Howard
Jan 31, 2008, 11:22 AM
http://www.astraware.com/images/blog/89/howard_crimsontreo.jpg
Lots of people look at smartphones and think that its a phone that can do other stuff too. I take a slightly different view, since I use my Treo as a PDA first, and a phone second. I was trying to explain to someone who didn't know what use a PDA or Smartphone was for, and I was surprised at how many uses I have. I wrote lots of them down, and thought I'd share some examples of how I use the both the inbuilt and third party applications!
Quick messages: My wife and I can quickly send a message to say when we've collected the children from school and when we're on our way home etc. Being able to change the built in messages is good, and of course the smiley buttons and replacements are nice too.
Threaded Messages: Really useful for short conversation, just being able to see the last reply back and forth is enough and keep things on track.
Clock / Alarms: I don't wear a watch, and although I've got a good sense of time, its good to have a backup. When I fly and go to different time zones it can take me a while before I'm adjusted in the new time zone, and this is where having that on my Treo really helps. Auto-Setting time from the mobile carrier is a good idea, but doesn't work reliably enough to trust 100%. Just changing the timezone manually does all I need it to though, which is great.
Camera: I use it for taking quick pictures of things I'll need to remember. My main two are price labels (and model numbers) in shops, and taking a picture of where I've parked my car, if it is either a big car park or I'll be away for a while (like at the airport long stay). Also, signs and things that are funny for whatever reason, so that I can share with Kirk (http://www.astraware.com/company/team/index.php?name=kirsten) later. Like the strange things I see written on the back of vans!
Datebook: Indispensable for recording when I have meetings, so I can avoid clashes. I tend to set an alarm for about 45 minutes before meetings with visitors, so that I can be sure to feel prepared and ready. Also weekly repeating reminders of what days to put the bins and recycling out.
During a conference, I'll set up a category for that conference and enter in my schedule, especially if there's a lot I want to catch and there may be clashes. That can be really useful, since if my first choice is full or cancelled, I can see straight away what my second choice is and hopefully get to it in time that I'm not late for the start. The ability to beam a whole set of items from that category within a date range off to someone else can be really useful. I've shared a whole conference schedule with David (http://www.astraware.com/company/team/index.php?name=david) that way before now, taking just a couple of seconds of infra-red.
Birthdays and anniversaries are an obvious point for Datebook, since I'm pretty lousy with remembering dates otherwise.
Memo Pad: I have categories for all sorts of things. The ability to drop in bits of information using Palm Desktop, then have them available either on my laptop or Palm is really useful, it allows me to keep much more information available, yet out of my brain, which is ideal!
Just going through a few of my memo categories:
Archery: I practise both longbow and olympic style recurve archery. I use a simple memopad entry for each round that I shoot, taking note of the score of each arrow, and add up for the total at the end of each line. I give it a first line (which becomes the title) like "2005.06.26 : American, Stapeley, Recurve, 518". This would tell me the date of the round, what type of round it was and distance it was at, the location, what style of bow I was using, and my total score. I'd also use it to keep notes on anything I changed in my bow setup, sight marks, so that I could refer back to it easily.
Astraware: Memos to do with my main Astraware work that isn't specific to a particular game.
Business Ideas: Things that might help our business improve, for when I get an idea or when I hear something from a colleague or in a meeting which I can apply later.
Creative: All kinds of random ideas for things I might do, from designing a game to an idea for an art piece to an outline for a story.
Family : Notes for things to do with the family. A reminder of my children's birth details, everyone's clothes sizes, shopping reminders...
GDC: Notes I've made while at the Game Developer's Conference. Some of the info I've picked up has been very useful!
Hobby: Things specific to my hobbies, like notes on players in world of warcraft who were really good - or bad - to be in a group with, lists of frequencies of repeaters and band plans for amateur radio. I have a list here of the pieces in the San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art which I loved the most, so that I could research them more when I got home.
Knowledge: I keep random things that I've learnt copied here. Like how to add a new hard drive and set it up under linux, the parameters for creating a "tarball", basic phrases in a few languages, my home IP address, what settings to use on our washing machine... I also keep a "packing list" for when I'm travelling. This has helped me to avoid the worst of the mistakes, though the fact that I add something extra to the list nearly every trip says that I've still got some way to go.
Moving: All kinds of information that I need to have when moving house. Solicitor's details, packing lists, details of inventories. Even notes made as we looked through houses on what we liked or disliked. I've used the same basic list of "Who to inform when we move" for our last few moves, and every time it has helped me to avoid missing an important company.
Poems: I'm not a prolific poet, but I like to keep a copy of everything that I write on my Palm. Sometimes I might write new things when I'm somewhere without a PC or a notepad, and for those times my Treo with its useful little keyboard is indispensable. Starting each entry with the date (YYYY.MM.DD : Title) means that I automatically have my list sorted by date and I can see the titles at a glance.
