Comments on: Technoholics Anonymous

By: Bruce

Bruce — Thu, 08 May 2008 02:42:06 +0000

You know, it just occurred to me that the alcoholics who are most in need of help are the ones who don’t even recognize they have a problem. I wonder if it is the same with serious technoholics. Maybe those of us who recognize we have to work at keeping technology from controlling us are in better shape than the ones who don’t even recognize it.

And, Bill, you raise a good point about PDAs: “properly loaded” they can save your butt when you don’t have access to a laptop or just don’t want to fool with the hassle of starting one up.

By: Bill Myers

Bill Myers — Thu, 08 May 2008 02:36:56 +0000

Well, I’ve just had a total relapse and I think I must back down from my own challenge. I just grabbed an e-mail from work asking me to do something at the 11th hour and I was able to do it all from my PDA rather than having to fire up my laptop, all because of the 3rd party apps I loaded onto the PDA. That saved me some time.

Like Capo, however, I am sure I could quit if I wanted to.

By: Bill Myers

Bill Myers — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:40:14 +0000

By the way, I didn’t mean to suggest that resetting a PDA back to factory specs would be the only acceptable “ante” to satisfy my challenge. My thought was to encourage people to take *any* step that would help them master technology rather than serving it.

So, upon further thought, if anyone is still interested in taking me up on the challenge… it’s still on the table. Even if taking my PDA back to the original config will like give me a case of the cyber-DTs and leave me throwing up uncontrollably in the company restroom while I beg for my Pocket Informant back.

By: Bill Myers

Bill Myers — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:31:40 +0000

@prashanth: “If we can negotiate on including just one 3rd party tool (take ur pick) into the baseline configuration, then I am game.”

After I issued my challenge I realized I rely on Pocket Informant, FlexMail, and PhatNotes to make my PDA more “GTD friendly.” So at this point I’m not exactly crushed there weren’t any takers for my challenge.

Sigh…

My name is Bill Myers, and I’m a technoholic.

By: prashanth

prashanth — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:32:31 +0000

P.S. just to make ur lives a tad more complicated, I think WEBIS is offering pocket informant free through trial pay, if you buy something (ex: flowers) from their participating vendors.

By: prashanth

prashanth — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:25:34 +0000

@Bill: I have to agree with Bruce on that count – my PDA is unusable without Pocket Informant. If we can negotiate on including just one 3rd party tool (take ur pick) into the baseline configuration, then I am game.

By: Gary Wright

Gary Wright — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:08:22 +0000

yes, most defiantly. it is information at your fingertips overload. way too much tech for a single person and your time management has to be worked on to keep up with the technology. if you don’t manage it time slips away from you by use of a lot of technological devices.

i love the mindmap and a few other sections. great points!

By: Bill Myers

Bill Myers — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:11:36 +0000

Bruce, part of me is hoping no one will take me up on my challenge! I like PI 8, I like PhatNotes, I like FlexMail 4, I like Pocket MindMap… oh, I could go on and on.

But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. If there are any takers, I’ll make good on my word (he said, praying he wouldn’t be put to the test).

By: Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:18:20 +0000

I’ve been trying to avoid commenting, and to just let you guys put your thoughts in without interruption from me. But, I want to add a couple of little thoughts.

First, I love how you are injecting some humor as well as some seriousness into your comments: it is both comical and annoying how we can sometimes let the tail wag the dog. I enjoy seeing you be light-hearted about this. So, thank you for both types of comments.

@Bill: tomorrow I get my Pocket PC back from the friend I had loaned it to and it will be wiped clean again. I am tempted to take you up on your challenge, except that I will probably add either Agenda Fusion or Pocket Informant back onto my PPC, and I will probably add PhatNotes. The basic PIM stuff on the PPC just doesn’t give me the ability to zip through my Task Lists and Notes as well as the added programs do. And, I will almost certainly add in my ebook reader programs, because the VGA Pocket PCs do provide a good reading experience and that will help me to continue to resist the temptation to get a Kindle.

My real test is going to come when I have lunch with my friend tomorrow and he shows me his new iPAQ 211: it will no doubt tempt me to buy one. I think I will be able to continue to resist doing so, until my x51v gives up the ghost. But, I will be seriously tempted: I am a sucker for high quality technology and the 211 is probably a huge step up in quality over the x51v … we’ll have to see how this temptation works out.

By: Capo

Capo — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:31:58 +0000

Feh. You people are all weak. I don’t have a technology problem – I tech because I enjoy it and I can quit anytime I want to. In fact, I have – several times. I just don’t want to right now, that’s all.