's as much a gadget fan as i am, i got my birthday present a few days after it arrived in the mail, and a few days before my birthday:  a nexus7. 

i have to say, i am loving the thing.  i am on the record (probably, somewhere) as saying tablets are useless, and i'm still divided about his ipad, but the 7" tablet is a great place between a laptop and a phone.  i can get email and actually read the attached documents on it, as well as web.  and google maps are just gorgeous.  it's thin and light and i can hold it in one hand, even with my small hands.

on the other hand, i am now carrying around 3 devices on a regular basis:  my phone, for text messages and email when there is no wifi, the tablet, and my sony reader, which i still see a use case for in the e-ink screen which is nicer on the eyes and the ability to make handwritten notes on articles for class.  if i add my laptop, it goes up to 4.  i don't usually carry my ipod, but this is all getting a little silly.

i never really thought there was a good use for a tablet until i went to japan this summer.  and then i saw how useful it would be to have a device to handle map and be able to show off all your pictures.  and now actually having one, it is being useful in class for looking things up and grabbing the scanned pdfs which are giant images that the reader doesn't like so much.

i am also a fan of these guys.  i finally got one of their wine bottle bags after wanting one forever, and i just got their sleeve for the nexus, which is really nice.

so whee.  stuff.  i guess i'll have to decide what to do on my actual birthday now.