The problem with being an “early technology adopter” is inevitably you end up owning a lot of early (and outdated) technology. For example, I mentioned earlier that last month I got a new 5.1 megapixel camera to replace my 1.3 megapixel one that I’ve been using since 1998. I knew my old one was outdated when I saw it for sale at a Love’s Truck Stop for $79, two years ago.

The punishment for being an early adopter is that if a gadget catches on, the next year improved, less expensive models will be released. I paid $300 for my 1.3 megapixel digital camera — my 5.1 camera cost exactly half that. So sure, for a few months I got to own “the latest and greatest” camera, but before long elderly people and children were paying less for better digital cameras than mine.

And when you *do* finally decide to upgrade, you end up owning two devices. From Staples I bought an external 16x DVD burner to replace my old 2x one. And now I have two. Logic tells me to get rid of the old one, but logic doesn’t seem to remember that I paid $549 for it when it first came out. My new drive which is eight times faster was only $99.

Currently I own at least four different mp3 players, two external dvd burners, two digital cameras, several palm pilots, and who knows what else. Maybe I’ll drag what I can to OVGE to try and sell the old ones for a buck or two.