dare I post this here? Blogging Barfight (Mashable)
Peek maps: interesting...
I bought a Google Voice number on eBay, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I paid less than $100 for the area code I wanted (after some minor haggling; some area codes had an asking price of over a thousand), and so far it's been totally worth it. The ability to track, screen, and best of all, block calls for free (ok, minus what I paid up front) is priceless.
The other huge feature is voicemail transcription. Without getting into a huge rant here about how much I loathe voicemail--a simple web search can lead you to several blog posts and articles with similar sentiments--one of my peeves is the fact that voicemail requires you to have to stop what you're doing, log in (usually), listen to the message (sometimes several times, if the sound quality is poor or the speaker mumbles), and occasionally have to replay it to write down some other info. Voicemail transcription, when it's accurate, saves you all of that agony. Google voice transcription is by no means flawless, but does improve with use.
I should note that, prior to my GV bid, I had been using PhoneTag, a vm transcription service that offers a free trial week and reasonable monthly or per-use fees. PhoneTag's transcription, by the way, is excellent, and worth it if you're mainly interested in this feature alone and can wait for the Google Voice beta to go public...
...which, so I hear, will be "soon".
Sent on the go from my Peek
I've had my peek pronto (http://getpeek.com) since wednesday, and so far its taken some getting used to. That doesn't necesarily mean I don't like it; I do, however, need to keep telling myself over and over:
It's not a smartphone.
It's not a smartphone.
The Peek Pronto, in case you've read this far and still don't know what it is, is a device that sends and receives emails and text messages...that's it. No phone calls. No pictures. No video. No games. No "app for that". So why would anyone want such a thing in this age of iphones, blackberries, vues, etc.?
Some people don't want a smartphone, but want more access to email. These people exist, really. We sometmes refer to them as Luddites, althoug that term doesn't always apply to every person who is loathe to embrace a smartphone.
Some people just don't want that much access...or at least not all the time. Believe me, I truly love my iPhone. I love the visual voicemail, the map function that tracks my car with GPS accuracy, my audiobooks, my camera that posts to twitpic...I could go on. But lately I've been waxing nostalgic for my old pager, a device that kept me in touch with the outside world just enough for me to feel connected but still in control. Something simple and relatively non commital; more than any other device, the Peek gives me that. Sometimes I just really don't want that much access. And for less than $90 for the device and $20 a month with NO CONTRACTS, the Peek gives me less for less---and that's a beautiful thing. Of course, if Tim Ferriss, author of The Four-Hour Work Week (whose audiobook I just listened to on my iPhone) knew I was responding to a blinking message light on the Peek, he might serve me a hook kick to the head. Sorry, Tim, I'm still working on
the low-information diet, but I still need to know I have access to my ring dings.
Sent on the go from my Peek
I'm Laura, and this is my blog. I am a film & theater teacher. I also make films. I hope you enjoy them. My company: http://olivestreetfilms.com
