My Palm Is No Longer Top Dog Yep, it's official: Steve Jobs has been reading my blog on the ultimate device, and went ahead and created it. This will serve as an epitaph for my Palm: ladies and gentlemen, I humbly yield my evangelism of my Palm TX as the ultimate multipurpose device, and give you the iPhone.

Why is the iPhone the perfect device? Let me count the ways:

- Apple (no longer Apple Computer; now just Apple, inc. - nice touch, Steve) understands that the killer app for a cell phone is...the phone functions. With Apple's clout, they were able to make the largest cell carrier innovate (visual voicemail: click what messages you want to listen to, rather than be forced to listen to them all), and promises more. Hell, they make making a phone call look sexy on this thing.

- Perfect form factor. Slimmer than any other smartphone, to appeal to the sexy crowd. All screen: you can't mess up the buttons on this thing. The right size to talk on, watch movies...just perfect.

- It runs Mac OS X. Read that again. Not some stripped down version of Linux, or a proprietary OS: the real Mac OS. You want a platform to innovate on or get apps to run on? This is the most robust possibility, ever.

- It syncs with all of the Apple apps, seamlessly as your iPod syncs with iTunes. Music, video, podcasts, contacts, calendar...effortless.

- It ships with 4 or 8 GB of flash memory. Not a hard drive: flash. That means FAST, and no moving parts. Sure, on a music player, that might be not news, but as a phone as well?

- Widgets. This is the ultimate platform for widget displays, all with the whole Apple Dashboard library to choose from.

- Video. I finally have a reason to buy TV shows from iTunes. No more ripping, and dithering down: this sucker will play them all. And you KNOW the integration with FrontRow is coming...can you say Apple TV DVR?

- Music. It's an iPod, the gold standard of MP3 players. And it uses the same connector, which means the accessories are amazing.

- Elegant design. An integrated accelerometer "knows" when you turn it to see it in widescreen, and changes the display to match. A sensor "knows" when you bring it to your face, and turns off the screen, so the light is not on and you can't hit any buttons by accident.

- Connectivity. WiFi built in and Bluetooth 2.0. The phone "senses" when you are near a WiFi connection and uses that; if unavailable, it falls back to the EDGE connection.

- Battery life: it was called out as a feature, not a drawback. The talk time and usage is clearly a focus.

- Price: $599 for the 8GB version. Top smartphones cost close to that, and don't begin to offer the features this does.

- Yahoo push e-mail and Google Maps, built in. Oh my goodness.

I could go on and on, but as great as this device (it's impossible to consider this just a phone) is already, it's real secret weapon is that the potential has not even begun to be explored. 3rd party apps on Mac OSX. Video games. GPS. The mind boggles.

So, are there any flaws? Yes.

1) No camera. It took me a full day to realize that omission. As I have mentioned before, this is a surprisingly popular feature. People will not be thrilled about giving this up, especially with such a capable device to send the pictures from.
UPDATE: Uh-oh, it just got even better. According to the iPhone specs page, it comes with a 2.0 Megapixel camera. Wow.

2) Battery. iPods are notorious for having "closed cases:" you cannot pop a new battery on, when the old one dies. While this may be ok for iPods, phones are critical: let's hope when June comes around (when the release is), it allows for the end user to change the battery.

3) Price. Yes, it's a hell of a deal for all of what you get, but it's still the elite of elites. Will I buy it? Of course. But the iPod took a while to get fully entrenched because of the price.

4) It's wedded to Cingular. Some people tolerate Cingular, others hate it. IMHO, all of the companies are the same, but it will turn off some folks. Your iPod is individual; this attaches you to Cingular for at least 2 years.

5) Memory. 8GB sounds like a lot, until you load all your music, photos, videos and contacts on it. No expansion I saw. This allows Apple to intro the 10GB, etc., later, but it means Flash memory needs to keep up with the demand. Plus, how happy will people by having to spend another $600 every year or two?

