Torn like paper
I'm torn. The new year is coming up and I'm feeling like I'm not organized enough. In these cases I have a tendency to blame the tools. The software doesn't do x. The computer is too small. The computer is too big. I think it's OK for me to complain about the software as I was on the team when the first version was released. I mean there are things I like, don't get me wrong, but still it's not perfect. Also, it's not paper.
I think back to when I had a paper planner and a guy at work and I had a talk about what life was like when we used a paper calendar/planner instead of just the software. The software was a communication device and the planner was, well, the planner. It got me thinking. I mean I'm already angling for a new computer at work and I've got it almost on order and yes it is a sweet machine, but it's bigger. It has a keyboard and a touch screen. (Yeah sometimes it's good to work for a tech company.) I know already it's too big. I tried the smaller one and I had all the accessories (if you know me: duh) batteries, power cables, extra storage, docking stations and even a keyboard that was teeny. Yeah the keyboard was an accessory. It was a lovely tablet.
I wasn't carrying the small computer. I just wasn't. I used to carry the planner everywhere. I still have it, it's in the garage and I could go do the whole Franklin planner thing, but with the GTD mentality instead. I could just try hauling this tablet around when I get it with all it's capacitive touch and shit or I could ask for a paper system for Christmas and convert over.
This raises the question (no it doesn't beg anything) as to what was wrong with paper in the first place. OK so I took the job back at Microsoft (right when I started this blog, in fact) and I joined the tabletPC group. I went to the first dev meeting and saw some demo's of what the tablet team was doing. I was blown away by the coolness (in fact my current boss who was not my boss at the time was giving a demo and he was writing the code for the demo as he did the demo, and he didn't crash anything. I still have some stuff to learn from him.) So you might think I was blown away by the whole tablet idea and just had to have one... uh no. What happened was another dev lead went off on a few people there for not using the features of the tablet and thus testing it and understanding it yourself. He went off of them so well I pushed my planner under the table. I mean he was telling them to stop using their keyboards (a good thing for sure when that's what your product does) and here's me with a paper planner and a fountain pen. As soon as my tablet came in I transferred all my stuff into Outlook and put the paper away. Sad.
Was paper that good? Will J.R. go retro and start carrying a paper based planner again? Will Josh see him in the hall with it some day in building 10 and rip him a new one?
The revolution will not be televised.
I think back to when I had a paper planner and a guy at work and I had a talk about what life was like when we used a paper calendar/planner instead of just the software. The software was a communication device and the planner was, well, the planner. It got me thinking. I mean I'm already angling for a new computer at work and I've got it almost on order and yes it is a sweet machine, but it's bigger. It has a keyboard and a touch screen. (Yeah sometimes it's good to work for a tech company.) I know already it's too big. I tried the smaller one and I had all the accessories (if you know me: duh) batteries, power cables, extra storage, docking stations and even a keyboard that was teeny. Yeah the keyboard was an accessory. It was a lovely tablet.
I wasn't carrying the small computer. I just wasn't. I used to carry the planner everywhere. I still have it, it's in the garage and I could go do the whole Franklin planner thing, but with the GTD mentality instead. I could just try hauling this tablet around when I get it with all it's capacitive touch and shit or I could ask for a paper system for Christmas and convert over.
This raises the question (no it doesn't beg anything) as to what was wrong with paper in the first place. OK so I took the job back at Microsoft (right when I started this blog, in fact) and I joined the tabletPC group. I went to the first dev meeting and saw some demo's of what the tablet team was doing. I was blown away by the coolness (in fact my current boss who was not my boss at the time was giving a demo and he was writing the code for the demo as he did the demo, and he didn't crash anything. I still have some stuff to learn from him.) So you might think I was blown away by the whole tablet idea and just had to have one... uh no. What happened was another dev lead went off on a few people there for not using the features of the tablet and thus testing it and understanding it yourself. He went off of them so well I pushed my planner under the table. I mean he was telling them to stop using their keyboards (a good thing for sure when that's what your product does) and here's me with a paper planner and a fountain pen. As soon as my tablet came in I transferred all my stuff into Outlook and put the paper away. Sad.
Was paper that good? Will J.R. go retro and start carrying a paper based planner again? Will Josh see him in the hall with it some day in building 10 and rip him a new one?
The revolution will not be televised.
posted by J.R. at 6:40 PM
2 Comments:
My iPhone syncs with iCal on my Powerbook, which then syncs with my Google calendar, which is shared with William, who shares his home and work calendars with me for scheduling purposes. It takes reasonable pictures, plays movies that I ripped from my DVD's, holds my to-do notes and lists, and surfs the web from anywhere with a cell phone signal.
Oh - and it's a pretty sweet phone, as well. :-D
Ditto what she said. Plaxo and Cozi Central are also useful calendar synching and sharing options if you're interested. I love my iPhone. And I didn't expect to (it was a gift I didn't want). I LOVE it.
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