The Problem Was...The ....Thing Worked

They Just Call Them Smartphones - This feature is a replay - one man's war against failed, and extremely annoying, technology. In this case the enemy is a Treo, the prime competitor to the Blackberry. The author struggles valiantly against problem after problem, but is finally driven to a maniacal attack on his own Treo with a Swiss army knife when the software fixes cause total failure. I think you first read this story shortly after the wheel was invented. You will not read it again today (unless you have a hard copy of the Sunday Times or subscribe to Times select ) because the story is a Times Select item, reserved for the privileged few. I read the hard copy. The link above is just a teaser, it won't take you past the Times Select barrier, but hey, the story, and this post, are all about about frustration with technology. Click the story link just to get that feeling of frustration going.

Now, if you really want to go somewhere for fun with a Swiss Army knife - use the "Michael Hassett at MySpace" link in the right hand column and then play the "Failed States" video clip. While you're there have some cell phone fun with "Let Me Speak To Victor".

I had the Treo competitor, the Blackberry, for several years. It worked extremely well. I would get e-mails 24 hours a day, weekends and vacations included. These sometimes included long attachments that I could read, with great effort, on the tiny screen - nothing like struggle rewarded to create a feeling of accomplishment. And the Blackberry worked very well as a phone, with or without the borglike blue tooth ear piece. I was always available to anyone at work who needed me in an emergency. So unlike the Treo, my Blackberry worked precisely as intended, and yet it drove me just as crazy as the victim of the non-functioning Treo in the main story. Even now I cringe when my wife's blackberry buzzes from within her purse to announce an arriving e-mail. Is 24/7 e-mail really good for anyone? Why was my definition of emergency so different than a few of my clients? I turned my Blackberry in gladly on retirement and bought a regular cell phone (regular meaning one with camera, Internet etc.). It works for me. I even get bonus calls for Victor. Play the clip, like all my comedy it's reality based.