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Review of the Handspring Treo
axlrosen writes: "Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal reviews the new Handspring Treo, and loves it. 'For the past week, I have been carrying around a new hand-held, wireless device that is simultaneously the best personal digital assistant I have ever used and the most capable cellphone.'"
another pointless cell phone. how about making the networks better before trying to make kick-ass phones?
I think we have to work more on improving cellular and digital networks around the country/world before we get excited over some fancy new phone that can make a 5 course meal if you press *2211. What good is a phone like this if you don't have service? I live in Connecticut, and my StarTac doesn't work in my house, at my office, intermittently in NYC streets, and never in a subway train. Cool phones are great, but more service would be better.
I guess it's something like treading water until the boom comes back and everyone needs one of these again.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
It's sad to see something like this just coming out in the US. This and the VisorPhone, and the Kyocera palm phone are really the only PDA/Phone combos available here. I had the Kyocera, and it was terrible. This just pales in comparison to iMode, even without the buggy 3G enhancements they just rolled out. When will we get some decent wireless data service?? Japan has color, video, IM, web, games, and just plain awesome looking phones, and we get a cell/palm hybrid. yeah......
Where's my lobbyist? Right here.
My boss and I were looking at these this morning on handspring's site, and we came to the conclusion that they either look really good or really bad, depending on your point of view.
For PDA users, this is great because it's smaller than you're PDA and it's also a phone, so you don't have to carry another device.
Most phone users, though, don't have a PDA, so they won't get to carry fewer devices, and the form factor really sucks in comparison to the newer phones on the market. Plus, if a PDA was something they wanted to have, they'd have gotten one in addition to a phone already. Why carry something as bulky as my phone a year ago just to have a set of features I don't really want or need?
For me, this looks pretty cool. For most of the people I work with, it's just bulky and expensive.
Narrative
I think the design is very well done expect for perhaps the keypad. I don't understand why they continue to arrange alphanumeric characters in a QWERTY arrangement on such a small keyboard, when a different layout would make much more sense. The auto word complete feature mentioned though is a good idea (Windows CE had this). Also, the resolution of the LCDs used in these things are very low and it makes text readablity difficult. That is one reason I prefer the windows devices (240x320 resolution) over the palm models. Finally, I believe that the ability to be able to access a document or search for information from anywhere is very important. If I have a question, I want to be able to go to Google and find the answer within 30 seconds. Will this be possible with the bandwidth and limited screen space that this device has?
And still we have hands-free device laws in exactly zero states.
Not true.
--
Mod up a post Rob doesn't like and you'll never mod again
Note to Handspring (and whomever else):
Add voice recognition capability!
How many people have phones now that you can add voice tags to people's numbers? This should actually be rather easy to implement in the Treo, I'd imagine. (I didn't see it explicitly stated in the review.) Imagine just saying someone's name, and their business card comes up and it asks you if you want to dial their number. Sounds like a winning deal to me.
Other than that, add some Bluetooth or 802.11b capability in there. Then I can use this as an uplink for my laptop. Or I can beam business cards with RF instead of IR. Or imagine being able to zap someone your business card through SMS. That's another cool feature.
These devices are ALMOST there. We're almost to convergence, and I think I'll wait a generation or two and take another serious look at it.
Where the wind blows, the tumbleweed goes.
Treo: Great toy features
- hardware keyboard (Treo 180) OR grafitti (Treo 180g) but no sense of which is cheaper.
- 8 hour battery life: This seems short for either a cell phone OR a pda.
- only GSM network -- great everywhere but US, where it can be called "OK" at best.
It's not really there yet: only 16MB of RAM, not upgradeable, and no plans for a springboard module for EITHER additional RAM OR an MP3 player. Too bad: That would be useful integration!
Well what can I say, SPH-I300 vs. Treo. I should think that SPH-I300 easily tops most any pda/phone currently on the market. Allbeit the I300 is not compatible with 3G networks, but come on we barely have 2.5 networks... lets face north-america is quite far behind when it comes to cellphone technology. I live in canada, and we have only one major GSM provider.
I'd like to see this Treo mate with a SCP-6000 and see what happens. Also has anyone noticed the likeness between this Treo and the old Motorola I1000-plus phones. But its definately a step in the right direction.
Fighting for Peace, is Like Fucking for Virginity.
