I bought a flippin Blackberry

[Per Swenson]

Oh sure, I know some of you guys are so technologically advanced
that it makes my head spin. I betcha some of you even wrote the code for Pong,
but I digress. See up until 2001 or so I was a confirmed Luddite.
Remember this was around the time when pagers were not only popular with drug dealers but contractors. I can tell you Rt 80 from Denville to New York, was littered with the ones I threw out the window at 70 miles an hour.

Anyway, Father Bob was always a computer geek and suffered from my constant ridicule,
Yes the house was full of these boxes scrounged from military surplus.
See, we are adjacent to Picatinny arsenal and you can infer the rest.

So one day with a load of cash in my pocket I decided Father Bob needed a upgrade.
Of course I would never dirty my digits on keyboard, No way.

Little by little I found all kinds of crap that served me well on the internet.
Remarkably the first being Bob Marino when we needed a sander.
The rest is history.

Until today, when I bought a Blackberry.
I am now the guy I ridiculed.
Worse, I am taking lessons on how to type with my thumbs from Iku Fujimatsu.
I get E-mail on the job. I can show customers dirty pictures my work,
it takes great pictures like this one
[attachimg=#]

And I am having a blast, at least until I get the bill.

Per

 

[Cannuck]

Hmmm....another Crackberry addict in the making 

I resisted the urge to get a Blackberry for about 4 years, thinking why do I need that stinkin' thing.  Now...It truly is an invaluable tool.  People don't know how to dial a phone anymore.  It's always texting or emailing.

Don't worry Per, they're not nearly as addictive as Festools.  I broke myself of the "vibrate...drop what I'm doing....who's that message from...not important...back to work" habit after about the first month. 

 

[ccmviking]

Good Pic Per...  Shenandoah  Cabinetry and the counters with Integral back splash that makes a mess when I rout them.

Chris...

 

[Scott W.]

OMG..

Next thing ya know you'll be wear'n them fancy shirts & shaven & stuff.

I don't like it, I don't like it a bit. ;D ;D ;D ;D

Scott W.

Good pic though!

 

[Per Swenson]

Shenadoah?

That a new city in China?

Cause that's where that junk on the wall comes from.

Hey I gotta eat,  pay my blackberry bill, and keep the youngun off the streets.

Per

 

[poto]

Ha Per. I don't even have a cell phone!  ;D ??? :

I'm just not that important. Plus, I don't want people to call me. It always involves more work...

Good luck with the Blackberry thing. It'll probably make a much more satisfying crunch when it hits the pavement on Route 80 than those cheesy pagers...

 

[Overtime]

The hard facts  - ATT Wireless billing

Blackberry plans
# 1 you need a Voice plan

Nation 900 w/Rollover? Minutes
Rate Plan Details Included Plan Features Services Rate Plan Details
59.99 per month    ( Random aveage air time plan)
Anytime Minutes 900
Night & Weekend minutes Unlimited  9pm to 6 am - WEnds fri 9 pm to 0600 monday.
Mobile to Mobile minutes Unlimited  (  to all other ATT mobile)
Long Distance $0.00 
Roaming Charges $0.00 
Additional minutes $.40 per minute
One-time activation fee $36.00 
Contract length 2 years
Included Features
Three-Way Calling
Call Forwarding
Unlimited Mobile to Mobile Calling
Caller ID
Call Waiting
Basic Voice Mail
Long Distance
M2M and UN&WE minutes are never charged against your anytime minutes of your voice plan - in ths case 900 anytime minutes.
All rollover minutes accumulate on a rolling 12 month cycle - the last months balance falls off the rollover account ballance.
In addition to this device, add these services
 

# 2 you need a data plan (but you can still use the BBerry with only a voice plan) but then whats the point of having a BBerry ?
and if you text - sms - im - mms

you want a
Data plan Features 

   
UNLIMITED Cellular Video, MEdia(TM) Net, and Messaging (Text, Video, Picture, and IM)! GET IT ALL at a discounted monthly rate. 
BlackBerry? Personal Bundle  $50.00 a month   
Unlimited data usage for your BlackBerry, plus unlimited messaging
PDA Personal Bundle  $50.00 a month   

A word of advice - Avoid all overage charges by Having an (unlimited)  Blackberry pda plan for both data and messaging.
Data overage charges can rack up quickly - easily the cost of a Festool in one - two month's worth of excessive data useage.

