My Ipod is on the fritz--the sound only comes out of one earphone, which for some reason severely hampers my ability to keep moving on the machines at the gym. The problem is the jack, of course, which I discovered after buying a new pair of earphones.

I was going to get it repaired, but you know the drill. For just a few bucks more than the repair cost, I could get... a  new one. 

And, gee, while I'm buying a  new one, I could really use the ability to check my email at the coffeeshop without dragging around that heavy laptop that, two years ago, I couldn't live without. Sooo.....

I am, as you may find yourself every 12 to 18 months, in the technology vortex.

You know the place--where you've got to shell out for new tools to keep up. Sometimes this happens because of a disaster--a laptop crashing, a cell phone lost.

Then there's a real need for something that will make you more productive.

Other times it's plain old tech-lust: A new thing comes out and you just want it. And that brings us, of course, to the  new IPad. (Which, for some reason, I just don't want that much. See below.)

Lots of technology observers, like these folks at Wired Magazine, are touting the tablet--a small laptop size panel without a keyboard as revolutionary--and soon to be as ubiquitous-- as the laptop was a few years ago.  

But I don't know about that. For us old broads who use a device not for gaming or watching videos, but for actual, er, work, a good keyboard still feels like a necessity.

So I've been looking at netbooks, small, lightweight portables that enable you to work in the cloud, check your email and Skype from wherever. I'm a Mac girl, but I'm having a hard time shelling out nearly  $1,500 for the sleek and lovely Air, when I can get a decent HP or Toshiba netbook for under $500.

This would mean a software shift over to Windows. But that's not such a big deal anymore, because I can use Google Docs on the road to create and store documents of all kinds.

To figure out what's the best option on the Ipod front, I read this terrific piece in PC Magazine.

So here's the plan, right now anyway: Maybe a cheap, lightweight netbook to take travelling to upload pictures from my digital camera, respond to email and update my blogs.

But definitely the lowest end IPod touch.  Loaded up with Sharon Jones and Chaka Khan to keep me moving at the gym. Old broads need their music.

                                                                       --BJ Roche