“PDA calling Cellphone, Hello!”

Today I was waiting in line to buy gas when my daughter pointed out a guy in the car to the right in an odd pose. With his hands out in front of him like he was holding two revolvers, this guy was obviously looking up a number from the PDA in his right hand, and then thumbing in the number in the cellphone held in his left. Although it wasn’t all that remarkable a feat, it was amusing to watch. As his head swung left and right, you could imagine the numbers from the PDA shooting through the air to his eyes, then to his brain and down his arm to his left thumb where it entered the phone mechanically. Amazing piece of human networking !!

Seems like “in this day and age” there should be a better way. So, here is my challenge to Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, et al: Start offering a FREE service where Average Joe can store all his names and numbers and appointments (if he is one of the few to use the calendar in his phone) in a secure account online. All he has to do is dial a toll-free number when he wants to update his online list. Now Joe also has the option of synchronizing his PC phone book and / or his PDA with his cellphone. It's also easier to enter names and numbers on your home PC than on your phone.

If Blogger will host your blog for free and Yahoo will give you an e-mail account for free, why wouldn’t Verizon do the same for the tiny amount of space needed to store your contact information? Seems like the smart thing to do for customers and build customer loyalty when it comes time to upgrade or replace a phone. Hey the next time Joe loses his phone down at Sharkeys, he could set up a new one in minutes and the wife would never know!

Just kidding guys, wives always find out about stuff,
it's one of life's mysteries.