Kent Newsome on technology, music and life

8/27/2006


I Understand the How, But What About the Why?

Om Malik talks about Dave Winer's recent obsession with surfing the net, setting up news river feeds for his buddies and doing blog posts on Blackberries and other handheld devices. Dave even has a video that shows how he does it (sort of).

I'm now on my third Blackberry, so I know Blackberries. They are great phone/PDA combinations. And my new one doubles as a wireless broadband modem. I use it all the time to access the internet- with my laptop. Blackberries are woefully behind the curve as far as media goes, but there are new models on the horizon that will hopefully close the gap a little.

So I understand how to do a blog post on a Blackberry. Well, actually, you simply do it via email. But it's certainly possible to do it the hard way like Dave shows in his video. I'm OK with all of that. Really.

What I don't understand is why you would want to surf the net, read your news and write blog posts on a Blackberry?

I assume no right thinking person would if they were at home or at work, where there's always a big, visible computer nearby. With a screen you can read, a keyboard, and a fast internet connection.

When traveling? Well maybe, but wouldn't anyone who has a blog also have a laptop with them?

The true mobile computing value of a Blackberry is its ability to serve as a wireless broadband modem and allow you wider access without high hotel and airport day rates. But oddly that angle isn't part of the new push.

I think people are treating this Blackberry as a web surfing and blogging tool the way mountain climbers treat a mountain. They move right past the why and just start climbing. Because they can, because it's cool, or because they're bored. Or maybe so they can try to convince more people to use their mobile computing products.

Perhaps it's just that Dave has a new toy and he's putting it through its paces. Like the way we used to make choppers out of our bikes.

People will fall all over themselves trying to rationalize it away, but everyone who is actually trying to get content, as opposed to push content, knows that other than text based headlines and the occasional weather forecast, surfing the net on a Blackberry is sort of like running a race in wooden clogs. You can do it, but it's slow and painful.

Creating web content on a Blackberry? Surely you jest.

Until someone addresses the why, I'm going to sit here in front my computer and watch- with amusement.

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Posted by Kent @ 8/27/2006 03:54:00 PM | Permalink

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4 Comment(s):

Kent I enjoy your blog and podcasts. I found you because Doc Searls metioned the Ranchocast. He had pointed me to the Roadhouse podcast which I really liked, so I figured I would like your podcast as well. From there I started reading your blog. There a lot of points that you make that I think are right on.

I will try to give you a few reasons why certain people might want to surf using their PDA or phone. I think anyone that commutes by train or bus it is a natural. That is why here in Japan, where the commutes are long and trains crowded, so many people use their phones for internet access. I have read a study that says most Japanese use the interent from their phones (mostly e-mail). Another group here in Japan that use their phones this way is mothers waiting for their kids at the many lessons and activities they are involved in. I help manage a small English language school and when you walk through the parking lot or waiting room you see a large number of mothers typing away on their phones.

I have our school blogs set to up to flow the RSS feeds through WinkSite because I figure that way more mothers are likely to read them. There are some problems with the Japanese characters on some phones that I need to straighten out, but it is a simple way to get our blogs in front of the people they are meant for.

I agree blogging from a phone, except for posting photos, is something I can't see being too popular.

By Anonymous David Campbell, at 8/27/2006 5:12 PM  
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Going online used to be an activity. You sat in front of the computer, turned it on, dialed up and off you go. You wrote things down so you can search them when you get back home. It didn't make sense, but the technology forced us to think of this as situational.

Cell phones change that. They're about immediate communication anywhere. And people who get cell phones don't get that online has to be an activity. You don't carry a computer everywhere. But if you're sitting with friends at a restuarant and planning the next move, there will be address checking, and texting and e-mailing.

Interestingly, in my circle of friends, the people who are not technically inclined are the first to get the power of cell phones. Probably because they're not married to their computer, because they don't demand so much of it, that they get the immediate utility of this simple yet powerful devices.

Dave is late to the game, he's only now discovering what the younger generation already know. The Web doesn't require 15" screens and a hard disk.

You are right, some things are incredibly difficult on a little device (I use a Razr which is worse than a BlackBerry). I don't know anyone crazy enough to do their taxes on a cell phone. But cell phones are immediate, they're here, they're always connected.

Once you stop treating Web access as an activity, you discover a lot of the utility of cell phones. And it's hard to go back and turn that off. You're not doing computing on a device with 10 numeric keys, but you are doing things you couldn't do before.

By Anonymous assaf, at 8/27/2006 6:36 PM  
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It's all about saving time. Assuming you're like me, you shut down your computer nightly. The next morning, instead of sitting around waiting for it to boot, I could have already read all the headlines from my feeds and checked out the interesting stories. Sometimes it is that much faster.

An obvious use is on commutes or during travel. Why go through the trouble of taking out your laptop when you've got a device that's set to go?

You're comparing apples and oranges when you talk about reading news on your pc vs. mobile device if they're both in front of you. It's almost akin to asking whether you'd watch a dvd in your home theatre or your laptop if both were available (but on a flight, you'd settle for your laptop).

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8/27/2006 8:29 PM  
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I used to browse news sites on my Nokia N80 when I'm taking a dump.

By Anonymous Moshe Katzmann, at 8/31/2006 5:13 AM  
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