I am an independent businesswoman, which sucks because at one point in my career I was the HR queen for an IT infrastructure group.
It was heaven.
I had access to a super-secret help desk number, the best network experts, and geeks who could fix just about anything.
- No signal?
- No wifi?
- No memory?
- Blocked access to a website?
- Need a new phone?
- Need a new laptop?
- Need anything?
“No problem, Laurie.”
I miss hearing those words. My colleagues lived to serve — even when I told them they were losing their jobs.
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Right now, I have no help desk, no assistant, and no infrastructure. This is why I arm myself with fail-proof technology and gadgets that won’t let me down. I don’t use an iPhone because I have never had a conversation with someone on an iPhone that didn’t drop six times. How do you do business when you’re talking about something important and the call ends for no reason other than it’s sunny outside?
I use a Blackberry Tour and I am on on the Verizon network. I’m sorry but I run a business and I need a big girl phone.
I don’t hate all Apple products. I use a MacBook from 2007. I back this shit up. I believe in redundancies and I save stuff in secure spaces — a secondary hard drive, the Google cloud, my grandmother’s basement.
Finally, when you run your own business, you have to be flexible. I really want a sweet new computer that’s lighter and faster — and I could totally buy an iPhone to futz around with the applications — but my phone and my computer are fine. I’m looking for reliability, not the latest gadgets with bells and whistles.
When I go back to Corporate Human Resources, I promise that I’ll ask my assistant to schedule my travel, order the latest phone, and help me waste shareholder money with fancy upgrades to my personal IT infrastructure. Until that happens, I will keep my reliable phone and basic computer and be happy with my lot in life.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
My last stand against this technology deluge we face is to refuse to have a mobile (cell) phone that does anything other than take calls and receive voice messages and text. I don’t want it to be a camera – guess what, I have a camera for that! I also don’t want to develop a squint by accessing the web from it. Also there are simply times when I want to be out of contact. Remember those days? The ones where you didn’t leave the house and think “oh no, i left my phone behind.”
We have become slaves to technology. There are over 100 applications for Twitter alone. People are spending more and more time wasting their lives away hunched in front of their computers for more hours than are encessary believing that if they have a few thousand followers on a social networking site they are somehow more popular.
In a way, the world has gone a little too technology crazy, that’s why I cling on to the last grains of normality by sometimes just saying ‘no, I am not going to go with the herd on this one’.
Wow, I thought iPhone reception just sucked in Chicago (a notorious black hole for AT&T transmission).
I’m a Mac person too – have loved my two iMacs for their dependability. But as pretty as the iPhone is, my phone reception is on the level of two cans and a string and when I’m in the Loop and trying to check email messages, I never have access. #fail
Plain and simple – Mac needs a new or another network for the iphone. I was just having this discussion with a techie friend of mine the other day. My complaint is why can’t we buy any phone we want and pick any network we want. I’m sick of the lack of choice we have concerning things like phone networks, cable and satellite television channels, etc. With regular phones we can buy any kind we want and just plug it into a phone jack. Why can’t cell phone technology be that simple? Or am I just that stupid?
I love you.
Well said, Laurie! A helpful IT staff was one of the first things I missed when I ventured out on my own. Recently changing to a MacBook, however, has eliminated nearly all of my frustration with computers and their related ills.
Sorry, but I love my iPhone. The dropped calls are annoying, and I agree, Apple needs to get a better network. But as a person who lives by imagery, the iPhone can’t be beat for my needs. The deal breaker for me was being able to get Tweetdeck on the iPhone that syncs with my desktop. I REALLY didn’t want to have to re-group all my followers.
I agree with Alconcalcia that we can get too caught up in technology sometimes, but I also think that failing to become tech savvy can be the death knell for your career. I am one of the few artists around who actually has a growing business, and I owe it all to social media. Social media has changed the face of business, and resisting it’s technological implications is putting your head in the sand.
Whether you like the iPhone or Blackberry, smart phones are where it is at. Maybe real men don’t use iPhones, but real women use what works best for them.
An interesting side note: There was a real irony at the recent Shorty Awards event in NYC to honor the best users of Twitter (debatable as to whether that really was the case). Only folks with iPhones with wifi capability were able to tweet during the event, as there was no cell phone signal from any carrier in the building. Wonder whose bright idea it was to choose a venue with no cell service for what is billed to be the biggest Tweet-up activity of the year?
iPhone is great, AT&T sucks really bad….in Minneapolis too. I was a BB user on Verizon as well, and didn’t have any issues whatsoever. However, the iPhone is a one stop PC in your hand that allows you to do so much more than a Blackberry. The Browser is far superior (although no Flash support yet), the business apps are getting better (I love my Hootsuite & LinkedIn), and the hardware has the typical Apple reliability. Apple needs to dump AT&T in order to gain more of the business smartphone market. Until then, Blackberry will rule the roost.
blackberry always and forever. done. period. over.
I dont get the dislike for the iPhone and AT&T. I have an iPhone as does my geeky IT husband and we love them. I’ve never (knock on wood) dropped a call. Now I have been in the case where I dont have 3G coverage but its never anywhere I go on a regular basis.
That Macbook Air is sweet! I almost had the husband talked into buying one last year but the adult side kicked in and he bought a Macbook Pro, still nice but not as cool.