Serials: Registration codes for software I've bought, whether it be for PC or my Treo. Everything goes in here, that way during a reinstall I've got everything available.
Songs: I keep lyrics to songs and guitar chord patterns as entries under a songs category. I'm good at remembering the chords, but lousy with the lyrics, so this is very helpful. Sometimes I keep copies of guitar tab in here too, but the screen is too small to display enough to be useful, so that's really just a handy place to archive bits of tab I might want to find later.
Splash ID (http://www.astraware.com/all/security/splashid): I find this essential for keeping all of my web passwords, account details, everything else I need. Again, I tend to use it on the desktop more often than on my Palm, but having it in both places - and kept securely - is really useful. I particularly like the ability to add in a notes field and all kinds of custom information, since not every login needs the same set of details.
Phone calls: It's pretty rare that I'm somewhere away from either my work or home phone, and not driving, so I tend to not receive or make many calls from my Palm. I actually view the phone part as an added bonus!
Contacts List: Not something I use every week, but very useful. I particularly like being able to look up a contact by just typing their first letter or two of their name, or their initials. Very fast to get to a name in a hurry.
Web browser: It's not a great browser, certainly not compared to Firefox on my laptop, but it makes a pretty reasonable job of doing a quick lookup or checking a site while I'm out.
Google Maps: Very very useful - being able to look around and get a map of a location, and then a street or satellite view, can be essential for finding my way around.
Tom Tom: I have a small bluetooth GPS unit that can provide GPS data for Tom Tom, which I keep installed on a card that's always in my Treo. Again, rare that I need it, but handy to have when I do.
Astraware games: We have lots of games, and I often have many of them on my SD card, but tend to just keep a few main ones in main memory:
StarPop (http://www.astraware.com/all/default/starpop): Always a hit with children, and people who don't consider themselves "gamers"
Astraware Sudoku (http://www.astraware.com/all/default/sudoku): Sometimes I'm up for the challenge, sometimes I'll go for something less stressful. The Sudoku Of The Day is fun to do since you know that everyone is getting the same puzzle that day.
Astraware Casino (http://www.astraware.com/all/default/casino): Just easy fun. Enough to convince me never to gamble in a real casino, because I know I'd get carried away. I've got most of the souvenirs now, just a couple of game specific ones left. Hoping for a really good hand in Texas Hold 'Em...
I have a few extra apps on my Treo - a weather app, a file manager, and a few others, but while they're nice to have, I don't find a regular use for them, so not something I can say I use regularly.
Lots of people look at smartphones and think that its a phone that can do other stuff too. I take a slightly different view, since I use my Treo as a PDA first, and a phone second. I was trying to explain to someone who didn't know what use a PDA or Smartphone was for, and I was surprised at how many uses I have. I wrote lots of them down, and thought I'd share some examples of how I use the both the inbuilt and third party applications!
Quick messages: My wife and I can quickly send a message to say when we've collected the children from school and when we're on our way home etc. Being able to change the built in messages is good, and of course the smiley buttons and replacements are nice too.
Threaded Messages: Really useful for short conversation, just being able to see the last reply back and forth is enough and keep things on track.
Clock / Alarms: I don't wear a watch, and although I've got a good sense of time, its good to have a backup. When I fly and go to different time zones it can take me a while before I'm adjusted in the new time zone, and this is where having that on my Treo really helps. Auto-Setting time from the mobile carrier is a good idea, but doesn't work reliably enough to trust 100%. Just changing the timezone manually does all I need it to though, which is great.
Camera: I use it for taking quick pictures of things I'll need to remember. My main two are price labels (and model numbers) in shops, and taking a picture of where I've parked my car, if it is either a big car park or I'll be away for a while (like at the airport long stay). Also, signs and things that are funny for whatever reason, so that I can share with Kirk (http://www.astraware.com/company/team/index.php?name=kirsten) later. Like the strange things I see written on the back of vans!
Datebook: Indispensable for recording when I have meetings, so I can avoid clashes. I tend to set an alarm for about 45 minutes before meetings with visitors, so that I can be sure to feel prepared and ready. Also weekly repeating reminders of what days to put the bins and recycling out.
During a conference, I'll set up a category for that conference and enter in my schedule, especially if there's a lot I want to catch and there may be clashes. That can be really useful, since if my first choice is full or cancelled, I can see straight away what my second choice is and hopefully get to it in time that I'm not late for the start. The ability to beam a whole set of items from that category within a date range off to someone else can be really useful. I've shared a whole conference schedule with David (http://www.astraware.com/company/team/index.php?name=david) that way before now, taking just a couple of seconds of infra-red.
Birthdays and anniversaries are an obvious point for Datebook, since I'm pretty lousy with remembering dates otherwise.
Memo Pad: I have categories for all sorts of things. The ability to drop in bits of information using Palm Desktop, then have them available either on my laptop or Palm is really useful, it allows me to keep much more information available, yet out of my brain, which is ideal!
