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The closest thing we've had to this watch so far are the cellphones we've all come to love, hate and rely on.

For those too young or busy to have read a good Dick Tracy comic, the watch was a communications device that allowed the intrepid detective to stay in touch with those wearing similar devices.

It was long believed that one day we'd all have such wrist-communicators and that we'd also be driving flying cars -- but that's another story.

Although the cellphone has effectively become a universal personal communicator, some models now even offering pictures and video, they're still devices that you need to keep in a pocket and which are all too easy to lose.

They're not on our wrists because, even with advances in electronics, such a device would still be somewhat bulky and cumbersome to wear -- although one Japanese manufacturer did demonstrate a video-phone watch some years ago which was linked to a much larger unit worn on your belt or in your pocket.

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However, if you're still holding out for a Dick Tracy watch, all hope is not lost and watch-maker Tissot have come up with an interesting device they call the High-T.

If you read the linked story you'll find out exactly what this watch is capable of and it seems that it's not the only manufacturer now turning out devices that are compatible with Microsoft's MSN Direct service in the USA.

Now sometimes Microsoft does produce some real cool stuff (see I'm not a heartless Microsoft basher) and this MSN Direct service is a good example.

I'm not sure that I would be prepared to pay US$9.95 a month just to have news, weather, sports and other information beamed to my wrist -- but the ability to receive instant messages and appointment reminders is handy.

If they made one that could also handle SMS it would be even cooler.

Sure, you can use a WAP/internet-capable cellphone for most these things -- but sometimes it's just a whole lot more convenient not to have to lug around even a small phone.

What do you do with a phone when you walk down to the beach for a swim? Leave it on the sand? Wrap it up in a plastic bag and stuff it down your togs?

And what if you're going for a jog -- even a small phone can be an annoyance when it bounces around inside your pocket.

There are some down-sides to the High-T however, not the least of which is the price -- a stunning US$725.

The other problem is that watches are becoming like cellphones -- they'll sing, they'll dance, they'll make coffee -- but sometimes all you really want is a telephone that makes voice calls and a watch that tells the time.

Hard-drive Update
Mr Murphy has taken residence here and yesterday the second drive in my PC decided it was going to get all stroppy and stop working.

That was a bit of a pain actually, since I'd backed up some of the files from the rapidly declining IBM drive onto this second drive thinking "what are the odds of them both failing - nah!"

Fortunately Seagate drives (at least in my experience) seem to die somewhat graciously and I've found that this one will work until it gets warm - so I've been able to transfer those files onto CDR. I now have a very impressive pile of CDRs sitting here waiting to be transferred back onto the new drive that will replace both these geriatric and terminally ill units.

On a happier note, It's been a few years since I bought a hard drive and I'm amazed at how many bytes your buck buys in today's market.

Of course, as we all know, the amount of data you store will always grow to slightly exceed the amount of space you have available so that leaves me wondering how the hell am I going to back up 120GB :-)

If you feel that this is a good thing and/or you hold a "geniune affection" for yours truly -- then you are welcome to gift me some money using the buttons provided. In gifting this money you accept that no goods, service or other consideration is offered, provided, accepted or anticipated in return. Just click on the button to gift whatever you can afford. NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally gift more than what you were intending :-)

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