Great tech for a 10-second commute
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Office gear
The great thing about office technology is that it can help you maintain your efficiency. The bad thing about it is that it can look terrible. More and more companies, in addition to Apple, have put extensive resources into the look and feel of their products.
- Samsung SCX-4500w: A small, sleek and wireless black-and-white multifunction printer that is almost silent. Plus, while it works with both PC and Mac, it can do so wirelessly. So not only is the black exterior simple, polished and elegant, there are no wires leading to and from your computer, other than the power cable. The footprint of the device is tiny, too — it’s the smallest laser multifunction printer (scanner and copier, too) in the world. Prints out up to 16 ppm. (www.samsung.com)
Western Digital Elite Drive with MioNet: This portable hard drive, which is already clad in an attractive titanium or copper skin, comes loaded with an invaluable software — called MioNet, it allows you to access the entire contents of your hard drive (except for some copy-protected music) from anywhere in the world, via the Internet, and run it as if your computer were at your fingertips. That’s right: While most portable hard drives are good for backup, they just store files. The Elite Drive with MioNet lets you “see” your home computer and “use” it remotely, from anywhere. (www.wdc.com)
The Apple Cinema Display: This is still the prettiest computer monitor in the business. There are lots of competitors now (Samsung, Sony and LG among them), but they’re still playing catch-up. Clad in anodized aluminum and with only about one inch of screen depth, it’s gorgeous to look at. And that’s even before you turn it on. (www.apple.com)
Office shed
One last trend you really should think about, if you have a little space in your backyard but not much room in your house: Many people are now erecting small (8x10, 10x10 or 12x12), stand-alone offices in their backyards that look like quaint gardening sheds from the outside but work like modern offices on the inside. While lots of companies offer prefabricated sheds — everything from the bare-bones versions from Home Depot to the outrageously expensive mini-mansions from Design Within Reach — a couple of companies offer tons of exterior options and easy setup.
My favorite: Summerwood Product, which is based in Toronto, Canada. They’ll ship any one of 12 different styles of ready-to-assemble sheds to your home, which can be put together in a couple of days, ready for you to customize inside. The result: the perfect, custom home office, steps from your house. And in a matter of months, it’s a lot cheaper than renting office space and much less expensive than getting a bigger house to accommodate your office needs. (www.summerwood.com)
Paul Hochman is the gear and technology editor for the TODAY Show and a Fast Company magazine contributor. He covered the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Athens and Torino, Italy, for TODAY. He was also a three-year letter winner on the Dartmouth ski team and has a black belt in karate. Paul’s blog can be found at: Paulhochman.blogspot.com
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