Get Your Geek On

It isn't often that I feel compelled to rant or rave about technology, but this past holiday season it became hard to ignore that technology is fashionable. I suppose we have Apple to thank for that. It all started years back with the iPod--and I hardly need to fill you in on what happened from there! Suffice it to say, you can now purchase an iPad case from high-end designers like Burberry, Gucci, and Marc Jacobs. I would even go so far as to say that the iPad is amongst the latest and greatest in accessories. The moral of the story: geek is chic.

What does all of this have to do with me, hater of touch-screen technology? Well, I purchased an iPad for my adorable husband this Christmas and have since been haranguing him to get a case for said iPad. It seems he doesn't feel the same sense of urgency to protect his new Apple gear; I, on the other hand, have visions of cracked screens dancing through my head (and need only look to the cracked screen of the very same adorable husband's iPod Touch as evidence). So he finally delegated the purchase of his iPad case to me, and I have subsequently been online window shopping for the perfect marriage of fashion and function. Not that he cares--but I most certainly do.

The winner? Amidst of sea of heavy leather cases and silicone skins emerges Jack Spade's Folio. Made of premium nylon, this portfolio-style brown iPad case is durable, classic, and not even a little bit ostentatious. As far as functionality is concerned, it offers both landscape and portrait viewing, typing position, and two pockets for papers (remember paper?). On the fashionable side of the coin, aesthetic details like the Folio's striped interior and name plate detail are true to Jack Spade's mission of offering men "items that represent both honest, thoughtful design and practical purpose."

As the girl at the Apple store charged me for my purchase (the Jack Spade Folio was made exclusively for Apple) using an iPhone-ish looking handheld device, I was a bit disconcerted by the lack of a check-out counter (call me traditional?). But if it's indeed hip to geek out, I suppose a self-proclaimed fashionista ought to embrace these technological advances rather than shy away from them. And on that note, it may impress you to know that, as of Christmas morning, I have become the proud owner of my very own Kindle (gasp!). Perhaps the time has come to really get my geek on...* You know what they say--when in Rome!

*Psst... More on Kindle style to come! Stay tuned for Get Your Geek On, Part 2!

Image: (1) Tech Silicone Miss Marc iPad Cover in black multi $48 from Marc by Marc Jacobs, available at Endless (http://www.endless.com/); (2) Embossed Check Patent Leather Cover For iPad $475 from Burberry, available from Saks Fifth Avenue (www.saksfifthavenue.com); (3) and (4) Jack Spade Folio for iPad $69.95, available exclusively from Apple (http://store.apple.com/).