Fighting for Peace, is like Fucking for Virginity.
I only wish that companies like Handspring would consider the impact of their actions before unleashing something like this on innocent commuters.
I do agree that driving while distracted is a bad thing. I curse at more cellphone yakking drivers a day than anything else. But to say that the manufacturers of the device are to blame? I can't abide by that logic. The devices aren't to blame, it's the stupidity of the user. I tried talking on a cell phone and driving ONCE...and I realized how my driving suffered, so I never did it again. It seems some people are unable to make that logical jump, or they're unwilling to sacrifice that "convenience" to possibly save their life or someone else's.
Aside from that part of the argument, I don't see how a Treo makes the situation worse. Cell phones already exist, as do PDAs. Any of the above behavior is already out there, and I don't think the Treo's audience is Joe Blow. Most average folk won't pony up $400 for a phone when (insert phone company name here) is giving them away with service. Two handed dialing? Maybe that'll make em realize how stupid phone use and driving put together are when they can't dial without releasing the wheel.
Electronic Frontier Foundation for online civil rights information
- While having a single standard is a good thing, having competition among multiple technologies is also a good thing
sPhMany US cell networks were built before GSM was created, and must provide legacy support for the older standards
In terms of voice quality, no system out there beats the original Motorola analog
While GSM is an impressive technical and political achievement, do remember that one of its unstated purposes was to prevent Motorola from dominating the EC mobile market the way it dominated the US, and to give Ericsson, Nokia, etc. a competitive edge. In this it succeeded, with assistance from poor management at Motorola of course
Uhh... first of all it's not out yet, so it probably hasn't been hacked, second, I (and I think most people) don't care what OS my phone/pda uses as long as it is easy to use and intuitive.
An operating system is just a platform. Who care's about the platform on something that only has a few functions? personally I would rather have it run Palm OS rather than linux because I know Palm has a very nice and stable OS, and there are tons of programs for the Palm. Why you would put linux on something like this is beyond me.
Moon Macrosystems. Sun's biggest competitor.
No state may have such laws, but many cities do.
And while I hate the idiots that are talking on the phone while they're driving, you also have to face the facts. Wish I could find a reference, but on the news around a year ago, I saw some statistics about the apparent causes of accidents. Number one cause was food, at 21%, I believe. Futzing with the radio was at 11%, methinks. Should there be laws against eating while driving, or having a stereo which has no on-wheel controls?
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
This, like many innovations, is just another step. Handsprings are slightly more modular than other forms of PDAs, while still having the minimal power consumption associated with palm pilots.
Many people, including myself, believe that the next frontier of technology is small, portable devices that communicate with each other wirelessly, though each device has a specialized function.
In order to make that happen, we need to start with devices such as handhelds - which CAN be easily specialized through software, and which have readily available wireless capability.
Its true that its "Just another handheld," similar to all of the other handhelds, but its more functional. Its not like another model car, which is exactly like the previous model, except that its "new and improved" (i.e. new and the current fashion); this is another piece of the puzzle.
And IT DOES MATTER that its slightly more functional. The advent of the 386 chipset allowed a whole new class of problems to be solvable that where previously too slow to do research - I know that this is the case for my field, which is computer vision. As time progresses, even more problems are being researched.
I'm looking forward to using technology such as this -perhaps even this model - in the near future (when it becomes pretty inexpensive - perhaps two or three years from now) as a module for home automation - it would be just about perfect for the purpose.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
Its called the SL-5000D Zaurus PDA and is currently for developers only.
And yes, it does run linux (2.4 to be exact) along with PalmTop, QT, and Personal Java.
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
Teach him to eat and he will fish forever.
I just picked up the Samsung SPH-I300 avaliable with SprintPCS last weekend.
It's a color PalmOS, 8MB memory which is shorter and narrower then my Palm Vx, though just slightly thicker. It does have the ability to dial from the sync'ed address book, and all the usual PalmOS features.
And it's avaliable now, though you may have to search a little to find it at a SprintPCS store. From what I can see, it has all the features the Treo has and more, except the physical buttons
More information on the phone can be found at http://samsungusa.com/i300/
... is simple. It's what people are used to, and what they expect. I know exactly where to find a "A", or an "R", on a QWERTY keyboard. I don't want to have to re-learn this just for my handheld.
