One of the best things I've seen is the integration of the phone with the PDA. Sadly, because of multiple standards (GSM, CDMA, etc) making that $500-$800 investment is a tough justification on a lot of folks whom don't quite trust the blinking box. Those who are handed devices to use don't pay much attention to their costs, but then you run into the ones who destroy phones regularly. Without an insurance policy a-la Sprint, I would never buy one due to costs. For the longest, Tmobile didn't offer that kind of plan, so I steered far away from expensive phones.
My next point is the fact that a lot of not-so-tech-savvy business people have a hard time adopting the PDA as a daily tool. Sure, it's a marvel when they first get one, but I point to the clunkiness of the Activestink software, and the not-so-easy backup functions. The first time they loose all their data, that PDA goes into a drawer or is not depended upon. Where I feel help is needed is syncronization that is nearly forced whenever the device is online. If people are to depend on the device, you have to take the brains out of backing it up regularly. Of course, I'm in the group that I want more control over the device, but in corporate deployments this should be handled at initial load and locked down for mouthbreathers.
I dread hauling my laptop on business trips. They issued me this 9lb pig that was poorly built, crashes regularly and is an all around PITA at airports. If I could have a PDA that does all the wonderful things like hooking up the projector, have the capability to call out, be a useful office task and internet device and provide me with full flexible storage options, I would leave the laptop far behind. Unfortunately, PDA makers seem to think that proprietary connections and expensive accessories are the way to make people happy - WRONG. I spent crazy money on the last PocketPC I had buying accessories that were soon outdated when the next group of machines came out that caught my attention. That pissed me off. Perhaps the solution is a hybrid device - half PDA phone, half laptop. Kind of like a docking station that has STANDARD ports allowing me to use peripherals seen on PCs and adding a 2.5" hard disk for items I need to have on hand. When I don't need the HDD or the keyboard, I can pull the other half off and use it as a phone/PDA thing. Makes sense to me.
So THAT's what the Gate Foundation is about. They flat-out bought China!
Not to worry - the military will be run on Windows, so we can count on the BSOD.
I found a long time ago that it was necessary. I often tell a story of when my company would do product training, they would lump it all together in one week. Half the week were the technical people, the other half was the corporate and sales people. While the materials, venue and presentation were essentially the same, the events were worlds apart. The technical folks were fed cold-cuts, mediocre buffets and domestic beer/well drinks for the events. The sales people were fed hot lunches, filet mignon and top shelf liquor at the events. Seeing this, I was appalled that technical people weren't considered worthy of the same thing as the not-so-bright sales people.
After seeing this, I said to myself: "Self, you need some filet mignon and top shelf liquor!" So, I fired up my Jargonator and interviewed for the job. Since then, it's been a rockstar life.
The real trick now is to be able to mesh the acronyms with the corporate lingo - Those management types eat that shit up!
This is for the watered down masses who normally buy games thinking their 4 year old PC's will play without a problem. Tell me how the GTA games were so successful then?! IIRC, there was a big stink about how violent GTA was and how it was corroding our kids' minds.. Give me a break.
Those who sell out to WalMart's demands deserve to be put out of business.
Figureheads are useles unless they're glamorous. I can see it now - (Pick your favorite Hollywood Floozie) dressed in a business suit touting the wonders of (favorite flavor Linux).
Marketing speaks to mouth-breathers.
"Your secondary inbox received 11029 messages about reordering Viagra pills without having to go through a pesky doctor. Should I forward those to Melinda, or do you want to place your own order?"
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One of the best things I've seen is the integration of the phone with the PDA. Sadly, because of multiple standards (GSM, CDMA, etc) making that $500-$800 investment is a tough justification on a lot of folks whom don't quite trust the blinking box. Those who are handed devices to use don't pay much attention to their costs, but then you run into the ones who destroy phones regularly. Without an insurance policy a-la Sprint, I would never buy one due to costs. For the longest, Tmobile didn't offer that kind of plan, so I steered far away from expensive phones.
My next point is the fact that a lot of not-so-tech-savvy business people have a hard time adopting the PDA as a daily tool. Sure, it's a marvel when they first get one, but I point to the clunkiness of the Activestink software, and the not-so-easy backup functions. The first time they loose all their data, that PDA goes into a drawer or is not depended upon. Where I feel help is needed is syncronization that is nearly forced whenever the device is online. If people are to depend on the device, you have to take the brains out of backing it up regularly. Of course, I'm in the group that I want more control over the device, but in corporate deployments this should be handled at initial load and locked down for mouthbreathers.
I dread hauling my laptop on business trips. They issued me this 9lb pig that was poorly built, crashes regularly and is an all around PITA at airports. If I could have a PDA that does all the wonderful things like hooking up the projector, have the capability to call out, be a useful office task and internet device and provide me with full flexible storage options, I would leave the laptop far behind. Unfortunately, PDA makers seem to think that proprietary connections and expensive accessories are the way to make people happy - WRONG. I spent crazy money on the last PocketPC I had buying accessories that were soon outdated when the next group of machines came out that caught my attention. That pissed me off. Perhaps the solution is a hybrid device - half PDA phone, half laptop. Kind of like a docking station that has STANDARD ports allowing me to use peripherals seen on PCs and adding a 2.5" hard disk for items I need to have on hand. When I don't need the HDD or the keyboard, I can pull the other half off and use it as a phone/PDA thing. Makes sense to me.
So THAT's what the Gate Foundation is about. They flat-out bought China! Not to worry - the military will be run on Windows, so we can count on the BSOD.
I found a long time ago that it was necessary. I often tell a story of when my company would do product training, they would lump it all together in one week. Half the week were the technical people, the other half was the corporate and sales people. While the materials, venue and presentation were essentially the same, the events were worlds apart. The technical folks were fed cold-cuts, mediocre buffets and domestic beer/well drinks for the events. The sales people were fed hot lunches, filet mignon and top shelf liquor at the events. Seeing this, I was appalled that technical people weren't considered worthy of the same thing as the not-so-bright sales people. After seeing this, I said to myself: "Self, you need some filet mignon and top shelf liquor!" So, I fired up my Jargonator and interviewed for the job. Since then, it's been a rockstar life. The real trick now is to be able to mesh the acronyms with the corporate lingo - Those management types eat that shit up!
This is for the watered down masses who normally buy games thinking their 4 year old PC's will play without a problem. Tell me how the GTA games were so successful then?! IIRC, there was a big stink about how violent GTA was and how it was corroding our kids' minds.. Give me a break.
Those who sell out to WalMart's demands deserve to be put out of business.
Figureheads are useles unless they're glamorous. I can see it now - (Pick your favorite Hollywood Floozie) dressed in a business suit touting the wonders of (favorite flavor Linux). Marketing speaks to mouth-breathers.
"Your secondary inbox received 11029 messages about reordering Viagra pills without having to go through a pesky doctor. Should I forward those to Melinda, or do you want to place your own order?"