Archive for September, 2006
A lot of folks think email is the killer application for mobile devices…
I disagree. Any time I am near a networked computer I get sucked in. I don’t want to be sucked into my mobile while hanging out with the family or friends, riding my bike, or out on a trail run. I need time away from the computer/email and during these off times I usually solve my really hard problems. It’s amazing how clear you can think when you remove all the noise. If email is on my phone my environment is potentially always noisy.
Paul, our IT guy, has all the infrastructure in place to get mail pushed to my Windows Mobile device. I could get it setup in minutes, but I just don’t want it. The noise would KillMe and Holly would not be psyched about this at all – it would KillHer.
For me, RSS on my device is the killer application. I can take a look at my feeds if and when I want to and there is no need to respond. I can be a voyeur on interesting discussions or topics, peruse for entertainment, or just turn it off without feeling guilty. RSS is the killer mobile app.
September 3rd, 2006
On Friday, I spent a pretty routine day at the office, then met Andrew to get the 45 minute intro to Word Press, and then headed home to hang out with the kiddos. Holly had plans to catch a movie, and I was on the hook to get the kids to bed. This went flawlessly and at about 8:30 pm all three kids were snoozing, I was feeling great, and my plan was to hop on the spin bike for an hour. I could only manage 45 minutes and felt like crap. Weird…
After that I was up till 3:30 am putzing around w/ Word Press (that’s a topic for a future post). Holly had plans to go hiking at 7 am that morning, so I was up at 6:30 making muffins with the kids. I was feeling wiped… when Holly got back, I threw a pair of shorts, my trail running shoes, and an extra shirt in my pack and hopped on the cross bike. I figured I’d be pretty flat, so had no real plan in mind. But to my amazement, the legs felt awesome. I ended up riding to a little town outside of Boulder called Marshall over to the foot of Eldorado Canyon and back to the base of Mt. Sanitas, a short but punishingly steep trail in the heart of Boulder. I locked the bike, ran up the back side of Sanitas, and down the front side. Then I got on the cross bike again and headed up Linden through Pine Brook Hills – this is a great paved climb in North Boulder. I rode down the back side of the ridge on some dirt roads and back to the house. It was an unexpected and fantastic workout… the body is capable of some really good things from time to time when you least expect.
September 3rd, 2006
Over the past few weeks, I have received a bunch of text messages from friends and most recently from my wife (see below).  BTW, I’ll be home soon love.
 
I have received more text messages this past month than in the whole year prior. What’s going on here? Is this technology starting to penetrate my demographic – 30ish, professional, married w/ kids?
I had lunch with my friend Danny last week and he assured me that “everyone in his demographic is doing itâ€. That would be 20ish guys and girls in the cool cat crowd. I guess texting is entrenched in this hip crowd, but the uptake has been slow for us old-schoolers.  Is this finally starting to change, or is the behavior I am seeing just an anomaly?
Having a Windows Mobile device w/ web browsing, email, plenty of apps, and of course RSS via NewsGator Mobile, I had pretty much dismissed texting as a wimpy alternative… kinda like riding a Huffy when you have chance to ride a BMC rig (bad bike vs. great bike for you non-cyclists).  But I am starting to see the utility.
Sometimes simple and functional is not such a bad thing. And when it comes to mobile, one thing is for sure… every phone (and there are lots of them) can handle text messages. I will definitely be thinking about how this can play nicely with NewsGator Mobile. Â
[Andrew Hyde helped me get rolling with Word Press today in about an hour - thanks man. Andrew tipped me off to a cool plugin for overlaying images on the current page, Lightbox. I can't get it to work... will try again later.  BTW, Andrew's girlfrend was busy drinking beers waiting for him to join the fun, and here he was drinking coffee with me on a Friday evening. What a guy.]
September 2nd, 2006
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