EVDO’ing in NJ

February 6, 2006 By

Hello from Newark. I had 10 minutes to check my email and make a quick post. In the “pre-EVDO” days I wouldn’t have even bothered to sign in and do this. Why? Cause most airports charge $7 or more just to sign on with Wifi. But now I just slam my new Cingular Aircard into my Tablet PC, sign on, and post away.

While doing that I see that Steve Gillmor wrote a long post about what EVDO means to the world. He repeated his “Office is dead” thing. Steve, you’re still nuts! :-)
Gotta run, they are boarding. Might have more to say later. I have a lot to say but I think I’ll just sit down with Gillmor and show him Office 12. Almost everyone I’ve shown it to is very excited by it. Sorry, you can’t do pivot tables on any Web 2.0 service that I’ve seen so far. And, even though 30 boxes shipped today into beta I still like Outlook’s calendar better. Why? Well, my plane doesn’t have Wifi and doesn’t have EVDO. Not to mention that there’s a network effect from having all my coworkers on Outlook/Exchange.
It’s amazing that being offline for 10 hours means that Memeorandum (still my favorite Memetracker, even though there’ve been a ton of new competitors to come along lately) almost wholly changes. Nice “state of the blogosphere” report from Dave Sifry is now on top. I wonder what’ll be on top when I get to Seattle?

Back to Gillmor, I like your gesture idea. I want ways to deal with even more news flow. My River of News backs up and I want to get 10x the flow I’m getting now (of news items going past my gate).

Filed Under: Blog Tips
  • Thanks for repeatedly hyping EVDO. I just got it and it is awesome. I would not have been so easily convinced to take the plunge had it not been for your comments.
  • "Scoble actually has an HSDPA card. Only problem is, it only uses HSDPA in something like 3 cities in the US"

    Sorry, you're right, I wasn't totally clear. The CARD supports both HSDPA and EDGE, but he was connected to the EDGE network. Cingular has only rolled out HSDPA service in 13 cities, and none of those are in Jersey. (Nor is one NYC, sadly).
  • bubba
    A bit of envy there Coulter? What have you done, besides posting on Bobby's blog, that compares with what either Gilmor has done? Famous podcasts? Trade rag columns? I Google you and all I get is comments posted to blogs. What makes your opinion so informed?
  • Christopher Coulter
    Lisa, it was Steve not Dan. Dan's busy quitting his citizen journalism "biz" and trying to set up a "think-tank", to wax on endlessly and take credit without actually having to do anything. Steve "Office is Dead" Gillmor is just a string of meaningless buzzwords wrapped around the age-old 'network is the computer and the applications" meme. The Boremor Bacon Brothers done in by the Blogs; take hardcore Infoworld and Mercury News potentially investigative journos on the vaporware beat, but they got seduced by all the pretty meme lights, but, in reality, it's like moths to a bug zapper. I know from the big players and other fellow press, no one takes them seriously anymore. Which is why they have to reach out to the likes of Scoble and ilk.

    With everyone talking EDVO/ HSDPA and EDGE/GPRS, heh, so I guess now the WiFi utopia, power to the pringles-can peoples revolution never happened? ;)
  • bubba
    "Scoble actually has an HSDPA card. Only problem is, it only uses HSDPA in something like 3 cities in the US"

    LOL, not quite that bad but still only in a dozen markets or so. It's just starting to ramp up right now. I've heard user reports of 512k down and 128k up. Though deployment of 3.5G is limited it will fall back to EDGE/GPRS and that's pretty much everywhere GSM service is in the States. We've been using UTMS in Europe for a while and it's excellent.

    Bobby, you aren't using EVDO in Europe, your card is also compatable with UTMS. EVDO is pretty much a North American (and maybe a bit of the Pacific Rim) thing and isn't likely to become popular in other parts of the world.
  • Robert

    I see that yesterday you were only 15 minutes away from Montclair.
    Next time if the flight is delayed maybe we can have lunch or dinner.
    Today's topic: Microsoft AdCenter
    I got an e-mail from Microsoft wondering why i did not sign yet for the 'pilot' of Microsoft Ad Center and instructing me on how to?
    I followed the prompts and everything was pretty smooth until i gor to the set up fee and credit card part.
    I had to go on a search mission for a few minutes in order to guess what the set up fee was ($5.00).
    The contact page showed a phone rep but there was no phone number to call, i did find another lengthy form to fill (which I skipped).I managed to finish the registration process.
    I then went on to read a couple of pages from 'Naked Conversations' which i received today.
    Funny how your liner notes related to my frustrating first encounter with Microsoft AD Center.
    Maybe you can share that with your colleagues in charge.

    I enjoyed your photos in Switzerland and giving a test drive to cocomment.

    Have a good day

    Serge
    http://sergetheconcierge.typepad.com

    Website: http://www.njconcierges.com
  • Kublakhan and Alfredo -

    My solution is to get a Pocket PC Phone with ORB.

    I have a 425mhz XScale processor, a bigger, nicer screen than the iPod Video, and I don't have to worry about disk or memory space. Everywhere I go with Sprint I have an EV-DO connection (usually 300-500kbps) which is plenty for streaming video using Orb.

