Paging and phones

Post #26,064 by wharris2 1/28/02 12:41:33 PM Reply	Paging and phones My cellphone came with a voice mailbox feature, which (IMO) is immeasurably better than almost any paging capability. "Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it." -- Donald Knuth
Post #26,095 by tjsinclair 1/28/02 2:09:01 PM Reply	Good point The last three cell phones I got had this feature as well. This would seem to answer the 'out of range' objection I raised. Actually, the more I think about it, the more it seems that this article may contain some truth. I just have this knee-jerk reaction to blanket statements like <FOO> is dead'. How many times, for example, have we heard that UNIX was dead? That's what set me off and apparently pushed enough emotional buttons that I didn't fully consider the points made in the article in a rational enough way. Maybe it is time to consider giving up my pager....but I still don't feel comfortable giving out my cell number. Somehow I still think that a pager number puts a bit of comfort zone between me and those who are trying to get hold of me. Not to mention that if someone calls my pager, I know they want to get hold of me quickly. If someone calls my cell, it could be an emergency, a casual call, a telemarketer or simply a wrong number. So if we move away from pagers to cell phones, aren't we opening ourselves up to more opportunities for nuisance contacts? Tom Sinclair Speaker-to-Suits "You can't find a hermit to teach you herming, because of course that rather spoils the whole thing.: -- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Post #26,190 by Meerkat 1/28/02 8:57:55 PM Reply	Just because you have a cell phone... ...doesn't mean you have to answer it. With Caller ID and voicemail, your "don't-interrupt-me"-ability is assured. My phone doesn't have a vibrate option, but I tend to leave it on 'Ring Once' - which means (funnily enough) it'll let out one ring when a call comes in, and will just sit there flashing its lights at me until I answer it or it gives up and diverts to voicemail. Works a treat. (And it leads me into a rantlet: it's jolly annoying, especially in an office environment, when someone forgets their mobile phone is actually mobile, then leaves it on their desk where it proceeds to play bloody Bolero or something at full screaming beepy volume for a minute.) On and on and on and on, and on and on and on goes John.
Post #26,231 by Steve Lowe 1/29/02 12:59:32 AM Reply	silent mode I typically just turn my phone (currenly a Nokia 5185) to 'silent' mode while in meetings or other do-not-disturb-me situations. If I'm expecting a call, I'll put the phone on the table or desk where I can see it light up if a call comes in and decide whether to excuse myself to answer it. I find it highly annoying and disruptive to be in discussions where peoples cell phones and pagers are going off. ----- Steve
Post #26,260 by wharris2 1/29/02 8:47:17 AM Reply	Problem with caller ID is that half the calls I get to my regular phone don't seem to have ID'able numbers. They aren't anonymous - of course I ignore anonymous calls on principle - but they're "number unavailable". I think telemarketers are pooling in the locations in the country that don't yet have caller ID capability. "Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it." -- Donald Knuth
Post #26,264 by drewk 1/29/02 8:59:40 AM Reply	Mu favorite is the "dancing pager" Ever had someone leave a pager on vibrate mode and leave it in/on their desk? Every ten minutes or so I would hear a muffled buzz from the next room. Finally I got tired of it and sat at his desk to wait for the next time. As soon as it started, I picked up the newspaper on the top and saw his pager skittering across the desktop. We have to fight the terrorists as if there were no rules and preserve our open society as if there were no terrorists. -- [link\|http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/05/opinion/BIO-FRIEDMAN.html\|Thomas Friedman]
Post #26,445 by kmself 1/29/02 9:53:21 PM Reply	Bolero Office mobiles ringing unattended have their batteries removed. Depending on the make/model, this can introduce certain needs to reset various features or functions of the mobile. This often leaves a significant impression on the owner of the phone. `-- Karsten M. Self [link\|mailto:kmself@ix.netcom.com\|kmself@ix.netcom.com] [link\|http://kmself.ix.netcom.com/\|[link\|http://kmself.ix.netcom.com/\|http://kmself.ix.netcom.com/]] What part of "gestalt" don't you understand?`
Post #26,448 by Meerkat 1/29/02 10:14:03 PM Reply	Hmmm ... a cunning plan! On and on and on and on, and on and on and on goes John.
Post #26,449 by static 1/29/02 10:28:24 PM Reply	Most GSM phones remember their settings. Taking the battery out only really switches it off. Leaving phone and battery visibly and obviously separated, though, would have pretty well much the same effect. Wade. "All around me are nothing but fakes Come with me on the biggest fake of all!"
Post #26,500 by CRConrad 1/30/02 9:50:04 AM Reply	Happens all the time here too. (Yes Drook, phones dance too)
Post #26,564 by tjsinclair 1/30/02 3:10:29 PM Reply	So should I ditch my pager? Currently I have a cell phone (Verizon Wireless), pager (Metrocall, number-only) and PDA (Palm VII). (This doesn't count the rest of my portable gadgets, i.e. TiBook, iPod, etc.) Seriously, I'd like some opinions on this. The fewer gizmos I drag along with me, the better. Tom Sinclair Speaker-to-Suits A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores. -- (Terry Pratchett, The Fifth Elephant)
Post #26,569 by tonytib 1/30/02 3:30:51 PM Reply	You might want to look at the Handspring Treo as it's a GSM phone (CDMA should be coming for Verizon and Sprint customers considering that Qualcomm recently invested in Handspring), Palm PDA, does SMS text messaging, and is fairly small. It's been getting good reviews, and a color version is coming. If you're reasonably happy with what you have, I'd recommend waiting, as we should be seeing similar devices coming. For example, Samsung has a color Palm phone for Sprint (don't know if it's available for Verizon), we should be seeing some Symbian and WinCE (Stinger) based stuff sometime this year. There's also the Visor phone (GSM) and the Sprint CDMA phone module for Handspring. Some IWETHEY members have and like the Visor phone IIRC. Note that both modules do stick out below the bottom of the Visor. And Sprint claims they'll have color, Java-enabled 2.5G phones by midyear (of course, you can run Java on a Palm or Handspring phone). I'm going to wait at least six more months before replacing my phone. You're not going to see iPOD functionality in a combined device any time soon. Tony
Post #26,589 by CRConrad 1/30/02 5:04:38 PM Reply	Or, going at it from the other direction... ...the Nokia series 60, which is kind of a phone that's sprouted a display and pull-out keyboard, and become a PDA. ("Son of Communicator 9000"?) Be smart, though -- wait a year or so, until they've launched the lower-cost models (I assume?) of the series, or the top model's been reduced. As Karsten said, there's prolly gonna be a lot of devices of these kinds around fairly soon. Christian R. Conrad The Man Who Knows Fucking Everything
Post #26,621 by tjsinclair 1/31/02 1:05:18 AM Reply	Just switched to Verizon last week.... I used to pay AT&T Wireless sixty bucks a month and then found that I could switch to the Verizon family plan with my wife (who was already on Verizon's service) and only pay twenty bucks more. So I guess the cell stays for a while. I'll keep an eye peeled, though. Thanks for the info! Tom Sinclair Speaker-to-Suits Genua had once controlled the river mouth and taxed its traffic in a way that couldn't be called piracy because it was done by the city government. -- Local-body politics explained (Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad)

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