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A Dark and Stormy Night, and a Loss

1/11/2006

By Terry Calhoun

As you know, once you are plugged in with a cell phone, you have to stay plugged in. And, since I use my phone for all my calls - every other number I have is forwarded to that number - I couldn't even last the day without one. So I thought, and thought, and thought about all of the stuff I have been writing and reading about, especially with regard to the 'Net Generation,' and decided that it was mostly old guys like me who had Treos and that, after making a variety of tradeoffs, I thought I should probably get one of the phones that the younger people would love to have and learn what they are learning, in terms of using it.

I didn't make that decision lightly. I loved my Treo. But the number one factor in its use for me was its ability, when linked to my laptop, to be a modem for the laptop whenever I had a Sprint signal. Truth be told, I did not make a whole lot of use of the other features of the Treo besides laptop connectivity and phone calls. Since my latest laptop is a very tiny Dell Latitude X1 (Great machine!) I had been thinking anyway that the laptop is so small that I maybe didn't need a handheld all that much. I essentially walk around with the laptop in my hand all my waking hours anyway.

So, I went to the Digital Toyz store and asked the salesperson which of the phones on display would most likely me used by a college freshman. I said it had to have a good camera and a speakerphone. He showed me several, so I pointed at the coolest looking one and said "Is there something even cooler than that, something that will make my own teenagers completely envious?" Then he handed me a little, shiny red Sanyo. I was sold, and not just because it's the same color as my cars.

Well, my experience since then has been a series of learning curves, which, frankly, I have only gotten through with the help of my work-study students and my kids. Between the two sets of young people, I can get help at work and at home. Instead of having to figure something out myself, I just avail myself of the nearest young person and they figure it out, then show me how.

The camera is cool, especially because it has a flash. The sound, regular and speakerphone, is better than the Treo. I don't find, yet anyway, a way to upload or download images and information to and from my laptops. I'm getting the impression that Sprint wants me to use the phone interactively only with a website that it will provide for me and that probably costs more money.

I'm going to plug away at it, though, and will write about the experience from time to time. It's my way of putting myself in a Net Generation 'place' vis-à-vis technology and it should be an enlightening experience.

P.S. This morning, I randomly plugged one of the batteries back into my Treo and the lights all went on. If it somehow comes back to life, this may have been a choice I will have to reconsider.

P.P.S. As I finished this up I received a call I had been wanting to get from a lady at the University of Florida. Halfway through the call my battery died in the Sanyo (I haven't learned about its length of life and how to monitor it well yet.) and, of course, I had left the charger somewhere else. (For my Treo I had four chargers: one at work, one at home, one in my car, and one in my travel bag.) So, more learning curve I guess.

Happy New Year!

About the author: Terry Calhoun is Director of Communications and Publications for the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP). You can contact him through CT's IT Trends forum by clicking here. View more articles by Terry Calhoun.

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