As I was fruitlessly rampaging through drawers and closets for an item that never came to light, I found a decade's worth of powered-down, abandoned gadgets of mine.In 1999, I chose the Handspring Visor (top left) for a PDA. It had a stylus that required that you learn a shorthand peculiar to the device. I loved it! It was like using a secret code.
Based on the recommendation of the late James Kim on TechTV's show "Fresh Gear," Monkeyrotica & I both purchased early smartphones, Hiptop Sidekicks (top right), in late 2002. I adored my Sidekick, updating to a color model when available and used Sidekicks almost exclusively for seven years. I switched to the T-Mobile Sidekick LX (bottom right) in 2008 and used it for one year, and although it was super-cool... (skip past the Helio blurb for current gadget)
When I said almost exclusively, I had a 30-day trial period in 2007 with the Helio Ocean (bottom left). I didn't get the hang of the thing in those first few weeks, and it ended very badly. Helio can rot in he11.
In February of 2009, Monkeyrotica gifted me the iPhone. At first, I didn't know what to think, as I was all googly for my querty keys and wasn't sure about the touchscreen tapping. That's still the thing I like least about it, but I've grown to use it with ease and love, love! all the apps. I even got rid of our landline and have my work number forwarded to it, I have so much enthusiasm for my iPhone. I use it regularly through the day to check traffic, check email, check my calendar, twitter, SMS, facebook, take photos; oh, and make phone calls.
My kids use my iPhone whenever they get a chance (E got an unintentional SMS message from Dash a few days ago!). They both love the games (I only have Dice, but Monkey has more), sending EMOJI to everyone and occasionally sends email to friends through mine and parents' addresses. It's amazing how easily they picked it up. The next generation is going to amaze us!
I thought I was the only one who thought the Grafiti shorthand was cool. I used to write stuff on actual paper with it.
ReplyDeleteGrafitti was originally developed as an app for the Newton Messagepad by the company that eventually became Palm Computing.
ReplyDeleteI miss that Messagepad 2100. And the eMate.
Hi Alex! I've always been a sucker for a secret code. My mom taught highschool shorthand in the late 60s/early 70s and I used to go through her books and try to teach myself. Graffiti was totally my style.
ReplyDeleteMonkey, when I was going through stuff in that same search, I found a note in a 1997 journal that your "gadget" (Palm Pilot? Newton?) was stolen during the Hobart Street break-in. So, you've been an earlier adopter than me. :-)
YES! I remember you! I bet they loooved the books! (loved to see pics... I'm so proud :)
ReplyDeleteOooo! And I love iPhones! Well, I don't actually have one. I've got a smart phone I don't use smartly.
And what's this Graffiti??!
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ReplyDeleteLoopy, I checked online, and this is the best representation of Graffiti I could find after a quick search.
ReplyDeleteThe dot shows where you set your stylus down, then scribe the shape. When you lift the stylus, your letter shows up. I was smokin' with my stylus!