Ever "Convert" Someone?

[Jon Westfall]

Ah, Sunday Morning at PPCT. A time to kick back, relax, talk about <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23035"> our lives </a> and sound off. So, with today being Sunday, let's discuss peer pressure, persuasion, and implanting our technological values on others!<br /><br />You've all had the skeptical friend at one time or another who insists that they don't need one of those new fangled gadgets you have. First it was the pager with my friend Mr. X - he said he'd never need to have one. Then about a year later, he got one. Then the cell phone, and now apparently the Pocket PC. What made him decide to switch... well, that's a story for a different day. The question I ask is - have you ever convinced someone to switch or adopt a device? It doesn't have to be a PPC (Although that would be a great story) - it could be anything. Tell your story and join the ranks of the technology evangelist!

[xdev]

i did a mass conversion once 8O

i was 14, bought my first "proper" pda...before that i had been using casio digital diaries, i had always been facinated by HPC's, but at 14 the price was seemingly unreachable to me. But then Palm brought out the M100

yay!! the first PDA i could afford. i had half the cash , and took a loan from my dad for the other half, and paid him back my selling software i wrote for the pda :roll: hehe i guess you could say the device paid for itself.

anywaysssss before i get too off topic, i used to bring it to school, and within a month of me bringing it for the first time one of my close friends bought one, and then i think within the next 2 months that followed at least 20 other of my friends either bought a PDA, or "inherited" one their parents had and were not using. :lol:

[Silver5]

I just got someone to convert on Thursday, now that you mention it. My sister needed a new phone since she had pretty much used here V600 into the ground (literally on many occassions..."used" it into her jacuzzi a few times too). She sends alot of text messages and a good deal of email so when I found a great deal on a Blackberry I bought it for her. She didn't really like any of the PDA phones I've had over the years, but she liked the Treo and my Qtek 9100 but wasn't sure about the size, yet the Blackberry seems just right. She loves the simplicity and the impressively clear speakerphone and she can use her bluetooth ear piece. She is thrilled that the Blackberry email is faster than my Exchange AUDT on the PPC. Plus, she now has all of her contacts with her whenever she needs them and can read or send messages easily instead of getting an alert to go online to check them. Best of all, it is still small enough to go in her purse.

I would have gotten her a PPC but the Windows Mobile phones are still expensive and I didn't want to spend that much for something that will probably be fairly familiar with the floor. I know I have convinced, or at least influence, many others since I always seem to have something new, but I don't need to bore you with any more than I have...it's Sunday and I'm still tired...

[Steve Jordan]

When I was an early adopter, I'd never convinced anyone to get the tech I used. Everyone I knew thought it was all frivolous. And now that I bide my time until I see a clear need for tech, no one manages to sway me over what or when to buy.

I guess that, because everyone ignored my advice, now I ignore theirs.

[ChunkyMonkey]

When I was an early adopter, I'd never convinced anyone to get the tech I used. Everyone I knew thought it was all frivolous. And now that I bide my time until I see a clear need for tech, no one manages to sway me over what or when to buy.

I guess that, because everyone ignored my advice, now I ignore theirs.

I can relate to that. Every device I buy is a "total waste of money" in their eyes. Yet they'll spend $1000 for a gun that they will never shoot. To each his own, but I don't tell people that they are wasting their money.

[encece]

While using PPCPE devices and MS Smartphones for years, I have always been the geek amongst my friends. It was always difficult to talk my friends into buying one because as I was using phones with greater functionality they were all going for smaller and "flashier" phones.

After we got older and more established in business and families, the need arose in them for the greater functionality that I held.

I talked a couple into PPCs (i700's at the time) and one into a Smartphone (i600 at the time). But then one got a Treo 600, and the rest followed suit. I know have 6 friends with Treo 650's and I am the only MS product user. (Currently a SP5m Smartphone....and I have the smaller device for a change).

Now I thought I could sell the hell out of Smartphones and PocketPCs. I can list everything they do and could do as if I worked in a store selling them. Like I had some stake in their success.

I believe the reason for their Treo preference is this:

Verizon Won.
They all use Verizon and they loved the coverage.
Verizon didnt have many MS Products at the time and they are slow to pick up new phones. The Treo was the best they had.

The Keyboard Won.
New PDA users love their keyboards. More familiar to them than writing on a screen or Taptyping and T9 of phones.

I cant say the OS won as they wouldnt know the difference at the time. But at the face....the Palm OS does seem simpler. (although, less powerful IMO).

I did get an additional Smartphone convert last week (SMT-5600)....who seems very happy so far.

