Comments on: Going mobile

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:57:56 +0000

Here's something ironic. My husband got a Blackberry about 6 months ago. I wondered if this was a good idea, as he tended to spend a lot of time on his cel phone both talking to friends and because his work often requires that he take calls evenings and weekends (as that's when the people he's trying to do deals with are available).

Because the Blackberry is so much larger than a cel phone, he tends not to take it with him everywhere unless he's expecting an important message or call. Instead, it sits on the kitchen counter most of the time he's home, meanwhile he might be outside in the backyard.

So, he spends less time on the phone now that it's packaged with his Blackberry.

But, as you say, instead of firing up the computer, he can check for messages in an instant when he has a minute.

Also, on vacations when he has a few delicate deals on the go, we used to take the lap top. Now, we have an option to only take the blackberry, which is much easier to manage.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:16:47 +0000

This morning the campus minister at my alma mater wrote on his blog about communication and email that I thought you might find interesting if you get a minute in between diaper changes. The crux of the post is this question:

Is email a valid way of communicating? Is it possible to converse to communicate with email? I wonder. With email it is so easy to see just a bunch of words on a page and to forget that there is a person behind those words.

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:59:29 +0000

Interesting post, Dave. I’ve been resisting getting an iPhone for the same reasons you cite above. But lately I’ve found myself rushing back to my home office to check my work mail, nervous that there’s a fire there growing into a conflagration. I’m thinking that an iPhone (BB, etc.) is both freeing and limiting — it’s what you make of it.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:33:52 +0000

I know what you mean. I just got my first cell phone 18 months ago. I had long resisted, not wanting to have a leash around my neck that people could pull whenever they wanted me. I had to get it for a campaign I was working on when people needed to and did reach me at all hours of the day and night.

After the campaign ended I kept the phone (damn contracts), but I have managed to work it into my life so that it isn't quite the nuisance I had feared it would be. I have found it is all in how you use it. Nothing bothers me more than when I'm having a conversation or a meal with someone and they pick up their ringing phone when they know it won't be important, but there are certainly times having the phone can come in handy.

I think you are also spot on about using the various methods of communication to your advantage. In college I told everyone to e-mail me. Not having a cell phone I often wouldn't get a message until I was back in my room late at night. I couldn't always return a call at 2am, but I could reply to an e-mail. That still remains true, but when people know they can (usually) reach me on my cell that cuts down on the amount of e-mail I deal with and allows for immediate responses.