I can mostly deal with it being a GSM only device, and not have TDMA or CDMA, but calling it a dual-band world phone is pretty much an outright lie. Yeah, its a "world phone" if you never travel across oceans.
I still might get one if the service plans are good, but being able to go to the UK and stick a £10 Virgin pay as you go sim card in it would make the thing a true winner.
I hadn't heard it until I went to Handspring's web site after reading the article, but a color version is due "mid 2002." It's the Treo 270. No real details other than it has a color screen and will be $599.
Polls don't belong in comments. They belong in the... poll section. You're not funny. It wasn't funny the first time in the 3com article.
Moon Macrosystems. Sun's biggest competitor.
The GSM model is coming out first. However, according to Palm Developers Program, the CDMA model is soon to follow. That will allow the phone to work with services such as Sprint PCS. So keep your pants on. Personally, its the best combo Palm/phone I've seen and I'm willing to switch to Cingular to free up a pocket.
You say you have to pay steep monthly fees for cell phone/internet access. However, you pay only about $10/month more than normal cell phone service as opposed to paying Palm.net or something of the sort $20 or $30 a month for internet access for your Palm on top of your cell phone service. If $10/month is too steep for you, the Treo will still be a great combination of a Palm w/o internet and a cell phone.
Here's a ZDNet article from late October about Cingular's plans to do so; the article mentions that Verizon is considering doing the same:
fencepost
just a little off
tar -xzf /fridge/turkey.tgz / /proc/oven/preheat / /dev/oven
&& echo 380 >
&& cat turkey >
e Voila! dinner is done without me entering the kitchen.
And you're telling me you don't care!?
-- look, cheese ahoy!
Yes you can. I have one. You can do it either from the address book or from the jog rocker thingy on the side. It's how I call people.
This thing likely works in a very similar fashion (I notice they also have the jog thingy on the side). Unfortunately, as so many people have already pointed out, CDMA is the ruling technology in the states, even if they're not yet close to 3G.
I did hear an odd rumor about AT&T wireless perhaps moving from TDMA to GSM, but that's probably not reliable.
The real problem with the kyocera is that it's basically an okay phone attached to an okay PDA. It does neither particularly well, and does integration slightly worse.
That said, I wouldn't give mine up. Half the people I know only call me, and the other half only email me. And most of that time, I'm not at home or work.
Please give some sources for the numbers quoted above.
Until then, I think a recent study at the University of Utah is getting to the heart of the matter. In short, they found that it's the interactive nature of conversation that's the real distraction. Tuning the radio, eating fries, etc, are just fundamentally different than
talking to people.
That said, the new Treo looks damn cool.
I think for their next iPod, Apple should add a couple features:
;-)
1) Cellphone that works with all the cell networks
in the world.
2) 802.11x or whatever that new superfast wireless
standard is that works with 802.11b, v.92 modem,
Gigabit ethernet, and the LCD backlight should be
able to blink morse code.
3) Military GPS accurate to 1"
4) A keyboard and also hand recognition (but not
graffiti crap, REAL hand recognition). And voice
recognition.
5) It's screen should be color and widescreen
format so I can watch my cracked DVDs on it.
6) It should run linux, but have virtual machines
so it can also run Palm and Windows apps. Oh, and
a gameboy advance emulator.
7) The battery should last at least a week,
preferably two.
8) None of this SDMI crap. I can put on and take
off anything. In fact, it should have a video and
audio in, so I can take input straight from my DVD
player into the device and share them with my
friends.
9) It should be the same size it is now, and still
use firewire.
10) Flash card, Smartmedia, multimedia card and
PCMCIA slots.
Oh, and I won't pay more than $150 for it.
That'd be cool!
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
And I reserve the right to castigate you for not selling your computer and disconnecting your ISP in order to divert the money to the homeless, as your doctrine apparently states you should.
;-)
When you're no longer posting on Slashdot I'll believe that you've lived up to the courage of your convictions
Marc Siry || interactive media professional, motorcycle enthusiast ||
Should there be laws against eating while driving, or having a stereo which has no on-wheel controls?
Actually, several cities are trying to do just that. Also, there are currently several unofficial restrictions to eating while driving. For example, try driving past a police officer while drinking from a container without using a straw. Believe it or not, in many places, you'll be ticketed. Food for thought; keep it in mind the next time you bring a coffee travel mug in the car while driving.
