The Cynosural Blog

Dan Gillmor and I started a discussion in email back in 2000 about our various ways of staying connected when out of the office. Back then, I was using a PalmVx with a Novatel wireless modem and the Omnisky service. Now Dan talks about his ideal handheld in "Perfect Handheld? Not Yet".

I've always tended towards "best-of-breed" rather than accepting the compromises associated with squeezing everyhting into one box. This is true of Business Intelligence systems, integrating Open Source projects, stereo systems, even take out food [don't ask, don't tell]. It is especially true of my PDA.

I have a fierce brand loyalty to Palm [er, PalmOne, PalmSource, oh, yes, Palm is fine] and I'm very attached to open source.

I've been back-of-the-envelop designing a wireless network hub that would take care of that part of the system, until small-enough processors and wiki(software radio) catch up to each other in terms of specifications provided and required. OLED screens that can pull oull out of a rod like a scroll will make life better in this area too. I think I would rather carry a few small devices, than one clunky, compromised device. But ignoring packaging for a moment, here's a list of funtions, features and standards that I want with me all the time:

• Open Source OS
• Lot's of third-party apps
• Synchronization capabilities, wired & wireless
• wireless PAN, LAN, MAN & WAN - whatever the latest protocols are
• Voice and Data
• eBooks
• calendar, text processing, word processing, contacts
• graphics rendering [data visualization, games, and more]
• SD storage, maybe two slots, maybe even one CF
• email
• attachments
• web & wap
• feed syndication reader
• cookies & javascript enabled
• SSL & other encryption

Several small devices easily distributed in various pockets would suit me just fine. I do want to get rid of the leather pouch I always have attached to my belt. Right now the leading contenders that could be mixed and matched to get some of these, if not all, are

• Palm TungstenT-5 or LifeDrive, especially teh LifeDrive as it has WiFi and Bluetooth built-in
• Any bluetooth phone, the smaller the better, with any 3G or near 3G data capability, maybe with a camera
• Nokia 770 Internet Tablet
• The Pepper Wireless Pad is available for pre-order through Amazon.com
• HP iPAQ h6300 Pocket PC - though I would hate to go with Windows Mobile whatever
• PalmSource may qualify for the Open Source OS
• A digital camera, SD card or bluetooth enabled, if not the camera phone; of course the latest, bestest Nikon for hobbyist stills
• My Jabra BT FreeSpeak

If I had a convenient user interface, processing power, the OS and software and storage to do it all, the headset, the various connectivity capabilities, and Bluetooth tying it all together, I wouldn't need or want a "cell phone" per se. With what's available right now, it really is hard to put together a working system - and of course, coverage in CDMA, GSM or 802.11[whatever] is spotty at best, though iPass does have a good solution for worldwide accounts.