I swore I would never buy another PDA again. Dammit. Thank god the Treo 650 is a "Smartphone."
I've owned several "Palm Pilots." I've owned one as Palm, US Robotics, 3Com, Palm again, PalmOne, and freakin' Palm again. I've had a Philips Nino and a Dell Axim. I also think an orange Handspring sneaked in there at some point. What the hell is wrong with me? None of them worked the way I wanted them to. They all were awkward, tiny yet bulky, pieces of crap.
But the Treo is different. It does the one thing that I actually need to do... it calls people. Which means I will be forced to carry it around with me. Which also means that I might be compelled to use its other features. Such as real-time email, web surfing, calendaring, photos, and other things. Solitaire anyone?
All kidding aside. It's actually a slick machine. The phone works well through Cingular, the screen is bright and sharp, and the keyboard is a wonder of modern technology. It lets you type as a way to enter data. Go figure!
I can't seem to get the web working yet, nor email. Not sure what the deal is... perhaps I should read the documentation. I'll also have to get on Exchange at work so I can be like those other guys answering their "Pee-Mail" in the men's bathroom at Yahoo! Now that's being productive!
I learned a little trick for former AT&T users. If you want a new phone but can't get one because your contract isn't up, say that you want to add a phone to your plan. They automatically have to upgrade you to Cingular with a new plan and you get the discounts on the phones. I lucked out because Jane needed a new phone and plan, so I got her a free phone and added her to my plan for just a few bucks more a month. So instead of $600 bucks for the Treo, I paid $399.
On another note... Mark Pauline of Survival Research Labs spoke today at Yahoo! for no apparent reason. This is why I love Yahoo! It was cool seeing him and hearing about how and why SRL puts on the "most dangerous shows on earth." I get inspired by this sort of thing. So, thanks Bradley for getting people like this for these discussions. For those interested, there's a small show coming up on Sept. 10 in San Francisco. Perhaps I'll see you there.
