Goodbye Treo, Howdy Kaiser!!!

First, in follow up to my last couple of posts... After commuting to & from London for 6 weeks, I have officially decided that...

Chivalry is indeed Dead for the Modern Commuter!

Sad, but true... Oh well. At least I can give my seat over to old people, pregnant women, etc...

Ok. On to the exciting bit of the day. I have pulled the trigger today and embarked on the process of switching from my trusted line of Palm OS PDA phones to a new and fancy Windows Mobile phone. The new beast, a shiny new HTC TyTn II (codenamed Kaiser), is on order and should arrive at my company's office by 1 PM tomorrow afternoon. Woohoo!

For those that are not aware, I have been a huge fan and loyal consumer of Palm OS products for probably going on a decade now. A quick run of my device history

1. Visor (oh yes, a Visor)
2. Samsung i300
3. Samsung i330 (ok, for only a week or so)
   
4. Samsung i500
5. Treo 700p
   
6. Treo 680 (moved to the UK, needed a GSM phone)

And so after what seems like forever using Palms, why give up now? Well, in short, I can really only point to mild and often aesthetic improvements to the device between the usage of the Samsung i300 and current Treo 680. The physical and software interface got prettier. I got a SatNav (TomTom) with my Treo 680, but that wasn't really to do with the Treo itself. Other then that, it is really the same device in new packaging.

Now, my new Tytn II, what does it have?

From the software side of things, I am looking forward to a truly multi-threading OS (aghast, I never would have expected to brag about a Windows OS for THAT!). And I am looking forward to a real internet browser - the Palm browser really actually sucks.

From the hardware side of things, let's start with a GPS that is built-in. That is a feature that the Treo 680 should have had, but well, no. And the TyTn also gives me high speed internet over the phone, WiFi acces, a camera that will actually take GOOD quality pictures, and more.

But most of all, I can't wait to enjoy that slide out keyboard. The device is about the same size, even maybe smaller, then my Treo 680. But they have managed to cram in a keyboard that is much more useful for texting, etc. I don't know why someone didn't think of this 10 years ago, but I love it.

Anyhow, stay tuned for more details on what I think about the device. Perhaps I will even get all corny and post an unboxing video. :)

Before I go, here are a couple links to Duke Carico's website. Duke explains in more detail exactly the sorts of reasoning behind why I was a Treo fan and why I am now jumping ship.

• Treo Frustrations
• Time for a Change
• First Impressions
• TyTn II vs Treo

Hopefully I will be as satisfied as the Duke.

Unchivalrous Act of the Day

In my last post, I posed the question as to whether or not their was a place for chivalry and gentlemanliness in the life of a modern commuter. Well I write today to suggest that such acts of curteousy are possible, at least in a moderate degree.

Recently I have witnessed behavior which I have decided to call the "Unchivalrous Act of the Day".

A number of times I have been riding the train or tube recently and have seen a seat become available. On many of such ocassions, a man will leap into this seat without thought or concern for any of the ladies (young & old) who are standing nearby. This is shocking behavior.

It is one thing to not give your seat up when you are squashed into place and have little ability to extract yourself without quite a challenge. But when all you have to do is NOT sit down, come on now.

Now, I have been REALLY TEMPTED to make a bit of a photoblogging habit out of these unchivalrous acts. However, I have been advised by my common sense that this is really just a good way to eventually get beated up by a grumpy & unchivalrous commuter. :)

Is Chivalry Dead for the Modern Commuter?

For the last month, I have been participating in the hellishly strange, but somewhat fascinating existence known as commuting. Rather then the "jump in a car and drive forever" variety, however, I have been participating in the rat race of the train & tube on my way to and from work each day.

Now, first of all, I have thus forth enjoyed the process. Yes, I am nuts.

However, from the smallish town American perspective, the concept of walking to the train station, riding a combination of train and tube for the next hour, and then walking (hustling / bustling?) another 5-10 minutes from tube stop to my office desk is quite strange & interesting. Will I still think thus in another month or two? Oh, probably not. However, to this point, Terry Pratchett has been my friend and the commute has been fine.

I should also comment that I FAR prefer this life then that of sitting in the parking lot known as the London motorways. But that's another story... :)

Ok. So now to my point... I have got to ask the question:

Is Chivalry Dead for the Modern Commuter?

This question has rolling around my brain for the last month of train riding.

Now, on the tube, I almost always end up standing anyhow as there usually isn't much choice in between Waterloo and Canary Wharf. However, each day on the train between Ascot and Waterloo, I sit in my comfy seat and try to figure out if there is some way I should be offering up my spot to one of the ladies standing in the aisles. Ok, they aren't THAT comfy....

Now, I am not a sexist. I don't think women are beneath me. But I was raised to open doors for women (and people in general, actually). And I do generally attempt to show respect.

However there are days where I am absolutely knackered, not feeling well or otherwise out of sorts and a part of me feels like I wouldn't give up my seat to a paralysed & blind grandmother. But on most journeys, I could easily sacrifice my seat and stand for half the trip or whatnot.

However, it is just not what people do.

I think people would almost be suspicious if I gave up my seat. Or I'd stand up and another male commuter would take my place (which isn't really the point, though I suppose would be nice as well). Then there is the issue that I am usually embedded between a pile of other seated commuters and would have to pry myself out of that pile. That really doesn't work either, exactly.

So I am at a bit of a loss on this one. Is it actually possible to be a gentleman on the train at 7:30 or 17:30, Monday thru Fridays? Feel free to let me know if you have any ideas. Perhaps today I should give it a try and see what happens. :)

On another note, check out this interesting article by Danielle Clark regarding Underground Etiquette. Thanks for the great read, Danielle! Even though most of what you have to say is common sense, it is amazing how many people completely miss such things. And as a newbie commuter myself, it is nice to see I have figured most of it out nicely.

http://my.telegraph.co.uk/danielle_clark/february_2008/london_underground_etiquette_for_beginners.htm