I got the LG Voyager specifically because it had television access — Dick Tracy style!! Come to find out– it was all programs I didn’t want to watch anyway— or rerun after rerun. ((My office did get to see Obama’s inaugural address on it though–)). Anyway— my friends swear by the iPhone— so I’ll have to bite the bullet and get one– I live in LA, so I like the fact you can look up traffic on the fly— and every person I’ve known thier Blackberry’s falling apart for some reason—
Love Verizon. Have never had an issue and never had a dropped call. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Have a BlackBerry Pearl. Don’t love it completely but it works for what I’m doing now. My 2-year deal is up in June and I’m looking at my upgrades because I’ll probably be overseas next year (for good) and want something compatible without having to deal with some sales associate in the Verizon store trying to jack my bill. I’m looking at Palm, Nokia and BlackBerry.
As for the IT connections, I totally know the feeling. Luckily, I’m still tight with the assistant head of IT from one of my previous jobs and he keeps me hooked up, remotely.
Always stay close to IT and the receptionist, I say.
So I take it there is no iPad in your future?
When it comes to network it is Location, Location, Location. I have no real trouble in the DC Metro area. I have actually had less dropped calls on my AT&T iPhone then I had on my Verizon Windows Mobile phones. Now when I have traveled to rural locations for work, it hasn’t been fun. But that was the case with VZW as well.
In my experience the iPhone is a very reliable device. It does enterprise just fine; it works with MS Exchange, the business standard. The only thing that I find frustrating, from a business perspective, is that it doesn’t have native spell check. But, excuse the expression, there is an app for that. I know people complain about the lack of keyboard, but I honestly find that surprising. My last non-iPhone phone was an HTC with a large landscape keyboard. I couldn’t type any fast with that then I can with my iPhone.
Being able to use data and voice at the same time wonderful and something I found lacking on VZW. It has an assortment of native and 3d party apps that make being away from my desk, easier.
Smartphones are awesome! In your pocket you’ve got the world at your fingertips! What’s your interest? Whatever you say, there’s an app for that! Do you wanna use multi-billion dollar military satellites to play a treasure hunting game using GPS to hide and seek containers holding trinkets of little value with other participants?? Try geocaching! Or maybe you iheartradio while sharing random pictures with unknown people as you tweet about what you read on your friends’ Facebook. Whatever it is, it easily dominates your personal life from the moment you leave work until you step into the office the next day. I mean, who has time for anything else?
not everyone in “corporateHR” or other old school – traditional roles is well- old school or lacking in the abilities to be self sufficient…
just a point of view…
gee I sound defensive!
M
Did I really just wander into a debate about cell phones?
See, for me, my reliable iPhone does everything I need it to. And that’s what matter with phones. I don’t make a huge number of calls, so I’m not bothered by dropped calls on AT&T. I can use my phone for what I need it to do reliably, so I’m happy with my lot.
And I totally agree about the computer thing. I want a sweet new computer too, but until this 6 year old Thinkpad dies, I will keep saving my pennies.
@Alconcalcia I don’t understand all the twitter apps. I mean, okay, it’s nice to have all these fancy ways to access twitter — but do you remember when websites used to be good enough?
@patrick I used my Tour in the loop, the other day, and it was fine. Whenever I talk to my friend @seiden in Chicago I’m like, “Why don’t you just send me a telegram?”
@Hooligan You can buy unlocked phones in Europe but they are more expensive and you don’t get the subsidy like you do in American when you sign on for a two-year plan. That being said, I’m ready to kick the two-year contract in the crotch. It’s such nonsense.
@Kerry xoxoxoxo
@Barry Wait, I’m pretty sure you still have an IT staff in one of those rooms at your house.
@BZ I think the iPhone is for people who like to do other stuff. Clearly, you like variety and creativity. I’m not a big fan of change.
@ehren Well said on your likes/dislikes but I still like my BB.
@charlie THANK YOU
@adowling I’m totally gonna recommend your husband as the IT geek for HR bloggers. We need one.
@MattyMat Wait, you can watch TV on your phone? That’s kind of cool, actually.
@Simone Wise words!
@pdx Please. iPad. Do I work for UPS? Am I delivering packages that need a signature? No thanks.
@Corey You got me on the voice/data. I like that part.
@Chris Now I feel like my life is empty because I don’t geocache.
@Mark F Who coordinates your travel?
@Bryan Hush.
@Jay Dolan For me, Scrubby does everything I need. The phone is just secondary. I have no idea why I leave the house.
@Laurie He has a blog, though he doesn’t update it often. http://Www.dimcap.net
I know ATT has their problems but I tend to avoid Verizon like the black plague. My mom works there and I hate how they treat their employees.
I’ve lived off of my iPhone for a week since I was away from my computer (which is why I haven’t been on. Sorry!). It has saved me lots of trouble as a GPS unit and entertained me when I have 5 minutes with nothing better to do. It also allows me to text my deaf friends easily. Is it the best unit available? I’m not sure; it was used and given to me, so I didn’t say no since my other phone had a cracked camera and so forth.
I haven’t had any dropped calls yet, though I know that’s a problem for others *knock on wood*.
My whole company just dumped Exchange and Blackberry in favor of the Droid from Verizon. I have never used an iPhone, but have several friends who can’t live without it (or w/o complaining about it). So far, all of the apps, reception & email deliverability from enterprise Gmail make Droid the easy winner in my book. And yeah… never thought I’d see a technology conversation here.