Ode to an 8125

This week, I finally decided that I couldn't take my G1 anymore - it's just not ready for users with my needs. So I turned it in, and I ordered a Blackberry Curve based on the recommendation of a friend. The Curve is nice and all, but in the end, it still can't match all the things I loved about my 8125. The synchronization of my information; ability to read documents, play music, take photos and video, play games; the large touch screen - with stylus! - that made using the phone so easy; and of course, the full keyboard that was the #1 most lovable, useful feature of my phone. The HTC series - of which both my 8125 and the G1 are part - is my favorite style of phone because of that keyboard; up until the G1, the others ran on various Windows Mobile platforms that made integration with my computer a no-brainer. Now that my 8125 broke, I'm scrambling for a replacement, and not able to get anything that really meets my needs as well as it did. My best option was probably the AT&T Tilt I had attempted to purchase on eBay ... but we all know how that turned out.

Anyway, all of this hassle just makes me miss my old phone more and more; I already loved and raved about it before, but I don't think I appreciated how truly incomparable it was. I think my new Blackberry will do, but I have a feeling I might be trying to get back to a tried and true HTC model at my next opportunity. Heck, maybe I should just go buy another 8125; it may be older and bulkier than the newbies, but at least I know it works, and it's probably even cheaper now than it was when I purchased it.

8125, oh 8125! Our time together was too short.

Decalring your love on Facebook

So I was having a conversation at an alumni reception about Facebook relationship status changes; a fellow alum and new Facebook friend was telling me the story of how, once he joined the site, his longtime girlfriend decided to "declare their love to the world" by changing her relationship status and indicating they were dating each other. (He also delighted in the sense of power that he had in having to accept her status change linking them before it could officially be made.) We were laughing at how big a deal that is in the Facebook world; since we all use it to keep up on every minute detail of one another's lives through status updates, a relationship change always prompts questions and wall comments.

I've been wondering about changing my status for a while now; I didn't know if "the guy I'm seeing" and I were ready to announce our relationship so publicly. But since we decided in a recent conversation that, after passing the 3-month mark last week, we've reached the boyfriend/girlfriend stage of things, the question has been rambling around in my head again this weekend. It's pretty funny: I'm less concerned about the actual shift in our relationship label - which honestly doesn't change our relationship at all, so it's funny that it's such a big deal with me and somehow makes me feel more secure - than the announcement on a social networking site - which matter even less than the new label. I'm kind of a doofus.

Anyway, I think I'm going to test it out, and see what happens. It's kind of exciting! But truly, the most exciting news is that after 2 years, I finally have a nice, sweet, sexy, funny, smart, cute, awesome boyfriend who I really like. :-) Woohoo!

G1, Week 1: @#$!%&*

OK, OK, maybe the G1 isn't quite that bad; but when your phone causes you to whisper under your breath, "I hate you!" while trying to figure out for the umpteenth time how to sync your contacts the way you want to, it's not a good thing.

To be fair, there are things I like about the G1. The screen is big and clear and pretty, I like being able to assign my MP3 music as ringtones to my callers (although I think I have to reset all of those now because I moved my files to a bigger SD card), the games are good, the calendar is good. Having Gmail on my phone is just OK; I could live with or without it. Installing applications from the Android Market is very easy. Moving music files on and off my phone was easy until whatever happened with the bloody firmware upgrade today, and now it is a bit of a pain. I think I also finally managed to get it to recognize my photos that I transferred.

As you can see, I'm not really raving about anything yet ... but all of those items up there pale in comparison to the utter frustration of getting my contacts to transfer to my phone. The Funambol client just doesn't quite get it right, losing information (like any more than 3 phone number per contact) and not knowing what to do with other information (like contacts that are businesses but don't have individual names). I tried a program called gSyncit last night, but its interface on my computer doesn't have the level of control that I need to make sure that GMail doesn't sync all of my "suggested contacts" - everyone I've ever emailed from my GMail account. This list has its usefulness - it is how GMail susggests email recipients when you start typing in the recipient fields - but of course I don't want all those people in my address book. In order to try and test gSyncit, I had to deleted all of those suggested contacts, unless I wanted all 554 of them in my Outlook contacts list; which now means that GMail doesn't auto-fill addresses anymore. Isn't that awesome?

So I am now on my third program to try and sync contacts to my G1; the most expensive, at $29.95. I suppose it's proof that you get what you pay for, but given that I'm already spending nearly $200 on my phone, I didn't expect to have to spend another $30 just to get it to function the way I need it to. That frustration makes it hard to be enthusiastic about any of the other features of the phone that I do enjoy. It's Maslow's hierarchy of needs: I can't get excited about frills when the basics aren't there.