I can't find any good references right now, but I know for a fact that in my town and the areas around it, you will get fined if you are drinking from something like a covered mug or soda can while driving. They group it along with driver obstruction laws, such as having a radar detector attached via suction cups to your windshield, which is also illegal here.
Bah. I'm not an extremist, just a realist. I said 'rediculous', didn't I? I see this gadget as a rediculous example. I don't see my computer or my internet access that way, because I've learned more from it than I learned in my 4 years of highschool. You'd probably agree that internet access is no more a luxury than a phoneline. Or at least, that it should be by being provided to low income areas and schools.
North Carolina performed such a study. A take on it can be found on the Libertarian Party web site.
I'm not a Libertarian, but if they use PHP they can't be all bad.
..well, ok, they could use some help from the Demoronizer though.
I/O Error G-17: Aborting Installation
You people crack me up. Contrary to your idealistic view, the vast majority of cellphones have simple monochrome screens. And while color PDA's (like Sony's N610C) are starting to get cheap enough to be widely used by average consumers (as opposed to 'prosumers'), many people still use monochrome PDA's. I have both a cellphone and monochrome PDA; the Treo makes perfect sense for consolidating the number of devices I need to carry around. Also, instead of having two different address books, I'll have all my contacts in one unified book. What's not to love?
I tried talking on a cell phone and driving ONCE...and I realized how my driving suffered,...
I drive and talk all the time. However, I have both hands on the wheel (headset) and most all of my dialing is voice activated. This is no different then talking to someone in your front seat (which may be a distraction too!).
There is no longer anything that can be done with computers that is nontrivial and clearly legal. -- Paul Phillips
I'm sick of the attitude that just because you can't do something responsibly, no one else can, and therefore it has to be all or none for everyone. And it has to be legislated that way.
Unfortunately, until people in general are more intelligent about their limits and their actions, that is the way its going to be. Why should I be at risk in my car because the guy next to me won't admit to himself that he isn't a good driver while he is on his cell phone?
Also, it should be noted that just because you think you are a capable, responsible driver even when talking on a cell phone, chances are you aren't. Every distraction in the car, whether it be your hot cup of coffee, your cell phone, the amazing guitar solo that you have to play air guitar to with one hand, is just that: a distraction. Each one decreases your reaction time. Sure, if you are a person with good reflexes, that time negligible, but eventually it won't be. And at that point, you'll most likely be one of the people who isn't admitting their limits. And then the cycle repeats.
As much as I dislike the government dictating how we live our lives, things that become deadly weapons in the hands of irresponsible people most likely do need legislation.
Fundamentally different, but still causing a lot of accidents. Talking to other people in the car was on that list as well, however, it was smaller than playing with the radio and eating. Wish I could find the citation- I believe cell phones were at a low 2-4%.
I'm not impressed by the Treo myself. Nothing against it per se, but I am not big on cell phones, or Palm devices really. As soon as I can get a card for my Newton or iPAQ that allows me to get real wireless net access for a low cost per month, I'll be impressed. Doesn't even have to be fast- I'll take 2KB/s. But as long as these services are expensive as they are, I just don't find reason to get excited.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
I have a Qualicomm QPC it never leaves the cradle and it hasn't had service for almost a year now. You know the Qualicomm phone with the palm pilot in it.
Battery life sucked, the unit expected to be placed on it's cradle 3-5 times a day (It will completely recharge in 30 minutes) and if you left digital land your freshly charged battery died within minutes on standby or seconds in a call.
If this unit cannot give me 2 days without needing a charge (which means within 3 months it will need daily charging due to battery life loss) It is worthless.
I really hope they have improved the battery life or at least offer a battery backpack for those of us that use a phone to death and dont sit at a desk most of the day.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Oh, puh-lease.
The accidents that can be shown to have been caused by cellphone usage are still a tiny fraction of accidents. Most studies I've read say it's something like 2%, which is far below a lot of other distractions. If you're going to outlaw cellphone usage, how about:
- Talking to others in the car. (I see people so into a conversation they're all over the road).
- Eating/Drinking.
- Fiddling with the stereo.
- Putting on makeup
- Shaving.
- Driving while tired.
etc...
