Forbes has an interesting article on the pda/’phone combination I have been talking about recently. The article basically says consumers need to be familiar with the tool to use it. Previous attempts to merge the two devices failed, it suggests, because often the phone element was not good enough.

I think this is very clear reasoning indeed. The Treo 600 seems to come closest to that. My problem, however, is that I am looking for a small, powerful tool to do a number of things, and, really, the market has not grasped this.

For starters, why am I looking to spend money on a new ‘phone and/or pda? My ‘phone is boxy but relatively new (although I, luckily, paid nothing for it). It’s a perfectly serviceable Nokia phone with a built-in camera that I occasionally use – primarily for images on my blog.

The trouble started when I realised the Nokia included basic pda functionality – calendar, phonebook, etc. This saves me carrying my trusty Palm Vx everywhere and means I can make notes and check my diary. This is great in principle, but in practice it sucks.

At work, I use Microsoft Outlook, and my pda synchronizes with it. I don’t consider myself a power user of Outlook, but I do attempt to use some of its many features. Over the years, I have adapted my use of the Outlook/Palm combination to ensure the best synchronisation of the data I need, and it works very, very well. Add the Nokia 7650 into the mix, and it all goes wrong. Primarily, the Nokia doesn’t understand Outlook’s sub-folders in contacts, so I have to have a special ‘phone folder ‘. As a result, I have to create multiple entries for an individual in Outlook, and the whole point of the synchronisation fails.

Of course, I am now hooked on the concept of my phone being as up-to-date with contacts as my pda. I want full Palm functionality in a phone. Of course, I am now thinking the camera is a gimmick, but a gimmick I don’t want to lose. Hence the thoughts of the Treo from Orange.

I also carry a mini MP3 player around with me. It’s small and battery-powered, but great if you get stuck at the station or an airport. Treo has an MP3 player, but as I’ve noted before, all my music is encoded as WMA files, and I don’t want to spend time reburning my CDs. So, come on, Real, WMA the mobile device.

Of course I have another demand. My old Nokia 8310 had a radio, which was great when I was stuck on trains or just wanted to hear the news. It wasn’t fancy or powerful, but in central London I got great reception of all the main stations. So, ideally, I want a radio included.

And my demands do not stop there. I want it to run the Palm software I use on my PDA now. I would like it to have the advanced Outlook synchronisation features of newer Palms. The list goes on. But essentially I want it all in one, familiar package. At heart, I know this to be unrealistic, but there’s a geek in me trying to get out!

I wonder if some developer will read this and see that I want it all?

On this day…

In an interview over on the official Brookside site, Phil Redmond said that

Overall it has done what I wanted it to do – especially this year – blending entertainment with the examination of contemporary social issues – but at times I admit it has had to bend with fashion and broadcaster demand.

I watched some of last night’s episode. I haven’t watched it for a while, but it did seem to have dated somewhat. I know soap opera worlds are dangerous places to be, but I think that Brookside Close must take the biscuit – I am so glad that I did not live anywhere near it!

Did it change the face of soap operas in the UK? It was certainly more contemporary than anything else when it started, and it was very rooted in the real world, but I think it also aged quickly. Still, it’s sad to see it go, and sad to see Jimmy Corkhill disappear from television screens.

Media Guardian has a potted history of the soap if you are not familiar with it.

On this day…

It’s been 21 years since Brookside first hit our screens, and tonight it bows out for the final time in what I imagine is a little-watched late-night slot on Channel 4. I wonder how many people will tune in? Clearly, not enough people have been watching since Channel 4 moved it from its prime-time slot, but I wonder how many, like me, will dip in tonight to at least get a sense of what is going to happen. Will all the old scores be settled?

I was never really a big Brookside fan, but I do recall occasionally following individual storylines. Gordon Collins was probably one of my first sightings of a relatively normal gay person on television, and I imagine that is true for a lot of people in their teens at the time.

I wonder what we’ll be saying about it in the next few years? Will it make a Crossroads-style comeback in ten years? Say farewell to Brookside Close!

On this day…