These are a few of my favorite things

Even though I host a technology report on public radio, I'm not the world's most enthusiastic geek. It takes a lot for a gadget, Web site or service to sink its hooks into me. That being said, several things made me happy in 2007. Among them:

1. eMusic.

I get 60 song downloads per month for about $15. That's four to five albums for the price of one physical CD. The tracks are non-DRM MP3. I look forward to the day each month when my account resets and I can grab more music. Some of the fantastic albums I downloaded this year include "Boxer" by The National, "GaGaGa" by Spoon, "Dub Housing" by Pere Ubu, "Satanic Panic in the Attic" by Of Montreal, and "Sky and the Ocean" by The Volebeats. I'm not sure I would have acquired this fantastic music without my eMusic subscription.

eMusic isn't perfect. You have to hunt for the good stuff among the marginal recordings. But that's half the fun.

2. BlackBerry Curve 8320

I strongly considered buying an iPhone, but ultimately I preferred to stick with my provider, T-Mobile, over the speed-challenged AT&T. I wanted a phone that was good at doing e-mail, and the BlackBerry works like a champ in that regard.

3. iMac

I acquired My preposterously generous brother gifted me a 20-inch iMac for personal use. I don't see myself going back to Windows any time soon.

4. 8 GB iPod Nano

I didn't want to have to buy a new music player. But I crushed my 5G video iPod in an unfortunate accident. I wanted to test the Zune, but Apple had me locked in to their music monopoly. Funny how things turn out. The Nano is great except for the hard-to-manage lock button.

5. Technics SU-7100 integrated amp

Ah, the sweet sound of 1970's amplification. You can take all your iPod speaker docks. I'll pump my Nano through a real "stereo" with real speakers. I bought this at The Sound Well, a fabulous Berkeley establishment that deals in classic Hi-Fi.