#3: What do you have in your pocket?

Ok, enough Microsoft bashing. Bad Bill Gates may put a hit out on me!

My lead question is tamer then it seems. I carry around a cell phone(Motorola RAZR), PDA (Palm Pilot) and my geek stick (2GB USB Flash Drive). I don't have a MP3 player (iPod) but would like to have my music with me when I'm out and about (and a way to play it).

So what do I really need in my pocket? Well I absolutely need a calender and list of my contacts. I'm over 50 and my memory goes in to hiding on a regular basis. I have to remind myself to look at my Palm Pilot to find out where I'm supposed to be. Let's face it, if an appointment isn't in my PDA, I'm not going to get there. Also mandatory is my cell phone. My mobile office is the Honda Pilot so I need to contact clients as well as be contacted by them. The Geek stick I hang around my neck has all the files I used to lug around on a Utility CD. I use it every day to update computers, chase viruses and spyware. I put all 3 on a scale and it weighed in at a little under 2 pounds. Not bad you might say? But hey, I forget at least one of them every other day as I rush out to meet clients.

There have been phones that can act like Palm Pilots for a while now. I have had 2 issues in obtaining one. #1 my cellular provider US Cellular is way behind on the technology curve. They just recently offered a Blackberry device. No Palm compatible device. #2 the screen size on most of these phones is tiny. My Motorola Razor can take contacts and calender info, but I can't see it in a logical format because the screen is so small. So what is a techno geek going to do?

Well being a PC person, patience is a virtue. Looks like our friends at Apple have combined everything into a new phone. They call it catchingly the iPhone. Click here for info.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/. It has everything and more.

Now the bad news. It won't be available until early summer and only with Cingular Phone service. A quick look at the Cingular coverage map shows not much in Virginia and certainly none in the Alleghany Highlands. Sigh. Maybe US Cellular will have it by 2010.

So what is in your pocket(s)?