Just going through a few of my memo categories:
Archery: I practise both longbow and olympic style recurve archery. I use a simple memopad entry for each round that I shoot, taking note of the score of each arrow, and add up for the total at the end of each line. I give it a first line (which becomes the title) like "2005.06.26 : American, Stapeley, Recurve, 518". This would tell me the date of the round, what type of round it was and distance it was at, the location, what style of bow I was using, and my total score. I'd also use it to keep notes on anything I changed in my bow setup, sight marks, so that I could refer back to it easily.
Astraware: Memos to do with my main Astraware work that isn't specific to a particular game.
Business Ideas: Things that might help our business improve, for when I get an idea or when I hear something from a colleague or in a meeting which I can apply later.
Creative: All kinds of random ideas for things I might do, from designing a game to an idea for an art piece to an outline for a story.
Family : Notes for things to do with the family. A reminder of my children's birth details, everyone's clothes sizes, shopping reminders...
GDC: Notes I've made while at the Game Developer's Conference. Some of the info I've picked up has been very useful!
Hobby: Things specific to my hobbies, like notes on players in world of warcraft who were really good - or bad - to be in a group with, lists of frequencies of repeaters and band plans for amateur radio. I have a list here of the pieces in the San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art which I loved the most, so that I could research them more when I got home.
Knowledge: I keep random things that I've learnt copied here. Like how to add a new hard drive and set it up under linux, the parameters for creating a "tarball", basic phrases in a few languages, my home IP address, what settings to use on our washing machine... I also keep a "packing list" for when I'm travelling. This has helped me to avoid the worst of the mistakes, though the fact that I add something extra to the list nearly every trip says that I've still got some way to go.
Moving: All kinds of information that I need to have when moving house. Solicitor's details, packing lists, details of inventories. Even notes made as we looked through houses on what we liked or disliked. I've used the same basic list of "Who to inform when we move" for our last few moves, and every time it has helped me to avoid missing an important company.
Poems: I'm not a prolific poet, but I like to keep a copy of everything that I write on my Palm. Sometimes I might write new things when I'm somewhere without a PC or a notepad, and for those times my Treo with its useful little keyboard is indispensable. Starting each entry with the date (YYYY.MM.DD : Title) means that I automatically have my list sorted by date and I can see the titles at a glance.
Serials: Registration codes for software I've bought, whether it be for PC or my Treo. Everything goes in here, that way during a reinstall I've got everything available.
Songs: I keep lyrics to songs and guitar chord patterns as entries under a songs category. I'm good at remembering the chords, but lousy with the lyrics, so this is very helpful. Sometimes I keep copies of guitar tab in here too, but the screen is too small to display enough to be useful, so that's really just a handy place to archive bits of tab I might want to find later.
Splash ID (http://www.astraware.com/all/security/splashid): I find this essential for keeping all of my web passwords, account details, everything else I need. Again, I tend to use it on the desktop more often than on my Palm, but having it in both places - and kept securely - is really useful. I particularly like the ability to add in a notes field and all kinds of custom information, since not every login needs the same set of details.
Phone calls: It's pretty rare that I'm somewhere away from either my work or home phone, and not driving, so I tend to not receive or make many calls from my Palm. I actually view the phone part as an added bonus!
Contacts List: Not something I use every week, but very useful. I particularly like being able to look up a contact by just typing their first letter or two of their name, or their initials. Very fast to get to a name in a hurry.
Web browser: It's not a great browser, certainly not compared to Firefox on my laptop, but it makes a pretty reasonable job of doing a quick lookup or checking a site while I'm out.
Google Maps: Very very useful - being able to look around and get a map of a location, and then a street or satellite view, can be essential for finding my way around.
Tom Tom: I have a small bluetooth GPS unit that can provide GPS data for Tom Tom, which I keep installed on a card that's always in my Treo. Again, rare that I need it, but handy to have when I do.
Astraware games: We have lots of games, and I often have many of them on my SD card, but tend to just keep a few main ones in main memory:
StarPop (http://www.astraware.com/all/default/starpop): Always a hit with children, and people who don't consider themselves "gamers"
Astraware Sudoku (http://www.astraware.com/all/default/sudoku): Sometimes I'm up for the challenge, sometimes I'll go for something less stressful. The Sudoku Of The Day is fun to do since you know that everyone is getting the same puzzle that day.
Astraware Casino (http://www.astraware.com/all/default/casino): Just easy fun. Enough to convince me never to gamble in a real casino, because I know I'd get carried away. I've got most of the souvenirs now, just a couple of game specific ones left. Hoping for a really good hand in Texas Hold 'Em...
I have a few extra apps on my Treo - a weather app, a file manager, and a few others, but while they're nice to have, I don't find a regular use for them, so not something I can say I use regularly.