The bewildering array of communication and navigation choices available today leaves me, well, bewildered. At the moment, I am content to wait until the iPhone breaks free of ATT to see what has settled by then. Thoughts bouncing in my mind now include:
1. We do not want to change cell phone providers. Signal strength nationwide and customer service is outstanding. We have been down the ATT and Sprint road before. I would not take either one if they offered their services for free.
Well Phil I think Moots point is right on in both humor and the object lesson he has provided in both his posts.
You do know that you can take that iPhone and have it unlocked which will allow you to use it on any carrier that uses that type of technology.
2. CoPilot Truck is still a tool we occasionally rely on for truck routes and HAZMAT routing. It has a GPS feature. It runs on a laptop. It is not as safe or convenient to use as a Garmin device might be. Is there a way to blend the truck routes into Garmin? Of the dozens of devices Garmin offers, which is best for truck dashboard use?
Well there is a map you know. We got along with a map for some what a bunch of centuries and they didn’t fail people then.
3. With Bluetooth, we can seemingly hook most anything to anything, phone to Garmin to laptop to iPod to Blackberry to sattelite radio, to the sound system in the truck; and this to that, and that the other, and the other to more. Throw in Wi-Fi to connect our two laptops to each other or download data via Wi-Fi instead of the air card. My head spins when trying to figure out the optimal way to put it all together.
Well I never heard of a Bluetooth ipod, so I don’t know. Wi-Fi is a means to short range communications, while the Aircard used another technology for long distance communications - two different purposes and two completely different things.
4. I am reluctant to move toward the all-in-one approach. If you lose or break the device, or if it fails, you have lost a lot all at once.
I agree with you on this one, unless there is a way to solve complex problems with simple know how, the all inclusive devices are a risk. One thing I learned in disaster recovery training is redundancy and reliability, applying that with multipurpose devices I see the reliability but not the redundancy.
5. Even trying to make technology decisions based on need is hard. We need to each have a cell phone, we need HAZMAT routing, we need e-mail, we need to sometimes use two computers at once, we need to talk on the phone and use the computer and access the internet at the same time, we need live GPS, we need a music player, we need map displays that can be dimmed for safe nighttime viewing, we need a book reader, we need a voice recorder that can be hooked up to a cell phone and computer, we need voice recognition capability to put into text the words I speak, etc. The problem is functionality overlap across devices. And the functions constantly change. A PDA is now a cell phone is now a navigation device is now an air card, is now a music player, etc. etc. etc. But when functions are combined into one device, the performance does not always follow.
I see you point but again there is no need to go on the deep end with all of this, you drive a truck, you don’t do brain surgery so a simple map will work.
6. Then there is the text messaging thing and keyboarding I have not yet learned. There was a time when I felt darn proud because I could explain why eight-track tapes were called eight-track. While I am not without computer skills, today's chaotic device market is frustrating to say the least.
Go for you, figuring out how an eight track player works is an achievement when you take in account that most people at the time were just amazed that the thing could switch tracks without touching it. There is no frustration involved unless you are running a helpdesk out of the sleeper. When you learn the basics, then you can tackle a lot.
7. One thing I know for sure is buying technology for the sake of having the latest and greatest is fruitless. Whatever you buy today will be obsolete or vastly improved tomorrow. As long as what you have now works, it is just fine to sit out a generation or two of the next big thing. Whatever people say the next big thing is, it probably isn't.
I used to say the same thing, but I came to realize that someone has to buy the first of anything so it filters down to us, the phlebs of the world. I know you are not one of us but you know what I am saying. I also think there needs to be a correction, the device is obsolete when the thing gets off the drawing board and into prototyping.
Another component in our technology decisions is something I call the Katrina test.
Yea, ok… sure…. It should be called the ‘what happens when everything fails test’.
Our work sometimes takes us to remote areas for routine deliveries and disaster areas for important disaster relief deliveries and/or support. We could easily find ourselves in an area for several days where the cell phone towers have been knocked down or the power to run them has failed.
With a generator-equipped truck, we are our own power source and will be fine as long as we have fuel. But how will our communications and navigation technology work if companies do not have the electrical power or towers to support it?
Amazing, so does mine. I worked putting together contingency tests and do actual testing and even though your premise has a valid point behind it, I steer people to learn basics and cover things like when you can’t communicate to your family, what means can someone approach to communicate. We take cell phones for granted, but truthfully they have those two factors involved I mentioned - redundancy and reliability.
Here is another thing, we are supposed to be professionals, but I fail to see this when I hear people saying that there is no means to navigate WTSHTF. The basics need to be learned, how to read a map. My personal feelings are if you don’t know how to read a map, maybe you need to work at McDonald’s. It is all about Basics.
The Katrina test steers us away from cell phones for navigation. In extreme situations, Qualcomm will keep you in touch with your carrier. Amateur radio, powered by the truck, may be your only way communicate with family and friends if towers and electric are down, or if you are stranded in a truly remote area.
Katrina is a really odd situation because there was no failed communications but rather a serious problem with allocating resources that were available. I just read a really good article about the DOH and how they are demanding that there is an exclusion of resources like Amateur Radio so to put together a more military centric system that takes the citizen type involvement and their functions out of the picture. So I would expect more problems with large disasters in the future.
) ...... but such a restriction would be kinda odd since they used to allow you to use a cellphone with a data plan connected to a laptop via Bluetooth or a USB cable as a modem .....) But I doubt that they would ever be able to know that you are doing it - but something to consider nonetheless .....
