“I lost my girlfriend’s phone number.”

re: “I lost my girlfriend’s phone number.”

Steve — Sat, 29 May 2004 22:30:00 GMT

If this person was running one of the smartphones, this wouldn't be an issue. I don't see this as something the OS has to solve.

I have a Treo 600, and my phone book goes into Outlook or anywhere else I want when I HotSync. Presumably the WinCE phones work the same way, if someone wants to go that way.

I also know that with the Nokia phones, you can download a free app that lets you download (not hotsync) the phone's databases via an IR connection. The other manufacturers may have similar solutions. Granted, this is one of those no-immediate-gratification kinds of things like making backups of your hard drive.

re: “I lost my girlfriend’s phone number.”

Jerry Pisk — Sun, 30 May 2004 00:37:00 GMT

Of course if you have all your stores synchronized it also means that if you accidentally delete somebody's number you lose it for good, unless you have a paper based contact list as well, not synchronized with your other lists. And I can't imagine that I would have all my work's list on my cell phone (which I do in my Outlook address book). It wouldn't even fit.

re: “I lost my girlfriend’s phone number.”

a different Kevin — Sun, 30 May 2004 18:01:00 GMT

Sounds like people want somethink like iSync in MacOS X. I'm amazed with all MS's resources that they're so far behind.

re: “I lost my girlfriend’s phone number.”

Wiser — Sun, 30 May 2004 19:16:00 GMT

Once again, this is wholesale theft by Microsoft of Apple computer's intellectual property. iSync has been around for over a year, and MS will copy it in Longhorn in what...2008? 2009? LOL!

re: “I lost my girlfriend’s phone number.”

Andy — Sun, 30 May 2004 23:29:00 GMT

Well, I guess this is yet another benefit of using OS X and the Mac platform, and also another way that Apple proves to the world they are on the cutting edge and the rest of the world (Microsoft) just copies.

OS X has had iSync available for a couple years. It's a nifty little program that lets you quickly and easily sync data between any number of devices - your computer (address book), a BlueTooth cell phone (or some via USB), Palm-type device, iPod, even syncing between multiple computers for everything as well, including web browser bookmarks.

re: “I lost my girlfriend’s phone number.”

Kuddler — Mon, 31 May 2004 01:19:00 GMT

iSync is available now. No need to wait for Longhorn.

re: “I lost my girlfriend’s phone number.”

Brendan — Mon, 31 May 2004 02:25:00 GMT

Wow that would be cool... I can just barely imagine having one-click access to synchronize my computer with my phone and my ipod and online (to my desktop). And to be able to use this data from iChat or Mail... wow that would be a pretty handy OS. And you say I can get all that within 3 or 4 years??? Wow. That's awesome. I've gotta get me one of those dual core 6GHz 2 Gigs of RAM machines so I can run this magical OS. WOW!

~BS

re: “I lost my girlfriend’s phone number.”

Chris — Mon, 31 May 2004 07:24:00 GMT

Hmmm...so Brendan copies Kuddler who copies Andy who copies Wiser who copies a different Kevin. Big deal, everyone builds on top of everyone else.

It's not like Apple invented the idea of synching data across devices. Windows 2000 has had IntelliMirror roaming profile synchronization, Windows XP had sync folders, ActiveSync synched everying...blah...blah...blah. The real question is what problems are there to be solved and the original Kevin's looking to build on data and experiences to to do it well.

I guess one of the data points is that Apple has some synch functionality that upon discussion tends to bring out the sarcastic and vitriolic sides of its customers. Longhorn should try not to agitate its users in the same way ;)

that's not the point

Brendan — Mon, 31 May 2004 09:58:00 GMT

My point's not that Apple "Invented" syncing (although a couple of the other posters sound like that) but the "Gee Whiz Golly!" Tone of this article makes you laugh when what's being pined over is an old (over a year) and standard feature of OS X.

"Wouldn't it be cool if..." and "Wouldn't it be great if..." should be followed by such phrases as:

I won a million dollars
The sweedish bikini team offered me a job as their oiler
I did something that expanded the bounds of current computer operation

Not things like:

You could buy bread at most every supermarket across the country
You can sync your bluetooth phone with your computer saving hours and hours and thumb sprains
You could access your contact information from chat clients, email clients and your phone.

The fact that he's not even hyping a _CURRENT_ product, but something that may or may not make it into an OS that may or may not come out in the next couple years and talking about it like it's an earth-shattering idea... a glimpse into the possible paradise of the future... and it's already available and has been for sometime, well, that earns some derision.

But let's not get side tracked here... the real bombshell of this blog post was that a microsoft engineer was acknowledged by some lovely ladies. That's just insane. Wonder if "nice" and "young" are held to the same high standards that "secure", "intuitive" and "stable" are.

~BS

re: “I lost my girlfriend’s phone number.”

B.Y. — Mon, 31 May 2004 16:55:00 GMT

Kevin, you're suffering from priority inversion here. You should really be blogging about what you did to get a group of nice young ladies to invite you to join them for dinner.

re: “I lost my girlfriend’s phone number.”

Chris_S — Mon, 31 May 2004 17:34:00 GMT

Let's see:

1. Kevin is telling us this feature is coming to Longhorn. That's great news for Windows users, as it seems currently Windows does not do this so well.

2. We hear that Mac OS does this already. That too is great, but old news if you own a Mac, of course. However, most Windows users don't own Macs, so for the majority out there, point (1) is the case, making Kevin's post useful.

3. Like all ideas, there's room for evolution and improvement - perhaps some readers (maybe Mac users?) here may have suggestions. Now that sort of info would be real useful, it might even improve the product (Mac or Windows!) whereas bitching about 'my OS got there first' isn't really going to make a difference...

4. And that's about it. I'm sure it would be possible to draw up a laundry list of features that Mac has but Windows not, and then visa versa. And even features that Mac has and Longhorn doesn't. And features that DOS has and Mac/Windows/<YourFavouriteOSGoesHere> doesn't...