Living in the digital world - from a personal point of view

The traditional way to put information into a cellular was to use the numeric keypad. I never got friend of this method to write text messages (and I really understand why it took so long until the States started text messaging…). So then came some devices with small keyboards with real letters on. Parallel to that there were first touch sensitive screens that were to use with a small pen called Stylus.

This was also the method to be mostly used on my Nokia N800. It was ok but in some situations you were not able to use the Stylus and want just use your fingers, e.g. when I used the N800 as GPS and I was driving. But also trying to write when sitting in a train didn’t always succeed.

This last issue about occasional having problems using a pen is also the reason why I started to realize that there could be advantages in using an electronic device compared to a pen and some paper.

And so now what do I have to say more: it’s not only the iPod Touch and the iPhone but many many more devices that now just use fingers on a screen as input method.

A very popular group of devices that would not exist without this input method are the GPS/navigation systems.
As I mentioned earlier I once used the Nokia N800 to do this job for me, but then I switched to the iPod Touch and then the iPhone, both versions without GPS. So I had to get a separate GPS system which I really preferred (because some things are better when they’re not all integrated into one device). For this I compared many GPS systems and finally decided to get a TomTom GO 720 (I mostly like the way the maps are drawn and the easy touch screen menus).

I recently found a note from some time ago but it’s something that I still want to put here.

As mentioned earlier I once had one of the first Palm PDAs and I wasn’t that happy with that.
Last year I bought a Nokia N800 (now there’s the new and better version 810 with a small sliding keyboard and built-in GPS).

I was very happy with that because it was especially of good use during my vacations: I had a WIFI device with a powerful browser and a better display compared to most mobile phones at that time, and I also bought an external GPS mouse to use my N800 as navigation system. I even did VoIP calls with my headset plugged in with the help of the Gizmo software.

But after my vacation, I didn’t really use the N800 at home or at work. I heard of others using it parallel to watching TV or for any other purpose where you could need a mobile browser. Some even write blog entries at night lying in the bed. This is something I don’t do.
And there was another thing, I didn’t really like about the N800. First I loved the idea that it is running on Linux and you can install so many applications built for the Maemo OS. Later I hated the problems with finding and installing the right apps all the time, and sometimes they crash the whole system, etc.

I found out that I really prefer something out of the box that is working and does just everything I need and nothing more or less. That of course is also the reason why I use so many Apple products these days. And so I also had an iPod Nano (of course the old version), so it’s very comprehensible that I looked forward to get a 2nd generation iPod Touch.

So the iPod Touch replaced the N800. I decided for the iPod Touch instead of an iPhone because I wanted to keep my phone separate. I thought of many disadvantages to have everything in one device (esp. the battery capacity!), but then I really start to hate to always take both with me: the iPod Touch and my old cellular.

So when the new iPhone (3G) was released, I took the initiative and bought an unlocked and jailbroken 2G version (so that I can use it with my existing contract in germany).

Of course because of that, I can’t use any of the new features like Apple’s iPhone App Store, but on the other hand with the old 2G iPhone I have a much longer battery time, and I’m really happy with it like it is.

Recently I saw a news article on washingtonpost.com saying that Starbucks dumps T-Mobile in favor of AT&T. This reminded me of my experiences during my last travels in the United States where I had my Nokia N800 with me and always tried to find an open hotspot to check my emails and to look things up on the internet.

But no matter if it was for AT&T at McDonalds or T-Mobile at Starbucks, they all want you to pay and it’s not really cheap (although the new plans of AT&T are now slightly cheaper). (more…)

Isn’t that a funny coincidence? Just when I was thinking about how a better PDA could be designed using artificial intelligence I get an email from a collegue about an article in The Independent on Computers ‘to match human brains by 2030′

And hey, no matter if Ray Kurzweil is right with his statements about the future, I’m pretty sure there is really a lot more to come what still sounds to be science fiction. Just look around! We’re already living a lot of science “fiction”.

But of course, when I imagine having electronic artificial assistants to help me thinking, I also get scared. What if they control me? What if they’re linked and get control over the world? If one part of science fiction gets real why not anything of the bad side effects?

I cannot say a clear opinion on this. On the one hand side I don’t want to be dependent on electronic devices but on the other hand side I appreciate any help to improve my chaotic life… (But at the current state of devices available I often have the impression that they do more improve the chaos than help to organize something ;))

I always forget things. All day long. All ToDos for the day, any dates within a week, or arrangement with others. A little while ago I went to the supermarket while the shopping list was still lying on the table. Although I nevertheless managed to buy nearly everything, but I still forgot that this week it’s my duty to buy some fruits for the office (which of course was not on my list!).

Why am I telling you this? And what does this have to do with a PDA?
Well, probably a PDA could have avoided some of my above mentioned problems. But there are many reasons why I don’t have a PDA…

Some years ago I had one of the first Palm devices. I mainly used it for storing address data and of course for the calendar. The first thing to mention and I think it’s still the same these days with all devices available: The problem with synchronizing data. To get the data on the device and from the device to a dedicated application running on Windows is not the problem, but if you’re using Linux or if you want exchange data with other portable devices, you don’t have much fun if you manage it at all. (more…)