I Want a New Faceplate!

[Brad Adrian]

After months of trying to get my hands on a Pocket PC Phone Edition (and dealing with both a lost shipment and a defective device), I finally got one...and I LOVE it! It pretty much does everything I want it to do...except make a statement about my personality.<br /><br /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/blueskin.jpg" /><br /> <br /><br />I don't know why, but I have always had a very strong desire to personalize my possessions, especially my electronic gadgets. My mobile phone has a very unique faceplate and my notebook PC has a colorful case and strange wallpaper. Why can't I get some kind of add-on faceplate for my Pocket PC Phone Edition, something that says, "Hey, I am different. I am like nobody else,"? I like the <a href="http://www.pdajacket.com/products.asp?b=T-Mobile">stuff from PDA Jacket.com </a> like the sticky skins, but I crave even more ways to really personalize my Phone Edition.<br /><br />Does anybody else out there agree that it would be great to be able to customize these devices? Are there other ways to upgrade the way they look? Or, is this just the result of some deep-seated craving for attention?

[blackout]

since there simply aren't any high quality options for customizing the ppc phone edition (xda, mda, whatever) so i've been considering two options. first is getting the metal shell of the phone edition custom anodized. the only problem is small batch anodizing is expensive. i've been checkin around and it's hard to find a place that will do a small batch when they don't know u from adam. the second option is cheaper and more accessible. i been considering removing the shell, stripping it down and painting it with rustoleum, or some liquid enamel both of which sticks to metal somethin fierce. this may be time for a little DIY project.

[JasonA]

Well while I can agree with liking to customize devices, I've never really understood the connection to individuality, since... there aren't really that many possibilities.

"Be unique! Choose from one of our 4 new colors, so you can be truly different from all your friends and co-workers, even if they all have the exact same device."

So it's a bit of an exaggeration, and I don't mean to sound cynical, but it captures the sentiment that I've seen at many places. Customization in software, though... I can definitely understand.

Anyway, $0.02... YMMV :wink:

[avoglio]

At least we currently offer 23 totally different case/color combinations :lol:

But true, Brad, there aren't that many options. These days this is one of the reasons why people buy cases for their devices. Protection is one reason, but diversification the other.

Personally I am quite sceptical with personalisations for the device itselve. If you look at those Nokia add ons, they are quite instable and often fall off.

Pretty cool would be a customisation like SMART offers it for cars. Lets say you could exchange 3-4 parts of the case and choose those amung several colors (about 6-10) ?

But in the end we need to find an answer of how many people are really willing to use that feature (developement costs). On the other hand such a feature might bind clients longer to one companies model like the ipaq. See expansion sleves..

[Andy Sjostrom]

It pretty much does everything I want it to do...except make a statement about my personality.

I have three thoughts on that, Brad...
First, I am not sure you will EVER find a device or a face plate that do justice to your personality! :lol:
Second, can't believe you complain when we know thousands of users would mow many lawns to get their hands on what you have! :wink:
Third, given the fact that 99.9% of all cell phones out there are from the dark ages of character based user interface and beep-beep ringing tones, the Pocket PC Phone Edition speaks volumes about my personality without a face plate. (At least, that is what I'd like to think, anyway!) 8)

[Pony99CA]

After months of trying to get my hands on a Pocket PC Phone Edition (and dealing with both a lost shipment and a defective device), I finally got one...and I LOVE it! It pretty much does everything I want it to do...except make a statement about my personality.

I think Pocket PCs do make a statement already -- "GEEK". :lol: (Hey, I have one, too. :-))

Seriously, why does something need to make a statement about your personality? If you think something has to, most people will look at things like your car, clothes, hair, face and so on.


Why can't I get some kind of add-on faceplate for my Pocket PC Phone Edition, something that says, "Hey, I am different. I am like nobody else."?

If your looks and personality don't already say that, do you really think a device can do a better job? If someone looks and acts like a drone so much that people don't think they're an individual, I doubt a fancy PDA will help much.


Does anybody else out there agree that it would be great to be able to customize these devices? Are there other ways to upgrade the way they look? Or, is this just the result of some deep-seated craving for attention?

Of course it's cool to be able to do it. To feel you have to do it smacks of craving for attention. (Disclaimer: I think tattoos and body piercings -- at least visible ones -- are the same.)

