On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 4:29 PM, James E. LaBarre <[email protected]> wrote: > On 09/23/2010 04:06 PM, Alan Snyder wrote: >> >> Inline... >> >> On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 3:38 PM, James E. LaBarre<[email protected]> >> wrote: >>> >>> Now that my PalmOS-based Sony Clie has decided it doesn't want to charge >>> up >>> anymore, I'm looking at some usable replacement for it's PIM >>> capabilities. >>> As I have no intention of buying into the so-called "smartphone" morass, >> >> Why not? Just curious. > > > 1: The grossly-expensive costs of the data plans, the grossly-expensive > costs of the hardware (either paid up front or hidden in a multi-year phone > contract) >
Well, yes the phones are certainly pricey or subsidized and tied to a pricey contract. For people who need a phone anyway, this makes sense to piggy-back PIM functionality (along with mp3-player, browser, email, etc). Nowadays its probably next to impossible to find just a PIM organizer with USB or bluetooth for syncing. > 2: being beholden to an outside party to maintain your *own* data. It's one > of the major concerns in open-source vs proprietary software and systems, it > should also be our foremost concern with phones & the like. > This is debatable. Certainly having your data on a host provider makes you beholden to the quality of their systems, but the bigger players these days have their act together and their risk (and yours) distributed fairly well through backups and remote locations. Furthermore, there's really nothing to stop you from taking your data and going elsewhere, right? If you're not happy with your data vendor, download your data, and close your account. Find another host you'll be happy with. I do agree from the legal perspective that 'ownership' here is rather dubious and non-trivial, but in most cases you can get your data back when you need it. > 3: data security. if you want to use your portable device for personal > information, you have to be concerned about attacks over the wire or on the > provider's servers. > True. But with every technology comes risk. At some point you have to trust a 3rd party with _something_ that's private to you. I mean, you are using email (and gmail nonetheless!) ;) > _______________________________________________ > Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org > http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug > > Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium > Oct 6 - Creating Browser Extensions for Firefox and Chrome > Nov 3 - Open Source Hardware: Bugs, Beagles and Beyond > Dec 1 - IBM's Open Client Deployment > _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Oct 6 - Creating Browser Extensions for Firefox and Chrome Nov 3 - Open Source Hardware: Bugs, Beagles and Beyond Dec 1 - IBM's Open Client Deployment
