Just about everyone these days is going mobile. cc:Mail has changed their product name, Dick Shaffer's Mobile 94 conference (in early March) was packed, and some computer trade publications now have separate sections for mobile computing. But supporting mobile users is still no picnic, and there is lots of room for improvement. I thought about this recently while I was packing up to go to attend Shaffer's conference. Here's what I was bringing along: --My Mac Duo with internal modem --Ericsson wireless Mobidem --External Telebit Q Blazer modem --AC adapters for the Duo, Mobidem, and Q Blazer (none are the same, none compatible with the others) --Extra batteries for the Duo, Mobidem, and Q Blazer (none are the same, none compatible with the others) --Mobidem serial port cable and QBlazer cable (neither are standard Mac serial cables) -- and various telephone cables and power cords and connectors This is mobility? I was beginning to wonder. The reason for packing so much gear was that I was having some modem troubles. Each of the four communications programs that I use would only work with a particular modem. The four are: cc:Mail (to correspond with you and to file my columns with the editors), Smartcom (to pick up messages on MCI Mail and other asynchronous hosts that I connect to from time to time), Eudora (both for reading my Internet mail and also for working with wireless Radiomail), and Versaterm AdminSlip (for connecting to my Internet service provider). Granted, I like to be connected and use lots of tools to do so, but the hardware is getting out of hand. I brought the Q Blazer along because I was having problems running the VersaTerm Slip dialer with my internal Express modem on the Mac. You see, when I am in the office my Mac is docked to my EtherDock: this obstructs the internal modem's RJ11 jack, but I've managed to compensate by jamming in a phone cable anyway. As long as the dock is connected, all four comms programs work fine: My Mobidem (used by Radiomail and Eudora in its wireless mode) is connected to the dock's external modem port, and the other three apps use the internal modem. It's when I go on the road that I start having problems. First off, the Duo has this strange port configuration: both the printer and modem ports are one and the same. (When the computer is docked, the dock has separate ports for these connectors.) This causes no end of havoc for my software. Radiomail wants me to turn off Appletalk, which I'd like to do for two reasons: first, to save power and extend my battery life so I can really be mobile with my computer. Second, because otherwise I can't find the Mobidem on that combo port. Besides, I usually am not connected to any network anyway. However, when I turn Appletalk off (I usually do so with Connetix Power Book Utilities), I can't run Versaterm. For some reason, it doesn't see the internal modem unless Appletalk is running. It took me several hours of experimenting, plus a few tech support calls to Synergy Software, home of Versaterm. They sent me an updated set of software and I fooled around with rebooting my Mac and switching various ports on and off, loading one of my four communications programs first, and other shots in the dark. I asked Synergy to check this out, and was somewhat disappointed in their reply: "We just have all-in-one Power Books, no Duos. You'r the first one to report such a problem. Sorry." I find it interesting and a bit chilling that a company that develops communications software for the Mac market would have such a small sampling of computers for testing their work. I guess that's where we come in, the customers of their product. And it sure would be nice to have all AC-powered devices use the same batteries, charger and cables, but I'd settle for just a single modem for now. So in the meantime mobility for me means dragging along all this gear. Ironic, isn't it, that to become more mobile requires one to bring along more stuff. Something is wrong with this picture, and until it gets fixed, we still have a long way to go on making mobile computing more useable.
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David Strom
Port Washington, NY 11050 USA
US TEL: 1 (516) 944-3407