Look, ma — no power supply bricks!

Remember the old days of carrying power supplies for cell phones, music players and other portable electronics?

I am delighted that every portable device I travel with can be charged via USB port. I don’t carry any AC power supplies any more, beyond the briquette for my Apple MacBook Pro.

What travels with me? On my current trip, I have a Garmin StreetPilot c550, a BlackBerry and an Apple iPod Touch. I don’t schlep AC power supplies for any of them.

All three of those devices can charge from a USB 2.0 port. (They can also charge from a powered USB hub, which is handy if you’re not carrying your notebook.) I just keep a couple of mini-USB cables in my briefcase, along with a special iPod cable. It’s a wonderful thing.

My case is also lighter since I don’t carry any computer connectivity cables. It’s WiFi for me, my friend, nearly all the time. (My MacBook Pro doesn’t even have a modem — and I’ve never missed it.) In the rare instance where a hotel has cabled Ethernet instead of WiFi, there’s always a Cat-5 cable available in the room, or worst case, at the front desk.

Check your briefcase and travel gear. Are you still carrying bricks and cables that you don’t need? Lighten the load!