Updated Thursday, May 7, 2009 -- 10:00 p.m.

Technology is constantly changing.

First, there were cell phones now there are smart phones.

First there was DVD now there's blu-ray.

Luckily for you the consumer there are two things that are true of technology's evolution.

As it progresses it gets smaller and cheaper.

Netbook PCs are a great example and that's one of the gadgets you may be on the hunt for in the coming months.

They're smaller.

They're cheaper and they're already here.

Netbooks have been flying off the shelves at electronics stores like American TV.

"For your average customer who wants to jump on the internet, get their e-mail, play solitaire it can do all that."

Most of them weigh about two and a half pounds and have screens from 8.9 inches to 10 inches in size.

We can't forget about the price.

Most netbooks are about three hundred bucks.

" Price is very, very important with a lot of customers especially in today's economy and so forth. So when you can go out and either buy an iPod or a computer we're having a lot of customers go toward a computer. "

Also, they run Windows XP.

Not Vista.

" The reason why they come loaded with windows XP is because of the configuration. It's not nearly as fast or doesn't have nearly as much ram as the more typical notebook would have, " says sales manager Chris Chappell.

It doesn't have an optical drive either.

So you won't be able to listen to or burn CD's and DVD's.

" You wouldn't be able to use it for a road trip to watch a DVD movie since there is no optical drive."

It will still play movies though.

You'll just have to load a digital copy on to the hard drive for playback.
That shouldn't be a problem because most netbooks will have multiple USB drives and plenty of hard drive space.

" So getting around that aspect of not having your optical drive usually is not much of an issue for our customers. "

If you want something with more power but that's still simple, an all in one PC may be the answer.

" When you go to an all in one you don't lose anything except for clutter on your desk. "

With an all in one you won't get a big computer tower and there won't be any wires to connect your keyboard and mouse.

Plus, the power is still there.

" You're really giving up nothing with them. "

Some, like this Sony version, have built in TV tuners.

Others like this HP have touch screens.

" It's very responsive to your touch. There are different settings you can go into if you got a little bit more of a shaky hand there's ways to compensate for that. "

But it's going to cost you.

" The market out there for our $12 to $1,500 dollars is a little bit smaller. But the interest in the touch screen and the TV capabilities and getting rid of all the clutter is really, really popular."

From latest and greatest to a classic favorite.

It seems like everyone has an iPod.

" The market share on Apple and Apple related products is just unbelievable. "

iPods make up about 80% of the MP3 player market.

So people aren't buying the devices.

They're buying the accessories.

" People want to use them in their car and while their jogging. "

Cases are still one of the hot items.

You can get a hard acrylic one to protect your iPod from just about everything.

Or fashion cases to match your outfit.

"If you want to match your pink case to your pink purse you can certainly do so. "

Car kits are also jumping off the shelf.

" A lot of cars have the capability of hooking M-P-3 players, like an iPod up to the car stereo."

You can hard wire your iPod to the car's stereo or use a F-M transmitter.

Just like everything we showed, you have options and as time goes on you'll have even more.

Accessories for iPods and other devices will continue to be popular.

But what a lot of people are finding surprising is how popular netbooks are.

According to PC World In the first quarter of 2009 about 4.5 million units were shipped.

That's seven times more than this time last year.

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Updated Wednesday, May 6, 2009 -- 10:00 p.m.

It's no longer just about reading, writing and arithmetic. Technology's role in the classroom keeps getting bigger.

As tech grows so are the problems that go along with it. From skyrocketing iPod and cell phone thefts at larger schools, to smaller schools that are just trying to keep up with the times, tackling technology promotes its challenges for everyone.

"We're teaching 21st century children now and for us to do that we need to maintain technology."

St. Mary's Catholic School in Portage only has about 140-students.

They don't have the staff or the money that goes along with some of the larger schools and districts.

So they have to be creative to keep up with technology.

" When I first started teaching some 30-years ago computers weren't around. "

The hours that Joann Armson used to spend grading papers and giving feedback have been reduced thanks to this.

It's called Voice Thread.

Instead of writing comments Armson can just record them and have students listen to the feedback later.

With just a click of a mouse students can import pictures, video and record their own voice track.

The program works like an interactive power point presentation.

At St. Mary's students use it to put together reports like this one on the body systems.

" It just brought some new light to things on how you can teach kids."

While it's changing the way Armson teaches, it's also changing the way kids learn.

"By doing voice threads I found that when they did this through their body systems they not only said it was fun but they also, I feel, really retained the information better. "

From elementary to college.

Educators at the UW are using video games as teaching tools.

But not video games like the ones you play on a console.

Video games like this one that was developed at the UW.

This is Melody Mixer.

It was developed by Dr. Jamie Henke and Engage.

" We're involved in trying to develop new horizons of how to teach and how to teach better."