6) 3G connectivity. EDGE is the least acceptable cellular data rate. Cingular's HDSPA is much more DSL-like, and rolls back to EDGE. Not a big deal, until you remember: Steve Jobs hates compromise. The browser is Safari, a full web browser. Reading the NY Times on EDGE on a real web browser is like using a 14.4 modem instead of broadband. I didn't see any scaled down version there; that will be my prediction of the first app that makes it's debut, so people can read pages fast. I LOVE WiFi on this device, but HDSPA should have been the cellular standard.

6) Outlook connectivity. Look, the world still runs on Outlook. There needed to be a seamless integration, day 1. OK, no Outlook? How about GMail & Google Calendar? It's still fuzzy how the contacts and calendar apps will sync. Will it only be with the .Mac apps, or will Windows users have an option?

All this aside, this is a truly landscape changing device. Companies that will be affected:
- Nokia. Dead within 3 years, or Europe only is my prediction.
- Motorola. Their design team had been in the lead...they just lost it, and it won't be coming back.
- Blackberry (RIM). Push e-mail from Yahoo? It'll become a tool for the IT executives only.
- Microsoft. After watching Windows Mobile make huge inroads, the sexiest BlackJacks and Q's will look like Newtons compared to this.
- Sprint. 5000 layoffs, same day as this announcement. Connection? No, but expect the 3rd cell carrier to abandon the consumer market and stick to the Nextel business needs.
- Palm. The Palm OS is already a dead OS; now, their legendary ease of use and hardware is antiquated. This device is what Palm should have introduced, not Apple.
- HTC. They make most of the smartphones on the market today (Q, BlackJack, Wizard, etc.), and now they are reduced to a 2nd tier player.

Finally, I leave you with this: not only was this the greatest Apple product yet; not only was this the best keynote yet; not only is this product a world-changer. Even better, check out the dining option Steve and Phil Schiller of Apple decided on in the keynote, while demoing the SMS messaging of the app:


Yep, the best phone, from the best company...at the best Sushi in the state. As a card-carrying Sushi Ran Sushi Love member, I salute you, Steve. The 49er Roll is on me.

Labels: Apple, cell phones, favorites, gadgets, iPhone

  ¶ 11:56 PM (0) comments links to this post

  The Ultimate Handheld...in sight? The ultimate smartphone/entertainment device is getting closer and closer. Palm's new Treo 680 hit the streets last week: smaller, sleeker, but still not quite there. The price ($199) is very appetizing, but not the out of the park hit it would have been at $99. And those cool colors? Only if you buy the unlocked version ($400). Thanks, Cingular.

But, aside from that, it's not quite the ultimate device I'm waiting for. My Palm TX still is the closest to it. Here’s what the ultimate device needs, in my humble opinion:

- Palm OS. Pipe down, you Windows Mobile folks. Palm OS is still the easiest OS to use, and offers literally thousands of programs. Yes, it could use a refresh…and it is not getting one (ALP?), but neither Windows Mobile or Symbian are making a compelling enough case to knock it out. Why was the Treo 680 introduced with Palm OS instead of Windows Mobile, hmm?
- At least 64MB of RAM, and an SD card slot that supports up to 4GB cards. My TX does this; I was shocked to find that Pete's Treo did not recognize the card!
- Bluetooth. Ideally, A2DP, but I'll settle for 1.2 with AudioGateway.
- 3G (high speed) data from the cell carrier. Verizon's EVDO service seems the runaway winner right now; Cingular's HSDPA alphabet soup is just starting to rollout.
- WiFi. Call me crazy, but it's got to be ubiquitous. Yes, the cell carriers are upset; fine, let me pay more to unlock it. I'd pay another $50 for this.
- Here comes the unusual one: BIG screen: 320x480. What, you say? Sacrilege? Where does the keyboard go? I would have said the same, until I found Mini-Keyboard. Now, QWERTY + touchscreen = real ability to type.
- Battery life: 10 hours talk time, or 6 hours of video/audio playback time with 4 hours talk time. Let's me watch movies on a cross country flight, and still be able to call my appointments when I get to where I am landing.
- Of course, linked to all of the above, the ability to play MP3's, and movies (Palm OS lets that happen with TCMP and pTunes), as well as a touchscreen.

