Gadgets are invariably considered to be more unusually or cleverly designed device or appliance having specific practical purpose and function than normal technology. We have New Gadgets on Mechanical, Electronic, Programmable, and Application Domain. The invention of mechanical gadgets though is based more on innovation of the inventor rather than education. Electronic Gadgets needs a source of electric power to use it.

Back in the past a gadget used to mean a device, which was meant to do something extraordinary (or at least it looked not like other devices). Today there are so many devices of this kind that it's impossible to tell, where the boundary between a gadget and a device lies. For example, a digital camera is mainly called a device (or just a camera), though a new and a cool mobile phone with many modern applications and functions would be called a gadget. The line between the two terms became really unclear.

The word 'gadget' could be defined as a new, unusual device, mostly used for entertainment; yet also for household and security. Whereas a 'device' means any tool or instrument used during a particular work to achieve the desired result.

In some ways the only difference between these two words could be defined as they have almost the same meaning, though a gadget is always a device, but a device is not only a gadget.

Classification of Gadgets

Back to the main topic of this article! After the technological boom in the last decade of the last century the manufacturers and amateurs have assembled numerous gadgets for various purposes. It was actually impossible to categorize any of them as everyone, especially the amateurs, built them for their personal needs.

Grouping gadgets in categories is quite a task, because of their great number and diversity (as already mentioned). However, there are a few main categories, which can unite gadgets having the same characteristic features.

The USB-based Gadgets

The main and the most numerous is the category of USB gadgets. The USB-based gadgets are so numerous these days that the diversity of their usage is actually a matter of individual fantasy.

First of all, why USB? This is quite simple. After the Universal Serial Bus Port became available on computers, the computer geeks have felt there were people, who think about them. The USB enables the users attaching various devices to their computer without having to shut it down or reboot. This is a great advantage of this port. All they had to do is plug the device in (whether a printer, modem or scanner) and wait until the OS finds and installs the necessary drivers. Additionally, the power usage of USB-based gadgets is very low. This way developing and afterwards manufacturing USB-based devices has become a priority for many companies.

Today there are lists of best, weirdest or stupidest USB gadgets. This trend of producing this variety of gadgets is determined by those young people, who are striving to look unusual and to have unusual things surrounding them. Thus the series of these gadgets begins with a simple USB Flash Card (as a portable device for copying files from one computer to another) and to USB Heating Gloves, Flower Pot Speaker or a USB Self-Destruction Button.

As a matter of fact, the most usual USB Flash Cards are now being reconceived, because even designers are trying to personalize these devices. It becomes something every person familiar with computers should have.

The main advantages of the USB-based devices are the following:

    * compatibility with any computer with an USB 1.1 or higher;

    * low power requirements;

    * portability and mobility;

    * fast access via the computer;

    * use it at everywhere, where a computer can be found.