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To Netbook or Not to Netbook…That Is the Question

Jenni Hammitt — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:18:02 +0000

By Jenni Hammitt

August 4, 2009

I guess I’m just spoiled by the digital age. I have my laptop and my Blackberry. What more do I need for my life to be portable? I like being on the go. I like that I can work from just about everywhere, but it has drawbacks.

The Blackberry is a fabulous tool. I love having access to my e-mails, the internet, documents, and other items while I am on the go. I can even access my Google Calendar and my Google Docs, and that makes running my business much easier. I love being able to Twitter and use Facebook when I am working and just out and about. I can even update my Blog from everywhere my phone has service. How can I be disappointed with that?

My laptop is practically my best friend. I keep in touch with my friends and family with it. I make money, write stories, edit photos, edit video, and help run a karaoke show from with my little laptop. I can take it anywhere I need to be.

The only negative I can see, is the bulk factor. Lets face it, dragging my laptop to meetings and shows is cumbersome. With my “life in a bag” aka my purse, and my laptop case, things get heavy and clunky fast. That means if I want to run video at a show, work on some blogs while enjoying time out or travel, I sometimes just avoid doing it. If I am doing stills or video…add a camera bag to the mix and I can barely get out of my car or make it through doorways. It was annoying, but I was content with the world because at least I had the portability option.

Then I saw my mom’s netbook. Yes the “baby laptop” to my less technically evolved friends. It seemed like the perfect solution. No I wouldn’t want to photo edit or anything like that, but for basic functions it seemed pretty perfect. It could fit in my “life bag” and it would make traveling much easier. I remember the headache of getting the laptop through security the last time I flew. I want to take my computer on my next vacation, and a netbook would make it much easier.

Then there is the practical side of me. I feel materialistic for wanting another gadget. I feel guilty for wanting another item. I question my motives. Part of me sees this as something that will help me be more productive and help my writing. Another part of me wonders if it just my way of making my irrational thought seem rational. I’ve never been the “gotta have it” type. I feel guilty about spending the money, but I see so much potential in it.

In this world it is so easy to get sucked into the “shiny” things. They are packaged to get our attention convince us we need them. Many people just fall prey to it. I know I do sometimes, but I work hard to not fall into that trap. Now I have to determine if I am just being shallow or if I’m just over thinking a good business decision.

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Ridiculous Airline Customer Service Issues

Jenni Hammitt — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:58:37 +0000

By Jenni Hammitt

July 21, 2009

At about 3:20 A.M. an e-mail came through on my Blackberry. I didn’t think much about it because the flight isn’t until September and flights change. Once I woke up and had a chance to look at the actual e-mail, I was a little more disturbed.

We were confirmed on a flight from Indianapolis to Las Vegas with a stop over in Minneapolis. Apparently that flight doesn’t exist any more. Okay, that is fine, but apparently Northwest thought it was a good idea to re route us to Detroit, give us less than an hour to get to our connection to Minneapolis. Then they gave us less than a half an hour to catch our connection to Las Vegas.

I just about hit the roof. Okay, if there were no other available flights from Indy to Minneapolis, and they had to send us to Detroit you can’t tell me there are not direct flights from Detroit to Las Vegas. Detroit is a Northwest hub…there had to be one available flight theoretically.

I was annoyed. Okay folks, if you are booked on an airline and they change your flight information and it no longer works for you, usually the airline will let you change to another flight at no extra charge. If you booked directly with the airline, call them ASAP and see what your options are. Now if you booked with a travel agent or an online travel agent, you need to contact them.

Now this is the one time I will break my own: Never resolve something by phone rule. I will 9 times out of 10 tell people they need to contact the company directly by letter and e-mail. Having a paper trail is an amazing thing. This is a situation where a phone call is needed. It is a time sensitive thing and you can always as ask for the rep to e-mail you confirmation before you get off the phone. That way there is still a paper trail.

Here is the deal though, no matter if you are calling or writing there is one major rule: Be Nice to the Customer Service Rep. Keep the drama out of it, and just stick to the facts. Be direct, tell them your concerns, but don’t be a major pain.

I called the online agency, and after a very brief time on hold, was able to speak to rep. I told her that I received notification about my flight change. I told her I was a little concerned because we had 2 connections now. I also let her know I understood if that was our only option, but the less than 30 minute layover made me nervous. She agreed that the 30 minute layover was not a good idea, and she was surprised about the additional layover. I was patient, made sure to thank her for her help, and within 30 minutes had the three of us moved to another flight to Vegas with just the one connection in Minneapolis. We have to leave a little earlier, but I feel much better about the one connection and ample time between flights.

Yes I could have ranted about what idiot did this etc., but that would just have made the whole situation drag out longer and possibly made the rep less apt to help me.

Be patient, direct and even if you are ready to punch someone, always take the drama out of the situation. State your case, but purely stick to the facts, refrain from making lofty demands (like in my case demanding free airfare would have been crazy, but others have done so), and escalate the complaint as needed. This will get you much farther in the long run.

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Addicted to Technology

Jenni Hammitt — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:15:36 +0000

By Jenni Hammitt

July 9, 2008

I used to think I was a minimalist. I used to think I didn’t need the latest high end gadget. I figured if what I had was working and did the job, what more could I ask for? I’m the girl who was content to have the basic free phone because why would I want to text? My desktop computer wasn’t flashy, but it worked. I mean I was about blogging and online bill pay.

I like my social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. I loved photobucket, my I-pod and my digital camera, but that is as far as it went. A couple years ago I really began on focusing getting my life on track. It was time to put the past to rest and focus on what I wanted. That brought two factors into my life: New Friend and Launching my freelance company.

