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| Left to right: Sony Clié T415, Palm Treo 650, Samsung Omnia, HTC Droid Incredible |
My obsession with smartphones started with a practical necessity at work several years ago. I needed something portable that would allow me to keep track of my schedules/contacts and to take notes. I had a company standard issue of “Franklin Organizer”, but I kept forgetting to take with me the notebook whose thickness was of a dictionary whenever I left my desk. I concluded that my forgetfulness had nothing to do with it, but everything to do with the lack of its portability.
Searching for a solution, I started from a pocket-size organizer and eventually ended up with my first PDA Sony Clié. I even had a foldable full-size keyboard for it and I was able to take notes during meetings. I was totally geeking out and proud!
Clié was definitely the solution to my issue… BUT now I was dealing with another one… Clié is a PDA, not a smartphone so I was also carrying a personal cell phone (Motorola StarTac, if you care). I was also carrying a company-issued pager. Imagine Clié holster, a cell phone, a pager, and office badge hanging from my belt… I needed a geek tool belt!
Enter Palm Treo. A PDA and a cell phone in one “compact” unit! This is the first smartphone that I owned. I found a used unit on eBay at a good price (at least, I thought so). I didn’t subscribe to a data plan at that time. I just used it as a phone and a PDA, and my pants felt a whole lot lighter.
My entry into the mobile data plan was with a purchase of Samsung Omnia in 2008. Getting Omnia meant having to subscribe to a data plan and $30/month (Verizon Wireless) but my Treo was starting to earn a “dinosaur” status around the office, and I figured that I would get a new smartphone since Dawn was getting a new phone as well. I liked the slim and simple form factor and the 5MP camera that took a very decent photos . Negatives: awkward Windows Mobile 6, faulty touch screen, and slow data communication.
My latest gadget: HTC Droid Incredible. Coming from Omnia, this Android smartphone is excitingly fast and intuitive. No more drooling when I see an iPhone! (Camera is a disappointment, but It DOES come with 720p HD video 
I remember paying $3000 for my first PC back in 1996. It ran on a 200Mhz CPU with a 2GB hard drive. It had a dial-up connection at 56 kbps… It was the cutting edge, then! My $150 phone runs on a 1Ghz processor and has total of 24GB of memory. It has a 3G wireless connection at 1Mbps. It’s amazing how far the technology has advanced in the last 14 years… For a geek like me, the future looks like so much fun! … if I don’t get left behind…
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