As one of those people who’s been fortunate enough to participate in the Nokia Blogger Relations progam, I’ve had the opportunity over the past several months to work with a number of Nokia devices. I’ve been on a journey of sorts through how these devices change the way I work. Longtime readers of my personal blog know that despite and the technological geekery I may have to explore, simplicity is my watchword. It’s often seen as an oxymoron that I talk about simplifying my life and tools while exploring so many different technologies. Here’s a recent post on my view of simplicity. There are two quotes in that post that bear repitition
Simplicity isn’t simple. Complexity is simple. Anyone can make something more complex. Sophistication lies in your ability to simplify. - Unknown
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. - Leonardo da Vinci
My Nokia exploration began with two phones from the N-series, the N73 and N93. They were soon joined by the N80i. If you haven’t seen them, here they are again. The N93 is on the left, the N73 in the center, and the N80i on the right.
As phones go, these are high-end devices. Nokia treats them as beyond phones. Here’s the tagline Nokia uses on their web site to position the N-series.
Discover the ability to access, express, customize and explore the things that matter to you most.
Multiple devices. Next generation computers. Whatever we call them, the N-series is certainly what I’d call a lifestyle device. Like and iPod, or other MP3 player, these are devices that bring enhanced capablities to our pockets, purses and hands.
Like most of the testers, I’ve been quite impressed. I’ve written a number of reviews about different facets of the devices. The N73 is an awesome camera in a phone. The N93, a stellar video camera. The N80i, a real Internet device. Each has strengths and weaknesses. Ad each has flaw or shortcomings, either in design or implementation. They aren’t perfect. The are the first generation of this new breed of lifestyle device.
Later I recevied an N800 Internet Tablet. Here’s a reminder picture.
The N800 is not a phone. It can be connected to a PC, but WiFi and Bluetooth are where it excels. This device easily connects to the Net via WiFi. If you have a phone with a data plan that supports pairing that functinoality, it does that incredibly well. I’ve paired it with each of the Nokias and been very happy.
The N800 doesn’t use the Nokia phone operating system. There’s no Symbian here. It runs a Linux version called Maemo, based on the Debian Linux kernel. As people quickly discovered, it’s a full-blown Linux workstation, or at least that potential.
The N800 integrates some basic VoIP capacities that are useful with the WiFi. A Google Talk client is built it. That client supports both voice and video. And it works amazingly well. If you’ve got good WiFi, a video call between two N800s is a pretty amazing thing. There’s also a Gizmo client that’s easily installed and works as smoothly and seamlessly as the desktop client. That means if you’ve invested a little cash to get outbound PSTN dialing credits, you can sit at a WiFi hotspot and make a phone call to an ordinary telephone from the N800. With a Gizmo inbound PSTN number, you can receive calls too. So the N800 isn’t a phone. It doesn’t support ubiquitous telephony. But it can provide some casual and convenient voice services.
The N800 enhances what many of us have begun to refer to as “casual computing.” For those who need something less that a laptop but more than a PDA/smartphone, it enables email, web browsing and provides the basic necessities. It’s nothing short of life-changing when you think about an Internet tablet in the kitchen to look up a recipe while you cook, a non-intrusive browser and email reader while watching TV with the family, and a host of other casual computing uses.
I’ve been a mobile user and road warrior for more years than I want to count. I’ve carried a 28 pound Compaq luggable with a 5″ orange screen and two 5.25′ disk drives on a plane. I’ve had more mobile devices than I really remember. The N800 was, for me, an evolutionary leap to the next level of mobile computing, but at that point, I was still thinking mostly casual computing.
Like everyone, I lusted for the N95. It’s got a 5 megapixel camera. That’s unprecedented in a mobile phone. Built in GPS. It’s a media player. It’s an amazing first generation device that’s part of the evolution. If the N73/N93/N80i were 1.0 devices of this evolving next generation, the N95 is a 1.4 device. It’s not an exponential leap forward, but it’s significant. And, like the rest, it does have some issues. Here’s a picture of the N95.