Hell, you can buy a car with a fucking TV in it these days! How screwed up is that? And don't tell me it's just for the kiddies in the back seat, I've seen plenty of models where the TV is far enough forward that it could easily be a distraction to the driver.
How about people start taking some responsibility for their actions for a change? If you can't handle a phone and drive at the same time, then don't do it. I know that I can, as long as it's a short conversation that doesn't require much thought (i.e. I'm going to the store, need anything?).
Cell phone usage in cars when related to accidents is getting a horrible rap for 2 reasons:
1. Yes, some buffoons can't handle the phone and drive... then again, there's a pretty damn high percentage of people on the road that can't drive worth a damn even without distractions. I'd rather get those people off the road before outlawing cellphones.
2. The cell phone users are the easiest to see in comparison to most other distractions. It's really easy to see them holding a phone up to their ear for minutes at a time.
- My favorite error message: xscreensaver, running on an old Sparc 5 w/ 8bit color: bsod: Couldn't allocate color Blue
My CIS teacher today was talking about using 802.11b in lieu of Excite@Home and what not (he may be getting cut off tomorrow.) That got me to thinking about an iPaq/Yopy (or any of the other linux/pocket pc capable PDA's), 802.11b PCMCIA/CompactFlash card and a VOIP application, all combined with a nice NAN (Neighborhood Area Network.)
About 5 linksys WAPS ($139 a Piece on Pricewatch) would cover our entire campus (I have my own personal one but it just covers the dorm.) Anyway, carrying around a little PDA (or using your laptop) would give you nice voice/video/data as long as you were in range, spread those WAP puppies around the city and that would be pretty pimp. Imagine roaming with nice speeds anywhere in town.
That brings me to the point where I am clueless. Can anybody help, how do you provide seamless transitions between WAPs? I'd hate to be downloading a file and wander out of one WAPs range, can another closeby pick me up seamlessly? (I know I can connect to either, but can it switch automatically without interrupting communcation?) Linux seems to usually be the most ahead in these types of bleeding edge apps... Anybody have any URLs?
worldLOG Connecting the lives of friends and family.
My sig, http://www.jdhodges.com
What a dork, call this a flame if you want but have you even held one of these things??? Obviously not since you are complaining about how big it is. The Treo is a good bit smaller then the standard Nokia, which is the number one phone on the market. Heck, except for it's antenna, it's smaller then my wallet.
Get a clue before you post. Some fool might think you know what your talking about.
> Except that it's huge compared to the Treo and has no cover for the screen.
:)
Emmm... no.
Treo: 4.3" x 2.7" x 0.7", 5.4 oz
I300: 4.9" x 2.28" x 0.82", 6.0 oz
I wouldn't say that it is huge compared to the Treo... 0.6" longer, 0.4" narrower and 0.12" thicker.
Though, yes, there is no cover for the screen. That's what screen protectors and cases are for
Of course, the I300 is avaliable now, while the color Treo is still half a year away
Yeah, I know. You're right, and it's not a flame.
that's the fault of your elementary school teachers
Aparrently my intake at my first primary school, for one reason or another, consisted entirely of kids that could already write. Myself excluded. Consquently I was never taught to write and ended up guessing. Badly.
Hey! I got modded down, shocker!
Dave
I write a blog now, you should be afraid.
I'm going to have to disagree that it's the same as having a conversation with somebody next to you in the car.
Phone conversations are traditionally continuous and uninterrupted. We've all been trained to use them that way, and the people on the other side of the conversation expect it as well. Phone conversations take up higher priorities (re-nice'd if you will) in our brain than conversations with other passengers.
Other passengers are far more likely to accept and expect breaks in the conversation due to traffic and driving issues. They often will break the conversation themselves to warn of impending dangers. You don't feel bad about not answering for a while if something needs attention while talking to a passenger, as usually they know what caused the delay.
Phone conversations are inherently more dangerous because we're expected to and pretty much always do devote more of our attention to them.
"No, no, no. Don't tug on that. You never know what it might be attached to."
The high-res CLIE models (both monochrome and color) actually run at 4 times the resolution.. 2x in both dimensions.
- jon
Ganymede, a GPL'ed metadirectory for UNIX
I agree, the future isn't in the handsets, its in the wearables.
:)
But I disagree that the size should matter.
Size doesn't matter, usage and implementation does.
I believe we will see even smaller devices that will succeed, but not just for any application or in any environment.
