The Gizmo Conundrum

Gizmos Drive Me Crazy. 

16 short months ago, I bought a Netbook laptop with a 3g Internet connection. It made me a tech savvy guy. I would see a client at their home and watch their jaws drop as I logged onto the Multiple Listing Service and produced a market analysis right before their eyes. There were huge advantages to this (and still are), but I got a dose of reality when Santa Claus left my wife her iPad this past Christmas under the tree. 

Watching Ann swipe her fingers along the iPad like a harp while she relaxed on the couch made me feel a twinge of envy. The Netbook was a little more work than that. It got the job done, but was more clunky. The advantage the Netbook had over the iPad was that it had the Internet connection- Ann’s device was Wi-Fi only on the home Network, so I had to buy a hot spot for it. 

Oh, by the way. If the jargon is beyond you, I am jealous. I’m not sure I am happy I understand all this stuff. I have a feeling that there is no voicemail, fax or cell phones in Heaven. 

So anyway, add my smart phone to the mix also. That gets me onto the Internet for many functions, such as my calender and email, but not when I am actually on a call. 

Are you starting to see some catch-22’s? It gets better. 

If someone calls me on my cell to come see their house while I am out of the office or driving, I have to ask to call them back to put them in my calender. That is not ideal. And opening my Netbook laptop in my car isn’t my idea of convenience, it is more like an inflamed bowel. Up until yesterday, I’d have to hang up on a live prospective client or conference Ronnie at the office in the call to schedule our meeting. Not ideal. 

I needed a better device to pull everything together. I thought of an iPad 2 (which ironically makes our iPad obsolete and renders the Netbook…what? stone age?), but also considered a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. 

The problem with these devices is that they cost an arm and a leg without a data plan, and I already had a ton of data contracts attached to outdated technology! It is like a maze trying to figure out how to have the right technology with the right data plans without having to spend a king’s ransom. WHY DO COMPANIES LIKE VERIZON LOCK US INTO LONG CONTRACTS FOR DEVICES THAT WILL BE OBSOLETE LONG BEOFRE WE ARE ELIGIBLE FOR AN UPGRADE?

Yesterday, however, the nice guy at the Briarcliff Manor Verizon store handled me big time. I got the Galaxy Tab for $199, transferred my Netbook’s 3g to the Tab, transferred my hotspot to the Tab also (allowing everything I own to get on the Internet anywhere), and now I am good to go- everything is still usable but I am caught up on functionality. A guy called today to schedule a quote for his house, and I pulled over while on the phone, put him on my schedule via the Samsung Tab, and drove home. Nothing else to do. And that is what I want. Simple. 

Anyone else wish we could go back to simple?