There's no getting away from it - we're completely dependent on technology. Both the O2 phone network and Twitter went down the other night – my mother didn't know what to do with herself! I don't dare get her a phone she can tweet from, I'd never see her again.

Similarly, yesterday lunchtime my iPod nano started playing up (it would switch itself off every 2 minutes and 10 seconds - that's not a good sign, right?), and my first thought was to use my netbook to log on to the online banking and see if I could afford to replace it immediately. Not for a moment did I think about being without one.

The question is, if you had to strip all technology out of your life save for one gadget, what would it be?

A quick poll of the BCS office revealed:

  • Count Pixel loves his iPhone like he loves a raw steak at midnight;
  • Henry of EdSpace also says his iPhone (strange, that!), because he 'could still surf and play games whilst staying in touch and watching TV' (I think that might be cheating...);
  • Marc, our designer, can't live without his MacBook Pro (partly because it doubles as a portable stove for frying eggs on - is there anything Apple can’t do?);
  • Brian (of OddIT fame) is rather a fan of mobile phones, and all things touchscreen (better not tell him about touchscreen mobile phones!), and his favourite gadget is his iPod Touch;
  • Carl and Simon, both of the web team, also cherish their iPhones, though Simon would be happy with almost any phone;
  • Susannah (also of the web team) puts a mobile phone, any mobile phone, pretty high on her list, and might have said USB if she could keep a computer too;
  • George in Marketing depends on his laptop.

As for me? I love my nano, but I think the gadget I can't live without is the thingamabob on my keys that responds to my whistle when I lose them...

Over to you! One gadget you can’t live without? As serious or as trivial as you like.