In the US and many other places you can forget about any 'real' data communication using a pda device until the service issue has been sorted out. But in Europe where GSM is good and you can almost smell the 3G networks, and Japan where the networks are extraordinaire, its the other way around. The service is there. We scream for devices that are not just a mobile phone with a game and some SMS features. Here the market are ripe, so if the American manufacturers wants some business, all they need to do is deliver the advances products and launch it here with the same initiatives they would have done in the States. But mark my words if they are not going for keeps they should rather stay away and leave it up to japs and eurotrash such as yours truely
Here we have the service and even if the device is the size of a wristwatch, if only implemented with the right applications to suit the environment, it will rock the blueeyed danish and swedish blondes panties off.
my favourite fantasy, should I have the opportunity, would be my own personal modified version of the wristwatch from IBM labs in Zurich which are equipped with microphone, bluetoothed earplugs, linux, sandisc flashcard, 1.3inches color display and camera combined with webservices applications for advanced management (and later on blessed with a projector or visor and 'virtual keyboard'). Even without the wishware in the parantheses you would have a client device that in collaboration with web services would give you so many new advantages to make you daily life simpler and more organized, that leaves you with more time for real fun.
imagine the applications with the programmable device connected to the internet utilizing administration and communication software that sorts and organize all the information and makes it available to and for you, on your command.
when the IBM wristwatch with linux was covered here on slashdot a while back I posted some of my fantasies as well and I made a small note about if IBM, Nokia, Ericsson should be interested, I would be happy to cooperate. Amazingly some good IBM professor from Zurich wrote me an email encouraging me to take contact. Greetings to you, if you should read this again. I would love to at least initiate some sort of communication regarding the subject. Unfortunately I lost your address when my thinkpad's harddrive suddenly said: NO MORE. so just to leave it up to mr. chance here is my address again: caspera@sophistic.com
Why did I just write all this again?
I don't know about bluetooth, but voice recognition needs a crazy amount of CPU oomph (to use a technical term). I could see it on an ipag, but on a 30something mhz dragonball? I don't want to say I don't believe it can be done, but I'm a little skeptical. Also, I seem to recall the PalmOS being designed for a PDA that would be running fairly lightweight, simple apps. Is that OS the right choice for a PDA if you want to do this? EPOC ER5 runs on PDAs with processing power similar to that of a high-end PalmOS machine, but also provides multitasking and better memory management.
Just my uninformed, ignorant, kneejerk responses (as I'm sure dozens of people will be telling me very shortly.)
I'm the stranger...posting to
but I agree coverage in NoVA, at least for ATT and Nortel, sucks with holes and drop-outs in the damndest places. (Like Tyson's Corner, a MAJOR office and retail development area that's basically an "edge city", or areas in sight of AOL and MCI Worldcomm.) I'm sure, however, that the coverage near congressional and FCC staffers overseeing the cellular industry is first-rate.
"Should there be laws against eating while driving, or having a stereo which has no on-wheel controls? "
n ews/2000/10/07/nbot07.xml. Oh, and if you hadn't guessed, you're only allowed to use a hands-free phone when you're driving in Britain too.
In some places, it is illegal: http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/
As somebody who used to cycle to work, I can tell you who were the most dangerous drivers (i.e. the ones who scared the shit out of me the most and came closest to hitting me): really old people, and people on cell phones. Really old people are another story though: they're second only to 16 year olds in the US for causing fatal crashes.
One other difference worth mentioning: The Treo is available ONLY as a GSM CancerPhone, while the Samsung and it's Kyocera cousin work with the much more biologically friendly CDMA.
(CDMA is also much better for mobile data connections because of its soft handoff capability, which allows the phone to "talk" to multiple cells simultaneously to produce a smooth transition rahter than the abrupt switchover used by other systems.)
"The future's good and the present is nothing to sneeze at." - Roblimo's last
I guess it just depends on the person. It's the complete opposite for me. I'm a person who always gives eye contact. When I'm sitting next to someone, I have to really discipline myself so that I don't turn my head while I'm speaking with them. When I'm on the phone, I don't have the distraction of a physical person, and I'm keeping my eyes on the road.
