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Stardate: 20190329.18h01 | |
Location: SBUX | |
Input Device: Gemini PDA + USB folding keyboard | |
Software: nano | |
Audio: SBUX Muzak, the sounds of SBUX. | |
Visual: SBUX community table, Friday night traffic | |
Energy: 45% | |
Mental: 45% | |
Emotional state: Ready for the weekend, +5 coffee boost! | |
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So, Edd Barrett on mastodon took notice of my usage of the | |
Gemini PDA in my phlog posts and has request that I write | |
about the device. I have been meaning to for awhile, but | |
have mostly been using it, rather than writing about it. | |
I have a section on my gophersite that I have been working | |
on, but have not made it "public" yet. The section is | |
basically like the other devices that I have written about in | |
the xiled personal computing saga. Maybe I should just put | |
out what is there. | |
Anyhow, the Gemini PDA has been a great device to work with | |
so far. The device I have is the WiFi only version, not the | |
one with the cell phone bits. I did not want my phone to be | |
integrated with my computing device. I decided to separate | |
this after my last phone...the CAT S60. Pretty good phone | |
and supposedly rugged, but that was on the outside. It was | |
not rugged internally and started to expand when the battery | |
started going puffy. The battery was not really user | |
replaceable. Also, that was my first Android device that I | |
did not do anything to lock down or anything. I wanted to | |
experience how most people use Android...with the phone, | |
apps, integration, etc. Well, that was short lived since the | |
experience kept bothering me, not just from a functionality | |
perspective, but from a security perspective. From that | |
point, I decided I wanted to separate my computing from my | |
phone usage, like back in the day. The dumb phone and the | |
PDA. Dumb phone as the gateway for voice, text, and data, | |
the PDA for computing. Prior to the release of the Gemini, I | |
was kickin it old school and revisiting some of my former | |
PDAs. It was ok...more nostalgic than anything, but I could | |
not really get totally on board with the devices like I did | |
before with the way I compute today. My workflow has | |
(d)evolved way too much. | |
When the Gemini PDA was announced, I followed the news quite | |
a bit. The idea of a recent mobile computing device with a | |
hardware keyboard took me back to my computing with the Nokia | |
N900, various Blackberries, the Palm Treos, the Sharp Zaurii, | |
the AlphaSmart dana.wireless, the Cassiopeia, the HP OmniGo. | |
The Gemini ran Linux like the N900 and had a keyboard that | |
you could touch-type with, like the Psions...which I used to | |
sell and drool over at CompUSA, but never purchased. | |
As the Gemini was getting closer to release, I decided to | |
bite the bullet and become an early backer. I think part of | |
the incentive for me to fund was the fact that they were | |
going to raise the price, IF I DON'T ACT NOW! Prior to this | |
I have had no experience with crowdfunding and knew that I | |
could lose my money if the product was not able to ship. | |
Fortunately, this was not the case with the Gemini and it did | |
eventually ship. | |
I received the device during the second or third batch that | |
shipped, which was a few months after release. It wasn't too | |
long of a wait for me and the anticipation was pretty fun as | |
well. I was able to read about the experiences and concerns | |
from the really early backers and kept following the news, | |
reviews, and updates. This is one of the things I miss about | |
device launches. In following the funding, development, and | |
launch, I was able to observe the growth of the Gemini PDA | |
community...a community that was centered around this | |
specific device. I have not been a part of something like | |
that since the N900 days and the Palm days before then (I | |
still miss the 1src Forums.) There hasn't really been a | |
device over the years that caught my eye long enough to | |
really follow and continue to follow. Actually, I take that | |
back. I have been following the Raspberry Pi, but that is a | |
different type of device. | |
I have really enjoyed observing and experiencing the Gemini | |
along with the community, in "real-time," with all of its | |
greatness and shortcomings. It is quite a different | |
experience picking up a device when it is on its way out, | |
second-hand, or discontinued (which I do quite a bit of since | |
it's cheaper.) You don't get as much exciting news, the | |
support isn't as good, the community has dwindled, data is | |
harder to find, etc. | |
OK, I gotta motor. I'll have to continue writing more | |
another time...maybe I'll even write more about my adventures | |
with the device itself. | |
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