My favourite reading on Saturday mornings is “En prylbögs bekännelser” (translates to something like “confessions of a gadget-freak”) in the Saturday supplement of Husis. The writer of this hilarious article has a special fascination for things that you can attach to the USB-port on a computer. Last week there was eye-massage machine that came in a multitude of colours and this week a robot with blinking eyes. What all these gadgets have in common is that they are totally useless! Or how about a tiny vacuum cleaner that can clean your desk, but only if you yourself are pushing it around. And how about the alarm clock that looks like a snake, plays music, dances and has disco lights!! That’s also a common theme with the gadgets – they all have a multitude of applications but it’s not so important if these functions are related to each other, it’s just a way to hide it’s otherwise oh so obvious uselessness.
We are getting more and more dependant on all kinds of electric gadgets. And to not fall behind, other products are being transformed to accompany our passion for the electrical. Take my ski-jacket for instance. It has all kinds of pockets so that I won’t be separated from my electronic stuff (I’m amazed that my pyjamas doesn’t contain a pocket for my mobile phone!). Well, a couple of weeks ago I found another interesting thing on my jacket. It was a hard square that was sown into one of its sleeves. On top of it it said Recco. I had no idea what this could be but my very knowing father said it was a device so that they could find me if I got buried in an avalanche!
So now when I’m skiing down the slopes, my MP3 player safely tucked away in its own pocket, I’ll know that whatever happens I’ll be fine – just because of some very smart Swedes. And if Recco wouldn’t do the trick I might just be able to reach my mobile phone that I carry with me all the time – in its own pocket of course.