First my friends came into the picture. Suddenly I went from never texting to texting more than I was talking on my phone. At first, I still really resisted. I worked hard not to cave, but before long texting and picture mail became common place. Of course then I was kicking myself for not buying the texting package with my phone plan when the bill came to my inbox. I was hooked.

As I began to launch my business, I started to see how my desktop just wasn’t getting the job done. I needed something portable, with more bells and whistles, and that was more conducive to my needs as a writer. When my desktop started to die, it seemed like the perfect excuse to get a laptop. The old unit was going to die out any day, and it was a good cost choice. Pretty soon though it became apparent that my motives weren’t as basic as I had thought they were. I just couldn’t imagine my life before my laptop, or how I managed to make my business work at all before it was in my life. It cut down on the hassle and the stress tremendously.

Soon my business was growing. I found myself texting more and more. I started using more and more social networking sites, and I began taking on more and more jobs. My full time job, teaching, karaokeing and writing schedules were starting to get hectic. I wanted to be able to keep track of my schedule, text, check my e-mail, get online, and even micro blog on Twitter while on the go. I upgraded to the unlimited everything plan, but my bare bones basic phone just wasn’t working for me. Pretty soon, I was considering crossing to the darkside and getting a smartphone. Yes, and not just any smartphone…but a Blackberry.

When I upgraded my plan, I looked at the Pearl. I wasn’t eligible for an upgrade another four months, so buying on from the Sprint store was totally unreasonable. As I left the store, I was appalled with myself. How on earth could I even consider buying one of those totally overrated wastes of money? It was just a status symbol that killed people’s social skills right? I was over it, until a few days later. I made the mistake of looking on craigslist…and there it was: A posting for a new Pearl for $100. I e-mailed the guy, and I was sure someone had already snatched it up. I was wrong. Next thing I know, I own a Blackberry. I had it activated, my contacts transferred over, and the next think I know I am on www.crackberry.com downloading ring tones. A week later, I am totally addicted.

The question remains: Have I totally sold out, or am I really just doing what is best for my business? Right now, I’m still in the honeymoon period and I don’t really care. I get to run your own business, you have to have the tools, but will I regret taking the plunge?

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Blackberry Bold versus iPhone 2.0

Daniel Dessinger — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:01:54 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

June 10, 2008

Written prior to Steve Jobs' speech at WWDC yesterday.

As you know with my earlier iPhone post, I'm very excited about the upcoming announcement regarding the new iPhone. However, I would be ignorant to think that iPhone's next-generation 3G phone is going to be the only one on the market. Blackberry Bold has consistently kept it's users happy by continually upgrading it's 9000 series so that it can be a strong contender with Apple. I thought it may be interesting to compare the two and then let you, the reader, make a decision on which one is going to take the market.

In order to do this, we must all agree that no one knows for sure what exactly iPhone 2.0 will be. Rumors are continually swirling that it will be 3G and have an integrated GPS inside. Others say that it will be a bit slimmer and offer more functionality than its predecessor. For more information on next week's upcoming announcements by Apple, click here. So, just for argument's sake, lets agree that the new iPhone will have 3G and GPS. How does the Blackberry Bold stand up to it?

Apple and Blackberry have both announced their new models will have GPS inserted into the handheld which will be an amazing and wonderful piece of functionality. They both will have a strong integration with Active Exchange so that businesses can and will begin to take them seriously from an enterprise standpoint. I think it's fair to say that Blackberry has consistently met this challenge and is still one of the most popular phones used in business today. However, the new iPhone is rumored to have better synchronization for Microsoft's Exchange which may mean iPhone begins pulling its weight in the enterprise world and will begin being taken seriously.

The iPhone dominated its competition in regards to music, video, photos and other "multimedia" which is why it became one of the most successful phones ever in history. The iPhone's web browser is one that can't be beat with it's awesome HTML capabilities, fast bandwidth (when on Wifi), and an ever-so-easy browser (Safari). Blackberry realized their mistake in a "not-so-fancy" HTML browser and has thus completely changed their capabilities with the Blackberry Bold 9000 series. It has an awesome web browser, rich multimedia and a powerful 2 megapixel camera. Blackberry has successfully reached the bar that Apple set with the iPhone. But is it a little too late?

The iPhone's major setback is that it currently only works on AT&T (unless your illegally jailbreak it) which will obviously keep some away. The Blackberry can be used on most all the major cellular networks. The Blackberry Bold also has "real keys" while the iPhone has an industry-changing user interface with 3.5 inch multi-touch display. Apple got it right with this multi-touch display as no other phone had this technology until the iPhone came out. Both the Blackberry Bold and the new iPhone will have 3G which will transform the way users do business and personal browsing/uploading/downloading and multimedia.

Now, in my opinion (which keep in mind, I'm a consumer, not an expert), who will win? Personally, I will have to give the winning call to Apple. The Blackberry Bold is a serious contender but it still lacks things that the iPhone delivers. The iPhone is synonymous with multimedia. It's an iPod (and I still haven't seen any other phone competitor do the iPod justice), it's a desktop web browser and it's also a powerful mini computer. It works fantastically with the Apple TV and other Apple products. The 3rd party applications that Apple will soon be releasing via it's App Store is also a sure way to beat its competition. We're holding our breath in anticipation to see what the iPhone can do next once these applications get released. It truly will change the iPhone for the better.

So what are your thoughts? Do you think the new iPhone will stamp out its competition? Do you think Blackberry's Bold will beat iPhone? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

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