My wife’s birthday is right around the corner – literally.  The next time I post, her birthday will have passed.  The funny thing is, she has received her typical stipends from the parental units and now has some extra cash to spend (which is odd enough in this economy), so finds herself in a bit of a pickle.  What to do?

She has a point…take a look at our current technology library:

1.  Windows XP desktop (Dell Optiplex)

2.  Windows XP VOIP system

3.  Linux Video Camera Surveillance system

4.  Macbook Pro OSX

5.  Acer Netbook

6.  Motorola Android X Smart Phone

7.  LG Smart Phone

8.  iPod Touch (2nd Generation)

9.  Amazon Kindle

Know what the one thing is that’s missing?  Yup, you guessed it – the iPad.

We all know about them, more know about them, and some even fawn over them…claiming they are the only device in their category – the iPad is it’s own category.  So, when she had this extra money for her birthday, she came to me and said, “I don’t know what to do..there’s nothing I really want or need…any ideas?”  My response was:  Get an iPad!

Then she said, “Why”…and recited the list to me.  She has a point – we really don’t need an iPad. It looks so cool…but, is it something that we need?  Probably not.  It is something we’ve thought about, but given our connected nature already, do we really need it?  My truthful answer is, “No.”  She asked me to put together a list for her of why she should get an iPad.  I came up with tons of reasons – for me…

So, it looks like the iPad will not be coming to the house any time soon – simply because, as Tracy put it:  “How Much is Too Much?”  So, with that in mind, I’d really like to pose a question to the reading audience:

How much gear do you own?  When would you draw the line?  How much is too much?  Sound off in the poll:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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Well, as you may recall, a while back during the “Comment Contest” I asked people to contribute their favorite iPhone/iPod photography-related applications.  While the iTouch has not been fully capable of testing each of these, I’ve tried most of them and am putting together a new set of posts (don’t ask me where it’s going to go, because I am starting to run out of days in the week!) to cover the latest in Photography applications for those on the go.  So, for today, I am going to do the first application review:

Photoshop.com Mobile Application

In doing so, I figured it would be best to start at home – and by that I don’t mean here at the blog (although it would be kinda cool to develop an application where you could submit photos to the Canon Blogger critique threads and contest threads straight from your iPhone!).  No, I mean starting with the source – the editor we all know and either love or hate – Photoshop!  Believe it or not, the folks at Adobe have come out with a cool little application that you can connect to via your iPod or iTouch through a web interface at www.Photoshop.com

Here’s what it does – it allows you to store your photos online, edit, and share them with family and friends, create photo albums, and galleries.   Now before someone chimes in and says “Flickr already does that”, I will concur that Flickr is probably not going to be de-throned in the online photo sharing space any time soon.  But here’s a couple cool things that you get on Photoshop.com’s site that you don’t get on Flickr.

• You can customize your background
• You get more storage (2GB free)
• More scalable service (it’s not just free and pro, there are different scales of services for whatever needs you may have)
• You can link Photoshop.com to your Flickr account (but not vice versa)

So, it’s kind of a cool little service.  What I like about it is that the interface is much more conducive to sharing photos on the go.  For those of us with limited storage on our mobiles, it’s nice to be able to just log in to a web interface and share 2 GB worth of photos and have it look both classy and professional (sorry Flickr, but your interface needs an update…).

It’s free to join (you do need an Adobe Account though – also free), and can register a personal web space as well.  I’ve already done so, and you are welcome to view my account thus far at http://canonblogger.photoshop.com as I explore this some more to see what else is there to do.  You can create your own account at the main page of www.photoshop.com, and upload/share photos and videos in as little as five minutes too.  Some other applications I am taking a look at include HDR for Free, iHandy Level, and of course, the uploader applications for things like Flickr and Twitpic.  Some games have made their way into my iTouch (don’t know how that happened! ), I’ll try to keep those out of the blog and keep things photo-centered.

If this topic takes traction, and people express enough interest in it, then be sure to stay tuned for future reviews and write-ups on iPhone and iTouch applications.  In the meantime – if you’ve got an application that you think is the bee’s knees, then feel free to share it here.  Suggestions for applications?  Share those too – I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts.  As Apple is prone to say, I am prone to ask – “Got an App for that?”  Ask here and I will do what I can to find out and review for you!  Happy shooting all, and don’t forget to upload your photos for the October contest over on Flickr. The theme is FALL and it’s sure to be a good one – 3 pics a piece, and it’s underway right now.  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!