Steve

[Coralie]

.. is this just the result of some deep-seated craving for attention?
yep, definitely! :lol:

To feel you have to do it smacks of craving for attention. (Disclaimer: I think tattoos and body piercings -- at least visible ones -- are the same.)
i'd agree with you to a point. i have a few piercings myself. they are relatively subtle as far as facial piercings go, but they are still facial piercings.

i like the attention, but i think i was born that way. i used to be singer for a living & i loved the attention there too.

i guess wanting to be a bit different from every one else doesn't necessarily mean that you have a craving for attention, but in my case, i would say that is true.

kind of topic, i know, but i had to respond to that one .. even if it was just for a bit of attention :wink: :twisted:

[avoglio]

kind of topic, i know, but i had to respond to that one .. even if it was just for a bit of attention :wink: :twisted:


Aren't we all drilled for gaining attention during our live ? From childhood on we are used to find ways to increase our attention gained from others. Competition is about attention, success results in attention, intelligence results in attention, everything we do results in attention ! :o

Either positve or negative. :wink:

People with loosing attention often are in trouble, socially and economically.

So lets get some attention and join the discussion 8)

[Pocketcharly]

As you can see on the german site of T-Mobile
http://www.t-mobile.de/mda/1,1954,1475-_,00.html
the PPC Phone aficionados in Germany are preferred by getting an MDA in poor people disguise. It sports a dark blue plastic body with only a metal frontplate. :x
This could be the ideal base for a unit with interchangeable frontplates of different colors or spray jobs.
But let me tell you: sometimes I really envy the rest of the world for having such good looking "all-metal" cult devices. But then again I'm happy, because that cheap looking plastic is much less slippery in your hand than that glitchy Beauty.

[Jason Dunn]

Of course it's cool to be able to do it. To feel you have to do it smacks of craving for attention. (Disclaimer: I think tattoos and body piercings -- at least visible ones -- are the same.)

Nah, I disagree. Sometimes you do it just for yourself - for example, I'm really interested in having a slick looking computer rig with matching or complimentary components. Very few people will ever see it, so am I really craving attention? Nope. Sometimes we do it just for ourselves. :D

[avoglio]

Nope. Sometimes we do it just for ourselves. :D

Speak the trouth !

You just do it in case a young beatiful leady enters the room and you claim to be the number one high tech expert. This needs to be proven by an ultra cool pc 8) :wink:

[ECOslin]

I'd like a new faceplate for my Maestro. Since it is the same as the Toshiba e570, I can replace the side grips with a choice of eight colors or so. I haven't actually felt the need to buy this accessory yet.

I'd much rather have something like this wraparound for the gameboy advance. From a popular online comic called 'Penny Arcade'. I like the 'Cardboard Tube Samarai'.

Of course this kind of thing works only when you have large unused areas that you can display a graphic image on. I'd have to just settle for graphic patterns or colors with my Maestro.

Edward

http://www.penny-arcade.com/skins.jpg

[denivan]

Nah, I disagree. Sometimes you do it just for yourself -
for example, I'm really interested in having a slick looking
computer rig with matching or complimentary components. Very few
people will ever see it, so am I really craving attention? Nope.
Sometimes we do it just for ourselves. :D

hmm, i disagree, are you sure you wouldn`t take show off pics and
post them on this site or show them to your friends? We are all vain, Jason

;-)

Ivan

[ECOslin]

Yep, I agree. I built used a Micro-ATX board system in a black case that looks like an autoclave, embedded a blue flourescent light that follows the top curve of the box, and about all I could do was to show almost every techie I know. Raid1 with two 20gig drive 512mb, Nvidia Riva tnt2, DVD.

I am vain, I get something neat and I go nuts. I feel envy when other people show me their neat thing, aww, I want one of those, why isn't my neat thing as neat as that one...

Edward

[Jason Dunn]

hmm, i disagree, are you sure you wouldn`t take show off pics and post them on this site

Hehe....ok, yeah, I forgot about me posting the picture of my SS51G - you caught me! :lol:

[BugDude10]

One word for you, Brad: Sharpie! :D

[Sven Johannsen]

You just do it in case a young beatiful leady enters the room and you claim to be the number one high tech expert. This needs to be proven by an ultra cool pc 8) :wink:

Only reason she is looking for you is to fix her boyfriend's PC :wink:

P.S. Do those stick on things actually not look like you stuck contact paper on your precious PPC?

[ECOslin]

Haven't actually seen one in use. Likely they look like, um, bad. Often something sounds bad and turns good.

Edward

[Pony99CA]

Of course it's cool to be able to do it. To feel you have to do it smacks of craving for attention. (Disclaimer: I think tattoos and body piercings -- at least visible ones -- are the same.)

Nah, I disagree. Sometimes you do it just for yourself - for example, I'm really interested in having a slick looking computer rig with matching or complimentary components. Very few people will ever see it, so am I really craving attention? Nope. Sometimes we do it just for ourselves. :D
Matching things like that is just a good sense of aesthetics, not vanity. Saying you have to get a skin for something to "express your individuality" is a different thing (IMHO, of course :-)).

Steve