List things that make life easier but most people don't own

[lxskllr]

A Swiss Army knife that's always in your pocket.

 

[paperfist]

Automatic pancake maker

http://chefstack.com/

That thing if freaking awesome!

 

[bobdole369]

Netbook with microsoft streets & trips and a USB GPS unit. Costs about as much as a good GPS navigator but is considerably more useful. Also need a car charger to be really good. As offline navigation on cell phones improves this is become irrelevant. But I still like my netbook.

I actually tried this. I have a hiking style GPS with serial output - and a tablet PC (winXP Tablet Edition) its a C2D 1.5ghz 4GB RAM with stylus.

I found it less than useful. While it would have been great to be able to get to a map and that is infinitely better than no map at all - I found that the implementation is kludgy at best. Went to the Smokies and found it significantly faster to find stuff on my iPhone. Of course in the park there is no other option with no cell service. But my fix was a PDF of the park in iBooks. Fixed 95% of that.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Sharp kitchen knives. Cooking prep is so much easier with sharp knives than dull ones.

 

[Ns1]

I actually tried this. I have a hiking style GPS with serial output - and a tablet PC (winXP Tablet Edition) its a C2D 1.5ghz 4GB RAM with stylus.

I found it less than useful. While it would have been great to be able to get to a map and that is infinitely better than no map at all - I found that the implementation is kludgy at best. Went to the Smokies and found it significantly faster to find stuff on my iPhone. Of course in the park there is no other option with no cell service. But my fix was a PDF of the park in iBooks. Fixed 95% of that.

i was soooooooooooooo lucky that I preloaded all of my death valley maps before I entered the valley.

that said, I managed to get 3G in very surprising areas.

 

[ponyo]

automatic espresso machine for coffee drinker

 

[GrumpyMan]

Shamwow.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Snuggie?

 

[Ns1]

Shamwow.

useful for blotting, terrible for wiping.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Google Chrome. Translate and the highlight+right-click search are just so nice to have.

Also, tools. Lots and lots of tools. Woodworking/framing, metal working, tile working, painting, drywall, landscaping, along with an infinite mechanic's set.
It's nice knowing you have the tools right on hand to do pretty much anything.

 

[Golgatha]

An external hard drive of appropriate size. It's amazing how few people actually back things up.

So true and so sad when they lose data that's irreplaceable. Happened to my sister-in-law once.

 

[shortylickens]

I can keep all my important shit on a 16 gig thumb drive.

Thanks to cloud computing and high speed internet and the proliferation of web hosted apps and such, I dont need to backup everything I own.

After I install Win7 all I need is Chrome which takes about 2 minutes, VLC which takes about 3 minutes, and a couple other things. Takes very little time.

 

[torpid]

Every house has one of those... it's called a medium sauce pan. 😛

Disappointed. :'(

I posted this along with my chuckles hoping for a long and detailed rant from you, and got only this nugget.

 

[schneiderguy]

Pocketknife

 

[sactoking]

Garlic press
Pineapple slicer
Food Processor

In the words of the great Anthony Bourdain: "I don't know what that shit is that comes out of the end of these, but it ain't garlic. If you can't take the time to handle your garlic properly you don't deserve to eat garlic."

 

[Bignate603]

an "H" on my keyboard.

You beat me to it. :thumbsup:

 

[BurnItDwn]

Helicopter

 

[Schadenfreude]

I'd say common sense, but it seems to become more and more uncommon . . ..

If we're talking about material goods, I'd say this bad boy hurr; It's a pot, it's a pan, it's a dutch oven; What else do you need?

3-quarts too small? Here's a 5-quart version.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Small air compressor.

 

[IronWing]

Helicopter

Once they are up and running helicopters are incredibly useful and convenient but they take a lot of maintenance and are such crashy-burny things that for the average user they just aren't very practical. Also, a bit pricy.