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I was just flicking through this week’s Time magazine, and suddenly my geek–radar went into to overdrive as turned the page – the Best Inventions 2006, and the Tech Buyers Guide 2006. Both in the same issue!

It’s true. I am truly a tragic geek. Any new technology featuring dials, a screen, or Wi-Fi capability is bound to make me weak at the knees. The problem is, I’m also the most outrageous snob when it comes to electronics. Whenever I buy something I pour over magazines and the Internet to find the best product on the market. And I’m a sucker for smart design.

All this is too much for Mrs. tyger. She is reduced to fits of frustration whenever I get some new gadget into my head. We spent an absolute fortune on a Sony P910i Smart Phone last year. At the time it was the daddy: touch-screen (with stylus), email, full-internet browser, video, spreadsheets, Adobe Acrobat viewer, MP3, yadda yadda yadda. I had to have it. Eventually Mrs.tyger’s frugal instincts were overcome (most probably by the enormous amount of sulking I did), and the VISA took its inevitable kicking.

However, after I had that sexy new piece of cutting edge technology in my hands, I was consumed by a tsunami of buyer’s remorse. I couldn’t believe I had spent so much money on a piece of plastic of such questionable practical use (beyond wasting time playing solitaire or chess). Yeah I’d use the Internet browser and camera, but why would I edit spreadsheets or write anything of value on a screen no bigger than a playing card? I had been had.

In the end the phone became of victim of an accident involving a three-foot drop and a polished wooden floor. The fabulous touch-screen cracked inside and the liquid crystal display was flooded with blackness.

RIP Sony P910i 2005-2006.

I did learn a lesson with the P900i. I do a stringent usefulness check before major purchases. But, if I’m honest, I still go goggle-eyed in stores when I spot something small, silver, and made in Japan. Regardless of what the hell it is.