I, Android

I like them small.
I only use four fingers - why should I need bigger?

Every writer has their own preference for what they write on. It might be a weighty laptop with plenty of room for touch-typing, or a desktop where they have to sit up properly, or a tablet with no real keyboard at all. Some writers like to do it furtively in cafes or on the train. Some like to do it in seclusion. Many writers like their tools of the trade multi-functional with swift access to a world of internet research. And a very few even like them to still go "ching" and need the carriage returning manually at the end of every line!

I remember years ago asking people, "What can I buy that'll be really small and simple, and I can just type words on it and carry it around everywhere, and I don't need anything but a document writer on it?" To which the answer from my tech-savvy friends was, "Nothing. No one wants that."

Well, after my recent falling-out, I've gone and bought the next best thing :-)

My new netbook is small and, quite frankly, pug-ugly. It is faced with the nastiest red plastic and I'm guessing it was created for the domestic Chinese market - some of the pop-up tick boxes are in Chinese (WTF am I agreeing to?) and the weather widget rather charmingly says "sprinkles" instead of "showers". It is basically a 7" Android tablet which has been shoehorned into a keyboard frame. I am learning my way round an Android interface that was designed for touchscreen, but I have to use the keys.

I will NOT BE USING IT TO GO ONLINE ... which is only sensible given that every keystroke would probably be monitored by the Chinese secret service. And I will NOT BE USING IT TO PLAY GAMES! No Plant vs Zombies for me during work time. (That's what three in the morning is for, of course.)

But it's got OpenOffice and 3 USB ports and an SD card reader and live wallpaper and it rocks!

The leaves move! There are ripples! :-D

And it was £55. Did I mention that?
Yes.
£55 brand new.

I hope this is the start of a beautiful working relationship. So long as it doesn't burst into flames anytime soon, I think it might be :-)