Are we now in the age of digital frills? If so, I'm unimpressed. I'd rather see the cellular companies use their third-generation bandwidth to pump a better voice signal to my phone than a movie.

And I feel the same way about Vista, the new version of Windows to be released in 2007. Vista offers, for example, icons enhanced with 3D display technology in its new Aero interface. Aero looks great, but all I want to do with my icons is click on them to get work done. Surely I can put that video memory to better use?

Of course, Vista will offer many advantages, and we'll talk about them in coming months. I mention those icons because they will demand a relatively sophisticated video card. Yes, you can still run Vista's slick interface on less capable machines, but you'll lose the 3D modeling. If the windows and icons on your desktop really need the high-end display technology, better check the hardware requirements.

To that end, Microsoft has released a downloadable tool that will analyze your machine. A 1 GHz processor is recommended, as is 1 GB of system memory, and a whopping 15 GB of hard disk space (whew!).

I would recommend poking around at the Vista site (www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/) to see whether your machine qualifies. Plenty of interesting features are coming, including a new Internet Explorer, numerous Web "gadgets" (small programs for quick access to information, often linked to the Web), enhanced system performance and improved security.

And of course, I'll load up Vista and put it through its paces when the time comes. But what I'll really be looking for is performance more than eye-candy, and on that score I admit to becoming a minimalist over the years.

The best PCs, I believe, are those that don't get in your way and let you get the job done. I also recommend waiting for new operating systems to shake the bugs out, so many of us will probably opt to hold off until this time next year.

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Watching Apple's success with the iPod has been startling. The little gadget demonstrates how nimble this company has become under Steven Jobs' leadership, which is partially a tribute to how this gifted man has grown with the job over the years. And take a look at the aftermarket for iPod products now that the superbly designed audio players have gone from luxury item to necessity for many.

The Logic-3 i-Station is a winning device, one that allows you to dock your iPod, rejuvenate its battery and play audio through its two compact speakers. The performance is surprisingly good for a $99 item that provides a 6-watt subwoofer, speakers and a 3D surround-sound processor. I don't recommend cranking the volume on these tiny speakers, but for my purposes (I listen mostly to audio books and old radio shows), they are surprisingly robust. The i-Station also is portable enough to travel.

You can hook up not just iPods but CD players, MP3 players from other manufacturers or older iPods without cradle connections, too. If you think about how audio has evolved from the days of room-filling speakers and turntables to carry-in-your-pocket quality sound, the revolution in storage and playback seems astonishing. No wonder it's driving a growing market for ingenious add-ons.

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You may hear the old "Twilight Zone" theme starting to play if you check out the New Ties site (www.new-ties.org).

It's the gateway into an experiment in creating a virtual world populated by beings who are randomly generated from software. The idea is to make them powerful enough to develop a language and society of their own, as a way of advancing our understanding of artificial intelligence.

Five European research institutes are behind New Ties, hoping to gain insights into the way human cultures behave. Sixty computers will house the original network, supporting about 1,000 agents (i.e., software beings) but the idea is to build the population into the millions, with traits passed along to "offspring" amid learning experiences that change and modify behavior.

As many as 5,000 computers eventually will be involved, offering insights into collective "thinking" that may prove useful in a more crowded real world.