Maybe I'll rectify by poor conversion ratio when the 700w arrives. ;)

[dma1965]

I have converted a few people over the years, but the biggest "victory" was our company controller, a man of about 60 years, who used to poke fun at my gadgets. He finally caved when he went to a board meeting and they had to schedule the next meeting and everyone pulled out their PDA's, and he had to tell them all that he had to get back to them since his schedule was in Outlook back at the office. The cold stares convinced him it was time.

[wirelessbeachbum]

I moved countless individuals to PPC's...of course that being a primary purpose of my day job helps my ratio.

When someone comes looking for a treo, I'll usually upsell them into a PPC of some form or another.

It's pretty easy, I just show them the devices side by side, show them what their attachments look like (excel, word etc.) Browse the internet a little. Pull up the local traffic cameras...and if that doesn't work I use MS voice command to make a call or play some music. And as a last resort, I'll watch my home cable TV over wireless.

[Steve Jordan]

And as a last resort, I'll watch my home cable TV over wireless.

8O Hokay, I was following you fine until you got right there! Still... my friends would only say: "Bah! Who wants to watch TV on a tiny screen? I have an 80-inch wall-mounted HDTV! Take that, geek-boy!"

I honestly think the only thing that might sway some of my friends would be to show them how easy it is to store and access "private" data. You know... the kind you hide under the bed, or in the back of the closet... :wink:

[Lost Cause]

Well I can proudly say that as the first person to bring a PDA into work (an iPAQ 2210 - to a few scoffs), I've sinced managed to persuade five fellow colleagues to buy one (all 2210s). Another bought the slimmer version - I forget the model number (4415 ??). From being sat at the bar after exhibitions with friends from fellow companies, I've convinced another two to buy a PDA (both 2210s also).

In all cases (bar one) sat nav has been the killer app for them. Most of them rate listening to music as the next.

One of my friends said just recently, "I don't think I'm into them as much as you, but if my iPAQ was lost or stolen tomorrow then I would go out and re-place it immediately." Sat nav is his main app.

I've since upgraded to a Dell X50v, which I think is marvellous - a huge step forward (no WM5 for me yet). But my colleagues shrug their shoulders and continue to be happy with their 2210s.

[ntractv]

Converted my girlfriend a few years back. She was using a Franklin Covey date book and was just headstrong against PDA's. I took the plunge one Christmas and got her a Toshiba e310 and she just fell in love. The following year I upgraded her to a iPAQ 1945 and flipped over that which she still uses.

[SteveHoward999]

I am a victim of conversion.

I am a self-confessed gadget freak, but with a caveat. I won't buy anything unless I am sure it has real value and I will use it regularly.

An iPod was an easy choice, as I love to listen to music as I travel, but my portable CD player was too bulky and CDs a pain to carry ...

Anyway, my wife bought me a Toshiba E335 almost 3 years ago. I had said to her beforehand, something like "I don't see what is so great about them. I can's see such a tiny thing being useful - after all they are just glorified personal organisers, and I never keep a diary or an address list!" ... Well!

So she bought me the E335 as a christmas present!

I was immediately obliged ti show my gratitude by using the durned thing!

First thing I discovered was that there were a ton of free MS Reader books onthe companion CD. This was amazing. I could carry 50, 100 or more books around in my pocket!

Then I started looking about a little more and found the obvious stuff - Word, Acrobat, eMail - I used my cell phone as a modem for my laptop, so now I could check email on the go without pulling out my laptop, and surf the web, however painfully!

Then the E330 was not enough. I traded up to an E750 with Wi-Fi so now I could use the PDA about the house with my home network. And I could get a CF GPS... WOW! and the extra storage capacity of two memory slots meant I could carry a ton of books, documents and a movie (the first one I ripped was Spiderman)!

But that was not enough, I wanted more. VGA was my next lust, so I bought an E830, in spite of the hassle of having to get it over eBay from Canada! VGA brought a whole new dimension!


Now I find myself watching hopefully with each tiny incremental improvement in devices. What I long for now is the ability to interface with a screen and keyboard natively (no need for the little usb/VGA addon thingy) and have the PDA use at least 800x600 on the monitor. I want to have a user experience that is closer to full PC without the slow bootup and huge (1 Gb just for OS) storage requirements. I want a full Flash 8 player. I want a reliable phone. I want a screen of at least 800x600 resolution on a device no bigger than the E830. The screen should be near as big as the device, so no wasted 'blank' space. An integrated keyboard like the Universal might be nice, but unless the device is more usable (software, screen) than current then the keyboard is not essential.

OK I admit it ... my name is Steve and I am a PPC addict!

[Steve Jordan]

(Everybody) Hi, Steve!

