cute AND useful / by Katherine Hajer

The ever-together Suzanne got Jake and I these mini-USB keys during her recent trip to Hong Kong. I've been coveting the one she got herself on her last trip.

The little silver thing at the bottom of the blister pack is to attach the key to your phone. There's a lobster claw clasp to latch the key itself onto, so you can remove it easily when you want to use the key.

It holds 16GB, and as an added bonus, it's cute. It has a little panorama of Parisian landmarks on it, which is ironic in a cute way, given that the company that made it is based in New York and we've only ever been able to find them in Hong Kong (although I suppose if I checked out the College St. computer strip here in TO I might find some).

The cuteness connects to something that I was talking about with my work friends tonight over drinks: manufacturers and the technology media have been slow to notice that women are into computers too. Okay, laptops come in colours now, and the EeePC was marketed directly to women and children, but there's still a lot of "tech is for guys" noise out there. C'mon people, I can't be the only person who remembers who Grace Hopper is. Tech is for everyone.