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Is There Room for an IM only Device ?
tealover writes "MSNBC Has an article about a new device from Motorola that they're marketing that just does IM. It' called IMFree. Kind of a combination of a cordless phone and pager; There is a base station that plugs into a USB port in your computer, so it's only portable in relation to the base station. Sounds and looks like the kids would like this."
Yip, MSNBC does tend to get slashdotted quite regularly...
As much as you guys hate MS, you post a story on linking to MSNBC at 1am (PST), a time that probably draws the least amount of traffic to and from this site. Come guys, we may have been able to /. MS's servers if you had posted this at, say, noon. How much fun would that have been, eh?
Nothing from nowhere I'm no one at all
to get soda or to take a leak i can take my IM service to the crapper with me!
is if this thing had voice. You'd be able to send an IM to anyone that would signal them by making noise or rattling a similar device in their pocket, and you could actually talk into the device and hear your friend talking back. Wouldn't that be great? Even better if it weren't tied to a base station so you could use it anywhere. I wonder what we could call it; how about "telly-fone"?
Anyone else look at it and think it was a Lable Maker?
No, what would be cool is a Beowulf cluster of these! Now that's REAL messaging power!!
[This stupid comment brought to you by a Beowulf cluster of neurons.]
--TheOrangeSquid Is it any wonder things seem so awry? We swim in a sea of confusion and don't have to think to survive
Girls too?
This could have interesting sexual ramifications...
After the 'phone, it's keyboard, PDA, sync cable, GPS, and penknife, no, there's no room in my pockets for an IM device.
Im = Instant Moron...
Like you!
to send an IM command to an AIBO to go to the fridge and bring back a beer? This could be an important function for the "too lazy to get up and type the command on the computer" niche market...
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
IMFree reads like "I'm free", which just happens to be the catchphrase of a character in a British sitcom from the '70s called 'Are you being served?'. The character, played by John Inman, was extremely camp (1970s British shorthand for gay).
Even today, you occasionally hear people calling out "I'm free" in an Inman-ish voice. I think calling the device IMFree is just asking to be ridiculed. That said, Motorola might be able to use John Inman in their adverts or something...
* For example, many years ago in Spain I saw a billboard advertising a carbonated drink called "Pizz" or something similar.
"The noble art of losing face will one day save the human race"---Hans Blix
Does this seem like the same thing AOL did with that particular version of the Blackberry, only less useful?
And also...it is just me or does the picture of the columnist make him look like a guy who drives a pickup with a (heavily stocked) gun rack?
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
Where is the Porn-Only device? Clearly, this is the next "killer app". Are these big companies just too embarassed to release it? Or, did all the beta testers never come out of the bathroom?
We may never know. Please suggest some features that you would need in a Porn-Only Device (or POD(tm)). From both a hardware and software point of view, we probably now have the technology to achieve such technology. (i.e. left-hand-only controls (or right), media player, kleenex dispenser...)
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
Motorola exec 1: We're projecting sales revenues of $10,000,000 for the next quarter on --
Motorola exec 2: (looking at laptop) Stop! Hang on!
Motorola exec 1: What is it?
Motorola exec 2: Derg doesn't like our product.
Motorola exec 1: Derg? You mean thetruederg@yahoo.com?
Motorola exec 2: That's right. I'm afraid he only gave it... (gulp) a 2.5 out of 10.
Motorola exec 1: Great Scott! (into intercom) Sally, cancel all my other appointments for today. Fly this "Derg" in as soon as possible. His insights will save this company.
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