Anything beyond the above is gravy. How much would YOU pay for that combo?

Labels: cell phones, favorites, gadgets, Palm, TX

  ¶ 7:26 PM (1) comments links to this post

  Right place, right time, and a cameraphone Think of the ludicrousness of combining a camera with a phone. What a seemingly arbitrary combination! Why not a music player, or a video game, or even a newspaper reader? Nope, for whatever reason, just about every phone is a cameraphone, and usually, like mine, not great quality.

Yet, maybe those phone designers have more forethought. How many times have I been someplace and said, "If only I had a camera." Now, albeit a really poor excuse for a camera, I find myself in just that place, with the tool in hand. And sometimes, you get lucky. For instance:


The full moon, rising over the Bay Bridge, as seen from the Golden Gate Ferry during the last full moon. Sure, with a real camera, I could have had a masterpiece. But at least I got enough to make you understand the sheer impact.

Better, consider this:

The view from the top of the lighthouse on Forbes Island, a man made island/restaurant, just off the edge of Pier 39 in San Francisco. The lighthouse gives the best view on the water, for miles around, and the walk up is sheer dizzying fun. Watch your step, coming down!

Last, a picture from just a few days ago


The sunset San Francisco sky, with the proud lights of the restored Ferry Building clock tower, the unofficial symbol of the City. As seen as I walked from my office to pick up the Thanksgiving Turkey from the Golden Gate Meat Company in the Ferry Building Marketplace. Now how's that for a nice sight to see as you leave the office for a holiday?

Yeah, maybe those cameraphone designers knew just what they were doing after all.

Labels: favorites, photos

  ¶ 12:14 AM (0) comments links to this post

  Network TV reimagined Imagine a world of network TV with quality shows like LOST or 24...that don't go stale. This New York Magazine article makes a compelling argument for just that, and it's hard to refute. My coworkers are getting tired of the mysteries of LOST this season, and 24 has clearly jumped the shark. With competition from Netflix, HBO, Showtime, and the web, it's time to start thinking this way.

Labels: favorites, LOST, TV

  ¶ 12:02 AM (0) comments links to this post

  LOST: characters of color? Look, I know LOST is all about conspiracy theories and puzzles but the new season has me asking an unexpected set of questions: what is it about characters of color that the writers don't like? Michael? Gone, along with his son. Michelle Rodriguez? Killed, after an absurdly short arc. And now, one of the best actors (an fellow OZ alumni to the aforementioned MIA Michael, Harold Perrineau Jr.) and characters on the show, Mr. Eko (played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) has been killed.

Yes, I was happy to see the sense of menace back to the island. But you can't tell me that we could not have killed a few of the extra white people? Seems we've got plenty of those on the island. Heck, get rid of Sayid, Jin and Sun, and it's practically a milk farm.

C'mon, guys. I like watching the show, and love the storyline, but the big mystery this season is why, with an expanding cast, the characters of darker complexions are being eliminated. Not cool.

Labels: favorites, LOST

  ¶ 12:46 AM (0) comments links to this post

  I'm not condoning it...but I understand it Cryptic policies, unfair practices, and a virtual monopoly are not ways to engender customer goodwill....something PayPal found out today when a bomb exploded at PayPal HQ. No one hurt, thank (what is the Atheist version of "God" in that sentence, Penn?) {insert belief deity here}.

I'm not saying it was as obvious as "Hey, if we invade Iraq, we'll start a civil war and lose thousands of American lives needlessly," but it was pretty easy to see it coming.

