My Sidekick and I

Three and a half years ago, shortly after graduating college, Ben and I signed a two-year contract with Verizon and made our first shared cell phone purchase. We're practical folk, not interested in too many bells and whistles, and this was reflected in our choice of cell phone: The behemoth that is the Qualcomm QCP-860. Even in terms of other 1999 mobile phones, the QCP-860 was huge and devoid of any features other than "talk." This phone was a step-up, however, from the cell phone that I had received gratis from the AAA.

Now with all the talk about moblogging and my desire to take part in the movement, I realized that our trusty large friend just wouldn't suffice. An order was placed at Amazon, and $99 later (now $49 with rebates and new service activation), I have a T-Mobile Sidekick. It was a totally spontaneous purchase, and although we were aware of the spotty coverage of the T-Mobile network in the Bay Area, it was a purchase that had to be made.

For those who use Movable Type and are interested in moblogging and blogging from PDAs and handhelds, this purchase is good news:

How better to get the features you want in a tool than by convincing the developers that they need them for themselves?

In this interview for the SXSW Tech Report, I was asked about "how much of an impact wireless devices such as the Danger Hiptop (T-Mobile Sidekick) have on the blogging community?"

My response:

Nobody wants to see blogging just for the sake of blogging. But, I do believe that some of these tools will initially produce this result. Still, the technology of wireless devices is the next logical step if we ever want to see webloggers as journalists -- or at least as informed observers. For developers, these devices will certainly influence the way we design sites and manage our content; we're going to see a demand for standards-compliant code as soon as these devices reach mass appeal.

While I still agree with my response, I do have to say that I sound like a bit of wet blanket.

The technology is still new and we all have a right to have fun with it.

Some Resources:
T-Mobile Sidekick for $49 (with new service activation)
Hiptop Nation
Joi Ito's Moblogging, Blogmapping and Moblogmapping related resources
Justin Hall's From Weblog to Moblog
Start-up marries blogs and camera phones