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by: Bernard Teo








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Bernard Teo
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List of Categories : Database * Technology * Commentary * Singapore * Travel *

Sat 12 Jul 2003

iUse iSync and iChat

Category : Technology/iUse.txt

iSync and iChat are a couple of things I had paid very little attention to on OS X. But, the other day, Timmy from Mean needed to get in touch with me and he asked me to turn on iChat. Believe it or not, that's the first time I've ever really used it.

I've got a .Mac account (bernardteo@Mac.com) and so I guessed (correctly) that it goes into the Screen Name field for setting up iChat on my iBook. (Now, what if I didn't have a .Mac account?). I entered Timmy's ID and typed "hello", or something, and promptly forgot about it. A few minutes later I saw a commotion on my dock. It was the iChat icon jumping up and down for attention.

So I brought iChat up in front and there was Timmy and we're off "chatting". I sent him a file (by dropping it into the text box I used to type my messages - it was so intuitively obvious) and we concluded business in five minutes.

After that, I really understood how iSight is going to be a big, big thing. The biggest drag I had was to type my messages because I'm a one-finger typist. When I get iSight - notice it's when not if - I'll just look the other guy in the eye and say it like it is. I believe I've seen the future and it doesn't include the telephone system as we know it now.

What about iSync? I used to think that I'll get into iSync when I have a Bluetooth phone. But iSync 1.1 introduced support for some models of Motorola mobile phones (including the V.66 that I'm using) via USB. So I got the USB cable and ... it just works. iSync did a scan and soon a picture of the V.66 appeared on the iSync bar. I hit the Sync button and I've got my phone numbers from the phone onto my address book and vice versa).

And, one more thing: the entries I made into iCal appears on my phone's Date Book. Suddenly, my iBook is so much more the center of my life (though my wife would dispute that - she's sure it's our son who's the center of my universe).

It now makes sense for me to focus on the things I'm putting into my iBook - the dates and events in my calendar, and the name and numbers on my address book. Because, now, I know I'm only going to enter it once, and I get to use it everywhere. Even when I change phones. I used to lose numbers when I change phones because I can't quite figure which ones are in the phone and which are on the SIM card. So I'm saying goodbye to all that. Gladly. I want simplicity in my life.

My friend, Hai Hwee, has an older model Motorola C330. The USB cable I got didn't fit. Then I realised the C330's connector is shaped like the one on the Canon USB cable, which I got with the IXUS 400 digital camera. So I plugged that in ... and guess what? The C330's icon soon appears on iSync's devices bar. So we've got another happy iSync camper.

Posted at 4:51PM UTC | permalink

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