In the Seventies, when computers were huge machines and personal computing for the masses was still an idea out of science-fiction, my friend Kermit was shown a storage device with a 32-megabyte capacity. Remember that at the time, the development and production of a bionic man was estimated by TV producers to be worth Six Million Dollars (the exchange rate was then P7 to one dollar). This 32 MB device, which was then an object of wonder, cost about P800,000.
Wow, 32 MB. You could store 20 songs in that.
At the COMDDAP Expo, the Hitachi booth is selling One Terabyte hard drives. That’s one million million bytes of memory, or one million megabytes. The price: P9,000. Yes, only three zeroes. In our post-Six Million Dollar Man era, computers are small, fast, powerful, and best of all, cheap.
Every year, the Computer Manufacturers, Distributors, and Dealers Association of the Philippines (COMDDAP) organizes expositions in Manila and key Philippine cities. The current expo, which opened on Dec. 4 at the SMX Convention Center (beside Mall of Asia), is their 40th. Previous expositions showed but did not sell the latest technology; four years ago the participants started their products at discounts of at least 10 percent. The expo also features seminars for IT professionals, students, and the general public; robotics demonstrations; and competitions for students. On Friday there was a Google Earth Amazing Race—contestants “traveled” around the world collecting their clues.
Gadget freaks would have seizures of joy: the technologies on display are surprisingly affordable. If you’ve always wanted to know everything that’s going on in every corner of your building, consider setting up a network of cameras. Trendnet sells wireless Internet camera servers ranging from P9,251 to P22,545. You can access, monitor, and record activity from up to 16 cameras using an Internet connection. The pricier models feature night visibility, 330-degree pans and 105-degree tilts.
On sale from Swiss travel products is one of my favorite travel gadgets: a universal travel adapter (P1,582). I never worry about the shape of the outlet in whatever country I’m in; if the place has electric power I can plug my phone charger and laptop power adapter. It’s in red (and other colors), so I don’t forget it when I check out of the hotel. The Swiss Travel sale includes computer bags from P1,550 to P8,000.
If you use a digital camera, all the photographs you shoot probably end up in your computer. Your pictures rarely get printed, and in the event that your system crashes your pictures are lost forever. Remember to always back up your files and get an account on flickr or one of the many photo storage services on the internet. And print your favorite photos. Canon’s Selphy compact printers are small, portable, and cute (but not so cute that you couldn’t be seen with them). The basic Selphy CP770 is a bright yellow bucket with a smiley face; it prints a postcard-size photo in 50 seconds. It’s selling for P7,950, and 108 sheets of 4R photo paper cost P865. The ES3 (P15,000) has enhanced creative options (“nostalgic”, “pinhole camera”, etc); the paper costs P850 for 100 sheets.
On the extreme opposite end, HP has a giant printer that can produce pictures (and documents, I guess, if you want to publish your novel on a billboard) six feet wide and as long as you care to make them. Ever felt like covering the side of a building with your face, but without having to run for public office? The price: about P800,000.
The COMDDAP Manila Expo is on until tonight.
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