Thursday, August 15, 2002
Random XDA musings, part 2
Posted by Jason Dunn in "THOUGHT" @ 02:00 PM
Now that I'm living the connected life with Tanto my XDA, there's a specific issue I want to spur some discussion on. It involves the issue of presence, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on it. I think that as more and more of us get connected, this will become a real issue, and I'd like to make my stance on it now. In some ways, it's a matter of etiquette.
The issue is this: I've seen a pattern among people that get a mobile connection, usually via GPRS. They register another Passport account and sign in as "Name (Mobile)". The end result is that I end up with them in my contact list twice, and at some point both are logged in. So which one do I contact? Which one is the person really at?
Instant messaging services like Windows Messenger (MSN Messenger) are about one thing: presence. Even if you have Messenger installed on multiple computers or devices, when you sign on to that device, it signs you out of the other ones - you are active only on the device you are using, which is the way it's meant to be. Looking at my contact list is the equivalent of looking around the room and seeing each person sitting in front of their computer or carrying their connected Pocket PC in their pocket. If you're logged in, you're there (unless your state is set to away, etc.) If I see you on the list, I know you're connected, and if I send you a message you'll get it sooner or later. Now the exciting thing about IM is that it simply reports your on-line presence - not what device you're using, nor where you are. When I see that pt is on-line and I send him a message, I don't know or care where/how he's on-line - just that he's there.
So the question is, why have two Passport accounts? Why tie the concept of IM to a device instead of to your presence? The only logical reason for this might be if you want to have two unique contact lists that don't intermingle, but barring that, I question why people do this. So what do you think? Am I missing something here? You dual-Passport people, speak up!
The issue is this: I've seen a pattern among people that get a mobile connection, usually via GPRS. They register another Passport account and sign in as "Name (Mobile)". The end result is that I end up with them in my contact list twice, and at some point both are logged in. So which one do I contact? Which one is the person really at?
Instant messaging services like Windows Messenger (MSN Messenger) are about one thing: presence. Even if you have Messenger installed on multiple computers or devices, when you sign on to that device, it signs you out of the other ones - you are active only on the device you are using, which is the way it's meant to be. Looking at my contact list is the equivalent of looking around the room and seeing each person sitting in front of their computer or carrying their connected Pocket PC in their pocket. If you're logged in, you're there (unless your state is set to away, etc.) If I see you on the list, I know you're connected, and if I send you a message you'll get it sooner or later. Now the exciting thing about IM is that it simply reports your on-line presence - not what device you're using, nor where you are. When I see that pt is on-line and I send him a message, I don't know or care where/how he's on-line - just that he's there.
So the question is, why have two Passport accounts? Why tie the concept of IM to a device instead of to your presence? The only logical reason for this might be if you want to have two unique contact lists that don't intermingle, but barring that, I question why people do this. So what do you think? Am I missing something here? You dual-Passport people, speak up!