Monitor and Check your account via att.com/mywireless - create user account - enter phone # go to

From the myWireless Account home page, select View Bill Summary in the Bill & Payments box or click here: View Bill (logged in users only).
Click on the Call Details tab for detailed billing. Here you will see number called, time, minutes, and more.

Track your useage from there and tailor your account based on your needs by changing Voice and data plans as needed.

 

[Per Swenson]

Oh, Overtime,

Why ya gotta bring up da money?

I was having so much fun.

Actually, I knew the girl was a strumpet, but I married her anyway.

with the techno version of a prenup.

Unlimited Voice and data.

And with our new rickshaw manufacturing business starting next month,

( we are getting ahead of the curve for $10 a gallon gas)

We are going to be swimmin in moolah, :

Per

 

[pteubel]

Congrats, Per. But did you consider the iPhone? Forget all the techno-marketing hype....it's just so EASY to use.

 

[Per Swenson]

Sure,

Not only considered but dang near bought.

But they gave me 50 bucks to take this thing.

Per

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Per,
You're way ahead of me.

I'm kind of an oddball when it comes to technology.  On one hand, I don't mind digging into computer code to make this forum work.  And I love working with Linux.  On the other hand, my professional life is fairly simple and non-technological.  For my journalism, I still use a date book and I write down my contact information using this funny object you hold in your hand and which contains a dark fluid that makes marks on the page (or something similar made of cheap wood, with a graphite rod in the center, and which also makes marks on the page).

My only bow to the modern way of doing things in my journalism life is the use of a digital voice recorder.  I just dropped the use of cassette tapes a few months ago.  This has even led me to look at MP3 players as a way of transcribing interviews, so I guess I'm slowly moving in your direction!

I have to admit, every time I try out a PDA or a Blackberry, I find that every benefit adds complications I don't want.  But maybe I need to take another look!

Matthew

 

[Michael Kellough]

Oh sure, I know some of you guys are so technologically advanced
that it makes my head spin. I betcha some of you even wrote the code for Pong,
but I digress. See up until 2001 or so I was a confirmed Luddite.
Remember this was around the time when pagers were not only popular with drug dealers but contractors. I can tell you Rt 80 from Denville to New York, was littered with the ones I threw out the window at 70 miles an hour.

Anyway, Father Bob was always a computer geek and suffered from my constant ridicule,
Yes the house was full of these boxes scrounged from military surplus.
See, we are adjacent to Picatinny arsenal and you can infer the rest.

So one day with a load of cash in my pocket I decided Father Bob needed a upgrade.
Of course I would never dirty my digits on keyboard, No way.

Little by little I found all kinds of crap that served me well on the internet.
Remarkably the first being Bob Marino when we needed a sander.
The rest is history.

Until today, when I bought a Blackberry.
I am now the guy I ridiculed.
Worse, I am taking lessons on how to type with my thumbs from Iku Fujimatsu.
I get E-mail on the job. I can show customers dirty pictures my work,
it takes great pictures like this one
[attachimg=#]

And I am having a blast, at least until I get the bill.

Per

I have to assume your father hasn't seen an iphone yet. Other wise it would have been another case of "What's wrong with you? Just buy it!" The way pictures are viewed on the iphone is perfect.

However, the AT&T network isn't, so I don't have one either.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Per,
You're way ahead of me.

I'm kind of an oddball when it comes to technology.  On one hand, I don't mind digging into computer code to make this forum work.  And I love working with Linux.  On the other hand, my professional life is fairly simple and non-technological.  For my journalism, I still use a date book and I write down my contact information using this funny object you hold in your hand and which contains a dark fluid that makes marks on the page (or something similar made of cheap wood, with a graphite rod in the center, and which also makes marks on the page).

