Hot Stuff: What You Need and What You Don't: Your Technology Setup May Be Sufficient for Your Needs

Ready for some good news? For the past decade or two, your office technology goal probably was to stay reasonably current--or at least avoid obsolescence. That was a challenge because nearly every year many of your critical applications underwent upgrades and you were forced to buy faster, more powerful computers to run that hot, new software. Not only did your wallet suffer sticker shock, you had to get up to speed on how to use this new technology. Although there are plenty of new gadgets out there right now (and some actually are pretty good), you'll be happy to learn you probably have nearly everything needed with little or no upgrading necessary. So you won't have to reeducate yourself on how to use the new stuff, and you can even put your checkbook away. To determine whether your current equipment really can handle your immediate future needs, read "Time to Upgrade" (JofA, Dec.02, page 30). If you've stayed reasonably up-to-date in recent years, all you'll probably need is some minor equipment tweaking, such as adding computer memory (you can't have too much memory), rather than a major overhaul. And there's more good news: Hardware bargains abound. In addition, since most of the equipment you may be buying will not be urgent, got-to-have-it-now technology, there's no need to pay a lot of money for just-introduced, cutting-edge gear. Price competition is so keen these days that if you wait a while, not only will the new products' kinks be worked out, but prices likely will drop, too. For example, those recently unveiled 3-GHz speed-demon computers not only are overkill, they're overpriced; a far less expensive PC with a 1-GHz Pentium processor is fast enough for most business applications. Now, on to the hot, new stuff'. USB HOST ADAPTERS In the old days, if you wanted to add some major components to your computer--such as another hard drive to expand your data-storage capacity, or a read-write optical drive for massive backups or to copy huge chunks of data onto a CD--you had to hire an expert to crack open the computer's case, fiddle with the wires and cables and then reprogram it to recognize the new hardware. No more. Meet the USB host adapter. If you've never heard of USB, which stands for Universal Serial Bus, listen up, because that little component is about all you'll need to easily upgrade your computer into a more versatile machine--without expert help to open the PC's case and reprogram its setup. A USB is a special kind of plug, or port, that links a computer with any number of peripherals. A few years ago, manufacturers began installing one or two USB ports in the back of most computers in addition to the conventional serial and parallel ports that connect your printer and other gear. Few people used the adapters even though they transmit data between the computer and a peripheral far faster than conventional links. One of the barriers to USBs was the computer's own "stupidity"--that is, before the plug could work, a user had to laboriously "teach" the computer where the USB was and what it was supposed to do. But when the Windows operating system incorporated software that automatically did the job--called plug and play--USBs began catching on. All you had to do was plug in the USB adapter and it played without fiddling with the software. An even bigger push came when the second generation of USB--USB 2.0--was introduced. Not only is it much faster than its predecessor, 1.0, but it is "backward compatible"--which means it can adapt to handle components designed for the slower 1.0. MEMORY STICKS While we're on the subject of USBs, think memory sticks. They're everywhere--hanging from key rings and from neck lanyards--some people even dangle them from gold necklaces. They come in many colors (including Day-Glo, so you won't lose them) and designs (including zebra stripes and jungle camouflage). …