I finally got myself a smartphone this week.  After many weeks of research (and waiting for Orange to get their fingers out of their arse) I got my hands on the HTC Hero.  It's a lush piece of kit, maybe not quite an "iPhone Killer" - only the next iPhone will be able to unseat the 3Gs I feel - but very very nice.  It's only the third Android handset to be released in the UK so far.  HTC have skinned the basic Android interface with their own "SenseUI" technology and it's a pleasure to use.  I've seen a lot of reviews saying it's a bit sluggish but I honestly haven't had any problems with it.  It's exactly what I wanted.

Or thought I wanted.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade the phone for any other, it's just that it's brought with it some unexpected side effects.  First there is the customisation.  Have I got the optimum layout in the home screen?  Are there any cool apps I'm missing?  Is it better to have a smaller Twitter app on the homepage or a full twitter panel on its own page?  I'm still not convinced I have it right...

Then there is the information overload I mentioned in the title of this piece.  Since I got the phone on Thursday last week I've found myself constantly checking it, seeing what new Tweets have been added, seeing if I have new email, has anyone updated Facebook.  I'm not sure that this is healthy.

I've been using the Internet and been in the Web industry for about 15 years now.  Been here since before most non-geeky people had heard of the Internet, remember using software other than a browser to get information (Gopher and Archie anyone?).  I've seen trends come and go (yes, Push is definitely going to be the next big thing!  Where are you now Pointcast? Marimba?).  A former boss of mine told me in 1996 - after I had been evangelizing to him about the Internet and that he should have a website for the company - that the Web is a fad and would disappear like Prestel.

Yeah, right.

I didn't see Web 2.0 being as big as it has become.  In fact its only in the last 6 months or so that I've embraced it myself - before that I had no Facebook account, Twitter account or blog.  Hell, it took me forever to even update my own site and I'm a web developer by trade!    It's partially due to being online all day - I have to use the web constantly as there is always a need to look things up, double-check some syntax, get help with a complex SQL query, whatever. It makes going home and working on personal projects, or just coding for fun so much less attractive. But then there is everything else going on in the world.

I commented to a co-worker this week that I dreaded days without web access - not because I'd get the DTs or anything but just that when I got back there would be so much to catch up with.  The first thing I do in the morning is check email and then my RSS feeds. These are split roughly 50/50 between feeds related to development and my job, and other interests (movies, etc).  Makes it very easy to skim through and pick out what I actually need to read, and is definitely preferable to having to actually visit all the sites I might be interested in and work out what is new.

The problem is, it's always changing.  There is always something new.  And here is where the phone comes in - I find myself checking Twitter when I can't sleep.  When I wake up in the middle of the night it gets checked. When watching TV I'm going to be telling my followers what I'm watching, and they are going to be doing the same.  This used be be a problem for people with Blackberry phones, always effectively "at work" and always contactable.  I have the same problem but it isn't work, its the whole world.

It was so much easier when everyone else took no notice of the Internet and just left us geeks to it.

Tags: awesome, geek, reviews
Categories: Geek | Sci-Fi | Web | Opinion