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QotD: Devices

Question: If you could get rid of one "device" in your life, what would it be and why?

My Answer: I'd ditch my… alarm clock. My computer's in another room, so setting alarms on it is impractical. The whole process of setting an alarm - all twelve seconds of it - is silly. I have a dual-alarm clock, too. It'd be nifty if someone could invent an alarm clock that wirelessly grabbed my iCal calendar or something.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

7 Responses to "QotD: Devices"

  1. I just have my iPod mini wake me up now... custom music, easy to set up the time, and no stupid issues with the battery running out either. 🙂

  2. I use my bluetooth cellphone as an alarm clock since I can sync the iCal events to it. My wife uses the alarm clock when she needs to wake up, I just keep my cell phone on my end table. Set the alarm to whenever I need to wake up -- yet if an ical event pops up it will also generate the alarm tones. I don't know how I would manage without bluetooth syncing and iCal.

  3. My phone line. I never use it; people always call me on the cell phone anyway, and the only people I call on the cell phone on a regular basis are my parents, if I'm not at home. When at home I use Skype instead.

    I've been meaning to cancel it for several months now.

  4. Skype is nice, but I prefer Vonage. It is nice to have a phone number for my laptop that anyone on a land line can call me at. Attach that to bluetooth headset and you're golden for mobility even without a cellphone (so long as you have inet access where you are). If you have a cellphone you can pair your headset to both the OSX X-ten client and your cellphone -- using the headset you can answer any alternating call between your cell and your laptop's software SIP phone -- Ideal house phone solution too -- $25/month, unlimited local+long distance+Canada in the US. Jack a 5.8Ghz cordless system spread throughout the house into the Vonage line and link your address to 911 and it's a cheap alternative to a land line. Hell, even people that dial from the callbox at the entrance to our gated community goes right across to the Vonage line, and I can let them in via the keypad.

    I suppose Skype is one step above iChat for voice communication from the sense there is a better codec and you can use Skype Out to call people on regular telephones -- but my understanding is people on regular telephones can't call you, so that limits the usefulness.

    One other niceity about Vonage is for an additional $5 a month you can get an alternate phone number for whatever area code/zone you choose. So if you live in San Diego and wind up spending most of the time talking to a friend in NYC -- instead of being forced to always call him due to unlimited ld, you can get a phone number that is a local call to him, and he can call the local NYC number like you are right across town, even though it's ringing your 3000 miles away.

    But I digress -- I think I am fielding more a comment for 'devices you can't live without' 🙂

  5. Erik chimed in and told me I didn't answer the question 😉 So here we go...

    I would have to say PDAs are the one device I can live without. I got one a couple years ago thinking I would use it regularly, and it's just turned out to be something that collects dust. Gestures with a stylus is a horribly inefficient way to write notes. I'd rather have paper and a pen, if I didn't have my powerbook with me, which seems to be a rare occasion these days.

  6. Does Vonage come with voicemail? I would think that it does, but you didn't mention it at all.

    My ticket into this commentary: I'd get rid of my house phone line too.. or cable for the TV, but I didn't really know how loose "device" could be.

  7. I recently (as in just last month) "fired" my landline provider. Got rid of the landline entirely. I've got Primus TalkBroadband (~= Vonage) and Shaw Cable for access. I can even send ol'skool faxes over it.

    As for the alarm clock problem, I use X10. Use the computer to set the time for the lights and radio to come on.