Gadget heaven

Brother is a serous wine buff( relatively Speaking) and swears by his recent gadget

Oh how positively ghastly,  so-o last century

Save the trees - KILL THE CORK

I've been using this model for about 20 years. It's the easiest compact corkscrew I've ever used. Even the tightest corks can be removed with little effort.

Wonder how any people have still got one of These in a cupboard somewhere?

Harvesting cork doesn't kill cork trees. In fact the forests where cork is grown and harvested are weird, fascinating places.

Cork doesn't do anything for wine, though. Yes, better off with a screw top. But in the world of wine snobbery, cork is to screw-top as vinyl LP is to computer audio (CDs are those synthetic corks, I guess). The later technology is measurably and demonstrably better, but the true afficionados just won't believe

The Palm Pilot The best one ever and one I still would love to have today - even more so than my current Iphone 4S

I know winky,  I had a large tongue in my small chubby cheek. 

High quality cork is almost as good as any other top, screw top included; but even with the best cork, it can go wrong & like vinyl (I love your analogy)  a small defect spoils what should be a  perfect end product.  

Problem is the world population of real cork oaks is restricted mainly to southwest Europe & is too small to support the world demand. Other oak species & attempts at hybridization are poor substitutes.   So I am happy to support screw top as the best stopper that it genuinely is, happy that synthetic cork has a place & happy to promote the real cork farmers provided they do not allow the slow slow pace of a cork oak life to become ruined by neglect or greed which has become real threats.  

Meanwhile back to gadgets  ...........  & my Simonsig Pinotage & its real cork

Bought for this for my Ex 100 years or so ago.  Have hated video games since. Needless to say neither are around anymore. Bliss!

KT

Tony

Ultimate corkscrew is the Chateau Laguiole Waiter's Corkscrew.

I had this until it finally gave up the ghost in 2004. Brilliant machine.

When I first started as a journalist in the late 1980s, I had one of these (the Swiss-made FiCord 303 miniature reel to reel), which I inherited off my Dad. It wasn't bad for recording interviews.

I still have it today, it still works fine - it's built like a tank - and I have a box of tape reels for it.

Bert,

   i have had many versions of the palm pilot across the years, and always loved them, but they somehow seem to have been the forgotten tool. maybe poor market saturation, dont know, but never as established as they should have been

Tony,

   what is that? is it a mega drve? or asomething else?

never seen one before!

Looks like a mision impossible tool

"this message will self destruct in 10 seconds !"

125 quid for a pocket knife ????

Everyone use to say that whenever I got it out. It's just about the right size too.

For those tool junkies out there:

Hmm - Festool has a striking resemblance to Naim gear, no? Similar rabid following and "odd" design choices that, once you use them, you can't do without. I was into Festool before I'd even heard of Naim....