[JD Silver]

I was shocked when my wife expressed interest in a PPC after I've been using them a few years. She had been having difficulties tracking her appointments using the standard paper methods, and gradually saw how organized I was using mine. So I bought her an iPaq 1945, and she just loved it!

I have since moved on to a converged device (HTC Apache) which I consider to be the ultimate organizer. She now uses my old iPaq 4150. She maintains all of her contacts and appointments on the device, sometimes uses tasks, and really enjoys playing games on it. I haven't been able to sell her on the potential of WiFi, or reading ebooks. Time will tell!

At work, I've converted a few to using a Pocket PC. I teach computer engineering at a college, so some staff have made the leap to using a Pocket PC for marks, attendance, and lecture notes. I'm still the only one using a converged device, and one or two have moved into a VGA device.

Watching the technology change in PPCs is very similar to the early heady days of personal computers. I still cannot believe what a tiny device like the Apache or Jam can do, compared to my first device. Bring on the Future!

[KTamas]

Well, no, not yet. In fact, I've bought a *gulp* Palm *gulp* VIIx *gulp* to my little brother (hey, it was very cheap on ebay), and he likes it, although he uses is mainly (read: only) for games (and for me to be sure that Palm does suck...and it does...I can't belive how can ppl use a device that can't multitask)

[Gerard]

My younger brother (he's 36, I'm 44) is an animator and movie director. For a few years he fumbled with a cheap Palm, trying to keep his complicated life oganised. That broke, and as it hadn't been a very satisfying device to use he didn't replace it. His notebook Mac and then PC would suffice, he said... More recently he'd just been using Sony cellphone with basic PIM capabilities to help in not missing meetings or forgetting bits of information, but more and more he'd been complaining that the phone just wasn't cutting it. A couple of weeks ago he uttered this surprising sentiment: "Dude, I need a good PDA sooooo much, things are just getting out of control1"

By coincidence I just happened to have bought myself a Toshiba e800 around the same time. i offered my old Dell X5 with fat Mugen battery, and he jumped at it. Its not that he'd been too cheap to buy one - he bought a $50,000 sports car a while back - but that he was unconvinced that PPCs were anything special, no mattery how I propagandised for the platform over the last 5 years. I chopped the installed software way, way back, making for a relatively simple setup though with GigaBar and some other customised tweak-ish stuff installed. I also left in my owner name and a few graphics-related sharewares, knowing that this was the best way for him to truly test what he might like to buy. He'll want his own owner name in there soon of course, and already he's expressed interest in buying licenses for apMemo and Pocket Artist when he does the change.

The other day he called after getting back from a business trip, thanking me and pretty much flipping out about all the efficiencies the thing was already making available. Most importantly he can readily sketch out character ideas as they come to him, using tools familiar for a professional CGI artist (if not as powerful as the PC versions). Ideas come and go fast, and having the PPC right there is an advantage, always available in seconds of his needing it. Funny, he'd said when I gave it to him that it was unlikely he'd be using it out of the house except at meetings... He's on the team now.

My step-daughter is practically an old hand at PPC use. She's twelve now, and had my old EG-800 since she was 9. That eventually broke down completely (Casio custom ribbon connector, this really complicated thing, somehow cracked through 4 of the 50 or so wires, disabling the screen) so I gave her an old iPAQ 3835, which she uses daily for drawing and audio stuff, gaming, and the odd bit of writing with a Stowaway. She prefers it sleeveless, as she's a small kid and the iPAQ is big enough that way. She agrees that sooner or later practically everyone in school is going to be using devices of similar kind for accessing libraries of information, online and local. Not there yet though, so she's a little embarrassed to bring it to school; she ends up stuck in a pile of 10 kids all wanting to poke at it at the same time.

[Macguy59]

I have gotten my sister, brother, aunt and next door neighbor to switch to Macs. Now that we have a couple of full featured options now for syncing Pocket PC's on a Mac, my brother will be switching from an original Palm Tungsten to a Dell X51v.

[galt]

I've converted probably 3-4 people to the Danger Hiptop (Tmobile Sidekick) but I'm having a hard time suggesting that anyone switch from that to a Windows Mobile device. Unless you really want to make use of some of the more advanced features of the PPC platform it's just too much work, not quite stable enough, and on WM 5 it runs a little too slow.

[geneb]

Back when I was using a Handspring Visor, I convinced one of my co-workers to go with Handspring.

After I came to my senses and bought my Dell Axim X5, I talked a client into going with PPC and they bought 5 Axim X5s.

[WorksForTurkeys]

I "converted" my boss, but I had to let him think that he thought of it first: I wasn't able to use my Magician at the office until he decided to buy one. I kept using my XDA II while he wavered for two months - once he went to J&amp;R, it was OK for him to see me make the switch.