My message to the developers at Google, Android and their partners at T-Mobile: I am willing to use the Google services to sync my information; while I'm not 100% on board with having to update everything via the wireless connection, I'll still go with it. However, if you want me to use those services - especially if you're going to require me to use those services - then I expect them to be compatible with common expectations and practices. The contacts program in GMail is not the worst, but I have no idea how anyone testing the contacts sync didn't realize that the suggested contacts would be an issue, and then fix it. Also, why on earth would you not build in the synchronization with Outlook? Blah, blah, blah, want to promote Google services; but I assure you that if i can't transition smoothly from what I already use to what you want me to use, I am far less likely to feel positive about the new services being offered. iCal and iPhone had to figure this out, and Google figured it out for Calendar - which is why I was able to start using it, and why I am so pleased with that aspect of my phone's function.

Other basic PIM functions are also missing - notes, tasks. Again, these are common features that even my Motorola RAZR had, so it boggles my mind that the G1 wouldn't have them right out of the box. The Android Market for applications has some options for both of these, but I don't think I should have to look to a third party for this kind of basic feature. It would be one thing if the basic apps existed on the phone, and then the Market included applications that enhanced the basics; those are the kind of apps offered by Handango for the Windows Mobile, Palm or Blackberry platforms. But all those platforms have well-developed PIM applications that are standard in the OS, and in use by millions of people. Given the way that the G1 works, I can only assume that they either a) didn't expect users of these other types of PDAs to be interested in the product, or b) actively decided that they didn't care to attract them.

At any rate, I'm obviously rather irritated. And to top it all off, I'm pretty sure I got ripped off by the eBay seller from whom I bought the AT&T Tilt, so now not only do I have to start proceedings to get my money back, I also don't have an alternate phone to test. Why, oh why, did my 8125 break? I miss it so much, especially now that I see what a hassle it is to find a phone worthy to replace it. :-(

WWBD?

When you're a sexually active single woman, incidents of unexplained morning nausea tend to be a little nerve-making.  Even if you're absolutely sure you've taken appropriate contraceptive measures, there's still a voice going on in the back of your head saying, "Oh no, what if ... ?"  A period is never so welcome as right then.

Most women like me have had the pregnancy scare at one point or another.  And it makes you wonder - what would you do?  You start going through the options, trying to picture what you'd do, what you'd tell people, how they'd react, how your inner and outer life would change.  It's challenging enough being pregnant when you've planned it; thinking about what to do when you haven't planned it scares the crap out of you.

I definitely think about aspects of this differently now than I would have 10 or 15 years ago.  Some things haven't changed:  I don't support abortion, so that option isn't ever seriously on the table; not to say that it hasn't briefly flashed through my mind at the times in question, and been mentioned by past partners.  Other things have shifted:  whether or not I'd give a baby up for adoption, how I picture changing my living situation to adapt.  When I was younger, I probably would considered adoption more easily, and when I thought about what would change, one of the first steps was probably going back to my family home to sort things out.

At my current stage of life, I ask other questions and consider other options.  Given that I'm paradoxically eager to know that I can still reproduce while terrified of becoming pregnant at the wrong time: could I give a baby up, especially given the fear in the back of my mind that maybe I'd be giving up my only chance?  If I'm in a relationship: is there even the possibility of considering this person a life partner?  If I don't marry that person, will I ever date again?  Logistics:  would I be able to keep my job, and is it enough to support a child?  Do I have to move, and where to?  What kind of support network do I have?  And finally: how ashamed will I be around my family, friends and colleagues?  How on earth do you raise another person??

Of course, all of this can be avoided by not having sex until you're ready to deal with all the consequences!  Trust me, if I ever do have kids, they are so getting the very frank "don't do what your mother did in her wayward (not so) youth" conversation.  If they're going to make choices with life-altering consequences, they'd darn well better think about what they're getting into.

(For those of you playing the home guessing game:  no buns a-bakin' in the oven at this time.  I was, however, nauseated this morning and afternoon, and watching "Juno" with my roommate in the evening.)

OK, now I've cried.

It seems stunning to me that I never posted the following video, which was a beautiful moment for me in the course of this campaign; I guess I put it up on Facebook, but not here. Anyway, a friend on Facebook posted it on her page today, and I watched it again and it brought me to tears. I don't care if folks say that it's sappy or overly simple or overly sentimental. This message - repeated throughout the many long months - is why Obama won.



HOPE = VOTE, finally!

My new phone? We'll see.

So, I'm finally blogging again because my G1 finally arrived ... clearly, my posting suffers without the luxury of a full keyboard phone.  I was glad to have my loaner phone from T-Mobile so that I could preserve at least a basic level of connectivity.  But I was annoyed every day by the lack of functionality, from calendar to contacts to web browser.  It also felt way too small in my hand, and it weirded me out.  Sorry, little replacement phone; it's not you, it's me.

