Noel Ward thinks the ban on using cell phones in flight is pointless, so he sometimes doesn’t bother powering his handset down when he’s on a plane. “I’m not sure it matters,” says the Web publishing consultant from Amherst, N.H. “I generally lose a good signal somewhere around 10,000 feet, anyway.”
The Travel Technologist
On a recent trip to Portland, Ore., Mary White and her husband, Greg, lost “everything” on a single afternoon. No, they haven’t opened a new casino in town.
Is there a future for those of use who travel with technology? A review of the headlines during this column’s five-year run would suggest that the answer is “no.â€
Last week I promised I’d take a look at the mail this column received during more than four years on the Internet. There’s a good reason for this retrospective. Not only is this column ending in a few weeks, which is probably as good an excuse as any to look back.
In three short weeks The Travel Technologist is scheduled to log off. But don’t click away just yet. Although I’ll continue to cover travel technology elsewhere (more on that in a future article, I promise), I’m taking a moment this week to look back on a feature that’s lasted almost five years.
This week’s topic is obsolescence. When something is past its prime, no longer useful, outdated, then you dispose of it. But when do you know if it’s time to give something the old heave-ho?
Donna Hart is an unhappy Dell Computer customer. But she’s particularly peeved at the manufacturer of the personal digital assistant (PDA) she bought through Dell: a Palm m505.
It’s a problem as old as technology itself: Your gadget won’t work without a plug, and nothing coming out of the device will fit the available socket.
Is your luggage slowing you down? If you’re a technology user traveling in this post-Sept. 11 world, it probably is. Most major airlines have instituted a strict new “one-plus” carry-on luggage rule allowing you to bring a single regulation-size bag, plus a smaller pocketbook or laptop on to the plane.
All I ever wanted was a printer that worked, but apparently that’s too much to ask from a company like Hewlett-Packard. After my last unit’s untimely death, the Palo Alto, Calif., company gave me such grief that I’ll never buy another product from it again if I can help it. But I’m not sure if I can.
Last week I promised to do one better than just recommend inexpensive programs for your next trip. I said I’d find software that’s free.
You’ve already spent hundreds of dollars on a personal digital assistant, or thousands on a laptop computer. Why blow more money on software?
During the course of the last six months or so, this column has evolved from a feature that comments on the vagaries of travel technology to a weekly resource that helps you save money when you travel with gadgets.
Call it assault and battery, 21st century style. You’re on a trip. Your camera, cell phone, or personal digital assistant runs out of juice. Wham! There goes your productivity.
If you’re a regular reader of The Travel Technologist, then you know this column is all about saving money when you use technology. But this week, in a departure from my regular theme, I’m going to tell you about how not using technology can save your life.
If you were cast away on an island from which there was no escape, what travel technology would you want to have with you? In previous years I’ve reviewed these gadgets I can’t live without.
Worried that a virus might infect your laptop computer while you’re traveling? If you’ve read your e-mail lately, you probably are.
The easiest way to double your cellular phone bill is to travel with it. It’s a sad fact that I’ve described in a previous column about roaming charges, and despite loud complaints from subscribers, these fees show no signs of fading.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what are a thousand pictures worth if they’re strung together? Not much if you’ve bought the camera I recommended last week following a tortuous search for the right model.
I know the suspense must be too much for you to handle. After last week’s column on buying a camcorder for your spring travels, you just had to know which one I picked. And where I bought it.