Labels: favorites

  ¶ 12:34 PM (0) comments links to this post

  A Uniform Look No secret I'm a sports fan, especially football. One of the more interesting aspects of sports to me, however, is the uniforms. Think of the design, the attention to detail, then layer on the appeal to the crowd, and finally the creativity of the players. It's remarkable, when you think of it.

For instance, look at that picture to the right. Yes, it's LaDanian Tomlinson of the Chargers, one of the better running backs in the game. He's wearing the Chargers' "throwback" uniform, which is, to me, one of the best sports uniforms in football. The color? Powder blue, that just screams Southern California. The player's number is on the helmet, in a sleek retro font, again echoing the Chargers culture as a team that came of age in the late 60's/early '70's. Just perfect, compared to the Chargers' dramatic lighting bolt on a dark blue outfit that scream late 1980's with no pizzaz.

In baseball, think of how drab the uniforms were until the 1990's, when the teams started playing with bold colors they normally kept for spring training. Before that, there was just the Yankees' pinstripes...and everything else. I grew up watching the Boston Celtics, whose uniforms have never been the cutting edge of fashion, but in the decades they dominated (60's, 70's, 80's) they completely reflected the solid, team play and personality of the team. Contrast with the purple and gold of the Lakers and their "Showtime" style, and you had a great match.

Hockey, in the 90's, actually had some of the nicest innovations. The Washington Capitals, for instance, or the New York Rangers (with the Statue of Liberty head) were bold and innovative. And who outside of the fashion world even heard the word "teal" before the expansion teams of the 80's and 90's broke out with it? The Charlotte Hornets, the San Jose Sharks, and more.

Yes, this can also go horribly, horribly wrong. The Denver Nuggets in the 1980's, along with the Houston Astros, all made television viewers get up to adjust the color on their sets to see what was wrong. The San Diego Padres of the 80's were just WRONG. The Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings only recently realized their uniforms went out of style in the 1950's and made changes in the last few years; the Los Angeles Clippers must have lost that memo. Hell, the dominant football team of the decade, the New England Patriots, went from Pat The Patriot to "jacquard" to their current version all within 10 years.

But look at what the right changes to a uniform can do for a team. The Arizona Cardinals, albeit losing a heartbreaker this week, look like a meaner team now; so do the Cincinatti Bengals. It worked for the Denver Broncos: they hadn't won a Superbowl in 4 tries until they changed to their current uniforms; they then won 2 straight. The Seattle Seahawks? A joke in the NFL, until they went to the Superbowl last year...with their new uniforms whose design and colors reflected both the Seattle area and their coach's personality. And is there any better example of change for a difference then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Before (shown left)...YIKES. After...Superbowl win.

The Miami Heat have about 5 different uniforms: sleeves, tanks, colors, and more. The Pistons and Spurs? One. All depends on your team. Can you imagine the Green Bay Packers changing? Sacrilege. Even the politically incorrect teams try to distract with uniform changes: the Washington Redskins tried going back to their old uniforms for home games to hide the Indian head on the side; the Cleveland Indians lost Chief Wahoo in favor of a more stylized approach.

Think I think about this a lot? I'm nothing, compared to this fellow, who's running blog is about all of the changes to uniforms, in all sports.

Point is, change for change's sake will never make a difference (see this year's Buffalo Bills or any of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays editions). But thinking it through can make a big difference to a team. And fans like me who like to watch the spectacle of the game. Hey, it is a show, after all!

Labels: favorites, sports

  ¶ 12:50 AM (0) comments links to this post

  Farewell to RT What brought me to San Francisco? What started my fascination with gadgets? What seduced me into the perfect marriage of traditional retailing and online business? What put me on the forefront of e-commerce? It's many things, sure, but it comes down to one man.

Richard Thalheimer.

