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The Traveler's Tech Tools

It is possible to travel with a Toshiba Libretto   sub-notebook computer (available from Shopper.com), operating on full-function WIN98, a 56k internal modem and a couple gigabytes of hard drive. If you want the latest in style you can have a shoulder holster, made to carry FBI-style. Otherwise you can carry it in a purse or pocket.

But what can you do with this one pound marvel? Hook into a phone line somewhere or try your luck with a cellular connection to get onto the internet to do your e-mail…check news…go to the finance sites. It is truly an office on the fly, or perhaps an office while flying (though the SAT charges of $15/min argue against many minutes of online time on commercial airlines).

E-mail is a necessity for communication these days. Almost all of the standard e-mail programs have fax capabilities for the more conventional applications (I use JFAX /www.jfax.com/ for fax and voice messages). Travel time is a good time for reconfiguring your filing systems, deleting out-of-date material and writing reports (Microsoft Office 97 has a number of good report templates).

News sources on the web are plentiful and growing. The traditional ones are available online with more functionality than their print versions. The NY Times, Wall St. Journal, Barrons, Financial Times and the Economist are popular with travelers. For specific lookups, I use the news archive section of Copernic. Several newer ones are exhibiting good capability…theStreet.com for unconventional interpretation of news and Fortuneinvestor.com for its magazine content and a full lab of quantitative tools for screening and valuation. Many of these sites have premium subscriptions that are almost always worthwhile because they know their competition is free.

Financial laboratories are well-represented. I am impressed with the valuation resources on RCM Financial and Ed Yardeni's site. It is difficult to imagine an economic or investment job that could not be done with these sites. Otherwise, rechecking the sites tabbed by Ibbotson will usually lead you to something useful.

With these tools your travel time will become a valuable extension of your work life, maybe the best part. But you will still pass by the MS NetMeeting icon on your desktop and wonder if you could be doing this trip in cyberspace.

Dean LeBaron
June 30, 1998

email <deanlebaron@compuserve.com>

website <http://www.deanlebaron.com>