For no good overarching reason, I’ve been making lots of tech changes recently – and so far, the machines are aware and are rebelling. First it was the PowerBook G4, which I’ve been using as my main machine for a little over three years. The day before new PowerBooks were announced, my baby decided to start flaking out, such as making the Internet preferences pane disappear. Naturally, I was on a deadline at the time, and I ended up writing half of a TidBITS article on my Dell laptop (which, being a Windows machine, has its own share of tech oddities). The PowerBook knew it was going to be replaced.
Now today, it’s the cel phone. Or rather, it’s a Treo 270 on loan from Handspring that I’ve been using while writing the third edition of my Palm Organizers book. It’s a GSM phone, so I can remove the SIM card from my Nokia 8290 and put it into a new phone without any trouble. Well, yesterday I ordered a Sony-Ericsson T610 to replace the Nokia. A call came in to the Treo, and it freaked — I couldn’t press any buttons, much less answer the call, and when it kicked itself out of some feedback loop it said my SIM card was unusable.
Naturally, I had left the Nokia at home, thinking, “I’m using the Treo. It’s one less thing to carry.” And, naturally, I was soon in the car headed home to get the Nokia.
I’ve also initiated the process of switching my home DSL service… I fear it’ll go south before the new service kicks in. Shhh! Don’t let it know!
Jeff Carlson | Never Enough Coffee Creations 