Happy New Year 2007

2006 went by all too quickly. It was a year full of making new friends, renewing past relationships, unbelievable offers, epiphanies, exciting transitions, new partnerships, and with the exception of one major let-down - it was a supremely wonderful year. :-D

There’s no telling what will happen in 2007, but here are a few things you can look forward to…

- There will be even more reviews posted on even more interesting things - whatever those things may happen to be…

I’ve been writing an average of two to three reviews each week along with daily blurbs since starting this site, and thanks to Gear Diary’s wonderful and diverse group of contributors, we are able to post at least one review or article a day - sometimes more. Yes, Gear Diary contributors rock!! :-D

As you’ve probably noticed, we have featured a regular mix of mobile devices, software, accessories and gadgets sprinkled with coverage on everything from furniture to toys. That’s not going to stop, but it is going to expand. If there are certain things you would like to see more (or less) coverage of, feel free to speak up.

In the same vein, if you have something that you would like to personally write about, and if it fits within the w-i-d-e scope of this site, then I would be happy to welcome you as a contributor. Send me an email and let’s talk.

- 2007 will have even more contests and give-aways. I get to keep a fair amount of the items that I personally review, so while I could put on a big show about how I need to sell these items to pay for my “costs”, the truth is…I would rather not.

Through the unbelievable generosity of a friend who has asked to remain nameless, Gear Diary currently enjoys free hosting on his set of dedicated servers. He tells me he will never charge, no matter how big and bandwidth hungry this site grows. I mean, how can I even begin to let him know how much I appreciate this generous gesture…other than respect his wish to remain anonymous.

That means that my main expenses on this site are the enormous amount of time I spend working on it, trips that I make to cover gadget related events, and the money I spend buying items which are not donated. Well…I get the gadgets because I am interested in them, I travel to these events because they cover subjects that are near and dear to my interests, and I write about these experiences because it feels as natural as breathing.

I am not comfortable selling a “donated for review” or “gifted” item to cover those expenses - that’s actually what I hope the ads on the site will accomplish - and there’s my not very subtle request that you support the site by checking out its advertisers and sponsors. So I think that the best solution for what to do with past-reviewed gear - things that I won’t be personally using - will be to pass them on to GD readers through even more contests and give-aways.

And guess what? That stack is growing… :-)

- On a personal gadget note: I will probably break down and purchase a Fujitsu T4215 Tablet PC based on Jerry’s recommendation; he is the devil and he will not let up about how wonderful his is. He IM’s me in handwritten text and brags about how versatile his Fuji tablet is, and after looking at its specs, I completely agree. I’ve always wanted a tablet, but until now I have managed to resist the pull. I wish Fujitsu would let me use one for a month so I could see if the T4215 is all that and a bag of chips. ;-)

Come to find out there’s a “six months no interest” promotion going on if I purchase the Fuji before January 31st, and they will even throw in free shipping and my choice of a case (which I don’t need) or a 512MB MP3 player (which I don’t need, either), and Jerry says the upgrade to Vista is included in the purchase price. Hmmmm!

Ya know, I just bought a Toshiba that I was perfectly happy with before he showed me his toy…and now he is trying to get me to look at DSLR cameras, too. Gahhhhhh!!!

Get behind me Satan, errrr Jerry!

Jerry is the Devil

Realistically, if I do decide to spring for one I’ll probably raise the funds by selling my still quite functional Fujitsu P2110, my HTC Universal, and maybe (maybe!!) my DualCor cPC. I’m debating…

Thanks for making 2006 so wonderful, and here’s hoping for an even better 2007.
What will 2007 hold? There’s only one way to find out - stick around and see! :-)