Waking up to tech woes

A tech-head who spends too much time playing with technology late at night needs help waking up. Sometimes, it's just hard to find good help. My mornings go something like this:

Standard alarm clock: "Howdy! I am loud, and I have nine-minute snooze intervals. In addition to beeping, I can play the radio for you!"
Me: "What can I do with nine minutes? That's entirely too short, and I don't want some radio personality blathering at me when I am trying to go back to sleep wake up!"

HTC HD7 phone with Windows Phone 7: "Check me out! I have five-minute snooze intervals, and you can set different alarms for different days of the week!"
Me: "Five minutes? That's worse than the alarm clock! Not to mention I don't like ANY of your alarm sounds; why can't I set what I want? No, no, please don't cry; your SharePoint and Office Live support is really nice, but it just won't get me out of bed."

Samsung Moment with Android 2.1: "I can set alarms for different days of the week, too! And if you choose me, you can have 10-, 15-, 20-, 25- or 30-minute snooze intervals. Plus, I can crow like a rooster!"
Me: "Annoying rooster noises aside, that would be GREAT...as long as you aren't stuck in a reboot loop...you know, kind of like the one you were stuck in this morning!"

iPhone 3G: "If you would just take me out of the backpack sometimes--"
Me: "Shhh! Grown people are sleeping!"

Lacking an extremely reliable device that has truly flexible alarm options, I almost always use the Moment as the primary alarm clock. As a backup for when the Moment is having one of its moments of FAIL, the HD7 is set to go off at the last minute, in case I'm not yet awake and getting ready for work, the workout, or play.

How many times did I tell you I wouldn't be wasting my money on an iPhone?

Thanks to electrical issues, I haven't beem able to ride the scootercycle's for twelve whole days. I was desperate for something to occupy my mind, you know, before the devil found more work for my hands. I ended up forking over a small wad of cash to get my hands on my co-worker's 1st-gen iPhone. That's the only way I could go, since I didn't want to be locked into a terribly expensive contract with a company that doesn't even consider allowing tethering, and, while I am out of contract with Sprint, I have little desire to leave them. Yes, my carrier-less iPhone is basically an iPod Touch, but it can become a phone, if I whack my head on something hard and change my mind. Now, what shall I get into? Oh, yeah, EverNote was the FIRST app I installed!

Based on prior observations, I should at least be able to get better photographs than my Mogul puts out. Sorry, HTC, I do love you, but that means I can kindly tell you that you could have done a better job. Perhaps the CDMA version of the Touch Pro will have the quality -- and that includes decent RAM -- to get me back into a commitment. With that said, I've got some playing to do.

Jumping on the iPhone Bandwagon -- Blogging, not Buying!

My Sprint PPC-6700, my boss' 8GB iPhone and a fellow technician's Cingular 8125
(Thanks, J, K and R!)

At least three of my co-workers bought iPhones on launch day, and I got to get my hands on a couple the following day. My first thought was that it was a wide fellow, but oh-so wafer thin!
Some of you love that. Me, I'm thinking the first time I dropped that puppy, I'd be in mourning for a week. Look, I dropped my Sprint PPC-6700 the first day I got it, and I've been dropping it ever since. In the year I've had it, I've not had to use my insurance at all. I bet the iPhone doesn't bounce like that!

It's as gorgeous in real life as it is in the pictures. I think there's been one other time in my life I would have not felt ridiculous calling a bit of technology "sexy." At the moment, I cannot recall when that other time was.

I got to see the multi-touch for myself. I love how this guy responds to finger movements and changes in alignment. I wondered, though, how my boss could possibly use that little virtual keyboard with his thick fingers.
Sunday, at a friend's house, I tried the keyboard out. I made sure to use wide parts of my fingers (since I'm small for an adult, and have proportionately small hands, I couldn't possibly come close to matching my boss' experience, but it's the best I could do). The results weren't always right, but I was surprised at the level of accuracy!

To my untrained ears, it didn't sound any better playing "White and Nerdy" through external speakers than my 6700. I assume the wheat is separated from the chaff when buds are in use.
It wasn't until I checked out my friend's phone that I learned about the iPhone's ability to find and watch YouTube videos. I am so jealous! I want YouTube on my phone! Microsoft, get on it (yes, I just learned about m.youtube.com, and no, it's not doing squat for me)!

Photos of my friend's iPhone YouTubing. He was jealous of my phone's ability to do photo bursts. Can the iPhone not burst, or is it that he hasn't learned how, yet?

Note: Picture quality is definitely due to limitations of my phone!

I was asked several times during the weekend (and once today) if I was getting an iPhone. I seem to have acquired a totally undeserved reputation for getting the latest and the greatest cool tech; not sure how that happened! As lovely as the device is, it will not become part of my arsenal, for several reasons:

1. I have one year left on a contract with Sprint, and little desire to leave, even when my year is up. I like paying only $15 a month for PCS Vision.
2. My work email account is on Exchange. I want the push, the whole push, and nothing but the push. I do not want to use iCal to sync my calendar, nor can I right now (although I should have a MacBook in the next couple of weeks). I do not want to have to connect to a larger device (PC or Mac) to sync my contacts. I want to sync my tasks, too.
3. I think the flattie-hottie would shatter into hundreds of pieces in my first week of ownership. It just looks fragile. It felt solid, but I couldn't get over the impression of frailty.
   
4. AT&T? No, thanks!
5. The option to tether is non-negotiable. It will be allowed, or there will be no purchase. Sprint, pay attention, please, because I will be thinking about a new phone in...uh...ok, I'm thinking about it now, but we will be talking in 12 months, unless you force me to stay with the 6700 due to lack of tethering options.
6. Me, shell out over $350 bucks (after taxes) for a phone? It had better be part Ultra-Mobile PC!

Anyway, I was happy for the photo ops.

Here's my friend's 8GB iPhone on top of my Asus R2H.

Technorati tags: iPhone, Apple iPhone