Make no mistake, the N95, is not a phone. I’m sorry but to call it a phone would be to call a Ferrari transportation. It’s a high-end lifestyle device. It does music, videos (both watch and record, pictures, GPS, Gizmo VoIP via built-in WiFi. Yes, it even makes plain old boring phone calls on the cellular/PSTN network too. This is indeed a multipurpose handheld device.
Since pairing up the N95 with the N800, I’ve been paying attention to that watchword I mentioned earlier - simplicity. Recently I took a casual computing weekend away on the Oregon coast. Even though I knew I would be doing some writing, probably blogging, email, web surfing, and taking lots of pictures, I made the conscious decision to leave me laptop home. I’ve made short business trips with only my Treo and wireless keyboard, but I pretty much always take my laptop on a trip. But that’s starting to change.
Beyond casual computing, and mobile computing, there’s a sociological blend of work and personal life that many of us deal with every day. Our friends, and our social circle - what we now call our social network - encompasses a bigger circle. That’s a social phenomenon tied to our stage in the information age. I think the rise of online social networks are really a true delineator that we have left the industrial age behind and are truly in the information age.
Social networks are part of our daily life. And we’re just beginning to really understand what they are. I use LinkedIn and Facebook, Twitter and Jaiku, yet they are not my social networks. The network providers hate it when we call them plumbers, but that’s all they really are. The provide pipes (yes, those notorious Internet tubes) that carry bits. Those bits can be data, voice or video. We raelly don’t care. I’ve come to realize that LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Jaiku are not social networks. They’re the next generation of plumbers. They carry my meaningful content that I share with my family, friends and colleagues through an application pipe.
I’ll repeat something I said a few weeks ago. My social network is in my phone. It’s in my N95 and N800. They carry my family, friends colleagues, even the entire Internet inside. It’s the people in my life that are my social network. And for the moment, Nokia is providing the hardware tools that use the application pipes to maintain the network.
Within the information age, the sociological implications of change are now becoming business drivers for companies like Nokia, and platforms like these. yes I said platforms. For me, the N95 and N800 couple with network connectivity however I can find it, and a smattering of minimal peripherals (power chargers, memory cards, bluetooth keyboard) have become a platform for productivity.
Productivity any time
Productivity anywhere
Social networks have evolved as our use of information technology has evolved. We’re in closer contact wtih people who are geographically farther away from us than we have ever been in human history. And it’s the ability to connect an use the tools that enables that. Those tools that enable what we’ve been calling casual computing also enable serious computing - serious work. Carrying them around all day every day is proving that to me over and over.
I’ve twice taken my laptop on a cruise because the whole point of a laptop is to take it everywhere. Detaching from work and not taking a laptop are difficult things. That’s rapidly changing. For me it has changed. My laptop is actually a nice, compact desktop. It only leaves the desk in my home office when absolutely necessary. Like a good backpacker, I am leaving a lighter footprint.
Even though I’ve been a true jedi master at the road warrior life (I used to travel 35-40 weeks a year hauling my technology everywhere), I’m evolving as I explore these new technologies. And while I still often carry more because I choose to (sometimes my laptop, a Nikon, tripods, digital recording gear, etc.), I’m proving the value in embracing the first quote at the beginning of this post. Simplicity is complex. It takes a spohisticated effor to truly simplify.
Here’s a picture of my more sophisticated mobile computing solution. It’s incredible for casual computing, but it’s also pretty damned powerful for serious work.
Paying attention to my own work habits has made me far more aware of how Nokia (and other companies) are truly helping us pry open the door to the next generation of sustaining work, casual or serious, and our social networks of family, friends and colleagues.
Technorati Tags: Nokia, N73, N93, N80i, N800, casual computing, working anywhere, mobility
Filed by Ken at 4:38 pm under General, Mobility & Handheld, Portable Pleasures - PDA/Smartphones, Tech in General, Technology, Unified Communications
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