Bye-Bye Blackberry: Part 1

I had planned to end Labor Day Weekend with a review of a chess book, but the Blackberry situation demanded my attention. Watch for the chess book review though!

I've had a Blackberry for some time. I got it because I didn't like being chained to the computer.

One issue I've had is the almost complete lack of compatibility with Macintosh. Yes, there's a way to back things up, but that's about it.

I've also had a few them die, and all in the same way. The USB port used for power and data seems not to hold up, and when it starts to fail, you can't charge the phone.

So, when the current Blackberry's USB started to fail, I had a long talk with the people at T-Mobile.

I know they'd have given me a new Blackberry, but that's a hassle as I have to reload Cyrillic, and that requires Windows.

The compromise was a G1. There's no Exchange support, but I don't need it as I don't use Exchange.

If you're wondering "hm, why not an iPhone" the answer is simple-they are expensive and I don't want to have to rely on a touch screen in case I have to type something. I like keyboards.

I read up on the G1, and realized I'd need a dedicated gmail account. That's not as bad as it seems, as a gmail account can read other accounts.

Setting them up was fairly straightforward, but gmail seems to be a little balky about reading external accounts. I do like the idea of having all of my email on Google's servers, just in case something goes wrong somewhere. One of my primary accounts is hosted through Swissmail, and they are very reliable, but you can never have too much reliability.

T-Mobile advised that they have to make some settings changes for the G1. The plan is to pick up the G1 tomorrow, call T-Mobile, plug it in, and then set it up. I'm hoping this is not much more than putting in the SIM card, as email should be more or less sorted via the gmail account.

I went to T-Mobile today and bought a package of screen protectors and the polycarbonate case for it. It will be like Gort in Forbidden Planet (not the remake, please!), but, if airline inspectors want it opened, that may be a problem as I've read these cases are very difficult to get off once put on.

I should have an update at some point tomorrow.

Patrick Jost

Snow Leopard UPDATE

Very minor issue: the mail database conversion lost two of my passwords.

Not a big thing, but mail says a server is "offline" when it doesn't have the password, it should ask for the password.

The improved performance and extra features of Preview more than make up for this, though.

Patrick Jost

Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard: First Impressions

I have been a Mac user since 1984, and have trouble finding fault with the company or its products.

The iMac, combined with a few pieces of software (e.g., Mellel, the world's greatest word processor) make it an unparalleled business tool.

I had no problems with Leopard but was understandably curious about what improvements Snow Leopard might bring.

When I learned of the early release of Snow Leopard (on August 28, 2009), I decided that would be "Snow Leopard" Day!

The installation was painless-put in the DVD and go, just as it should be. The installation took just under an hour. I had seen reports of problems with restoring Internet access, but I did not have any.

The only moment of concern was with Mail-it did take about 5 minutes to rebuild the mail database, but there's a lot of mail to go through!

I have used it for about 12 hours, and have noticed increased speed, especially with opening documents.

The new features in Preview are nice, and it is now the way to go for viewing documents.

I still like Firefox, but it is obvious that Safari will win any speed test, so I may be using it for intensive browsing.

The upgrade is well worth the $29.99, and confirms the iMac as the leading business productivity tool!

Patrick Jost