Name: Drew Golden
Location: Plano, Texas
Where did it all begin?
Well, I was a freshmen in High
School when I was first introduced to the TRS-80 Mod III.Β I was intrigued, and
signed up for a summer course in Basic.Β I remember the class and yellow book
entitled Basic Basic β and the follow up class and orange book Advanced Basic.Β
I was hooked.Β Basic took off and I had to play at home; my first computer was
the Sinclair ZX-81.Β $99 for the kit, and I botched the kit and paid the
additional $49 for the botched-kit hereβs-a-properly made special.Β I worked
with that painful computer for 6 months before I sold it and upgraded to the
TRS-80 Mod III with a whopping 64k memory and *dual* floppy drives.Β Life was
good.Β
College came and I was
absolutely convinced that Computers were fun, but there was no money to be made
in it.Β (At the time, Unix and Mainframes ruled the world, and the best a
College Grad could expect was a tape jockey position.)Β So I suffered through
Economics and Business classes and filled my spare time with Computer classes.
Then I hit the world, as the
world hit the computer age.Β As a poor graduate, I purchased a Magnavox 286-20
PC.Β Wow, what a screamer that was!Β Color Magnavox monitor and a cool 9600 baud
modem.Β I discovered the cool dial-up world of BBS, and used off line news
readers (remember SLMR β silly little message reader.)Β Then the world changed
again.Β A company called ID Software released a game that would change the world
as we know it, and make the PC that you presently have a weak chimp β the
released the Shareware version of Doom!
I spend *hours* downloading it
as soon as I caught the buzz surrounding the game.Β It was 1.30am when the
download finished and I started the install.Β Life would not be the same.Β The
screen came up,Β I was alone in a dark room, and the breathing and music and
*fright* from the game were amazing!Β Β Copies appeared at work and we played
network games (over IPX β ARGH!) and the world was forever changed!Β A computer
game where multiple players manipulated 3D representations!Β Wow!
Now where am I?
Plugged in.Β I am a gadget
addict β and I freely admit it.Β My wife allows me to spend what I can recoup on
eBay.Β So I churn gadgets and hang on to good technology.
What have I churned?
*Β First PDA was a Palm III.Β
Was a gift, did not get it until I had one, but am still convinced paper is
better in face-to-face meetings.
*Β Went to the sexy Palm Vx
and subscribed to Omnisky!Β Wow, 9,600 baud wireless access β a new Palm
Interface, email, and it was all slow as molasis.Β Sold on eBay.
*Β Rim Wireless 850.Β This is
wireless email done right.Β Delivered to my hip β instant access, black and
white, thumb keyboard.Β Perfect.Β Sold as well to move up to Danger.
*Β Danger Hiptop:Β Of all the
Silicon Valley Tech Startups, this is one I would not have bet money on.Β I
peered at their web site and the promised device β and I could not believe that
they made it to market.Β I am stillΒ shocked.Β The day T-Mobile started selling
the device, I was in the store buying one.Β It was the Rim on crack.Β beautiful
B&W screen, wireless web, always on always connected, Instant Messaging, I was
connected.Β Best Wireless Web Experience to date.
*Β Color Sidekick:Β Was in the
store the day it came out.Β Dumped the B&W sidekick on eBay for what I paid for
it (wow!)Β The Color sidekick is almost too connected.Β The web browsing
experience could *not* be beat.Β The instant access email, view word attachments
and pdfs.Β It is not to be believed.Β But I was too connected.Β People began to
expect instant IM or email response.Β Tech world had reached itβs summit, time
to back off and be a little less connected.Β Did I mention that the sidekick is
also a phone?
Failed technology!
*Β iPaqs.Β Lose their brains
when they device loses power.Β Constantly have to set up new profiles to get it
working. Β Bad versions of Word and Excel.Β Mail and Web experience is just plain
bad.Β I have no idea why anyone likes these piles of junk.
*Β Microsoft Phones:Β I
carried the T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone for a year.Β What a pile of garbage!Β Bad
phone, bad PDA, just plain bad all around.Β Stick to one thing and do it well,
please.
*Β Windows XP:Β Fine after
installation.Β Need to re-install after 18 months of use.Β Prone to every email
virus known to man.