It's all about mental priorities. Regardless of who you're talking to, or by what medium, you must learn how to focus on driving. Before the days of headsets, I actually found myself dropping the phone while driving because I needed to focus and use both hands (for a left turn, or something). It's not the end of the world if you have to call the person back or have them wait while you cross a busy intersection - it's just too bad most cell phone [ab]users don't realise this.
There is no longer anything that can be done with computers that is nontrivial and clearly legal. -- Paul Phillips
Jerkin!
This tagline is umop apisdn.
One thing nice about external antennas is it allows the user to extend it away from themself. I know that the debate over them causing cancer and such is still up for grabs (given all other variables involved), but it is nice to have the radiated pattern of waves angled a bit farther out from your head.
That's a good feature of Star Tac phones. The angled flip-piece and extended antenna radiate very little into your brain. Cancer notwithstanding, less radiation bouncing that close to you can only be better for you.
I personally don't like phones with no extendable antenna for this very reason. Just some thoughts.
- A non-productive mind is with absolutely zero balance.
- AC
Hrm, Treo is also a Danish pain killer.
Unselfish actions pay back better
Seemed ok. I agree with others that the networks around here need more improvement for these convergent devices to really take off.
My main rant with this is the keyboard - too small for my tastes. Perhaps it's big fingers, but it was *not* very ergonomic for me, and that lowered my impression of the overall product. I had to really concentrate to work the buttons. I would probably rather fight the Graffiti system (or tap a virtual keypad) then try and punch on that keyboard. But then again maybe if you have small fingers, or really sharp nails, it might work good for you.
I didn't see that new 'sideways' Nokia phone (at Comdex) with keys on either side of the screen (I'm sure it was there). But I would gather that *might* be better as the keys could be spaced a bit farther apart. Or, they could be close together and have more of them (which gives the same result). I'm not sure, I wish I spent the time to check that.
Anyway, some food for thought for those of you with larger digits.
- A non-productive mind is with absolutely zero balance.
- AC
the "do you want fires with that" line is SO old. Now its "do you want that in a combo?"
He doesn't understand that there is anyone else out there besides him. Laws about hands free don't solve the crux issue which is his lack of morals. He's not thought about and understood consequences of his decisions...or he doesn't care.
I'm going to not talk on my phone because when I become distracted I might kill someone through my reduced reaction time
So while you might solve the preceived issue through legislation... you will not solve the issue which is that people don't think about the consequences of their actions when they are behind the wheel.
For Instance take these examples...
the guy who went flying around the curve on I-95 below Hanscom Field in the inside lane at 85 on my way to work this morning seems to have a similar problem...
Or the Saab who did the four lane sweep out of US3 onto 128...
Or the lady with her kids bouncing around in the back of her minivan on rte 62 yesterday afternoon...
Or the guy I watched eating a burger as we were both going through the Hooksett tolls on Saturday...
or mayhaps the State Trooper on the Pike last thursday who while seeming in no legal rush was flying West from Allston-Brighton at 80+ MPH suspicously close to shift change...
Or mayhaps the owner of the El-Camino with Maine tags I parked next to at Dunkin' Donuts this morning that had bald tires...
Or mayhaps the low riding, detailed out Ford Contour with the stereo pumping out the latest hip-hop jam I had the joy of sitting next to at a light in Woburn a week past on a warm day...
Laws about hands free don't solve the issue that these drivers got their licenses out of cracker jack boxes and obviously didn't learn the potential impact of their actions.
Personally I didn't really realize myself until years after I got my license. I mean I knew it intellectually... and I follow the law... but it did not sink in on that gutt level.
For me the transition from an intellectual knowledge to that gutt knowledge happened when I watched from a house in Castine Maine the Hancock County Mounties scrape a young kid off a guard-rail on Maine Route 166 when he tried to take his bike around a steep curve at 110 while inebriated. People just don't realize till it affects them. I really think we should make it a requirement for kids getting their license to help clean up one traffic accident.
So while cell phones usage while driving may be a great campaign issue for politicians in seach of re-election (calling Swifty). It side steps the real issue which is that many drivers on the road today (and not just those in New England) don't really have a sense of what the impact of some of their preceived minor actions might be, the loss of their lives or even more sadly some innocent bystanders
I doubt it would be that hard since if you are going 40MPH you are probably changing cells pretty quickly and you can base it on that. However it is a bad idea. Why are you preventing the passengers from using the phone? Or the guy that got kidnapped and stuck in a trunk?