The gizmo guzzler diaries

They obsess, they ogle, they own. DNA speaks to six technophiles who define themselves by the technology they desire and the gadgets they possess.

The Apple boy
‘If it’s sin, it’s godsend’
The apple may have been the proverbial forbidden fruit, but Jimit Shah can’t get enough of it. The Mumbai-based photographer is an Apple junkie, and owns an iPad, iMac, a Mac Book Pro, an iTouch and the iPhone 4. “In fact, I bought all four iPhones as soon as they hit the market.”  The 31-year-old says he followed the build-up to the iPad launch six months in advance, before it was announced in April. “I kept track of every single development. I got it delivered soon after its US launch,” says Shah, who believes the Apple products are godsend for any professional associated with design work. “For one, I don’t have to worry about back-ups for all my pictures, because an iMac almost never crashes; there’s never a virus problem. Also, certain professional softwares work brilliantly on the Mac.”

The iTouch that Shah owns is less for personal use, and more for his two-year-old daughter. “Apple has a range of applications for little kids, which are amazing. She has been using all my products, from the iPhone to the Mac to the Touch since she was 18 months old, and finds it very easy.”

The window shopper
‘I see, I conquer’
Imagine standing outside a gadget store, and knowing all you can do is drool, never buy. If you thought there was no worse feeling, meet Rachit Gupta, who window shops for gadgets more frequently than you even use the word ‘tech’ in your day. The 25-year old journalist owns a Google Nexus One phone, which he bought seven months ago and he is on his way to HTC Desire.

His three headphones are in great shape, but he couldn’t help buying the latest Philips. Also, irrespective of the PC monitor or television set at home, if there’s a better product at a “competitive price”, Gupta must have it.

“I buy a new product every month,” says Gupta. Frequent visits are a must. “Sometimes, I see an unplanned demo of a new product and I want it,” says Gupta, narrating the time he went to buy a Sony Bravia television set. Sitting next to it was a Toshiba set and a demo later, Gupta had the Toshiba TV packed and delivered to his house. “Recently, when the 3D LED TV sets hit the market, I went looking for a trial of the TV in electronic stores all over Thane (where he lives) and other areas of Mumbai, along with friends.”

The practical obsessor
‘Mobiles can be updated faster than laptops’
Aatif Sumar, 20, a student of BMS at Lala Lajpat Rai College, can often be found tweeting a link to a blog that has reviewed the latest mobile phone. A blogger himself, Sumar keeps himself in touch with cell phone bloggers across the world on social networking sites.

“Most app developers are on Twitter, so it makes communication easier,” he says. It started five years back when smartphones became the norm among his peers. “I became interested in everything about mobile phones — the camera, special gaming features and so on. I started reading up on them online and soon I had to check every link and blog related to cell phones,” says Sumar. He changes a phone every year because “you can constantly keep updating your phone with more ease than, say, a laptop”, and is currently using the Samsung Galaxy S Android phone. “Although I recommend the iPhone to people, personally I will stick to an Android phone,” he says, adding prophetically that 2011 will be the year of Android phones in India.