The Ultimate Windows Sideshow Device

I remember when Windows Vista was first being released, there was a lot of talk about these wonderful new gadgets that would be attached to all the new computers that would allow you to do simple tasks like play music, check your email, and see how your stocks were doing - all without turning on your computer.  It was something called Windows Sideshow, and it was supposed to be a huge selling point for Windows based laptops.  Of course that didn’t work out at all and manufacturers seemed to drop the idea entirely, in fact if I check Dell.com or HP.com, I really can’t find any Windows Vista computer that has it as an option.  While the implementation by the third party manufacturers would seem to be rather lacking, one company has managed to make the perfect computer companion device for doing everything from checking your email to watching your stocks to updating your FaceBook status all without even really knowing they were doing it.  Enter the iPod Touch, a device that will sync with your computer, give you instant access to the internet, let you check your stocks, check the weather, allow you to update your status on a variety of social networking sites, play games, and it even lets you play music and videos - not that I use that feature a lot.  At first I thought I wouldn’t use it very much, just to watch the occasional video or to play some games when I got bored.  What I have found is that I use it all the time for the simple online tasks that I used to have to boot up my computer for, which I believe was the entire point of Windows Sideshow.  So, if you really liked the idea of Sideshow, there is a company in Cupertino that would like to sell you the ultimate Sideshow device - and you really don’t even need your computer with you to use it.