I heart technology

My love of all things gadgets that require a plug for charging or to turn on is pretty well known.  I had the opportunity to buy a new alarm clock a few days ago.  Who knew that alarm clocks could improve way beyond the basic concept of sounding an alarm when it is time to wake-up?  To my surprise it has!

My alarm clock was 21 years old.  I can remember buying it from Bed, Bath and Beyond during the summer before leaving for college.  It wasn't the most expensive one on the market, but it wasn't the cheapest either.  It did what it needed to do and served me well for over 2 decades.  But once it stops waking you up when you need it to, then its time to get a new one.  Until I realized it wasn't serving its main purpose anymore, I had no complaints and wasn't in the market to get a new one.  Really, who walks around saying they need to get the latest and greatest in alarm clocks?

Check out the size of the screen -- woo-hoo!!

It's weird the pleasure shopping for a new alarm clock brought me.  There were so many options!  I knew it wasn't necessary to get anything costly, but I did want something a little more sophisticated, especially if this next alarm clock lasts another 21 years.

Behold some of the new features invented since the last time I bought one of these.  My new alarm clock is equipped with "Grad-U-Wake".  Sounds cool, doesn't it?  It means that it will increase the volume of the alarm gradually to its maximum in about 30 to 45 seconds.  Wow?  Who knew I'd want to be gently woken up from my deep sleep?

And, get this -- I also have a "nap" function.  If I so desire to take a nap in the middle of the day, I can easily set it anywhere between 10 minutes to 2 hours.  How nice! 

Plus, this alarm clock comes equipped with two separate alarms that can be set 4 different ways, alarm or radio station.  And, I have an aux. plug to connect my iPod too.  Very cool.

And of course, there is a "SmartSnooze" feature that allows me keep snoozing over and over again for up to 30 minutes.

All this for $21.99.  I am most pleased with my purchase and happy to see that alarm clocks have come far in the past 21 years.  Now I just need to be able to sleep without my 2 year old alarm clock across the hall beating my brand new alarm clock at its own game.