Why Do I Even Try?

[Brad Adrian]

My wife has put up with my Pocket PC addiction since 2000, so I can't fault her too much. In fact, a few years ago I set up my old Casio E-Something with some majhong games and a few other things she might like. She started to actually spend some time relaxing with her very own Pocket PC.

But did she ever charge it? No.
Did she ever bring it to me in need of total resurrection? Often.

She kinda got out of the habit of playing with her Pocket PC, until the other day when she saw my daughter using hers. Again, she asked me to configure a Pocket PC for her to use.

Being the loving husband that I am, I configured an old hp2200 with the bare essentials that she wanted. There was a bit too much to load it all into the ipaq store, so I put the rest onto a storage card...and then did a total backup.

She loved being reunited with her special majhong and such and played and played and played....

...and never charged the device. Ever.

So, once again I'm restoring from a backup (after getting a bit of juice back into the battery), but I'm sure it won't be long before I'm doing it again, and again and again.

WHY do I even try? It's as though I can never quite bring her totally into the dark side...

[Jason Dunn]

Pocket PCs without persistent storage are one of the few electronic devices out there that lose all their information when the battery dies - could you imagine if cell phones did that? Or laptops? I think the answer is clear: you need to get her a device that won't lose everything when the doesn't plug it in. ;-)

[Mark Kenepp]

I think the answer is clear: you need to get her a device that won't lose everything when the doesn't plug it in. ;-)

That would solve Brad's problem of having to restore her data every time she lets her battery die but what would she learn?

I can relate,

When my significant other comes to me with a problem with here electronic devices the first thing I ask here is "When was the last time you charged it?" her response is usually something like "But I haven't used it in the last few days!"

Maybe it's a good thing, if our significant others could manage their our electronic devices, what need would they have of us?

[Jason Dunn]

That would solve Brad's problem of having to restore her data every time she lets her battery die but what would she learn?

This is just my opinion, but her expectation that the device shouldn't reset when it loses power is perfectly correct - it's ridiculous that was normal for Pocket PCs to do that. Sometimes it's not right to adapt to the technology.

[Cybrid]

In addition to what's not right... The expectation that anything would require a certain degree of learning. RTFM! :wink:

In addition to the whole charging issue, I'd add that my biggest peeve is my old X5 sits on the charger (where I left it) and when something is needed... a contact or something...she'll call me and ask me to retrieve it from the Pocket PC for her... :lol:

I figured since her phone contract was up, I'd shift her over to a smartphone...I'd even tolerate a Palm at this point...She gets a Razr! Wut a piece on crap! Well, ok it is a stylishly pretty piece of PINK crap...

Just can't win... :oops: :(

[Brad Adrian]

I'm not sure HOW my wife's brain perceives things like batteries and peristent storage. She seldom charges her mobile phone, either. Honestly, I think what has happened is that over the years I have gotten into the habit of plugging in her phone and Pocket PC whenever I see them and she simply figures that the Plugging Things In Elves take care of things like that for her.

But you're right, Jason. It is counterintuitive to think that a device would get so screwed up simply by letting the battery run down. I know that most backup software allows for scheduled backups, but I wish there were a way to perform scheduled RESTORES on my wife's device, just to make sure nothing's gotten messed up! ;)

[Brad Adrian]

...She gets a Razr!...
My 15-year-old daughter continues to be the best Pocket PC buddy in our household. For awhile she was using an older SmartPhone of mine, then she switched to my JasJar because she's started texting like crazy. Now, she's using a refurb Wizard I got my hands on (That's what I use, too.). Her eyes still roll back in her head if I start to suggest too many apps to install, but it's still nice having SOMEBODY in the household who "gets" me.

And, no, not even my wife would claim that, after 25 years, she "gets" me.

[Mark Kenepp]

But you're right, Jason. It is counterintuitive to think that a device would get so screwed up simply by letting the battery run down.

Today, even for the past couple of years, that is correct, but didn't you guys start out on handhelds where you needed to keep the charge up or lose your data?

I just still have ingrained in my head the old Palm Pilot Pro and Psion Series 5 days where I would always have batteries on hand. Literally, they would be in my hand ready to go into the device as soon as I remove the cover lest the data be lost in the short time it takes to change the batteries.

The fact that I still use my MC218 (and I keep my iPaq 2215 by my bed) just keeps me in that mindset.

[Brad Adrian]

..but didn't you guys start out on handhelds where you needed to keep the charge up or lose your data?... Psion Series 5 days...
Jason, is he calling us old?!?

My first real handheld was a Psion 3, and then a Series 5. I love what's available among Pocket PCs, but there are STILL a lot of features of that Series 5 that I'd love to have on a Pocket PC. The keyboard was excellent. I do remember, though, adding a 512KB (yes, that's a "k") memory card and paying about as much as the device itself cost.

[Mark Kenepp]

Jason, is he calling us old?!?

Old!

Why does that make me think of the cartoon thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11700) :rotfl:

[shindullin]

To a teenager, people in their 20's are old. To people in their 20's, people in their late 30's are old. To people in their 30's, people in their 50's are old. To people in their 50's, people in their 80's are old.
That would make Brian old to me.
:lol: :lol:
My wife never charged her cell phone until our kids went to school. Before then I always plugged it in once a week. Now she charges religiously because she doesn't ever want to miss a call from school if the kids get hurt or something similarly bad happens.
We only learn when we care. Brian's wife obviously likes the games but can live without it.
That's how I feel about cleaning up after myself. I like the cleanliness but I can live without it, so my wife cleans up after me and I plug in her PPC and tend to the computer.

:wink: :wink:

Wouldn't have it any other way.

[Brad Adrian]

...We only learn when we care...
That's a very good way of stating it. The things I "care" about are the things I enjoy spending time and effort learning about, like Pocket PCs, power tools and delicate porcelein figurines (or is that "porcine?")...

[Jon Westfall]

Here's a tip on how I finally got my wife to use and charge a pocket pc. Steal her phone and give her a phone device :)

Works for me, my wife has been using my old K-JAM for around a month now, no complaints.