–

… I just hope I’ve not left my power cord at home.

Anyone who has travelled by air in the past year knows how tedious some of the rituals of security have become. Laptops, chargers, cables and anything similar are all subject to scrutiny.

Written at: San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA.

I’m flying today to see customers and partners in Europe – I’ve got the following:

• IBM Thinkpad Laptop + Charger
• Apple iPod Nano + USB charger cable
• US cell phone + Nokia charger
• UK cell phone + Europe Nokia charger
• Jabra bluetooth headset + charger
• Targus Airpower
• Assorted UK and European power converters
• Headphones
• Sony Digital Camera

[I’ll lay this out and take a photo]

All of this is with me in my hand baggage. It’s not heavy – just lots of individual pieces to keep track of.

What the world needs is ‘ZENworks for cables’ and the ultimate convergent device.

My wish list is:

Laptop with 2GB RAM, great screen, 6 hours battery life, fast processor, small and light.
One phone. With a 5 megapixel camera. Also with a 4GB iPod Nano built in.
One set of headphones. Bluetooth. Able to work with the phone and iPod.
One universal charger. For all of this.

The whole lot should weight less than 2 kilograms (4 lbs).

This wish list isn’t far off from reality – IBM/Lenovo, Apple and others have made massive strides with their laptops; Panasonic have exceptionally light yet rugged machines.

Nokia have a great cellphone and camera; there are rumours about real Apple iPod phones.

There are several bluetooth headphones on the market – I just need Shure to make some really good quality Bluetooth E5cs for this.

That’s my travelling electronics – I know I travel a lot lighter than many others. I know several people who travel with many many pieces of camera equipment. Some people wouldn’t be without their Playstation Portable.

What do you travel with? What couldn’t you live without on an extended trip? What would be your ideal ‘convergent device’?

Comments as always very welcome!

Written at: San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA.