Tuesday, June 09, 2009

3G Devices for the Dyslexic

The aborigines don't have calendars. I was raised by the local tribe. I asked a tribal elder when I was born. He said, "In the summertime."


So says Crocodile Dundee in the film of the same name. I have no idea if this represents the truth of those cultures or not, but it sure represents an attitude to time with which I would feel comfortable.
A certain vagueness about time serves me well in my work as a writer. But there are occasions (I almost said 'times') when I need to integrate with the modern world. So - after my recent rich harvest of confusion, I am looking into possible technical fixes.
How about an iPhone, a blackberry, a G1 or a netbook?

The idea being that I could use it to access a Google calendar - which I could also allow family and work friends to access. It could - by all accounts - also be used to give me reminders, alarms etc at different times and on different days.
Well, I am thinking about this. It means spending money, of course. But if it works it might enable me to earn more. Hmmm...

Any advice?

4 comments:

Pam said...

Since I have a a computer for work, I use just plain old Microsoft Outlook. It has a good calendar, which can set alarms to remind you,and it can be shared with my boss and colleagues. My boss likes it - he doesn't have to ask where I am.
I am with you - if money were no object, I would love to have the Iphone or a blackberry, with all the bells and whistles. But I just can't afford it,and everything becomes obsolete so quick anyway.
I use a paper planner for work. It works - beleive it or not.
I enjoy reading your blog - I do hope I can one day fing a niche market for my stuff and get published. Your a good role model!

Mosher said...

Apple just knocked $100 off the bottom-end iPhone but I'd still not have one. I tend to avoid anything with the Apple logo on, though - just personal choice.

Past experience says you'll want to smash a Blackberry sooner than use one. I know (without exception) such was the attitude of our winter staff in Europe.

My Nokia E71 has a good calendar built in, though I don't use it much. I do use Google Calendar and have it synced to Lightning, a plugin for the open source mail client Thunderbird. Setting this up was a doddle and it means I can access my calendar even when offline, update it and have all the events sync when I get my laptop online again.

Katy said...

I use the shared Microsoft calender system (like Pam's) at work.

But... I'm afraid it's the good old Filofax for me. I keep both personal and work appointments in there and carry it in my handbag at all times. A reassuring reminder that I am real even if living in a virtual world :-)

PS - use the alarm on my mobile as an alarm clock. Which works fine, except when the dog knocks it off the bedside table and sleeps on it. The alarm then has quite some work to do to wake me up through 7 stone of sleeping dog...

siobsi said...

The big calendar on the wall of my study does it for me. Backed up with a diary for work/college things.

But while we're on stories of time-slips - my brain once flipped over in the middle of a teaching day from Tuesday's to Wednesday's timetable. Somewhere about lunch-time, I just decided it was a Wednesday and so I had no classes all afternoon. My students and a technician were waiting for me downstairs for a class we'd booked specially in the TV studio. They waited for about an hour. It was bizarre how sure I was that it was Wednesday.

Followers