If you have not yet heard, Richard, the founder and CEO of The Sharper Image, was ousted this week, after a serious decline in the company's fortunes. He remains on the board, but the company he has been, and always will be identified with, is no longer his to run. This happened earlier this week, and yes, I knew the minute it happened. You would have had to be blind, deaf and dumb not to know it was coming. I've been busy, sure, but I also was thinking about how I felt about it, before I wrote it. It's complicated. So, bear with me.

If you don’t know, I spent a decade working for TSI. I started at the bottom rung, literally: a stock boy, in a retail store in Boston, in the 1980's. Sharper Image was at the peak of the zeitgeist: the perfect example of a company focused on the very expression of the consumerism of the Reagan Era. Even years before that, just as Richard started the company, I was literally one of the first customers: in the late 1970's, when the company started, it was just an ad for a watch, followed by a direct marketing piece. One was for a sound-activated light switch; I scraped together my money, and purchased one, even before I could even understand wiring. It was the zeal for the cutting edge gadget the founder exuded in the copy: I was hooked.

Richard had taken the direct marketing mailers, and turned them into a catalog that no one had ever seen: glossy, sexy, and lustful. It was gadget porn. Remember, there was no Internet, no ubiquitous e-commerce. Catalogs were the slow version, and he mastered the art. When he opened stores, they were not stores: they were events. Years later, when I started in the store, it was a genuine phenomenon. People waited in line to get in, from the time the doors opened, and frequently demanded the store stay open after it was supposed to close. Richard introduced a new approach to retail for high-end gadgets: he insisted the products could be touched, used, fondled. It was expensive, but it was unprecedented, and products soared off the shelves.

He knew exactly what would motivate the consumer to spend ungodly amounts of money to purchase the gadgets, and it became the model of modern gadget commerce. Back then, the only electronics and gadgets were in the special sections of the department stores, carefully guarded by aggressive salespeople who would never let you near the product. Richard was said to model the stores after a famous San Francisco attraction, the Exploratorium, and that's exactly what they became. He hired great people (and not so great ones) to help expand the vision, and there was no better place to be.

Years later, after I had ascended to run the store that I started as a stock boy, I saw the nascent Web, and I knew TSI had to be on the forefront. I also knew there was only one way to make it happen: Richard. You have to understand, running a great store is one thing, and I had met Richard a few times on store visits or trips to the corporate offices, but Richard was…Richard. A combination of visionary, royalty, and distracted god. Sure, he could appear comically on another plane of existence at times, but there was no denying the brilliance. And when it hit…man, you just marveled.

I spent months perfecting my pitch. I ran it through key people in the company, to get their feedback. Finally, on a trip to San Francisco, I pitched Richard, then Craig Womack (the then-president) at early breakfasts. To my chagrin, Richard appeared to politely hear me out briefly, then had me talk with Craig repeatedly. Craig assured me the idea was sound, but it would be years. And when they were ready, they'd call on me. I went back to Boston, thought about it, and decided I was going to be in the right place at the right time, and I decided to move to San Francisco for that time to come.

Two months later, I was running my other dream store, in Ghirardelli Square. Sure, it had so much less volume than my old store, but it had that same sense of amazement that brought me to TSI: the tourists streamed in and out, looking at all the great stuff, posing for pictures by the famous neon sign (and the Predator sculpture), and I settled in for what I expected to be a couple more years. I focused on transitioning to living in San Francisco, moving Amy out here, and getting ready for another great Holiday season, with a great staff.

It was early December. The store was not yet open, and we were spending time cleaning and getting the store ready. There was a rattle of the front doors, and I paid no attention; early tourists always were looking to see if we were open. Another insistent rattling, and I looked up, annoyed.

It was Richard.

