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July 13, 2003
Beach Hacking
This is one I haven't been able to figure out yet. You know those ads, the ones that show someone living the high life, getting away from the office for a while, and sitting on a beach...checking in with the office?
If my employer was willing to pay for me to work from the beach, I'd be happy to take my laptop there. Maybe I'd be a lot more productive. But if I'm on vacation, the laptop (if I even bother to take it) stays in the hotel room.
But while I was on vacation at Wolf Creek, it turned out that Verizon has CDMA coverage on the reservoir. And not at the condo I was staying in. After 2 days of dial-up, I had to try the CDMA, and see if a laptop at the beach is something I've been missing out on.
It was pretty cool, to be sitting with my feet in the water, under an umbrella (which, you never see in the pictures--apparently those people have laptops with screens so bright they are visible in full-on sunlight), hacking away at 144kb/s. Checking my email.
But the fun was offset by worrying about my laptop getting dropped in the water, or sand getting in the keyboard. And frankly, a laptop on the beach doesn't get chics. I think it's kind of a chic repellant (my wife should probably encourage me to take it). I did get a lot of "interesting" looks. And nobody in my group was really excited about me being announcing my geekness, either.
I will be taking the Verizon card with me again when I go to Portland, via Crater Lake and the Oregon Coast, in two weeks. But just for access from the condo. I don't think I'll take it to the beach. Well, maybe I'll leave it in the car, just in case.
Posted by pete at July 13, 2003 7:18 PM
Comments
Just realized I was a contributor to this experience via IM. Next time will have to get the iSight going.
Posted by: Michael Kruckenberg at July 15, 2003 6:45 AM