PHONES GET SMART LATEST TOOLS LEAVE MANY DUMBSTRUCK.Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer When Ryan Schneider landed in the coolest city in the craziest club behind the world's most celebrated DJ, he turned to the hottest gizmo Slang for any hardware device. See gadget. to share his glee. His smart phone. With a dizzying choice of features, the handheld wireless gadget could snap a digital photo of the legendary Paul Van Dyk This article is about the DJ. For the American historian, see Paul Van Dyke. Paul van Dyk (born Matthias Paul; November 16, 1971 before an after-hours crowd at Crobar in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , then send it with a text message to many of Schneider's friends. ``This is insane, once in a lifetime,'' messaged Schneider, 30, of Northridge from his new T-Mobile Sidekick II. ``I can't believe I'm here.'' ``Totally cool,'' a friend shot back from Los Angeles. ``I feel I'm there with you.'' Wireless handheld devices, from cell phones to personal digital assistants (PDAs), have been around for years. But the new smart phones offer a once unimaginable range of high-tech wizardry wiz·ard·ry n. pl. wiz·ard·ries 1. The art, skill, or practice of a wizard; sorcery. 2. a. A power or effect that appears magical by its capacity to transform: . Phones with cameras. Phones with videocams. Phones with video games, address books, organizers, e-mail, text messaging. Phones with Internet access, e-books, miniature QWERTY keyboards, speakerphones and Global Positioning Systems. Even your favorite music and ring tones. Offering up-to-the minute weather, stock quotes and sports news and allowing users to create their own text-messaging communities, these interactive gadgets have won cult-like followings among the tech-savvy. For when it comes to digital technology, there's little the latest BlackBerrys, Treos and other popular handheld devices can't do on a postage-stamp-size screen. But, many ask, who needs them? ``Technology is taking over our lives,'' declared Tom Stern, 49, of Woodland Hills, an executive recruiter and humorist hu·mor·ist n. 1. A person with a good sense of humor. 2. A performer or writer of humorous material. humorist Noun a person who speaks or writes in a humorous way who pens a nationally syndicated ``CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Dad'' comic strip and does bits for National Public Radio. ``These smart phones are out of control. ``There are so many features - you can trade stocks, take pictures, take movies - by next year I'll betcha you'll be able to give yourself a CT scan CT scan: see CAT scan. See CAT scan. , which is perfect because you'll be able to track the size of the brain tumor Brain Tumor Definition A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in the brain. Unlike other tumors, brain tumors spread by local extension and rarely metastasize (spread) outside the brain. you're getting from talking on your smart phone.'' Carmen Carmen throws over lover for another. [Fr. Lit.: Carmen; Fr. Opera: Bizet, Carmen, Westerman, 189–190] See : Faithlessness Carmen the cards repeatedly spell her death. [Fr. Ramos Chandler, a spokeswoman for California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an , agreed. She's seen many colleagues delay meetings by fiddling with their BlackBerrys. Or lose valuable info to the whims of cyberspace. ``I don't use one,'' said Chandler, 41. ``I prefer paper and pen. That way, I never lose anything.'' High-end phones cost as much as $500 and are coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. mainly by businessmen and ``early adopter'' technophiles in need of the latest stuff, phone company officials say. Text messaging is hot. And so is video streaming. But for $450 each for a high-end model, said Verizon Wireless spokesman Ken Muche, the numbers aren't growing very fast. ``The technology is there to watch TV on your phone,'' he said of Verizon's news, entertainment and sports video streaming service. ``But we found that people prefer lots of video to fill in gaps in your day - 20-deep in the grocery line, in the doctor's office or at the gas station with your kids in the back seat.'' Four months ago, Schneider decided to trade in his clunky Nokia and pricey land line for a $400 T-Mobile Sidekick II. In doing so, he could trash his weighty FranklinCovey ``Effective People'' planner. ``This is a lifesaver, and life changer Changer The name given to a clearing member that is willing to assume the opposite position of a futures contract within a larger alternative exchange, of which it also is a clearing member. ,'' said Schneider, marketing and communications director for Insomniac Games Inc. of Burbank. ``People used to rag on me 'cause I looked like dork boy running around with a big Filofax. ``There's a total cool factor.'' Dave Malacrida, vice president of public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most for MGA Entertainment in Van Nuys, said his smart phone has become essential to his work. While on the run from his car, at the airport or on a convention center floor in Las Vegas, he employs his BlackBerry to text-message, e-mail or call media clients simultaneously. ``It enables you to really be more than two places at one time,'' Malacrida said. ``You've really got to be disciplined not to do e-mails from your car, even red lights. ``And in bed ... I won't even go there.'' Some say that, for technophobes and Luddites, it's futile to run from the latest gizmos such as smart phones. Nate Thomas, a film and TV professor at CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge , said he's going to have to buy a smart phone in order to transfer info to his new BMW BMW in full Bayerische Motoren Werke AG German automaker. Founded as an aircraft engine manufacturer in 1916, the company assumed the name Bayerische Motoren Werke and became known for its high-speed motorcycles in the 1920s. . ``We can fight it as much as we want,'' Thomas said. ``As much as we resist, we can't ... it'll be harder and harder to do things the old- fashioned way. ``It's become hard anymore just to write a check.'' Others compared the new smart phones to Swiss Army knives - they can do everything, but just so-so. And they're complicated beyond belief. Don Norman, whose Nielson Norman Group in Palo Alto advises companies on how to make computers easier to use, said users took to desktops until they got complicated, and took to cell phones because they're portable and convenient. ``There's this tension,'' Norman, a professor at Northwestern University and former vice president of Apple computers, said of his smart phone. ``When I travel and want to make a phone call, I want the number, so I have my address book. ``And when I travel, I want to eat, I have my (online) Zagat restaurant guide. And when I travel, I want to take pictures, I have a camera. And when I'm in a different town or city, I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. where I am, I need GPS. ``And it's all very logical. But put them all together and it's a nightmare. It's a deadly disease - feature-itus - and it's contagious.'' In the future, he said, it'll be harder and harder to get a regular easy-to-use phone. Allan Abrahimian doesn't care. The 21-year-old philosophy student at Glendale Community College Glendale Community College can refer to one of two colleges in the United States.
He can do without the camera, the speakerphone and many of its multimedia features. ``I bought it for no specific reason - I like toys,'' said Abrahimian, manager of A&M Wireless in Woodland Hills, who mainly uses it for its phone, text messaging and chess game, and its dictionary and thesaurus when he's at school. ``But it was a good buy, and now I find reasons for it. ``If you don't play with these things, technology takes you over and you become technologically dumb. That's why I use these things.'' Dana Bartholomew, (818) 713-3730 dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 7 photos Photo: (1 -- color) SPORTS (2 -- color) GAMES/E-MAIL (3 -- color) CAMERA (4 -- color) MUSIC (5 -- color) TRAFFIC/WEATHER (6 -- color) BLUETOOTH (7 -- color) no caption (Cell phone) |
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