I was paralyzed. See, Richard didn't visit this store. Anyone who actually lives in San Francisco never goes to Ghirardelli, unless you had out of town folks visiting. Hell, the corporate offices were only about a mile away, and we never saw anyone. And yet there was Richard, on a foggy December morning, on the front stoop of the store. I recovered, opened the doors and he came in, genial as he could be. He made some small talk, asked if I was still interested in the "web." I told him I was. He smiled, that photogenic catalog inside-cover smile, and asked if I would come by the offices, the next day. And with my agreement to, he waved, looked around, and departed.

The CEO of a major public company, the man who had really started the gadget craze, and a critical force in retail and direct marketing, just stopped by to talk to me. It…just…doesn't…happen. But it did.

Well, the rest, as they say, is history. I took over the "alternative media" efforts of TSI, and was Forrest Gump-like in the right place, right time. I worked for many people, but Richard and I would strategize on the efforts, at least weekly. Many of his ideas were, to me, out there. But over time, many of his off-the-wall ideas turned out to be prescient. One of my proudest moments was walking from the office to the Yerba Buena Center, to a Steve Jobs keynote for NeXT, with Richard and Sydney Klevatt, as Richard chatted me up about some of the projects we were working on. At that moment, I was smiling: the man who I had been inspired to buy a light switch from as a kid was now consulting with me on what I thought.

Richard can be a challenging one to work with. "Mercurial" is his personal trademark: one day, he could be showering you with praise and glowing admiration; within 24 hours, he's telling you what a disappointment you are, complete with derisive comments. It was always tough not to take him personally, especially with my history. When ex-TSI folks get together, especially ones who have spent much time with Richard, Amy says it's like a survival group: we all share endless tales of astonishment at Richard's antics, and how they affected us. The urban-legend status stories of his feelings and actions towards half-finished coffees, the amusing faux pas', and the laughs on the products and their strange names…it goes on and on. I will say that, overall, he always stayed focused on doing what he did best: looking for the next cool things, and focusing on growing the company, and you cannot ask for better from a CEO.

When I had the opportunity to join a truly exciting new company at the beginning of the dotcom era, it was absolutely the hardest professional thing I ever did to have to go into Richard's office (his sanctum sanctorum) and, with just the two of us there, tell him the time had come for me to move on. You never got the sense that Richard was really on the same plane of existence with you; he was always two or three moves ahead. And yet, just for that one meeting, he seemed genuinely focused on me. He surprised me by remembering my history with the company, and key events we had shared, and I once again was amazed that he was never quite what he seemed. We parted professionally, and, when I found occasion to be back in the office for business or personal reasons, and he saw me, it was always a warm reception.

No magician can keep the tricks coming forever, and Richard is no exception. He pulled the company out of the fire many times before, either with great hit products (motorized tie racks, sound soothers, Ionizers), or business changes with the help of his team (new merchandising strategies, new catalog types, moving into soft-goods during the recession). This one seemed so different: the company's fortunes rose so high on a one-trick pony, and fell just as hard when the tide turned. I really had hoped that Richard would have taken himself out of the company a few years ago, going out on top. I should have known better; that's simply not in his nature. The company continued to suffer, and the inevitable was coming, but he could not do it. And now he has paid the price.

I still have lots of friends at TSI. Many have stayed longer than I ever imagined; many have left and come back, years later. There is something about the cult of Richard that did it. He makes that call to you, or drops by to chat, and the next thing you know…you’re as hooked as a young boy scraping together his money for that amazing new gadget in the 3 page mailer. I was recently asked by someone who was thinking of working there if they should take the job over another one from a much larger retail company. I told them to take the other job, citing the instability of the company and that, in reality, nothing would change if Richard was still there. My friend took the job at TSI. No explaining the appeal; believe me, I understand.

I can only say that I wish the very best for TSI, but they have some hard times ahead. Times have changed, and the magic formula that made TSI works about as well as the Oakland Raiders' approach to modern-day football. And, as coach after coach has paid the price for the Raiders' refusing to change with the times, still looking for that long pass down the field, TSI has had their first major change. Let's hope it's a change for the best.