    Additionally I have a 1GB memory card (could get a 2GB now) with music and a few TV shows for when I'm on a plane. I can't really think of any other times that I don't have at least a 1X connection (enough for music), an EV-DO connection (enough for perfect video), or WiFi.
  • I don't know why they don't put hard drives in Pocket PC's - that would certainly help out.

    I have about 6GB in SD cards (not including my 1GB CF Card) that I store my music and videos on. But, the real question is - Why does the Ipod have so much storage, but such a small screen and limited video decoding capabilities? Popularity isn't always the best (by the way, last time I checked the Dell Axim the highest price it was at $300 (without GPS).

    If there was ever going to be an alpha multimedia player, it would be as thin as the Nano, have at least 20GB of storage, have a nice big screen, be customizable through software (like linux, or WM5), have a low power consuming chip that is at least 624Mhz (the faster the better - as long as power consumption is at a minimum), and have a USB connector -for those who want more storage (and because of speed).

    P.S. For anyone who likes iTunes, they're having a billion song countdown and every 100,000 song download gets a free nano...
  • monny
    Hi!...I was looking for the best story on blondes!
    :-)
    nice read you
  • kublakhan, love that comparison. From what I could see, the cheapest Axim with a 624 processor costs 399$ that's the price of a 60GB iPod! How much storage does the axim have? Yes, it has its advantages but you really have to pay a lot more to get them and with cards toping at 1GB or 2GB you won't keep too many videos or much music in there... I'm a Pocket PC (Siemens SX 66) and an iPod user and I can say: They do not compared... The best machine to watch videos (the PSP) suffers from the same problem, but at least a hard disk (4GB) can be adapted... Price? 500$ for the PSP and the Hard Disk.
    Why don't they make a Pocket PC with a Hard Disk?
  • Watching dvd's on a tablet...uhh no thanks.

    Dell is for hoser's. Such as yourself.

    I was just curious if Scoble actually does anything besides RSS and email. Seems like his job is just e-mail, and whole lot of blogging.

    No, I'm not saying he's an edge case :p
  • LaBomba, I'm sure Scoble has some way of entertaining himself inflight... ever heard of DVD's? They're fun to watch and last really long - good for long flights. And who says you need an Ipod? I despise them. They are a huge rip off. For about the same general price as an only audio playing Ipod you can get a Dell Axim with 624Mhz Chip watch videos and listen to music, play games, and even be productive (with Office). I don't know about you, but larger screen, more software, and a faster chip capable of decoding h.264 alot better than the Ipod Video (using TCPMP - The Core Pocket Media Player, which is GPLed) sure makes me want to choose the Dell Axim X51v over the Ipod Video or any other Ipod... oh and did I mention GPS interopability?

    Apple really needs to make their Ipod better... more cusomization and better processors - comeon!
  • Tim - Scoble actually has an HSDPA card. Only problem is, it only uses HSDPA in something like 3 cities in the US :)

    EV-DO would be the better way to go, since it's the same speed as HSDPA (usually cheaper), and has much better coverage.
  • Anyone know what the REAL LIFE speed is with the Cingular card. I've been trying to find out from Cingular, but they are really vague. Bottom line: does it seem as fast as cable/good dsl with wi-fi?
  • I mean no email, no rss, you just turn it off right and listen to your ipod instead?
  • Scoble,

    what are you doing on your tablet when you have no internet connection?
  • Ben beat me to what I was going to say: EVDO is a CDMA technology and offered by Sprint and Verizon. What you have is EDGE, which is slower than EVDO.

    HSDPA is the 3.5G technology which will follow up EDGE networks and offer speeds similar to EVDO. Interestingly, HSDPA / UMTS is based on WCDMA technology, which ultimately requires a second radio (see, e.g., the Jasjar).
  • Dave
    Its too bad, but the distinction between EV-DO and HSDPA networks actually *does* matter, because unlike the 802.11 standards, here we have two competing technologies which do not interoperate. Cingular=HSDPA and Verizon/Sprint=EV-DO (try using an EV-DO card in Europe!).

    Also it is interesting that 3G wireless is an older (but expensive) concept, which was predicted to be "disrupted" by widespread deployment of the upstart Wi-Fi technologies (with the idea that operating on free, unregulated radio frequencies would lead to lower costs and freer access). Now we have 3G being touted as "disruptive" to the emerging Wi-Fi business model.....interesting....will the high-dollar, regulauted frequencies win out over the free-for all in the 802.11 land? I suppose the death free, public 802.11 access points has given the mobile operators some room to make their case...(at $80/month on Verizon I'll pass!)
  • Well, see here's the thing, Microsoft sponsored the 'Big Break' contest and announced a partnership of sorts and promised "working together", and then nothing happened, I am not complaining in specific to Microsoft, per se, I know the development model, just that the big fanfare well, went way of vaporware, for whatever reason, for whomever to blame. Sorta a common thread in regards to Tablet ISVs.

