Looking Back, Moving Forwards

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6) I could talk about graphics and how we've gone from ATI's Radeon 9800 Pro to nVidia's GeForce 8800 GTX but instead I'll pick out Half-Life 2. This appeared in November 2004, and still sets a benchmark for gameplay, and storytelling. Crysis has set the visual standard so high that we're actually not even able to reach it right now - certainly my PC isn't, but this was a gem of a moment for PC gaming.

7) Widescreen monitors - four years ago, there was a mix of CRT and LCD screens and if you had the latter, the chances are that it was 17in, 1,280 x 1,024. Which was rubbish. Now our day-to-day view on our computing world has got genuinely greater. 22in displays are common, and 1,920 x 1,200, widescreen 24in displays are within the reach of all. That, my friends, is a Good Thing.

8) 3G wireless cards have to get a mention, because they're fantastic. I'm not talking about Wi-Fi, which obviously is great, but we're still stuck on 54g - and the N standard has still, and seemingly might never be, ratified. As I write this I'm using a 3G modem from 3 - at only £10 a month for a basic package, it's amazing value, and the latest sleek external dongle from Vodafone is only a USB stick and gives you an incredible 7.2Mbps.

9) Surely the ultimate for entertainment experience has to be based on a projector image for its sheer scale and for its cinematic quality. 1080p was the Holy Grail here, and it became a relatively affordable reality very quickly. Panasonic's PT-AE1000E 1080p projector made a big impact on me, providing 1080p at an astonishingly breakthrough price thanks to its use of 3LCD technology, as opposed to the pricier DLP tech. A marvellous machine and its successor is almost here, as well as competitor 3LCD machines from Epson and cheaper than ever DLP based units.

10) My final entry is blatantly selfish - Logitech's MX610 Left Handed cordless left-handed mouse. OK, so in long-term use, I've had problems with occasional erraticness of movement and that its hunger for batteries has necessitated the need for purchasing rechargeables, but it's still the only proper mouse on the market to cater for us lefties, so it's still a winner for me.

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