My only bow to the modern way of doing things in my journalism life is the use of a digital voice recorder.  I just dropped the use of cassette tapes a few months ago.  This has even led me to look at MP3 players as a way of transcribing interviews, so I guess I'm slowly moving in your direction!

I have to admit, every time I try out a PDA or a Blackberry, I find that every benefit adds complications I don't want.  But maybe I need to take another look!

Matthew

Matthew! I thought you were a technical writer?
That description is all wrong, what you've got there is a
"solar powered, instant on, random access data base.
Entries are made with readily replaceable low cost stylus."

You could also say "it's green".

 

[Dan Clermont]

Congrats Per!!!

The Blackberry will make you money now that you can e-mail customers and stay in contact with them all the time. Of course you'l get e-mails from them on your day off as wel ;D

Dan Clermont

 

[tvgordon]

I had been looking at those phones (Blackberry, Palm, Apple, etc.) for some time now.  I have found good deals on the phones (except Apple) but have put off getting one because of the increase in the monthly bill.  My contract with AT&T expired about 7 months ago, maybe I should look again.

Tom.

 

[Brice Burrell]

I'm going to start sending Per e-mails telling him to put  the stupid Blackberry away and get back to work. 

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Hey Per!
Welcome to geek world! 8)

When I was a working man, I had one of those gadgets.  I would check mail on nights and weekends and reply to some.  I soon noticed that when I replied to my boss, he would reply right back, even late at night.  It was just like working, but for no pay  The gummint got a heck of a deal on that.

Just don't forget you can turn it off.

The other thing you need to fear is customer's expectations.  Somehow people expect you to reply to email asap.  I used to get phone calls from people asking "Did you get my email?  I see you haven't replied yet."  Then when I look at it, they sent it five minutes ago.  Sheesh, get a life!!

Hope you will be taking lots of pics and posting them, though.  I always enjoy and learn from them.

Jess

 

[Per Swenson]

Brice,

You just did.

All topics I am subscribed to are e-mailed to my phone. ;D

Per

 

[woodshopdemos]

Per,
You're way ahead of me.

I'm kind of an oddball when it comes to technology.  On one hand, I don't mind digging into computer code to make this forum work.  And I love working with Linux.  On the other hand, my professional life is fairly simple and non-technological.  For my journalism, I still use a date book and I write down my contact information using this funny object you hold in your hand and which contains a dark fluid that makes marks on the page (or something similar made of cheap wood, with a graphite rod in the center, and which also makes marks on the page).

My only bow to the modern way of doing things in my journalism life is the use of a digital voice recorder.  I just dropped the use of cassette tapes a few months ago.  This has even led me to look at MP3 players as a way of transcribing interviews, so I guess I'm slowly moving in your direction!

I have to admit, every time I try out a PDA or a Blackberry, I find that every benefit adds complications I don't want.  But maybe I need to take another look!

Matthew

Now, Matthew, try connecting the recorder to the PC and use Naturally Speaking to transcribe your notes. I am surprised and Delighted at  the most recent versions of that program.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Per,
You're way ahead of me.

I'm kind of an oddball when it comes to technology.  On one hand, I don't mind digging into computer code to make this forum work.  And I love working with Linux.  On the other hand, my professional life is fairly simple and non-technological.  For my journalism, I still use a date book and I write down my contact information using this funny object you hold in your hand and which contains a dark fluid that makes marks on the page (or something similar made of cheap wood, with a graphite rod in the center, and which also makes marks on the page).

My only bow to the modern way of doing things in my journalism life is the use of a digital voice recorder.  I just dropped the use of cassette tapes a few months ago.  This has even led me to look at MP3 players as a way of transcribing interviews, so I guess I'm slowly moving in your direction!

I have to admit, every time I try out a PDA or a Blackberry, I find that every benefit adds complications I don't want.  But maybe I need to take another look!

Matthew

Now, Matthew, try connecting the recorder to the PC and use Naturally Speaking to transcribe your notes. I am surprised and Delighted at  the most recent versions of that program.

This software is available for only $40 for the next 3 and a half hours at Amazon.
Dragon Naturally Speaking