MiniSky: Thoughts About Everything

            After briefly analyzing my blog view data, I have concluded that you only get a large amount of traffic if you complain about or make fun of something. I guess that is the state of the internet and more specifically blogging. So I’ll start with the complaints even though in this case the praise outweighs the complaints.

            I’ve always been skeptical about PocketPCs. The amount of stuff that you can do on them seemed so limited that they were not worth spending so much money on. Also, new software debuts so frequently that investing lots in a new PDA doesn’t seem so wise. But, I have had my old cell phone for over 2 years and its having issues. It doesn’t have a camera so it takes a while to process and display pictures that people send me. The screen is cracked because I dropped it off a 2-story high balcony onto concrete last summer. My battery doesn’t stay in the phone very well or maintain charge very long.  Also, I can lose hearing but maintain the ability to speak on a phone call (is this symbolic? I think I’m a good listener). So, I felt that I’ve gotten all the value I could possibly get out of my old phone and had therefore earned the right to buy a really nice one. I read plenty of reviews before I purchased it and I think they were all fair and equally balanced with positive and negative feedback. I am very satisfied with this phone but I will complain about it first to satisfy readers.

            First of all, I think the mobile industry as a whole is gradually eliminating the concept of privacy. Nearly everyone has a still or video camera phone and they could be taking pictures or video or you at anytime and sending it anyone. And with the way embedded GPS locators are going you can know where anyone is at any given point in time. This may not seem relevant now but I’ve had a chance to see some previews of stuff and wow… Pretty soon, you may not be able to hide anything from anyone. Not that you should need to, but hey…If you’ve read 1984 about Big Brother this can be pretty scary.

            A smaller complaint is that my PocketPC phone came with Windows Media Player 9 when version 10 is currently out and there is not a simple way to upgrade (or a way at all).

            Now, on to the good stuff. This device offers a lot of functionality that made the purchase worthwhile which makes me able to sleep at night. In no particular order: I can synch-up with my employers Exchange server to check my email and update my calendar with my meetings for the day. I can use the digital camera for taking pictures. I can use the digital camcorder to record brief movies and its easy to share both with anyone.  With an SD card, I have enough space to use this as an MP3 player and there is software which allows me to compress and watch entire movies. This is great for flights. I can use this as a car stereo with the right setup. My car is 18 years old and the butt of a lot of my friends jokes so this is very remarkable! 

And its very ease to copy files from my laptop. There is plenty of RAM (128MB) and ROM (64MB). There is Infra-Red, BlueTooth, (and Jolly Green Giant and