I love living in the future.

So, a couple of days ago, I bought a new computer. Here’s how that worked. I read an article about an ultra-cheap, android system that plugs directly into your TV (called the MK-802). I went to Amazon and bought it for $35, with two-day shipping free (because I’m an Amazon Prime member). So, on Wednesday, I paid $35 for a computer, and on Friday, I got it in the mail.

It is slightly larger than a thumb drive, with cable connections all over it. I plugged it into the HDMI connection on my TV, then plugged it into the USB on my TV (for power), and boom. I had a working, hi-def Android system hanging off of my TV.

It’s a 1.0 Ghz system, with HD video encoder/decoder, a 3D GPU, runs flash up to 11.1, supports HTML5, has wireless access for 802.11 b/g/n, has half a gig of memory, with 4 gig of Flash storage.

It weighs 30 grams. Just think about that. This computer weighs 30 grams.

Okay, but it’s only Android, right? I mean, it’s not a real computer, right? You can’t play World of Warcraft on it, now can you?

No. But here’s what I can do. I can open Google Drive to do my writing on the cloud (on my TV). I can open spreadsheets using Google Docs. I can read and edit Word Docs through Android apps. I can play any music available either on my cloud drive, or from Spotify’s incredible collection. I can play Angry Birds. I can do my finances on my TV, because every bank and credit union I work with has their own app, not to mention Mint, which consolidates them all. I can read my RSS feeds, I can read my e-mails from any account, I can read my Google Plus stream, I can read any book I’ve stored on Kindle.

Right now, there is only one thing (ONE) that I need my powerful desktop system for. And that is editing video, which I haven’t done in months. There is only one thing (ONE) that I need my laptop for. And that is editing audio (which I do a bit more frequently).

For all my day-to-day stuff, I bought a computer for $35 that can do it all.

Oh, and when I go on holiday to visit the family, I can just yank the computer out and bring it with me. I have enough games on there to keep any kids happy. I can share all the family photos on my relative’s TV. I can still check my social media connections on a system that isn’t big enough for the TSA to tell me to scan it separately.

If this isn’t living in the future, it’s a pretty amazing approximation of it.