This is a little experiment in thumb writing, the crazy notion of typing 1000 word document on my Black Berry 7250 Nextel Phone.
Why bother you ask? Well you see, I’m feeling old at this moment after seeing 12 teenagers at the airport feverishly typing what was obviously very important magna caritas on their 12 button cell phones. They were heading to the Rose of Tralee Festival in Ireland I think, based on their attire, so colorful and pink cheeked as they all simultaneously texted (you see I even know the correct term) one an other. Even though they were standing right next to each other in line at the security gate. You see if it is not texted it never happened…
So back to feeling old, about a year ago when I was a lot younger :), I bought this Blackberry phone. You see I had this crazy idea that I needed to get my e-mail while I was actually on the road. But what you need to know about me is that I hardly ever actually go on the road. I just like gadgets, so I conjure up elaborate self justification techniques to help me feel better about the exorbitant cost of my habit. I could be buying more important things, like a replacement working stove. But you see, I NEED IT, because not only am I old, but I am also an electronics freak that needs a fix every so often. I buy things like I pods and laptops like my life depends on it. My habit is so bad that, one time I placed 4 bids on 4 separate PDA’s on e-bay and won all four. Imagine the explaining I had to do as my wife signed for the packages.
So, I had an hour or so before my plane boarded and I had a couple of choices, listen to the Rose of Tralee contestants giggle every time their phone beeped, or pull my ridiculously completed cell phone out and try to type a few sentences.
First I had to master thumb writing, a technique created by zoologists who felt that a typewriter for thumbs would be a great idea as a transition point for their chimpanzees the spoke sign language. Alright, I have no idea who thought up the idea, but whoever came up with it must have said something like: What would be better for 40+ business people with callested thumbs? Oh, how about a keyboard about the size of a mouse trap, on a device that can do a lot of stuff except actually kill a mouse.
So I started to Thumb. Then of course my mind went blank, which is why I am feeling old. So I put the phone away, pulled out my IPod and selected LYNYRD SKYNYRD and waited for my plane deep in the sounds of “That’s how I like it” from their live album.