I buy a new digital camera.

I was at the Apple Store in Tucson last week. I did a presentation on their 30-inch monitor for a small group of Mac OS X users. It was probably the best presentation I did because the audience was involved, which kept me animated, and they shared some of their tips with me, so I learned something, too.

Like many Apple stores, Tucson’s 30-inch monitor is set up close to the digital cameras. So close, in fact, that I fiddled around with the cameras on display while talking to a shopper before I began. I began admiring a Canon model that would take 5.0 megapixel images (or 5.0 piglet images, as my stepfather would say) and still fit in my purse. That sure beat the 2.1 piglet model I was carrying around. Except I wasn’t carrying it around. I’d left it home. Tucson was our first stop on a trip to Maine. We would leave the following morning, straight from our Tucson hotel to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and beyond. When I was packing, I couldn’t find the battery charger for the 2.1 piglet Canon, so I’d left it home. No sense bringing a camera if you can’t charge the battery. I have another Canon camera, a 5.0 piglet G5, which I’d bought for aerial photography work. It wouldn’t fit in my purse, but it took great pictures.

Now here I was at the Apple Store, looking at a camera that would do the same thing and still fit in my purse.

Did I mention I got a royalty check last week? It arrived the day before we went to Tucson. It was a very nice check. The kind of check that makes you want to buy a round of drinks in the local bar. Or buy yourself a new toy.

It didn’t take much convincing. Mike, to his credit, tried to remain neutral throughout. But somehow I convinced myself to buy it. And it was kind of nice that the Apple Store offers discounts to Pearson authors. It wasn’t a big discount, but a small discount is better than no discount.

The sales guy at the counter went into the back and returned with two boxes that looked identical.”I only want one,” I said cheerfully.”Yes,” he said, “but I thought you might like to see this model. It’s basically the same camera, but it has 7.1 megapixels. That means you can make bigger enlargements.”He began a discussion of why more piglets is better than less. I already knew so I gently cut him short. Mike and I discussed it. The price difference wasn’t major. And that royalty check had been quite impressive. I talked myself into the upgrade.

So now I have a 7.1 piglet camera in my purse.

I took some photos in Maine. My favorite is above.

And I didn’t even take the G5 out of its camera bag.