My favorite tools: Hardware and iPhone apps

Because this is a blog about digital tools, the best way I can introduce myself is to tell you about my favorite tools. I started making a list over the weekend, and it quickly got out of hand. I use a lot of tools. I cut the list down to its essentials -- and it was still enormous. So I'll break it up in parts. First, the hardware and iPhone apps.

Hardware

TiVo Series 1 and 2. We have two TiVos. We don't ever watch live TV. Even if we want to watch something at airtime, we wait a few minutes so we can fast-forward through commercials and credits.

iPhone original and 3G: I bought the original, then I upgraded to the 3G and passed the old one to Mrs. Tool Talk, who doesn't have a phone service plan for it. She just uses it as an iPod touch.

iMac 2009, with 24" display, my current main computer.

2 iMac 2007s. My old main computer and Mrs. Tool Talk's current main computer. They had flaky graphics cards. Even Apple produces lemons every so often. They work fine except with Second Life, but I'm a Second Life addict so after two years of nursing the old computer along, I bit the bullet and upgraded a year earlier than I planned to do. Mrs. Tool Talk doesn't do Second Life, so she was fine with the 2007 iMac, and is happier now that we've replaced the graphics card.

Since buying the new iMac, I became self-employed. I'm going to need to buy a MacBook Pro soon. If I'd known what was coming I would have just bought the notebook.

Note: I didn't post links and prices on the preceding, because with hardware it's complicated. I'll post prices and App Store links for the iPhone apps though.

iPhone Apps

Tweetie client for Twitter, $2.99.

Things to-do list manager. It synchs to a Mac application. I'd be a disorganized wreck without it. $9.99.

Instapaper Pro. If you see an interesting article on the Web but don't have time to read it right away, save it with the Instapaper Web service, then read it with the companion iPhone app later. The iPhone app formats the article for easy reading on the handheld device. $4.99. Also comes in a free version.

SimpleNote is pretty much the same as the iPhone's built-in Notes app, but it synchs to a Web application and Mac Dashboard app. I'm writing the first draft of this blog post in SimpleNote. Free.

Pastebot. Saves items you copy to the iPhone clipboard, synchs them to the Mac desktop. I bought SimpleNote well before Pastebot came out; Pastebot might actually eliminate the need for SimpleNote by doing the same things and more. $2.99.

Lose It! for counting calories. I've lost more than 40 pounds since March with the help of Lose It. Free.

I track my weight with Weightbot. I could just write the weight down anywhere, but Weightbot makes it a little more fun, with nifty charts and animations and sound effects. Both Pastebot and Weightbot are from Tapbots. They do good work. $1.99.

Boxcar sends push notifications of incoming tweets. You can also set it to send push notifications of new Facebook activity, email, and RSS feeds, but I don't use those features. $1.99.

MotionX GPS Drive is my favorite of the half-dozen or so driving apps I tried. They all work pretty well, but I like the way GPS Drive handles favorite locations and searches. GPS Drive doesn't store maps locally, which means it's lightweight compared with other driving apps. It requires a network connection, which is OK for me, because AT&T coverage is good where I live in San Diego. That'll probably be a problem elsewhere, though. $0.99 for the app includes 30 days live voice guidance, plus $2.99 for additional 30 days.

Watch this blog later for my favorite Internet, Web, and desktop apps.

What are your favorite hardware and iPhone apps? Let us know below.