[wirelessbeachbum]

And as a last resort, I'll watch my home cable TV over wireless.

8O Hokay, I was following you fine until you got right there! Still... my friends would only say: "Bah! Who wants to watch TV on a tiny screen? I have an 80-inch wall-mounted HDTV! Take that, geek-boy!"

I honestly think the only thing that might sway some of my friends would be to show them how easy it is to store and access "private" data. You know... the kind you hide under the bed, or in the back of the closet... :wink:

Yep...some people could care less about video...but when I show someone that I can make the device stream my cable TV from home, and even change channels. I can usually convince them that I can take care of any other solution they may be looking for. Streaming video just has that WOW effect on people.

Honestly the only time I really use it is on long car trips while my wife is driving, otherwise I just don't have time to watch it...It's a definite battery killer...but that's probably more to do with my device than anything.

I had a customer last week that was interested in streaming radio (a particular show that came on AM stations late at night.) I was able to look it up and access it in about 20 seconds...he will be making a purchase in Feb. when his contract is up.

[racerx]

Actually, my best friend was a Palm III users when I introduced him to the iPAQ. His first was the B/W iPAQ, and then he quickly went from there. I coached him on my applications, etc.
And now....

He's a product manager for a Pocket PC manufacturer! Just think where he'd be if I hadn't convinced him to dump the Palm!

[Jon Westfall]

Awesome stories guys - this thread was a really enjoyable read. I guess now all I have to do is convert my stubborn (Yet wonderful and loving, in case she reads this) fiance to start using the Viewsonic I bought her. If she does and likes it, she'll be rewarded with a killer PPC ;)

[Phillip Dyson]

I convinced one of my cousins to finally get a sell phone. He'd always go on about "I don't like the idea that some one can always get ahold of me." Once I explained to him that there was no rule that he had to answer calls he conceded.

I convinced a consultant at work to buy a PPC. He got the XDAII from Sprint. He keeps telling me that the best advice I ever gave him was to get the pocket pc. He uses it a lot. Then he discovered a NetHack version for the PPC and was instantly in love.

My girl friend had a sony clie for awhile, but I lured her away with my old Ipaq 2210. Now she's using the Eten m500.

I almost had another on Windows Mobile. He's a Mac user. Absolutely opposed to anything Microsoft. He was using a Palm Tunsten C I believe. Well, we were talking about the two platforms one day and I pulled out the big guns. I told him that he was just being religious about his opposition to Windows Mobile. I expected some eloquent reply, but there was silence. The next day he went out and bought a PPCPE. Unfortunately it was the HP 6300. :( We'll he hated it. Kept if for a week and went back to his palm. He has since gotten a blackberry. I've since tried to convince him that his first experience was not indicative of the platform, but there's no convincing him. I just wish he'd consulted me before making his purchase.

[jewelhux]

My husband ordered me my first pda as an add-on when he ordered his computer from Dell. At first I didn't even want it, that is until I realized what I could do with it.

I have now "evangelized" my husband, two sons, mother, mother-in-law, two sisters-in-law, a cousin, and two good friends.

[PetiteFlower]

I convinced my dad to switch from dialup to cable.

[Cybrid]

Somehow, my gadget lust leaves people with the impression that I'm smarter or more technologically knowledgeable than them....(debatable, yes...I agree). Luckily I can spell well enough to google an opinion. :oops: 8O

[tendomentis]

I actually managed to switch my mother and my two younger brothers to using smartphones. All three of them were reluctant, but after seeing what my MPx220 (and now my hw6515) can do, they couldn't resist.

Sadly, I'm "upgrading" my mother to a v330 this Christmas (she needs the bluetooth and camera more than she needs AUTD email and WMP), but it really comes down to what the individual needs out of the device.

[wirelessbeachbum]

Occassionally I will sell a device that is smarter than the person using it...I really shoot myself in the foot on that one.

If you have ever tried to teach a noob how to use a PPC you know what I mean.

It's really bad when you figure out they don't even know how to use a PC let alone a PPC.

[Jon Westfall]

Occassionally I will sell a device that is smarter than the person using it...I really shoot myself in the foot on that one.

If you have ever tried to teach a noob how to use a PPC you know what I mean.

It's really bad when you figure out they don't even know how to use a PC let alone a PPC.

In general I frown on overselling someone technologically for this reason. It makes a salesman's job harder (And if they are on a flat salary, absolutly not worth it), and it perplexes the poor customer who will probably, if they ditch the device they bought, stay with the old platform for another x amount of years that the would be buying PPCs. Lose-lose situation. Now if the salesman gets a cut of the sale, and it's a decent percentage, than maybe it's worth the headache.