November 12th, 2007 by Atomictumor
Yeah, I was pretty proud of that thing. It was coming at the end of my little geekery splurge, what with the laptop, and the big computers, and so I figured I’d need a computer on my belt.
And its done a good job. At, y’know, being a computer.
It does my texty messages nicely, as that’s the needful very frequently, as I don’t like to talk on the phone. Which is a good thing, because boy, as a phone, this thing sucks. People can’t hear me, and I can’t hear people. I often have to put it on speakerphone and hold it up to my ear for it to work.
I’ve checked the volume. I’ve checked the speaker. I’ve got into the settings and tweaked.
See, I think the problem with the bastard is it just doesn’t like being dropped. Unfortunately, I drop things. From pretty high up. Onto all sorts of surfaces:
- concrete
- tile
- asphalt
- wood floors
- urinals (don’t ask)
- grassy knolls
It just doesn’t dig it. The buttons don’t have that nice click, and the battery takes some jiggling to get out.
But I can deal with that, because man, I’m used to broken things. I’ve frequently taken electronics apart, pulled out stripped or broken pieces of plastic, and ghetto engineered a solution that did the job (I’d say the needful, but I already said that once in this post).
No, my problem with this phone, other than the scratches, other than the poor voice quality, other than the… ug.. urinal debacle, is the fact that Windows Mobile just plain sucks. Its sucks big, and it sucks hard. Its dull, its utilitarian, it has no flash, no pizazz. I installed some little third party apps to get a nice little screen on it, with some little clicky tabs and buttons on the touchscreen, but its still blah. Just plain blah.
Today, in news that makes Bos’s tin foil tingle, Google released whats apparently a very beta version of its Mobile phone OS, based on Linux (which’ll make other things for Bos tingle, after his pretty crappy recent experiences with Ubuntu on his new laptop).
It looks pretty. And despite the claims by some that Google is a dangerous entity, in that a) knows what you’re looking for, b) knows what you’re emailing (gmailing), c)knows whats on your desktop (well, many desktops), and now d) knows what you do with your phone, it’s OK.
Because according to this guy, and evidently the American government:
November 12th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
I really feel like I should have something to say about this, given my family.
But sorry - I’m having a fight with my daughter’s teacher over sending all of our unsolicted paper mail to school for a project.
His answer to the PII issue and the FTC guidelings was “the classroom is locked”.
I think my head exploded.
November 12th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
What?? you don’t have one of those new bouncyipodlackerryocolates? They are made to withstand high impact blows as well as brush your teeth for you occasionally… come on man, get with the century.
November 12th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
My crystal ball (reference last week’s Clinton Courier) sees an iPhone making an appearance on these pages shortly…
November 12th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
I have an enV and I wish I knew how to update it. The system it came with and uses is Verizon Wireless Mobile Web 2.0 (which I know less than nothing about) and it hates me. I can’t update my blog or sign in to myspace (don’t start). Its ok at checking my email and that’s about it. Any tips? Maybe I should blog about this myself?!?!
November 12th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Busted old phone indeed. I probably used the same phone to call for my first date, that my parents used when I was in diapers(cloth not plastic). Of course, it didn’t have a speaker or the ability to view porn or even buttons for that matter…but it kept right on working.
So much for new and improved. Your busted old phone didn’t make it a year did it?
signed….grouchy old fart
November 12th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
AT, you should wait until next year and get the LG Voyager that they are advertising on the WIRED website you linked to. That looks like one sweet phone.
On the other hand, if you want impact-resistant, you should go with Nokia. Word has it they make good Decepticons, too.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
AT…
Can you email me?
Sista
November 13th, 2007 at 6:32 am
Here it is, AT. From the moment I saw that phone I thought it was the biggest, goofiest, most inconvenient and silly phone I think I’ve ever seen. I’ve been holding that in for the past year now, and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
November 13th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
They gave me a bright, shiny, new blackberry at work. It’s the crappiest piece of crap imaginable. We should get together and have a contest.
November 13th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Ubuntu on my laptop–I’ll have to tell you all about that.
Yep, I have a love/hate relationship w/ google. They do what they do so well, but I trust them about as far as I could throw AT.
November 14th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
You know, I read that title to the tune of “The Long and Winding Road”. Was that intentional or am I just going bonkers??
Btw, it’s nice to finally get to catch up on your archives…many congratulations and tons of good wishes headed to you and Aka on your engagement!