All that said, the G1 is still on probation.  At the end of last week, I began to have serious misgivings about some of the functions the G1 is lacking out of the box; and reviews of the available apps at that time weren't giving me much faith.  The problem of missing features and functions is normal to any newly-released phone (yes, even the beloved iPhone) and so it's not unexpected.  But that's exactly why I'm not usually a first adopter; I generally wait until the kinks are worked out and the phone developers get their sea legs.

At any rate, my misgivings were so great that I started looking around on eBay for the AT&T Tilt, the phone model two newer than my previous one.  I first encountered that phone in February and loved it; it went on my "next phone to buy" list, and so was a natural fallback when my G1 infatuation started to fade.  So I started watching a couple of auctions ... and then I accidentally won one.

(Yes, it's possible to accidentally win an auction.  Typical eBay psychology predicts a flurry of late bidding in the last few minutes; I expected my bid to be a minor entry in that flurry.  I certainly did not expect to win the darn thing with a bid just $10 higher than the price the auction had been sitting at for the last several hours.  Oops?)

All this is to say that I now have two new phones.  But while unexpected, I'm actually OK with it: I'll be able to test out and compare both phones in the next two weeks and return/resell the one I like less.  I think I'll end up feeling more confident in and comfortable with my decision after that trial period, and I'll end up with a phone I truly feel serves me well for the next few years.

This is the G1's week.  Things I am getting used to: slightly smaller keyboard buttons, this bloody trackball, using the stupid touch screen with no stylus (the bitterness at the last two is because they combined to help me lose a whole draft blog post).  Things that bother me: certain missing options in my mail account settings, the fact that my mail program keeps re-downloading as new messages I've read and/or deleted.  Things I love: the web browser!!  I'd almost keep the phone for that alone.  Also, my calendar is totally synced on my phone without having to plug in a single cable, thanks to the Google calendar link; syncing and invites between my home and office Outlook calendars have been working well for me over the past week or so, allowing me access to my home calendar while at work even though I couldn't carry it around on my phone.  Pending questions: will Funambol contacts work properly for me?  Can I download enough good games to keep me entertained?

Alright, playtime over; I don't get paid to test phones.  However, I totally want that job if anyone is offering!  I am a PDA superuser, and I will put any product through its paces with vigor.

An historic event

This might be the "where were you when ..." event of my generation.

I'm having trouble taking in the significance; it feels like an ordinary election one moment, and then the next I'm struck by the import.  Jesse Jackson may not have thought he'd live to see this; my 91-year-old grandfather almost certainly didn't.  But he got a ride to the polls courtesy of Obama NY, and joyfully cast his ballot for not only our first black major party candidate, but now our first black President-elect.

Wow.  To be honest, I'm not sure that I thought I'd see this so early in my lifetime.  I'm still pretty young; and if I have kids in the next few years, it's not just that they'll live to see a time when a black man could be President; they'll be born while a black man is President.  They'll always live in a world where that's considered totally possible.  Amazing!  I totally want to have some Obama babies - as if I wasn't motivated enough to have kids.  ;-)

Obama isn't just a President for black people, nor is this just significant for minorities.  This really is a symbol of a different kind of America than we've been before.  Not everything has changed of course; Obama isn't Jesus, nor even a magician, although he's been touted as the second coming of everyone from Lincoln to FDR to MLK/JFK/RFK.  But we broke through something, with this whole election including Clinton and even Romney and Palin, showing that a wider segment of America could be our leaders than ever before.  It's not as wide as it should be; but the progress is visible, and it gives me hope.

John McCain recognized this, in such a gracious, public servant oriented concession speech; that's the McCain I wished I'd seen this election (although the crazy booing crowd kind of made it clear why he felt he had to lose that part of himself to try and win over his party).  And Obama's speech reminded me of the first time I heard him speak: not at DNC '04 but when he won his Senate seat, and spoke not as a partisan victor but as the sincere representative of his whole state, including those "whose trust I have yet to earn." 

Oh, do I hope he means that and can act on it.  This day is so much different from the heartbreak of 2004 for me - not because of a Democrat winning or George Bush being gone, but because I don't hear the vitriol, the undisguised bigotry from both sides of the "red/blue" equation.  Even Fox News commentators started to find nice things to say about Obama!  You do wonder where all that goodwill was for the past few months ... but I'll take it anyway, because it's a welcome change.

In the streets last night, I heard the kind of celebration we Bostonians reserve for a World Series or Superbowl win: strangers call and honk to each other as they walk or bike or drive past, and you hear this low roar of cheering as a constant background, rising and falling in waves.  Now I know I'm in Massachusetts, and not even everyone in my state was celebrating, let alone everyone in the country.  But I believe that we can find enough in common as far as what we want for our lives and our country to move forward together, and to find partners in former political opponents.

This is a big deal.  There will be armies of pundits breaking this down seven ways from Sunday over the next several weeks, and they'll do their best to kill all the magic.  But I will remember this day, where I was when it happened, and how unbelievably special it is.