Engage is made up of educators from all disciplines and other tech professionals.

The program is run by the University's Division of Information Technology or DOIT.

Engage focuses on bringing games into the classroom.

" The students task in the game is to take those melodies and help rearrange them."

In the game you're trying to save four composers who've been transported back in time.

Some of their melodies, like this one, were mixed up in the process.

It's the gamers job to put them back in order.

" It gives them a chance to associate the concepts we cover in class with how they sound in real music. "

Henke says in her basic music concepts class there are students from all walks of life and musical abilities.

The game makes it easier for her to bridge the gap between those who have music in their backgrounds and those who don't.

" If we have a responsibility to educate children so they can be successful citizens in this country, technology has to be a part of that. "

Bridging gaps isn't just reserved for the UW.

Kurt Keifer is Madison Metro School District's Chief Information Officer.

He says 50% of their students have access to the internet 50% don't.

Now, They're trying to level the playing field.

" In this era if you don't have access to the internet you are at a competitive disadvantage. "

Keifer hopes the districts recently completed technology plan will aide in that process.

" The technology plan is a three year plan that lays out what it is that we feel we need to accomplish in that period of time as it relates to technology in every facet of the school district. "

In that plan Keifer and his committee identified several areas the district needs to improve in like infrastructure.

" One that includes a wireless environment for our kids and our teachers. "

Tech training for teachers and making sure students are up to date with technology.

" Net books are one example of those. "

Netbooks, are mini notebook computers.

They're a fraction of the size and price.

They're not going to have the power of your normal PC.

But Keifer thinks these little gadgets could help fill the gap between those who have access to the internet and those who don't.

Keifer says the district started working on its technology plan back in September of '08.

Before the plan is approved and netbooks go into schools across the district their plan has to be approved locally at the board level.

Then it has to be approved by the state's Department of Public Instruction or DPI.

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Posted Tuesday, May 5, 2009 -- 10:00 p.m.

Neither can cops...using technology to catch criminals.

They're sworn to protect and serve.

To do that officers of the law have to sometimes rely on the same technology you and I use.

Other times that technology can be their worst enemy.

" Because they have become so common place people really have a lot of their life stored on there."

If it was snapped, down loaded or transferred Melanie Hampton can find it.

" When you delete something it's not really deleted. "

Hampton is an investigator with the Madison Police Department.

She's a computer forensic analyst.

Not that long ago Hampton and her department mainly focused on personal computers or PC's and their hard drives.

" The first real need that came about was mostly the child pornography cases. "

About 10-years ago the rise of digital cameras and the Internet led to a huge surge in child-porn.

" All of that just exploded again and digital cameras...the ability to produce child pornography...became incredibly easy."

Hiding it on PC's also got a lot easier.

That's because hard drives on computers got a lot bigger.

" Simply the size of the devices that we're dealing with has just ballooned. "

15 years ago home P-C's were lucky to have a 20-gig hard drive.

Now, you can find PC's with as much as one-thousand gig hard drives better known as a terabyte.

But that's not the only thing that's made Hampton's job more difficult.
" Cell phones, camera's, computers..."

She doesn't just work with PC's anymore.

She works with anything that has memory.

Blackberrys, iPhones, iPods, digital cameras and flash drives...and she doesn't just work on child-porn cases.

" We will examine evidence for any type of case. "

From embezzlement to extortion to fraud.

If there's evidence on a digital device Hampton can track it down.

But she doesn't work alone.

MPD has two people working full time on tackling technology.

But, not every department in the area is as lucky.

" There is not unlimited resources to buy and do and have all the latest toys. "

The Sun Prairie PD only has about 50 officers on staff.

So no one works the tech beat full time.

But they're constantly learning.

" As technology changes law enforcement is going to adapt. "

Jason Lafeber is a former IT specialist and SPPD's unofficial digital media expert.

Although their resources may be light by comparison that doesn't stop Lafeber from pushing for the tech that will make his job easier.

" This is a camcorder. It doesn't have an internal hard drive it's a flash memory. "

One day this pocket sized, high definition camera could replace the bigger dash cams in their squads.

Or they could replace older clunkier cameras at crime scenes.

" An officer would put this in their pocket as opposed to your more standard camcorder."

If that will happen it remains to be seen.

But this is right now.

In February the department got bluetooth connectivity in all of its squad cars.

Now, officers can call one another, dispatch or you out on the road with out having to take their hands off the wheel.

" It's actually quite a big help to us. "

While new technology helps fight crime...it also leads to more of it.

" The thefts in the school here have all been crimes of opportunity."

In Middleton crime went up 25% in 2008.

Behind the spike iPods and cell phones.

At the high school alone crime went up 245%.

So many kids were bringing iPods and cell phones to school that administrators decided to allow it.

Just like law enforcement officials, school officials are tackling technology.

Just like cops, educators are dealing with the good and the bad.