    As far as Apple Tablet, yeah, well I was on record saying Apple gonna do a Tablet, source at SIGGRAPH, well back when. Back when everyone called me nuts, including major Redmond VIPs, even Scoble boo boo'ed it at that time, saying his relative that works at Apple, hadn't heard anything. But Apple is compartmentalized, and I had a source saying Sketch Pro was being demoed on a prototype, and plus he/she saw something Tabletistic in Elk Grove. Apple been PLAYING with Tablets for eons now, the question is if they will release anything. I hope they do, if nothing else it will help Microsoft's Tablet's actually pick up steam. But before people go revisionist history, I was saying Apple Tablet, when everyone was calling me a lunatic. :)

    Anyways, off -topic from EVDO'ing. But funny in that how a big changing "disruptive" tech trend, misses his radar, until it gets in his piddling nose level view. EVDO hardly a new new thing.
  • Uhmm, Christopher Coulter, you shouldn't be complaining about Final Draft to Microsoft. You should be complaining to CSM software (the people who make Final Draft), and tell them to add the full functionality of a tablet in their software - Microsoft allows this, the developer just needs to access it. This would be a good step for Final Draft too because it seems like Apple is going to release their own tablet (Patents from Apple indicate this).
  • Just in case you missed the previous posts, Scoble, their is a new USB EVDO connector now - if you still want to get an Intel Mac. Mine's on the way and I feel better and better about it all the time. By the way, you should be able to get your hands on the latest Vista - I'm told that one of the internal builds (not yet CTP) allows dual booting on the IntelMac.

    I wish I had Vista.

    And, EVDO is great, but expensive
  • Christopher Coulter
    I don't even much care anymore, and I still inform more press and outsiders than Microsoft itself, pretty sad. Now if Tablet or Vista Tablet ever works with Final Draft or MMS and gets a Copy Edit functionality concept, I might be back. But waiting until promises become reality.
  • Christopher Coulter
    Well in your river of news back-up, somehow you missed the Tablet PC Partner Conference, and new Tablet announcements and all the new Tablet features in OneNote 12.

    Was watching you closely, predicting you'd not bother, if I didn't send in news, made a bet with a Tablet insider, who thought you'd just pick up from the blogs and Loren's posts and etc. I said no way, he's too jet-set and ADD now. I won. ;)
  • I took a look at the Sierra Wireless Aircard for Cingular in the Seattle area. It looks like I was right. It's not EVDO. It's EDGE/GPRS and UMTS/HSDPA.
  • Since when did Cingular have EVDO? Cingular is a GSM carrier. EVDO is a CDMA technology unless Cingular is reselling someone else's tech. You sure you don't have a HSDPA card there, Rob? :p

    I wouldn't hold my breath for EVDO equipped aircraft. Working in the realm of telecommunications, having a battle for picocells between GSM/CDMA is not going to be pretty.
  • re: pivot tables?
    There are good reasons that Office and the like will stick around despite the rise of ajax and 2.0, but "pivot tables" isn't one of them. What percentage of users actually ever need pivot tables, or any of the crazy advanced features Word and Excel have? Maybe 1%?
  • Damn Firefox!

    Anyway, as I started to say:

    Well, since I’m an one-man operation and can’t fly (air carriers hate lead-acid batteries, and gel types do not have nearly enough “humphf” to power my XPS Gen2 for long), EDVO-equipped aircraft are meaningless to me. However, I'd love to read more--a lot more--about your tablet PC! :)
  • Well, since I'm an one-man operation and can't fly (air carriers hate lead-acid batteries, and gel types do not have nearly enough "humphf" to power my XPS Gen2 for long), EDVO-equipped aircraft are meaningless
  • Hi Robert,

    I have to disagree with you here. I first posted a few months ago about how rapidly improving connectivity is making thick clients less relevant (http://www.dan-gottlieb.com/blog/?p=2), and I think EVDO availability has only strengthened my arguments.

    Regarding pivot tables, my firm uses an ajax pivot table tool to enable intranet based querying of our data warehouse. I couldn't find ours on the web, but a quick Google found this demo of an asp.net pivot component - http://olaponline.radar-soft.com/olaponline.aspx. I suspect one of the web 2.0ish online databases (http://dabbledb.com, http://tracker.jot.com/, http://quickbase.com, etc.) could easily use something like this create a nifty online pivot table experience...

    On a completely unrelated note (as long as I'm commenting :), after our initial e-mails back and forth, I never got your thoughts on my rollyo alternative - http://www.dan-gottlieb.com/blog/?p=5.

    Dan
  • Robert, you lost me in mid-flight on this one. I'm an EV-DO addict myself and even though your plane doesn't have WiFi or EV-DO, it's a safe bet that in the near future it will. Give it time and mobile connectivity will be embedded everywhere. Once that happens, why do I need a client-side calendar for the "network effect"? Why not invite your co-workers to 30Boxes (or whatever the next-gen web app is)? I've already garnered more of a "network effect" from 30Boxes in a single day than I have over the long haul with of the shelf software and I expect the trend to continue. Why keep bucking the trend now?

    Have a safe flight and enjoy that EV-DO; I know I do!
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