Whenever I travel, I always fail to pack my laptop correctly. Despite the laptop bag my pc calls home, and the bubble wrap insulation I occasionally remember to add, it invariable arrives with a few screws dangling precariously from their holes.

After my first trip to Jordan it developed a weird screaming noise before shutting down sporadically, and despite being fixed, it still sounds like a small aircraft preparing for take off.

The computer people say it is age; I think it is more likely the haphazard way I carted it to the University and Books@ like a rag-doll.

It is indispensable and I adore it, but my roving eye cannot help pausing on the following two items.

Exhibit one would be a marvellous technological companion, particularly for those longer trips and jaunts to the library and cafés.

The Flexible Keyboard with Skype Dial Pad and 2 Ports USB Hub (yes, that’s the official title; clearly the marketing team was on vacation that day), or Bendy Keyboard as it shall henceforth be known, is exactly that.

For £30, roughly $60, the allegedly indestructible keyboard has an inbuilt microphone and speaker, and is fully washable.

However, what has really caught my eye is the OLPC XO laptop. Yes, it is for kids, but the bright colours and movable bits and pieces are irresistible.

Sometimes there are things you just cannot help wishing they made for grown-ups too.

[via: Gizmodo]