*Β Linux:Β Hobby OS Only.Β
Sorry, no support number, no one to sue, no corporate acceptance.Β As much as I
hate it, windows is slowly taking over the world.Β And trust me on this, I was
with Linux when Slackware was king.Β I downloaded the floppy disk sets and
installed the hard way.Β I was in love with Linux at the time, and I learned a
great deal as we grew together.Β But Mac OS X is just such a finished product it
makes Linux look like the hobby toy that it is.
Just plain works:
* Mac OS X.Β I am a switcher.Β
My main PC is a iMac 700 with 17 inches of widescreen viewing pleasure.Β I have
no idea why anyone would every want to use a PC after falling in love with
this.Β Itβs like Linux and Windows married (all of the good things from each.)Β
Expensive but real good.
*Β Flat Panel LCDs.Β Wow β
less electricity and all of that desk real estate regained!
*Β Nortel Venture MLT Phone
System:Β Available now on eBay only.Β Allows up to three outside phone lines.Β
Transfer calls between phones, intercom, speakerphone, and shared phonebook.Β
This is how a home phone system should be.
*Β Sony Clie TH55.Β Wireless
802.11b.Β Can use my GSM phone to connect to the internet.Β Itβs my slightly
less connected fix.Β And I have not churned this one yet.
*Β Palm OS:Β After all these
years, still good!
*Β eBay:Β Turns junk into gold
and funds my expensive gadget habit.
*Β Google:Β My portable, never
fails, encyclopedia galactica, itβs truly the only book youβll every need to
find the answers to life, the universe, and everything.Β Arthur Dent should have
been so lucky.
*Β Copy of Dune.Β Sorry, itβs
always worth a re-read.
*Β DirecTV:Β Dish Network just
did not cut it.Β I love the High Definition channels and I watch Sopranos every
Sunday in High Def.Β (Plus I catch the Stars when I can.)
Other assorted gadgets I love
or carry around:
*Β Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge
β captures all those old home movies
*Β Apex AD-600A with the
βgoodβ ROM.Β So good, you canβt sell it on eBay!
*Β Sony Ericsson T616 and the
HBH-60 earpiece:Β Blue tooth enabled for the Star Trek head set, and wireless
internet access for my Palm device.Β What is not to love?
*Β Fender Fat Strat with the
Boss DS-1;Β nice humbucker on the bottom, foot on the DS-1 for heavy jamming!
*Β Moleskine pocket notebook
and a Rotring 600 series trio pen:Β Pocket notebook is my faux PDA, takes
brilliant notes faster than my PDA β but itβs so cool it needs to be considered
a gadget.Β And the Rotring Trio Pen is a must have!
*Β Fisher Silver Bullet Space
Pen:Β Always found in my pocket.Β Writes underwater and in extreme
temperatures.Β Not that I will need to take notes underwater on Mars; but there
is something Chic about whipping out your own pen to sign a bill.Β And for under
$30 itβs a really nice guilty pleasure.
*Β OVO Decision Maker from
TokyoFlash.com:Β All watches should be this much fun!Β Grab one before they sell
out again.
*Β LogiTech Pocket Digital
130:Β Takes 1.3mp pictures, enough built in memory for about 40 snaps, has a
flash, size of a fat credit card.Β Pocket cameras this small get carried around
and used.Β When I travel, I carry this in my bag and lob it into my pocket when
I wander.Β Great snaps!
So, as you can see, I am a
gadget nut.Β When I am away from the office, youβll find me VNCing in to my work
PC from my wireless PDA in a local Starbucks.Β Iβve had a server running linux,
up and running since 1996.Β I can remember when slackware was downloaded one
floppy at a time, and rawrite was used to make your floppy disks.Β In my spare
time, I play with Content Management Systems like PostNuke and Zope.Β And for
Christmas, I purchased a Nintendo GameCube for my children (3 and 5 years of
age.)
Whatβs in Drewβs bag:
*Β Moleskine pocket notebook
*Β Sony Clie TH55
*Β Sony Ericsson T616 and HBH-60 headset
*Β GameBoy Advance
*Β 10gb iPod (2nd generation)
*Β HP 12c RPN Financial Calculator
*Β Rotring Trio 600 Multipen
*Β Revo Polarized 1130s
*Β LogiTech Pocket Digital 130Β
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How do you rember all of the little details … wow .. any who amazing .. i rember Doom …. and i do rember your dule floppy …
Derek