Jason Dunn
04-05-2002, 08:11 AM
<b><span>Mobius 2002 Journal - Day 0</span></b><br /><br />The Journey getting to Germany was a long one – I’ve never traveled overseas before, so the eight hours on the plane was an interesting learning experience to say the least. Did I mention I can’t sleep on planes? Thank goodness they had two movies playing and I had two batteries in my laptop. I discovered a new personal gripe: software that requires Internet access to activate. I installed Quicken QuickTax onto my laptop with the idea of doing my wife’s taxes on the eight hour flight, but as soon as I tried to load it, the software asked for Internet access to activate. Incredible! At least Office XP gives you 50 loads before you have to activate – this program wouldn’t even give me one. Quicken, you suck.<br /><br />I flew from Calgary to London, transferred to a plane going to Frankfurt, then another flight to Hanover brought me to my destination. How can I saw this nicely? As wonderful as Germany was in many ways, I felt like I was trapped in a bingo hall with a bunch of insomniac chain smokers bent on my destruction. I had a four hour wait at the airport before I could take the shuttle to <a href="http://www.virtualtourist.com/Europe/Germany/Gottingen/?s=X">Gottingen</a>. I had a Coke, a giant pretzel, and a whole bunch of smoke. No matter where I went, there was smoke. Every single place in the airport that had chairs or benches to sit was a smoking area. They also have smoking “stands” at the base of the escalator, so when you’re coming down one it looks like you’re descending into hell. :twisted:<br /><br />After wandering around the airport looking for the shuttle company (talk about bad UI on the signs!), I finally found where I was supposed to be going and get settled in for a long wait in an eating area. During the two and a half hours I was there, I counted thirty people. Twenty-seven of them smoked - of the three that did not, two were children under the age of ten, and one was an adult woman. Coming from a place that is aggressively anti-smoking, it was a real struggle to keep culturally open-minded. Although I don't know if cancer is really a cultural element. :? But no more pontificating about smoking! :D <br /><br />Jorgen showed up after a while and we chatted about mobile devices, and I got my first look at the Nokia Communicator. Interesting device! I can see how it's compelling - the form factor isn't too bad (although it's a big "brick-ish"), the screen was nice, and the software looked decent. Although I had to chuckle when I asked Jorgen if I could send my wife an email message and he said the phone couldn't send or receive email - he recently hard reset the phone, and coming from a cold boot, the ROM doesn't have the necessary software to do email properly. Apparently he has to download a RAM patch before he can do email. I hope my critics will forgive me when I say that's quite silly - a device should be 100% functional coming out of a worst-case scenario hard reset.<br /><br />In the shuttle bus with Jorgen and myself were two others: Jemma Harris, Marketing Program Manager for EMEA, and Sally from a PR firm that works with Microsoft UK. I was quite excited at what Jemma had: a Jornada 928 and an 02 XDA.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/mobius2002/twojornada2.jpg" /><br /><br />The 928 is basically the same thickness as the 565 that I had. They managed to cram a GSM/GPRS chip set in there and not increase the bulk - excellent!<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/mobius2002/928battery.jpg" /><br /><br />The battery is different though - smaller, but thicker than the Jornada 56x battery. No indication of the mAh on it, though I suspect it's the same or a little higher than the 56x battery.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/mobius2002/928display.jpg" /><br /><br />The top of the Jornada 928 is quite different than the 56x - they've added hardware buttons for the phone functions. One to pick up a call, one to hang up on a call, and an LCD screen giving you status, signal strength, etc. This makes it perhaps half an inch taller than the 56x, if that. I had never played around with the 928 before, so I was enjoying the experience. When I put the main battery back on though, the unit didn't power up. I fiddled with it for a few minutes, pulled out all the batteries, etc., and still no dice - totally DOA. I think the main battery was simply dead, but I couldn't be sure. I hope your 928 got better Jemma! :-)<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/mobius2002/xda1.jpg" /><br /><br />Ah, the "Wallaby". Truly a thing of beauty. This is a non-branded model that is functionally similar to the 02 XDA.<br /><br />We arrived at the hotel in Gottingen, where most of the other Mobius attendees were down in the bar drinking and chatting. I hung out for a bit and met some of the new people, then I headed off to bed. I hadn't slept in 45 hours, so I was feeling a little tired.<br /><br />More to come on Day 2 of Mobius 2002! And, of course, after Mobius it was CeBit - one day, many photos. Stay tuned.