So Sammy decided to be gracious enough to allow me to be one of the newest AW's. Many of you may recognize me by name or by website as Sammy has been kind enough to post many of my thoughts, comments, and rants in the past. I came across PA about a year or more ago. About six months ago, it became one of the tabs in Firefox that opens each time I fire up my browser. More recently, I've had a few articles posted by Sammy and started a few threads in the forum. However, of all the Palm/Treo sites I visit, PalmAddicts is by far the best for news, softwares, discounts, and valuable opinions. Oh, yeah, and occasionally I hide my identity and post in the forums simply as "Addicted" for reasons that can be shown here (yup, that was me... giving new definition to ADDICTion).
I've had PDA's of some sort for quite a few years, though being a gadget buying freak, they've typically been toys to me that got left in a drawer after a few weeks or months. These included a Visor Prism, Visor Edge, and two Zaurus'. When I bought my Treo 600, though, all that changed. It became an extension of my life. The convergence (pardon the over used term) of PDA functionality, real-time email, internet access, etc in one device has truly changed me. In February of last year, I upgraded to a Treo 650 and I'm anxiously awaiting the results of the rumors we've heard recently of new Treos. Ask me if I could have lived without my previous PDAs and the answer would be yes. Ask me if I could live without my Precious Treo and I'd offer that I would gladly live without twinkies and chocolate (both are very dear to me) instead. My Treo is now like my Bible... life would lose meaning without it.
It must be said from the get-go that I am a very biased person:
•I'm an IT person. Thus, I am by nature and environment sarcastic and sardonic. Many call me pessimistic. I prefer to think of myself as a realist that would probably benefit from anti-depressant medications. :)
•I'm a conspiracy theorist. I believe that Microsoft has something to do with everything that's wrong in the computing world; many times directly, more often indirectly.
•I never sleep and I receive (and yes, I read) email 24x7x365.
•I am pro-Palm, pro-Treo, pro-free software, pro-opensource, anti-Microsoft (though forced to work with it daily), and anti-PocketPC.
•I don't care too much for other Palm devices. Don't take this the wrong way... I've already said I'm pro-Palm. In my mind, though, an unconnected or not-always-connected device isn't for me. Sporadic WiFi isn't a solution in my book. Thus, I use a Treo 650. No, its not as fast as WiFi, but in about 98% of the civilized world it has internet access. I prefer to be covered everywhere (if slowly) than to be covered in only a few places, yet at higher speeds. When news of the new Palms come out (such as today's) I don't get too excited. But when they announce a new Treo I'm all over it (except, perhaps for a WM powered Treo). Thus, I'm a "Palm Addict" in that I love and use Palm h/w, PalmOS, and Palm softwares. I'm just a selective Palm Addict. :)
I can be reached at [email protected] if you're interested. I'm always interested in feedback (I delete the bad and reply to the good), friendly emails, and donations of Samuel Adams beer (mailing address available upon request). :) Oh, and lastly, I'm marred married with four kids, so all you women out there clamoring for a hunk will have to wait for the next guy. Sorry...
Andrew Davis, Associate Writer (Carlsbad, CA)