Richard, congrats on an unprecedented great run. You inspired, literally, millions of people with you drive, products, and ambition. Those that worked with you will always have tales, sometimes admiring, sometimes salacious…but always with respect. My thanks to you, and my best wishes on your next efforts…you know there will be one!

Labels: favorites

  ¶ 12:47 AM (0) comments links to this post

  Heard your personal greeting from me on my VM? Some of you call me on my cell. As you know, I am frequently unavailable (meetings, work, etc.), and I feel bad that I can't talk more often. However, thanks to a free service, YouMail, you can all now have a personal greeting from me on my voicemail. Yes, a greeting for each of you.

It's actually pretty easy to set up, and cool. It involves changing your voicemail from the one your cell provider gives you (which everyone just loves the flexibility of) to YouMail's service. Why? Here's some of what you get:
- Listen to your messages on the phone or on the web
- Get a text message whenever someone leaves you a voicemail, with who the voicemail is from
- Ability to record personal greetings for any specific person who calls you. No limit on how many! Record from your phone or through your computer.
- My favorite: ability to play a specific message to certain callers...and not let them leave a voicemail. Because as much as I love telemarketers and recruiters, I'm even happier to wade through voicemails they leave me. ;-)

Like I said, it's free, works with Verizon, Cingular, or T-Mobile phones, and makes voicemail almost useful! If you have not yet heard your personal message from me, you might, on your next call!

Labels: favorites

  ¶ 11:56 PM (0) comments links to this post

  Traveling and Gadgets On my trip this week, I found it interesting that my Gadgets and need for information have become so pervasive, yet I only notice just how dependent I am on them in those few moments at takeoff and landing that I am utterly deprived of them.

For instance, here was my trip:

• Drove to San Jose in my car. Talked on my Bluetooth headset and Sony Ericsson phone for part of the trip; other times, I was listening to podcasts on my Palm TX.
  
• At the airport, I parked, and connected with my Palm's browser, over my phone's GPRS connection, via Bluetooth, to mobile.southwest.com to get my boarding pass, from the parking lot.
  
• At the airport, got my email over the same connection on my Palm.
  
• Boarded the plane, and read the San Francisco Chronicle on my Palm that I had downloaded that morning, thanks to Sunrise XP and Plucker.
  
• The dreaded "turn off anything with an on/off switch" announcement. Nothing to do but read the damned SkyMall catalog.
  
• 10K feet! Out comes the laptop, so I can dither the presentation I'm giving in Austin.
  
• Ok, PPT is done, email has been answered: time to relax. Laptop goes away; out come the Sony noise-cancelling headphones; on goes V for Vendetta, on my Palm.
  
• Time to land. The dreaded announcement again.
  
• Landed. Cellphone comes on, check the messages that came in while I was in the air.
  
• In the terminal, consult my Palm for the car rental information I had done. Pick up the luggage, and head to the car.
  
• Palm has the directions to the hotel. I chat with Amy on the Bluetooth headset while I drive.
  
• At the hotel, fire up the laptop and attempt to use the room's internet. Of course, it's not working. After an hour of effort, I head to the lobby to use the free wireless internet there. Email and assorted other work, and I'm done.

Next day:

• Head to the Denny's on the other side of the parking lot for some breakfast. Wifi provided at every table, so I catch up on my email and the news, courtesy of my Palm and Google Reader. Apple's big "Showtime" event is today, and the gadget blogs are a'buzzing over the possibilities. I realize I will be in my meetings when it happens…argh.
  
• Ok, time to work. Head to the Four Seasons in Austin, with the directions from my Palm. Not sure if I am in the right place, so I fire up Google Local on my phone; yup, map shows it's the right place.
  
• Work: we dither the PPT and add another, as well as rehearse the web demo I will be doing. Doubletree: free wifi; Four Seasons: $10. Argh.
  
