July 12, 2005
A mobile office: Think of the solution, not the problem.
Posted by Jess in
Tech Talk
Me and Matt's favorite book series is the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.
In it, the eccentric Zedd constantly admonishes his neighbor, Richard, to "think of the solution, not the problem" when solving issues.
I've been having a hard time keeping up with my business contacts and such during the day, mostly because I'm on the road so much and away from my computer. I have my Nextel, and I get my Lotus Notes email and calendar on it, but it's a bit kludgy.
So, I figured I needed a more streamlined way to get to my calendar so I can make appointments on the road. It's difficult to return calls, only to say "I'll call you when I'm back in the office to set something up". Then I still have to call home to leave a voice mail message to call my client back when I get home. Now THAT'S kludgy.
I looked into various smartphones, my favorite being the Treo 650, and seriously considered switching to Cingular or some service that supported it (the Treo 650 doesn't run on the IDEN network).
Finally one day, I must have had my V8 that morning, because it hit me: I was going about this all wrong.
How can I make appointments with a calendar that resides on the phone if I'm ON the phone?
I was too busy thinking about the problem, not the solution. The solution? I needed two seperate devices, and there's nothing I can do about it. That's really OK, I just need to be able to work the way I want and have to work.
I researched, and I went to ZDNet and CNet.com and all those great tech review sites. Their pick for one of the top handhelds was the Dell Axim X30.
Upon going to Dell's site, they had since come out with the Axim X50v, which is among the first handhelds to have a VGA display.
That and a fantastic sale from Dell led me to purchase my device, complete with a 1G secure digital card.
Well, I've had it since Wednesday, and I can't believe it took me this long to get here. The display is beautiful. Truly gorgeous. The Axim X50v has built-in 802.11b wireless, so no cables needed to sync, and I can hop on any wireless network and surf and do anything online. It comes with Windows Mobile 2003. It also comes with Windows Media Player 10, so I can use it in the car as an MP3 player.
But, the really cool bit is that thanks to visiting our friend Rob at dominounplugged.com and hearing Susan's recommendation during her Admin2005 calendaring session, I got Commontime's mNotes to sync my Lotus Notes mail, calendar, contacts and tasks.
In fact, to my delight, not only does it sync mail, but when I replicate to my Axim, I get the lovely unread count next to the folder structure. It's true. Sometimes it's the little things that makes you really, really happy.
I've already been more productive in a few ways. I can return all voice mails and set appointments easily in between appointments. But I can also relax and breathe easier now that I'm streamlined.
Here's to taking my business to a whole new level.
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Comments
Hope you enjoy the device. I make appointments or take notes all the time on my BB while I'm on the phone. You just need to get a headset (Bluetooth is great...) and you can switch from the phone application to the calendar and do what you need to. That should work well on a Treo as well.
Although sometimes it would be great to just carry around a regular phone and have such a great device with Wi-Fi, MP3, etc... like you said.
BB was another option I was looking into, as that worked with Nextel. Ah.. headset, so that's the trick. Thanks! Now I know!
Although, I'm glad I ended up the way I did. If I need a headset and a phone, or a phone and a PDA, it's still "two things". I'd rather have a PDA than a headset, which I know I'd break with my headset track record. :-)
It's all shiny and beautiful! I like it! You're making me jealous. (Mental note to self - you don't need it)
Don't let my secretary hear you eulogising the devil's machine! She's happy organising me and so am I. Can your PDA remember and buy presents for birthdays? Well, ok. But can they wrap them and buy cakes?
Yes, we're inefficient, but we do good social care over here.
:)
LOL... hey, you haven't SEEN me wrap gifts. Even my new PDA could do a better job than me. :D
You should have asked. I have been using a PocketPC (Toshiba e740) for a couple years now against mNotes that runs on the Domino server. we even played with mForms to see if any apps were worthwhile. I love grabbing some free wireless and sync'ing. Hence the reason I put the access point in the new house.
Chris, how did you like mForms? Did you have to recreate you existing apps entirely? I'm debating. I have my own software that I use to run Solace, would be great if I could get it on the PDA relatively easily.
