Date: 2008-11-02 11:52:02 Created: null
My second mobile, an upgrade totally motivated by wanting more features. And actually features I am using as well, not just upgrading to boast about the wide feature set. Martin had this problem with wanting a new phone but no reason for retiring a perfectly well working current phone. Meanwhile I was sitting here with a perfectly well working old phone, but gradually starting to want something more. Smoother text input for one thing, the R310 doesn't do any word suggestions or completions at all, and sometimes I seem to be sending SMSs more often than I make calls. It didn't do calendar or any other synchronisation with computers either. For staying organised I relied on my rapidly decaying Palm, which also didn't synch to my new main computer, Pomum.
So one day in October 2003 I was on the train on my way to visit Martin when I got an SMS asking if I'd like to buy his T68. I think of new mobiles every now and then, but I always conclude that I have no need to spend money on one since my current one does everything I need. No, the real motivation for the T68 (okay, of course text input and other neatness add up to something too, but it's not the main attraction) was actually the Palm-replacement and computer connectivity aspects. See, the T68 has Bluetooth connectivity just like Pomum, so whenever they're within 10 or so meters of eachother they can synchronise calendars, address books and stuff without me even knowing where I put the darn thing!
Yeah, it's much easier to lose track of than the bright yellow phone I'm used to. If you count the antenna, the R310 is almost twice as tall as the T68, and it weighs a lot more too. The drastic reduction in pocket space and weight is of course nice, but for the first time I think of the risk of damaging the phone through carelessness or losing it because I don't notice it. But if I managed to keep a Palm alive long enough for a three-year warranty to expire I should at least be able to do the same with this phone, right?
Another cool thing is of course that I can get online using the same connnection, providing I'm in a covered area and am ready to pay through the nose for every kilobyte I dare ask for. The neatness of Bluetooth can't be overstated, I don't think I'll ever want to switch to a phone without something similar. All the other features are just sheep dip, very nice to have but as we all know I don't eat lamb very often in any case.