05-15-2003, 09:00 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,060
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Pocket PCs Turn Me Into a Stalker
Most of us who love technology and our Pocket PCs recognize that we sometimes do strange or scary things because of our passion for our devices. (Take a look at the "W?BIC!" or ScotteVest threads if you need further convincing.) The times I see my behaviour most dramatically shaped by my love for Pocket PCs are when I see other people using theirs.
For example, yesterday I was visiting my local home improvement store, sorting through a huge stack of plywood, searching for a sheet that wasn't horribly warped. Suddenly, my sixth sense told me that there was another Pocket PC user nearby, and I turned around in time to notice a man walking slowly down the aisle, carefully holding some kind of handheld.
Believe it or not, I can be shy around strangers (stop laughing), and I didn't want to just stare at this guy and what he was doing. So, I let him walk past me, and I slowly made my way to the next aisle. Then, I peered through the open spots in the aisle, trying to figure out what he was using and what he was doing. It soon resembled a scene from an old sitcom, with me stumbling down the aisle, tripping with nearly every step, as I tried to grab peeks at what my "quarry" was up to.
At one point I lost sight of the guy, so I struggled to climb onto a small stack of lumber and squeezed my head into a very small opening in the aisle. No sooner had my head popped out the other side when I heard an ahem! from behind me. I gulped, pulled my head back out and slowly turned around. There in front of me stood the guy with his handheld -- along with three store employees.
"May we help you, sir?" the largest of the four asked me in a stern, condescending tone. "Or would you just like to climb around some more and stalk our plywood sales representative?"
In the end, I don't think my explanation would have been nearly as convincing had I not been carrying both my Pocket PC Phone Edition and Pocket PC Thoughts business cards (Thanks, Jason!). Anyway, the guy I had been following was simply using an iPAQ with a barcode scanner and customized software to manage the inventory of his company's products. He'd scan the shelf tag under a stack of wood and type in the number of pieces in the pile. When he was done, he then hit a <SEND> button and the iPAQ wirelessly dialed into the corporate server and submitted the data. By the next day, more lumber was on its way to the store.
This kind of inventory management and replenishment is just the kind of thing Pocket PCs were made for. The capability to do what I saw has been around for quite a while, but it was still fun to see it firsthand. Not necessarily fun enough to get arrested for, but still fun.
I wiggled out of trouble that time, but it made me wonder: What kind of trouble has YOUR love of Pocket PCs gotten YOU into?
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05-15-2003, 09:19 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 245
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Well nothing as fanatial as you 8O
But for the most part whenever I run into *ANYbody8 i know and I have my PPC in hand I make it my joy to show them the light. AND for any palm users that I know I take it upon myself to turn the away from palms.
Here's one. I have a friend at school an adimant PALM :evil: user. So one day he was talking crap about ppc's and what they can't do and all the software and blah blah that was available for the palm he was carrying. So obviously as my temperature began to rise and anger as well We got into this huge fight. It eventually ended up with a broken handheld that hit the concrete... and thats all i have to say so lets end the story here :wink:
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05-15-2003, 09:23 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 245
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Re: Pocket PCs Turn Me Into a Stalker
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Originally Posted by Brad Adrian
Believe it or not, I can be shy around strangers (stop laughing)...
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Well if your avatar has anything to say about personality... (in a freudian sort of way) I think you picked it because to you it closely resembles what you think of yourself or how you picture yourself 
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05-15-2003, 09:29 AM
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Swami
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 4,396
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Oh No!
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Originally Posted by Abba Zabba
I have a friend at school an adimant PALM :evil: user. So one day he was talking crap about ppc's and what they can't do and all the software and blah blah that was available for the palm he was carrying. So obviously as my temperature began to rise and anger as well We got into this huge fight. It eventually ended up with a broken handheld that hit the concrete... and thats all i have to say so lets end the story here :wink:
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I'd say that's worse than Brad's -- physical violence. For future reference, what school is that? I hope the next school shootings won't be over PDAs. :-?
Steve
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05-15-2003, 09:35 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 245
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Re: Oh No!
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Originally Posted by Pony99CA
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Abba Zabba
I have a friend at school an adimant PALM :evil: user. So one day he was talking crap about ppc's and what they can't do and all the software and blah blah that was available for the palm he was carrying. So obviously as my temperature began to rise and anger as well We got into this huge fight. It eventually ended up with a broken handheld that hit the concrete... and thats all i have to say so lets end the story here :wink:
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I'd say that's worse than Brad's -- physical violence. For future reference, what school is that? I hope the next school shootings won't be over PDAs. :-?
Steve |
I guess the words we got into a fight is misleading. An argument would have been proper  ops: But there was no physical violence. What ended up happening was he dropped it on the floor by *accident* in order to convince his parents to get him a ppc. Now I call that convincing :wink:
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05-15-2003, 10:03 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 178
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When I went to Wagamama (a noodle resturant chain in UK, lots in London) with my girlfriend, the young cute waitress came over to take our order on a wireless iPaq. I was completely transfixed on the shiny little device and could not take my eyes of her clicking away on the screen as we told her our order.
Of course what my girl saw was me eyeing up the waitress and did not beleive I was in fact eyeing up the handheld.
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05-15-2003, 11:08 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 73
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I tried using mine as an alarm clock once. I got into work three hours late, but half an hour before the alarm decided it was time to go off and then it was very quiet). Time for a hard reset, methinks... :wink:
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05-15-2003, 11:55 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 396
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by lonesniper
the young cute waitress
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You noticed she was cute, so there is still some hope for you. But, in your girlfriend's eyes, guilty! 
btw, Has anyone got on to the Wagamama wireless LAN - ordered themselves a couple of free beers or anything? :wink:
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05-15-2003, 12:19 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 178
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If I ever managed to get into their Wireless LAN I would order myself lots of number 40 on the menu and a couple of those fried dumpling side dishes.
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05-15-2003, 12:29 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 14
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I was at the Parish Cafe in Boston this weekend and noticed the waiter on the outside deck was using a handheld to take orders. I was sitting at the inside bar and kept staring out the window at his handheld. I'm sure I must have/could have made him uncomfortable. Thinking about it, I think I unconsciously put all my gadgets (Pocket PC, Casio Exilim, VEO Photo Traveler, T68) on the bar as some sort of justification that I was a geek, so people would understand I was just checking out his Pocket PC.
As an aside, I also find myself checking out handhelds and phones on the T (Subway). Its probably breaks all T etiquette rules. Its kind of like reading a newspaper over someone shoulder.
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