I forgot calendar.. oops. 

Yeah. I do use it for almost all of those purposes. 

I guess those just aren't very fun, engaging or necessarily *frequent* uses of the device. 

I also take EKGs with mine. 

Wed Mar 10 2021 13:42:06 EST from Nurb432

Really that has always been the case of a phone. Even from the beginning, just that the underlying methods have morphed and (d)evolved over the decades ( like e-mail, video. ).

 

But that said, if you remove all the social aspect of the device, i still have use for mine. 

• Mobile music. I have had that since i was a child in grade school, thru all sorts of iterations over the years. Other than this last year at home, its my primary music source.
• Camera.   Sure its not as good as my real camera, but its with me all the time. 
• GPS/maps. I dont travel or trail running these days, but it was a great thing to have.
• security . monitoring my home cameras and water detection units.
• Remote control. I have IR on mine, so it runs my TV/video player/stereo/etc
• Weather ( at least during spring.. tornado alley )
• Car diagnostics ( Bluetooth to ODB adapter )

So not totally useless, at least for me

Wed Mar 10 2021 01:50:51 EST from ParanoidDelusions

They're portable Social Media devices, at this point. 

You guys know that Exchange, Outlook, Sharepoint, PowerPoint, Word, Access, Excel and Windows CE (later mobile) along with One Drive have been offering these kinds of feature and functionality since around 2001? 

It always amazes me that *nix people have no idea of how *dominant* Microsoft was in the "back office" and why - how far ahead of FOSS they were. It is like you guys totally missed the Fortune 500 corporate work-flow.

Most really big companies use Exchange - it is an incredibly powerful, scalable corporate enterprise e-mail solution. 

I honestly think that *nix people don't realize how pervasive it is, because they have mostly worked in *nix shops. 

Wed Mar 10 2021 14:19:56 EST from darknetuser

 

 

Calendars make a lot of sense in portable devices for firms and enterprise users.

Somewhere I work I set a calendar service so a certain group of employees always have access to the meeting schedules of the week. It is very convenient because if one of them wants to reserve a room for a certain hour they can just anotate it in the calendar from the smartphone, and it will synchronize and show up in everybody's phone.

Same with cancellations.

I knew, and know. But i dont have to like it :).   

Reason they were further ahead than oss, and pushed competition out of the way ( like lotus/IBM ) was they had a virtual monopoly due to their immoral business practices, so they could spend more money. And of course force feed business their garbage.  it wasn't that they offered better solutions.  I would have preferred OS/2, note, smartsuite, etc over anything MS put out any day, if i had to stay commercial.

They could have been good 'citizens' but chose not to.

Fri Mar 12 2021 14:24:54 EST from ParanoidDelusions

You guys know that Exchange, Outlook, Sharepoint, PowerPoint, Word, Access, Excel and Windows CE (later mobile) along with One Drive have been offering these kinds of feature and functionality since around 2001? 

It always amazes me that *nix people have no idea of how *dominant* Microsoft was in the "back office" and why - how far ahead of FOSS they were. It is like you guys totally missed the Fortune 500 corporate work-flow.

Most really big companies use Exchange - it is an incredibly powerful, scalable corporate enterprise e-mail solution. 

I honestly think that *nix people don't realize how pervasive it is, because they have mostly worked in *nix shops. 

 

We have similar problems. 

Sometimes they can work around tit due to various compliance certs ( like fedramp ), and app changes to prevent data leakage.  Other times, its just a hard stop and they cant leave the premise. 

Sat Mar 13 2021 17:16:47 EST from darknetuser

Specially because some of those informations my require explicit authorization by a govenrment agency to be shared with, say, a Microsoft operated service.

We were recently talking about how mobile devices have really become portable social media devices - and the other, more promising things they can be used for are what they spend the minority of time doing. 


But I just loaded a bunch of period appropriate (early 80s to late 80s) Mp3s on my Vampire 4 FPGA Amiga - and as they're sitting here playing - I had a very specific memory of that time - being frustrated that despite all the promising things the Amiga could do, I spent the most of my time in a terminal mode session connected to BBSes on my Amiga 2000 - which was essentially no different of an experience on the Amiga than on the C-128 or my MIC-504 with an ADDS Viewpoint terminal. 

Which just struck me as kind of ironic. 

It really hasn't changed *that* much. The devices are smaller and more powerful - but their primary role is as communication devices. 

Yes i do remember that too.

My ST, on a BBS it was no different than on my 800...  or later on a PC using the emulator in Framework. ( loved that package really.  That + desQview , later desQviewX  was a wonderful thing )

Sun Mar 14 2021 00:21:06 EST from ParanoidDelusions

We were recently talking about how mobile devices have really become portable social media devices - and the other, more promising things they can be used for are what they spend the minority of time doing. 


But I just loaded a bunch of period appropriate (early 80s to late 80s) Mp3s on my Vampire 4 FPGA Amiga - and as they're sitting here playing - I had a very specific memory of that time - being frustrated that despite all the promising things the Amiga could do, I spent the most of my time in a terminal mode session connected to BBSes on my Amiga 2000 - which was essentially no different of an experience on the Amiga than on the C-128 or my MIC-504 with an ADDS Viewpoint terminal. 

