A little hardware geekery

Over the past few weeks, my Macintosh has received:

An upgraded Core Image compatible Video Card (Thanks, Keith!), another Gigabyte of RAM, and the 6 Gigabyte hard drive has been replaced by an 80 Gigabyte hard drive.

Next month (assuming the budget doesn't get blown by something unanticipated) I'll add the Apple Bluetooth transceiver module, in anticipation of adding a Logitech (or similar) wireless mouse at a future date.

There is also the potential for adding a Bluetooth headset for use with Skype/video iChat and/or other VOIP/video IM services. Depending on what shows up at the MIT Flea Market a suitable webcam might also be added to the system.

I would LOVE to get the discontinued Apple iSight camera. Apparently, so does the rest of the Apple using universe. Used iSights on eBay and elsewhere are selling for far more than I can afford/am willing to pay.

The X-Box 360 webcam is an often recommended webcam for Mac users, even though it lacks a built-in microphone, a la the iSight webcam.

A very attractive audio device for use with the X-Box camera is the Griffin iMic USB audio I/O interface. This would allow the use of an external microphone with the X-Box camera.

Also, as it has an audio out jack, my desire to have extension computer speakers in the kitchen area and the bathroom would be that much closer to reality.

Now, if only broadband would get to the neighborhoods of a few friends of mine with computers, Skype, iChat, et al, would save everyone so much money on their phone bills!