Progress is dragging me down

I have been spending the majority of my day finalizing the "switch," as Apple markets it. In other words, I've been bashing my head against the desk while trying to move information from my PC onto my Mac. Outlook, in particular, refuses to play nice with Entourage or Address Book, which is hugely problematic because I have over 600 contact files that I will most certainly not be re-typing by hand.

Also, after reading this short but revealing article from Time Magazine yesterday, I finally caved and signed up for a Twitter account. Whether or not I'll be using it remains to be seen. My first look through the website makes me think it is a fun novelty, but more a time waster than useful tool. However, human curiosity is a powerful force, and the creator of Twitter (who also created Blogger, the very engine I'm typing on now) has managed to harness this force to create [yet another] social network.

Hardware, software, network, whatever... it all boils down to the creation, dissemination, and capture of information. Technology has spawned some powerful tools that have revolutionized the way information is transferred, but it has also stolen our valuable downtime, and often times in trying to simplify our lives makes it a hundred times more complicated.

One of my biggest challenges of transitioning to being a business school student is getting my technological-toolkit ducks in a row. Whereas previously, my laptop, Blackberry, cell phone were all paid for, set up, and maintained by my company, I now have to consider how to most effectively allocate my dollars to provide me the most support through my b-school years. Furthermore, I need to make sure ensure that what I use doesn't conflict, and not only gets the job done but does it quickly and as hassle-free as possible. I've summarized my technology-related decisions and thoughts below.

Computer:
I'll be on my 13" Macbook, upgraded to 4gb RAM & 256gb SSD HD, which I do enjoy greatly, but I know this purchase has been a mistake. I am a big enough geek that I admire the simplicity, superiority, and elegance that permeates Apple's product line, and I had always told myself that if I ever went back to school or started my own business, I would reward myself with a Mac. Although VMWare, Bootcamp, and a large base of open source support has made Mac a way more viable option, innate compatibility issues remain. Whereas before, you flat out couldn't achieve certain tasks, now you can, but it's a gigantic pain in the rear. I still love my Mac, and I know it will serve me well throughout it's lifespan; but if I were to do it again, I would buy another Dell XPS M1330 to serve as my Kellogg workhorse.

Phone:
It is a given that you will be living out of a calendar and a pile of to-do notes during your 2 years at b-school, which makes it imperative to own a smartphone. Here, there is a very defined separation between the iPhone & Blackberry camps, and I definitely fall into the Blackberry one. No matter how sophisticated the touch screen is, it will always be a flat pane fof glass and I need the tactile response of buttons. An even greater reason that I go Blackberry is it is the quintessential corporate powerhouse, combining perfect synchronization with Exchange with a no-nonsense interface and a comfortable, all-in-one package. Web-browsing and games? Not it's forte, and it doesn't even pretend. There are enough custom apps out there to achieve what you want it to do, although of course nothing can compare to the onslaught from devoted iPhone-app programmers. If you enjoy the novelty of tweaking and something endlessly, and/or are a Mac user (perfect synchronization *wistful sigh*) then get an iPhone. If you're serious about getting your email on the run, and want to sync flawlessly with Exchange, get a Blackberry. Disclaimer: I have not used any Windows Mobile phones, due to my inherent distrust of Microsoft and the earlier, clunky builds I encountered. I'm told the newer phones have much improved, and also the Palm Pre sounds pretty good on paper, but I have been so satisfied with my Blackberry I have no inclination to learn a new interface.

Software:
I use Entourage for my school email & calendar (this will be replaced by Outlook for PC users), and I use Apple Mail to deal with my multiple Gmail accounts. I have both Office 2008 for the Mac and Office 2007 on my Windows XP VMWare; just in case, yanno. The Adobe CS3 Suite takes up nearly 10% of my available hard drive space, but has Photoshop, Illustrator, and other invaluable design tools. Adium (Pidgin on the PC) lets me combine the AIM/Yahoo of my college friends, MSN of China friends, and Gchat of my "too lazy to download a chat program" friends all in one messenger program, and log it all to boot. iTunes keeps me happy and productive, and Google Reader lets me stay up to date with everything I care about. Last but not least, Firefox is the best browser in the world, hands down; no other browser lets you "add on" whatever the hell you damn feel like. Open source ftw.

Network:

Facebook - A must to stay connected socially in the modern day world. When I moved from Los Angeles to Shanghai, this let me keep abreast of what was going on with my friends back home, and let them take a peek into my new life. Also, it was used heavily as an event organizer; if you weren't on Facebook, you basically weren't notified that so & so was organizing a party. I imagine Twitter has stolen some of its glory these days, but there's no way a 140-char update log will replace the . The danger is when your bosses (present and/or future) see your beer-kegging way or dominatrix outfit picture album. The easy way to circumvent this: make sure you put nothing potentially embarassing up to public. If you can't seem to manage it, just make your profile private to friends only.

Webboards - Oldie but goodie. Too bad the Kellogg ones don't seem to be used too much. I'm guessing LinkedIn is taking over some of it's turf?

LinkedIn - The up and comer, the Facebook of the corporate world. It reminds me slightly of what Plaxo or Ringo tried to do, but they went above and beyond and seem to be succeeding quite well. I will be interested in seeing how this grows further. I have my doubts about the authenticity of relationships "created" over the net, and is it necessary or even possible to -maintain- existing business relationships via an impersonal website?

Blog - You're reading it now, aren't you? I wonder if I should make it less personal and more corporate, or less free-form and more structured, but in its beginning stages it is more for me and my friends or classmates than the public at large. The idea is to both save my thoughts for later, and also contribute to a small, online pool of knowledge and discussion; I haven't quite warmed up to the idea of a blog as a personal marketing tool. I spend enough time writing cover letters and preparing for interviews that if a company can't accept I may have a life beyond stilted polite business language, well, that's too bad then.

Twitter - First appeared on my radar after my friend received mucho publicity for his website on Twitter trends. I'll admit, the concept seemed a bit "what's the point" to me, but it's prevalence now means I'd be a fool not to at least reserve a user name.

Google Wave - Deserves a mention because it's going to be huge. I'm hoping it will include their existing Google Documents technology, and regardless I look forward to using it as the core of the many group projects that will follow in the next 2 years... oh and the name comes from FIREFLY *swoons* (this is why Google is taking over the world, because they're genius AND badass).

Closing thoughts: It's a lot to keep up with! Information overload, ADD, carpal tunnel syndrome, and Blackberry thumbs are all common ailments in these times (I have them all) and it sometimes feels like I spend more time managing the technology then getting the original use out of it. The next big money maker will be whoever can come out with a seamless, user-friendly interface to manage the many different streams of information ... sounds impossible for sure, with all the different players, each elbowing to be THE source you go to, and not to mention the compatibility and synchronization issues, but that's why whoever figures it out is going to be a multi-billionaire.