10-21-2004, 06:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Use Your Career To Fuel Your Obsession With Tech Gadgets
http://www.careerjournal.com/columnists/cubicleculture/20041015-cubicle.html
"When Andrew Zaeh was a photography agent a few years back, he begged his boss for a new Palm hand-held organizer. "Isn't it important that I have the contact numbers for every creative director, art director and art buyer with me at all times?" he asked her. Mr. Zaeh recalls he was "foaming at the mouth" with desire for the device, daydreaming about its ability to synchronize and transmit photos wirelessly. At first, his boss told him no. But when he bought one himself and produced a receipt, she suggested he "just slip it in" to accounting."
And how many here in the business world haven't had their Pocket PC or other tech gadget paid for, at least in part, by their business? 
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10-21-2004, 06:36 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 39
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Personal Property
There's an upside to buying your own technology. When I purchased my laptop I also bought two docking stations: one for work and another for home. I probably could have convinced them to buy me a laptop, but not the configuration that would be useful. I couldn't have an integrated in-box, have games, or any non-sanctioned software on my laptop if they'd bought it. The same would have been the same for my PDA.
But since it's my personal property, all I needed was a special dispensation to give me network access. Maintaining a personal versus a business calendar makes no sense. Now I can plan vacations around project dates, and vice versus. Plus coworkers can see blocked-off times and my delegates/backups can access details of appointments of both types.
When I'm on a business trip I can play a game in the evening without violating company policies. While flying to a training class, I can load a movie on my PDA to watch on my 1Gb SD card (try to justify that to the purchasing department  ). I can use the powerful PocketBreeze and PocketInformant calendar functions on my iPAQ despite the corporate standard of only using the built-in calendar. And then I turn in my weekly Status Report printed out of ListPro rather than a klunky MS Word document that everyone else is stuck with.
It's definitely more expensive doing it yourself. But you get what you want and need.
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10-21-2004, 06:37 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 135
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One of the great joys of my job is that I don't have to pay for my tools. Pocket PCs are my tools. At present count I have three Pocket PCs paid for by my employer or my government contract. I have two that I paid for myself and one that was donated by HP.
What a life
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10-21-2004, 06:39 PM
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Thoughts Media Review Team
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 749
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My company (Fujitsu Consulting) have actually been very supportive of my 'techie gadget' status. They provide $100 toward the purchase of a PDA (although I'm one of the few, but growing #'s using Pocket PC-based devices) each few years. I've been 'helped' twice this way, now.
Because of my 'early adopter' approach to technologies and sales background in a previous life, they've also given me a 'convertible laptop/tablet' as my work machine. Of course, I'm expected to show this off frequently in informal presentations at the clients and the office.
__________________
/drt
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10-21-2004, 06:44 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,479
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Not a PPC but a handheld PC like 7 years ago.
My handhelds adiction started there and then.
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10-21-2004, 06:49 PM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,133
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I ordered my X50v through my university account. But I do use my PPC a lot for work as well as entertainment. More for work, in fact.
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10-21-2004, 06:56 PM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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My current h1940 was purchased purely for the purposes of work and PIM. And then it became one lovely entertainment tool as well! So now I use it for both work and entertainment purposes.
I was reading an interesting article in my local paper about a month ago where a specialist technology university in my city was granted a "scholarship" by HP to incorporate the use of iPAQs as a standard learning tool. And being a specialist technology university, I'm sure they put it to good use. Basically, a lot of lucky first year university students are able to lay their hands on these devices and allow it to become a standard part of their lives. Now aren't they lucky! 
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10-21-2004, 07:02 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 574
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My boss paid my previous PocketPC. He knew i had an extremely busy schedule and a traveltime of more than 5 hours a day at that moment in time, so it was either giving me a PocketPC or i would go nuts and start biting customers :devilboy:
Jaap
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10-21-2004, 07:39 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 117
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Re: Personal Property
Quote:
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Originally Posted by CEGiven
There's an upside to buying your own technology....I couldn't have an integrated in-box, have games, or any non-sanctioned software on my laptop if they'd bought it. The same would have been the same for my PDA.
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I completely agree with CEGiven. I don't want some administrator telling me what I could or couldn't install on my laptop or PDA, and I sure wouldn't want to have to carry around 2 laptops and 2 PDAs.
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10-21-2004, 07:45 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 110
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If I left it up to my organzation, I would have had to switch from my ipaq to a handspring visor! No offense but yuck....
I'll buy my own PDA anyday and have complete control over it.
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