Left to their own (wireless) devices
A not-so technical roundup of who's connected and by what means
Mike Schiller
Do you know anyone in business who does not use a cell phone or a personal digital assistant? If so, he or she is of a rare breed. It seems that wireless devices have become almost as commonplace as a desktop PC and a telephone.
Indeed, the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, a national wireless industry trade group based in Washington, D.C., reports that there are more than 118 million cellular subscriptions in the United States as of July 2001. Total minutes of cellular time usage rose 75 percent between 1999 and 2000.
Also reported by CTIA and the Consumer Electronics Association, sales of PDAs in the United States and Canada totaled 5.5 million units in 2000. That figure is projected to grow to 8.2 million in 2001 and 15.6 million in 2002.
Given the apparent ubiquity of these wireless devices, here's a sampling of what wireless technologies local tech cognoscenti are using and what they are using them for.
At a glance, some results were expected (everyone uses a cell phone); some answers were ironic (the person building a product most dependent on wireless technology uses the technology the least for his own personal applications); and there were some unanticipated insights (PDAs are great for amusing oneself during less-than-compelling meetings).
Astro Teller, CEO, BodyMedia Inc.
Teller has a Nokia cell phone which, he says, "I use constantly." He also uses a Palm III handheld for the calendar feature and occasionally, the calculator. "It's an old model, I admit," says Teller, "but for what I use it for, it works just fine."
Dave Nelsen, CEO and co-founder, CoManage Corp.
Besides the Motorola StarTAC cell phone at his side and the Palm VI used for its contact list and calendar management functions, Nelsen works in an office with a wireless LAN. Some 50-plus people at CoManage (with total employment around 100) have wireless connectivity to the local area network. Nelsen and his colleagues can connect to the network from anywhere in the office using Lucent Orinco 11 megabit wireless modems in their laptop computers. "It's great for getting work done before and during meetings," he says.
Ian James, founder and CEO, Red Square Systems
James is the only one of our respondents to employ a combination cell phone and digital assistant. He "constantly" uses his Kyocera Smartphone, which integrates a digital wireless phone, a Palm handheld and a wireless modem into one handheld device. It serves as his phone, his contact list and his calendar. He synchs it with his desktop PC regularly.
Jim Watkins, senior vice president, Descartes Ocean Group, Descartes Systems Group
Watkins carries a Motorola StarTAC cell phone, a Blackberry wireless e-mail device from Research in Motion and, at least when he is working in the Charlotte, N.C., office, he connects to the office network via a wireless modem in his laptop. He uses the Blackberry to manage e-mail, his calendar and his contact list and especially likes the fact that it is always in synch with his desktop PC.
Moreover, since use of the Blackberry has become pervasive at Descartes, he finds that it takes on some nontraditional uses as well. "It's almost a hybrid cell phone," Watkins says. Using the Blackberries for interactive text messaging he and his colleagues often send reminders to themselves and short, quick items to each other that are more efficient than using the cell phone. "It works," he says, "because everyone uses it and everyone gets in the habit of looking at it."
Watkins loves using the handheld Blackberry to check e-mail during those short 10- to 15-minute downtimes while traveling or between meetings. "It's my single biggest savings of time," he says.
Henry Thorne, founder, Probotics Inc.
"I am not a big user of cell phones," says Thorne. The Motorola cell phone is in his car only because it came with the car, not because he wanted one. He does, however, emphasize, "I manage to use a cordless phone at the office."
He also does not use a PDA, though that may change. "I am almost being forced into it. I can be out with people and not know my exact schedule or be able to find a phone number."
Curiously, Thorne's company builds robots that are controlled via wireless communications from laptop PCs.
Steve Zylstra, president and CEO, Pittsburgh Technology Council
Zylstra uses a Motorola cell phone and employs a Hewlett Packard Pocket PC to maintain his contact list and personal calendar. When asked whether he uses his Pocket PC for anything fun, such as accessing stock quotes or sports scores, Zylstra responds "there is no time for that other stuff. Just dealing with over 100 e-mails a day is plenty."
Tom Beckley, president and CEO, NeoLinear Inc.
Beckley uses a Samsung dual-band cellular phone to stay in touch. When traveling he uses his Palm VI to access his contact list and to take brief notes. For more extensive applications, he also carries a Sony laptop computer and has been known to exchange information wirelessly with other people's computers during and after meetings.
Louis Malafarina, CEO, Ripple Effects Interactive
"I live on the cell phone," says Malafarina. So much so that he carries three spare batteries and a dual battery charger to keep his Nokia 6160 functioning at all times. He also uses a Palm V for its calendar, address book and e-mail functions. This latter application is especially good for getting things done during meetings, says Malafarina.
Malafarina recently added a Sierra wireless card to his laptop PC and connected to the Sprint network. "It's been nothing short of a godsend," he gushes. "It's not that fast, but I can check e-mail from anywhere." Having realized these wireless benefits, he is now considering adding a keyboard extension and some word processing software to his Palm V and eliminating his use of the laptop PC completely.
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