Features
Go mobile, stay cool
How to take it all with you and not to look like a tool.
By Edison Carter
I
know something about you. I know that you love miniature personal
technology gadgets more than most people. Why else would you be
reading this magazine instead of Road & Track or Cosmo or the
latest softcore from Victoria's Secret?
No, you read Handheld Computing because personal tech really matters
to you - the same reason that I write for this publication. People
like you and I accumulate our tech deliberately, with obsessive
attention to how each new piece fits in with the rest of our personal
area network, or PAN. Bluetooth, WiFi, ActiveSync, Palm Universal
Connector, USB sync & charge, SDIO - these are everyday terms
we use to describe the protocols that make our little nets work
with the bigger ones and that keep our gizmos humming all day
long and into the night.
I'll take as a given that you have assembled some cool tech that
you somehow manage to hang on your body. But have you given any
thought as to how these things are most discretely carried, appropriately
customized, and gracefully deployed? Unless you are blissfully
unconcerned about being branded a hopeless tool by those who have
occasion to observe you, then read on. My experiences may help
you to avoid some rather expensive, and occasionally embarrassing,
mistakes.
Geeks
101
The original geeks of the mid-twentieth century were known for
their tasteless clothing choices, bad haircuts, black horn rim
glasses, and pocket protectors bristling with writing instruments
and slide rules. In the 1970s, the hair got longer, the HP calculator
replaced the slide rule, and the eyewear slimmed down a bit and
became metallic, but the rest of the package stayed pretty well
unchanged into the 1980s.
Then the big money came pouring in, first with the rise of the
personal computer, followed by the ubiquity of the cell phone,
and capped off with the emergence of the Internet as a cultural
and economic force of Gutenbergian proportions. Within a few short
years, everyone had become a geek.
In
the midst of all this hyper-change, the handheld computer became
a common personal business accessory. From the early Psion organizers,
to the DOS-based HP 95LX clamshells, to the original Newton MessagePads,
right on to modern Palms, Pocket PCs, smartphones, and communicators,
by the mid 1990s these devices were springing from the pockets
and purses of everyone with pretensions to power.
Today, handhelds are generically referred to by
the uninitiated using two names: Straight, phone-less handheld
computers are "PalmPilots" while communicators are "Really Big
Phones." The subtleties of a Sony Cliˇ versus a Palm Tungsten
versus an HP iPaq or a Samsung i700 are completely missed by these
disinterested souls - and who can blame them? The mobile computing
industry has done a spectacularly bad job of communicating the
benefits of daily life with a handheld computer. The classic example
is Apple's original advertising theme for the original Newton
in 1994, in which the tag line was "What is Newton?" The problem,
of course, is that they never really answered the question. You
either got Newton or you didn't; sadly, most didn't.
Device proliferation
In 2004, when most everyone packs a mobile phone with basic organizer
capabilities and rudimentary digital cameras built-in, the vast
majority of folks don't use even half of their device's capabilities.
It's not because they're stupid, it's because (a) the devices
are poorly designed and (b) because the form factor of a mobile
phone is fundamentally at odds with what works best for a handheld
computer or a camera. Those of us on the cutting edge of personal
tech have already figured this out, thus the proliferation of
devices in my arsenal and, I'm guessing, yours as well. Let's
take a quick inventory of my current rig:
1.
Sony-Ericsson T610 mobile phone
2. Palm Tungsten-T handheld computer
3. Plantronics M3000 Bluetooth Headset
4. Palm Ultra-Thin Keyboard
5. Apple 20GB iPod (3rd generation)
6. Shure E3c in-ear headphones
7. Minolta D”mage Xi digital camera
8. SureFire E1e Elite flashlight
9. Levenger dual-eyeglass case
10. Chris Reeve "Mnandi" gentleman's knife
11. Seidio wallet/flash media case
12. Keycase/coin pouch
Add to this my favorite Cross pen, a Cross Tablet PC stylus, eyeglass
cloth, and a pack of Orbit gum and you're talking about a lot
of stuff to pack and track. And what about the various chargers
and cables and adapters that are required to make all this stuff
work?
Carry that weight
Let's begin with the formidable challenge of simply carrying it
all. If I were a woman, I'd throw it all into a well-designed
handbag with a mobile phone pocket on the outside and I'd be done.
As an American man, if I was willing to put up with the jeers
and funny looks from my countrymen, I'd carry one of the many
fine "man-bags" from InCase, Scully, or Tumi and be done with
it. If I wore a business suit every day, I'd have my problem mostly
solved; a suit jacket and an overcoat can carry a remarkable amount
of stuff in all those pockets, if a bit lumpily.
But
none of these alternatives fit me. Like most techies, I dress
casually all the time, and since I live on the west coast it's
too sunny most of the time for suits and overcoats. In the circles
I run in, briefcases and attachˇs are considered stuffy and even
somewhat pompous.
My year-round solution to the carry problem is the Scott-E-Vest.
These superbly functional pieces of clothing are available in
attractive designs ranging from a trim basic vest to a sleek sport
coat to a lined snow parka. In summer, I wear a white summer weight
SeV 3.0 with the sleeves zipped off, which I find to be a comfortable
wear on all but the hottest days. If I'm out late and it gets
breezy, I zip on the sleeves and I'm good to go all night. In
winter I wear a standard black SeV 3.0, which is a two-piece design
with a fleece liner (which can also be worn alone) and a longish
weatherproof shell. All these designs feature an amazing variety
of perfectly placed pockets, craftily perforated with small conduits
for headset wires and power cables. Best of all, these trim garments
don't bulge noticeable even when loaded down. When you need something,
it just appears from the appropriate pocket. Sure, locating your
stuff takes some getting used to, but deciding where your objects
will live is part of the fun. As alien as it sounds on paper,
it actually works remarkably well. Most importantly, wearing your
stuff in a Scott-E-Vest instead of hauling it around in a case
does not announce your tech fetish to the world - unless you want
it to, of course. That's the genius of the SeV solution.
Wearing my tech toys works for me most of the time, but there
are situations where it just doesn't make sense. Formal events
demand that one travel lighter, so one makes do with what pockets
one has on hand, carrying in them only the most essential devices.
In these situations, black leather belt-clipped case designs work
well and are generally invisible. Designers whose products I rely
upon and recommend include Covertec, InCase, Seidio, and Krusell.
The key is subtlety; this is no time for sporty fire engine-red
nylon with yellow piping - go with black.
Sometimes
you just gotta haul the laptop
What about those times when you simply must haul your laptop with
you, along with all its power bricks and other peripherals? While
it adds weight to your shoulder, hauling a laptop actually adds
a measure of convenience to your handheld device world. Any modern
laptop has the ability to trickle-charge your handheld and phone
though the USB ports. To achieve this, you need a "sync-and-charge"
cable from either your device maker or a third party maker. Your
devices won't charge near as fast, but you won't have to carry
all those bulky sync cradles and cables and wall warts; just the
laptop's AC adapter will do the trick. Every iPod trickle charges
and syncs via FireWire or USB 2.0 jacks, so that's an easy solution
right out of the box.
But how best to carry the laptop? This is a subject of endless
debate, mostly divided along soft-sided versus hard-sided cases.
To see where I stand, here's an extract from my recent review
of the Apple PowerBook G4 15" 1.25GHz.
Helpless to do anything beyond yelling "NO!", I watched my pricey
new computer backpack tumble slowly from the car seat to the pavement
in front of the hotel. I hoped the extensive padding in the name-brand
bag would save the new PowerBook G4 that was inside, but it didn't
- at least not as well as it should have. The front left corner
of the casing was dented, causing a troubling misalignment. Total
cost for replacement of the Apple part: $667. Ouch.
That
event signaled the end of my reliance on soft-sided computer cases.
Now I use only metal-shell attachˇs. Titanium or aluminum PowerBook
owners who are looking for something exclusively designed for
their machines should take a look at Dr. Bott's TiCase II ($429),
a customized version of the Samsonite "James Bond" Scion 800 aluminum
attachˇ. This case is very similar to the classic Zero-Halliburton
Z3, but with a removable lid section and a well-designed subsection
with cutout compartments for all the stuff with which PowerBook
users typically travel. Best of all, there are built-in pneumatic
"Lift-O-Matic" risers that bring the rear of the PowerBook up
to a comfortable working level while keeping the machine cool
and giving access to all ports. Warning: Don't take a look at
this case without being prepared to lay down some plastic; I ended
up buying my review sample. I depend on my PowerBook far too much
to trust it to a soft-sided bag. $429 may seem like a lot to pay,
but compared to a single $667 repair, it's a bargain.
As I wrote above, attachˇs are generally an inappropriate style
for me, yet I won't consider trekking anywhere with my PowerBook
in anything but this full metal jacket. I solved the problem by
carrying the attachˇ in a large bike messenger bag from Timbuk2.
I keep a low profile, it doesn't clash with my Levis, and it protects
the attachˇ from scratches. (Yeah, I know, a case within a case,
how obsessive can you get, right? Guilty as charged. Next!)
By
the way, don't make the mistake of using the terms briefcase and
attachˇ interchangeably. A briefcase is always soft-sided, while
an attachˇ is always hard-sided.
Computing in public
By now we've all experienced both the public annoyance of other
people's technology as well as our own devices bleeping at just
the wrong time. You can't do much about other people, but you
can set a sterling example by making a habit of anticipating the
environment in which you will compute. Program any device you
carry in public with at least two audio modes: Subtle and Silent.
For Subtle mode, set all alarms to their bare minimum volume setting,
enable vibrate if your device has it, and disable all non-essential
system tones and warnings. (Do you really need to hear the cute
little tap-tones when you use your stylus? Does everyone else
have to as well?) If you are setting a phone's ring volume, look
for an "increasing ring" option. With the vibrate feature on with
the phone in your breast pocket, you'll feel it before you hear
it. Result: No one in the vicinity is alerted but you, which is
as it should be in a civilized world. If you use a wireless headset
like the excellent Plantronics M3000, the process is even smoother:
you just press one big button on the headset to answer the call,
then casually pop it onto your ear and begin speaking quietly.
Now that is cool.
For
Silent mode, do everything in the previous paragraph but totally
mute all alarms and ringers and use vibrating alerts only. Congratulations,
you're done. Now all you have to do is remember to use them.
Regarding the wearing of Bluetooth headsets even when not speaking
on the phone, don't do it. You might think you look ultra-cool
and 21st century and all that, but you actually look like a clueless
Trekkie loser. Keep your headset in a convenient pocket and slip
it on when you feel the phone vibrate and before it rings audibly.
The cool enthusiast
The most important thing I hope to impart to you with this article
is the primacy of tech subtlety. Brandishing your latest flash
gizmo in order to impress others is so 20th century. Remember,
we're all geeks now. 400MHz color-screened handheld computers
are no big deal anymore. Wearing your tiny cellphone around your
neck like jewelry is just crass - unless, of course, you are a
cute teenage girl living in Tokyo. On the other 99.999% of the
world's population, this just looks silly.
By all means, carry all your favorite tech gear around with you
- just be considerate and keep 'em close to the vest. The world
belongs to the enthusiast who keeps his cool.
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