Three Little Words

Last fall, I replaced my phone with a brand-spankin' new Motorola Q 9m. And I really enjoy it. As much as I'm in my car, it's great to have my email, the web and some music with me wherever I go. Plus — bonus — it syncs with Windows at work, so I was able to dump the Palm III crutch. With a little extra software at home, I can use the phone to sync between work PC and home Mac. One life, one phone book, one calendar.

Mere weeks later, my employer replaced my antiquated two-way pager with a more modern digital leash: a BlackBerry. Which, quite naturally, can do almost everything the Q can, but it can also receive my work email. So now I walk around with the Buck Rogers toolbelt of two tech phones.

These two devices are, naturally, quite similar. There are few things about each that I love more than the other: how much easier it is to type a period or an "&" on the Q; the ease of hold-to-capitalize-a-letter on the BlackBerry, and how it knows when it's in its holster (and therefore should vibrate, not beep). But there's another, more philosophical difference between the two that strikes me.

On the BlackBerry's home screen, it shows me the next two appointments on my calendar. Even now, it's looking ahead to Monday and a 10:00 meeting, lest I miss something three days away.

The Q — and its underlying Windows Mobile 6 operating system — only looks out as far as the end of tomorrow. If it doesn't find anything, it shows a message that makes me just want to sit here, at the end of a hectic workweek, sigh and smile. Rather than rush me through the weekend, it lets me breathe, relax, and read:

"No upcoming appointments."

Those may be the three sweetest words ever to appear (appropriately) in the workplace.