What Gadgets Drive Your Productivity Improvements?
I had a conversation with a client recently regarding my new iPaq h6315. I was telling him that it was one of my top 3 productivity enhancement gadgets of the past three years. Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to list my favorites as a developer and consultant. What are some of your favorites?
1) USB Flash Memory - As I constantly need to swap large files with clients, this little device has saved me so much time and effort over the past three years it's sick. No more swapping CD's, no more lugging Zip drives, no more huge FTP transfers, etc. Additionally, I use it daily to move files between my desktop and laptop. Sure you could do it over a network, but that requires both of the computers to be on and connected. Hopefully the security zealots don't go overboard and ban these devices from the corporate environment.
2) Dual Monitors - For development purposes, I don't know how I ever got along without them. Work progresses so much more smoothly and effortlessly when you don't have to flip constantly between two windows, mentally caching information between each.
3) iPaq h6315 - All of my communication needs in one gadget. Easy integration with Exchange, Wi-Fi, GPRS wireless data services (email & internet), VPN, terminal services client, Bluetooth, camera, etc. Plus - it's a cinch to develop for using .NET Compact Framework. It has tremendously diminished the importance of my laptop. Yeah - a bit bigger than the mobile phone it replaced - but a lot smaller than carrying two separate devices (phone & PDA). Plus, you can easily swap the SIM card into a phone if you just want to carry a plain old phone. I kept my old phone just in case - but so far it's just collecting dust.
4) A good workstation. I use a dual-processor HP xw6000. After using primarily a laptop for three years prior, it was a breath of fresh air to go back to a high-powered system. It cuts through complex queries on huge Access databases like a knife through warm butter (you can't always put everything on SQL Server). Plus, with VPN and remote desktop I can use its power from anywhere (even from my trusty iPaq). Oh, and it has tremendously diminished the importance of my laptop.
5) Virtual PC 2004 - We are in the process of making this a key component of our technology evaluation, software development, and testing initiatives. I have a sneaking suspicion that this may move up the list as we get more mileage with it.