• Presentation goes off without a hitch, but my laptop is making some odd grinding sounds when tilted in certain directions. I'm a bit worried; this laptop has been a champ for me (except for the peanut from Southwest that has permanently lodged in the Enter key. Grrr…)
  
• Dash to the airport to make the flight. Of course, I've already checked in yesterday, courtesy of mobile.southwest.com, so I'm group A. Yay! I pass not just one, but TWO barbeque places. 3 times in Austin, and never found any BBQ; now I find two, and I have no time to eat it. Sigh…
  
• Made the flight, with minutes to spare. This time, I threw away all my toiletries so I could bring my bag as carry-on. Gotta love that ban on liquids and gels.
  
• 10K feet. Time to tackle the email that has come in, with the laptop. Nice not to have new email coming in while I respond and deal with the email that I pulled down while I was at the Four Seasons.
  
• OK, my work is done. Out come the noise-cancelling headphones, and time to watch Capricorn One, one of my favorite flicks, on the laptop's big wide screen.
  
• About an hour in to the flight, and the movie freezes. The laptop says it no longer recognizes the disc. I try various things, including restarts, but only limited success. And there's that grinding noise again. I give up, and put it away.
  
• On my Palm I catch up on my Plucker content, including Kevin Smith's blog, Mark Cuban's blog, Pete's blog, Lani's blog, a new Sports Guy article, and more.
  
• I'm done with Plucker, so I fire up QuickNews to read some RSS feeds from Engadget and Gizmodo. Damn! I missed the Steve Jobs event, and I didn’t update. Wonder what he unveiled?
  
• OK, time to land in San Diego. The flight path in SD is so strange: you fly practically through the city. For instance, we flew maybe ¼ mile past the Museum where, just weeks ago, I was at. I could see the table we sat at El Paseo for lunch! Wish I could take a picture, but no electronics allowed at landing…
  
• On the ground in San Diego, I use QuickNews on the Palm to connect and update through my cell's GPRS connection. In moments, I have a full play by play of the Apple event, courtesy of Engadget. Battery on the cell is getting dangerously low, but I make a call or two.
  
• Heading back into the air. You know you have been flying too much when, in these moments of being forced to occupy yourself with only what’s around you, and you read the airline's magazine, you actually know the articles that the "letters to the editor" are referring to. I think Dante reserved a special level of hell for that, and it is shaped like an airplane seat.
  
• 10K feet. Gorgeous view of the California coastline. I'm devouring the Apple event on the Palm, line by line. New iPods…eh. New iTunes…sounds cool, especially CoverFlow view. Movies on iTunes…not bad, but since I can only watch them on the computer and not my Palm, I'm still not impressed. "Oh, just one more thing…" finally…and a surprise. iTV sounds great, but not until January? Might change my whole opinion of iTunes Movies. We'll see!
  
• Short flight, but I read some more of Iron Sunrise, by Charles Stross, on my Palm's eReader. Did I mention the battery is at 50%, even with all of this use? Nice to keep that bright screen low on these trips.
  
• San Jose, here I am. I return a call from my father, while simultaneously checking in for my LA flight tomorrow, with mobile.southwest.com.
  
• Back to the car, a last phone call before the battery dies, and I'm driving home, listening to my podcasts in my car, in time for dinner for our anniversary.

And that's a typical business trip I do. See why I need those gadgets? ;-)

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  ¶ 9:09 AM (0) comments links to this post

  May I see your ID? NO. In my job, I fly more than I like. Heck, next week I'm on four flights in 2 days. As the government attempts to help keep us safer when we fly, the secuirty precautions are gradually resembling the very horrors we were warned about of our enemies in the Cold War.

One man decided to chip a hole in this suffocation, and stand up for the principles this country was built on. And you know what? He proved it all a tissue of lies.

Remember...remember...the 5th of November.

Labels: favorites

  ¶ 6:16 PM (2) comments links to this post