We've heard all the hype about "Mobile Computing", now let's see the reality of it all. Not everyone needs to be wired these days to do their jobs or stay in touch, but some of the options available are pretty useful.

Let's break it down:

Internet, e-mail, Web Sites,
Cellular Phone,
beeper (with alpha or numeric readout),
laptop,
and Voice Mail,

Phew, just to think I have all of them. Not because I want to be the coolest kid on the block with the newest toys, but because I have found there usefulness in my life. Now, lets try to figure out how we have evolved into the Information Age and how some, maybe not all of this can help you get organized and responsive to the needs of your business, family and friends.

Internet

First, working as a laymen I had minimal use for all except maybe Internet and e-mail. I would send mail to my friends and try to connect to the lite-sites around the net. About two years ago this proved to be addicting, educational and a vital tool. I continued this momentum until today and you see MANY companies hoping on the bandwagon and providing EVERY service possible.

IMHO, the Internet is still a great educational and vital tool, but it has also become the feeding grounds for the power, money and market hungry. Despite the overwhelming benefits and great responses, advertising on the Net seems to be getting a little passé and with so much out there, you will see a dramatic pullback from major investors and companies by the end of the year and the focus relying mostly on niche markets and the business environment. Heck, for $20 and a dream anyone can build an empire (I'm on my way there now!).

Why concentrate on the Internet and e-mail first, well simply because that has become my de facto method of communication with many aspects of life. Many of my fraternity brothers, friends and family have hopped on the Net to find out what's so cool about it and have inadvertently helped me keep in touch with them. This to me seems to be the easiest of all of the options. But let's take a closer look into why I still have the rest of the paraphernalia listed above.

Cell Phones

Well about two years ago I started looking into getting to use my 45 minutes to hour and a half commute a little better. I began with the mind enriching attempt to read a book or some technical documentation, well this led to some VERY long train rides. Then I realized that the way I worked during the day was not conducive to getting some of my own personal needs met. So I decided to look into getting a cell phone. I initially purchased the base model Motorola Flip Phone. I began to see it's usefulness and how I could stay in touch with people during those long hours of despair. After about 6 months I "upgraded" my phone and have been content for over a year now. So now I had the phone, the e-mail and the Net, what next?

Voice Mail

Shortly after getting the phone I realized that people weren't getting to me because the phone wasn't on all the time. How did I resolve this, Voice-Mail. It was simple, every time someone called and I wasn't to be found, they could leave me a voice-mail. Periodically, I would check my voice-mail and retrieve the messages. Well, this began to more of a chore than anything else, at times I would check and I wouldn't have messages or the messages were a few days old (my own negligence).

Beeper

Well, I lived like this for a while, until about six months ago, when I got my beeper. There were two primary reasons for the beeper: messages on my voice-mail and people trying to get a hold of me. Either way someone needed to get a hold of me (most likely a bill collector). So now every time I had a voice-mail message I would get beeped. This settled a few gripes, but not all.

Web Site

I still had the problem of getting my message across as a business person and an off the wall nut. So I started to investigate advertising. I wanted people to see the kind of work I have done and the kind of work I could do, but could not find the right media. Well, finally it hit me smack in the head, a Web Site! I was eager to display my work on the Net so I got everything up and running. It's been about a year now and I have made about 4 major overhauls of the layout and content. I have tried to make as many changes as possible and add as many examples as possible. Now the circle was starting to close, I was achieving closure with my profession, but there was something missing.

Laptop

Now I have a lot: voice-mail, e-mail, beeper, cell phone, and a web site. What was missing: a laptop and faxing. I started my research and ended up selling my old 486 DX4 100 MHz, No-Name PC, for a nice Toshiba laptop with the works. In one step I had completed the circle of the technical geek, the nerd, the Computer Consultant. I was completely mobile, I could be faxed, e-mailed, voice-mailed, searched for on the Net, beeped, and called. Now I'm looking into new horizons, one in which I see a multi-purpose fax, e-mail, web, news forum, server as well as I'm looking into developing a mini-network at home or in a small office.

Conclusion

With all of this is said and done, do you think I'm better organized? Reply promptly to my e-mails or voice mails? Unfortunately, NOT! I'm still slightly disoriented and the perpetually late geek I've always been.

Mel Reyes