Which just struck me as kind of ironic. 

It really hasn't changed *that* much. The devices are smaller and more powerful - but their primary role is as communication devices. 

 

You guys know that Exchange, Outlook, Sharepoint, PowerPoint, Word, Access, Excel and Windows CE (later mobile) along with One Drive have been offering these kinds of feature and functionality since around 2001? 

And others since around 1992 or so.  Micro$oft didn't invent or even perfect any of that stuff.  They just forced their shitty versions into first place by leveraging their monopoly.  Everything since then has just been truckloads of lipstick on the pig.

Yup. 100%

And often times, they would buy out competition with lesser resoruces, then ruin it the same way, or just cancel it outright. ( Truespace anyone? )

Mon Mar 15 2021 09:27:34 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

You guys know that Exchange, Outlook, Sharepoint, PowerPoint, Word, Access, Excel and Windows CE (later mobile) along with One Drive have been offering these kinds of feature and functionality since around 2001? 

And others since around 1992 or so.  Micro$oft didn't invent or even perfect any of that stuff.  They just forced their shitty versions into first place by leveraging their monopoly.  Everything since then has just been truckloads of lipstick on the pig.

Since its available here and i have it, Id rather keep my fiber as well. If i was still out in the sticks, i might feel differently.  ( tho i might end up with starlink if i was that far out still )

I think they would need to work on the way they charge, as we get unlimited use. On cable we got "ludicrous use" for home lines ( 2TB/month ), unlimited for business. If they try the typical for phone carrier "you get x gig then you pay thru the nose" i doubt it will make a dent. 

Sat Mar 27 2021 12:49:13 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Anyone thinking about fixed wireless? Seems like the carriers are all trying to position themselves to deliver home internet access using 5G. I have no interest in it here, because I have a lovely piece of fiber optic cable running directly into my home, but I am finding it interesting to see a potential change in the industry again. Between 5G services and LEO satellite services, things could get fun. Maybe it'll even drive prices down again.

They probably expect to distribute all-in-one routers that have 5G and WiFi radios, and you put it somewhere in your home that has good reception. If I had to do that I would probably go the extra mile and put a nice antenna on the roof, or even on a dedicated tower (because I'm a nerd).

Its been my experience that home satellite sucks. 

Mon Mar 29 2021 08:32:42 EDT from darknetuser

Datacaps are the real killers of cell based home connections, at least for me. I get the appeal for rural areas where nobody is going to deploy a wire, but even for that there are better options imo.

It isn't my favorite thing in the car, either. 

Wed Mar 31 2021 17:40:12 EDT from Nurb432

Its been my experience that home satellite sucks. 

Mon Mar 29 2021 08:32:42 EDT from darknetuser

Datacaps are the real killers of cell based home connections, at least for me. I get the appeal for rural areas where nobody is going to deploy a wire, but even for that there are better options imo.

 

Never even thought of that.  my cars are not fancy enough.  One of them does not have power steering, tho it does have power windows. The other, has manual windows, but has power steering :) ( people with electric windows in a jeep.. wtf )

Wives car, which is modern, i assume has all that crap. I avoid her car unless i'm taking it for an oil change or something ( bastards, you *have* to go to the dealer and pay more or they void your warranty )

Wed Mar 31 2021 23:51:53 EDT from ParanoidDelusions

It isn't my favorite thing in the car, either. 

 

Wed Mar 31 2021 17:40:12 EDT from Nurb432

Its been my experience that home satellite sucks. 

Mon Mar 29 2021 08:32:42 EDT from darknetuser

Datacaps are the real killers of cell based home connections, at least for me. I get the appeal for rural areas where nobody is going to deploy a wire, but even for that there are better options imo.

 

 

XM/Sirius used to give you a 6 month subscription for $5 - then extend that until you forgot - then you would get a bill for $200 for *radio* in your *car*. 

And it is useless on real cloudy and rainy days, or on heavily tree lined drives. Total line-of-site technology.  

Thu Apr 01 2021 09:28:32 EDT from Nurb432

Never even thought of that.  my cars are not fancy enough.  One of them does not have power steering, tho it does have power windows. The other, has manual windows, but has power steering :) ( people with electric windows in a jeep.. wtf )

Wives car, which is modern, i assume has all that crap. I avoid her car unless i'm taking it for an oil change or something ( bastards, you *have* to go to the dealer and pay more or they void your warranty )

Wed Mar 31 2021 23:51:53 EDT from ParanoidDelusions

It isn't my favorite thing in the car, either. 

 

Wed Mar 31 2021 17:40:12 EDT from Nurb432

Its been my experience that home satellite sucks. 

Mon Mar 29 2021 08:32:42 EDT from darknetuser

Datacaps are the real killers of cell based home connections, at least for me. I get the appeal for rural areas where nobody is going to deploy a wire, but even for that there are better options imo.

 

 

 

So today i caved and installed android. 

Glodroid specifically..  Apparently they are not to the point of using cell modems.  But WiFi does work.  Its also a work in progress, so they will get there. 

Now its more like just 'yet another low end smart-phone' but its de-googled and de-carriered, for the paranoid.