Rats

Would somebody please invent a waterproof cellphone?  If such a thing has been invented, will somebody please sell it to me (inexpensively, please!)? 

Also, would somebody please invent a means whereby the contents of one's address book are automatically backed up to a satellite memory someplace, so that when a phone gets dunked all the numbers and names aren't gone forever?

If I know you in real life, and you think I have your number, I don't anymore.  Please email or call me, and leave me your contact info. 

Sigh. 

Comments

[B.]

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your phone troubles! What a PITA! As for the memory problem, this won't help *now* but could prevent problems another time:
I was *just* reading (in some women's magazine, not a usual vice for me!) about a memory stick or card that you can use to back up the address book on your phone, and stick it into another phone (e.g., the next one you get after losing/damaging your original phone). I think it was Redbook, could have been "O" (Oprah's mag)....hopefully a decent google search will bring it up.

Good luck recovering your info. Hopefully your nearest and dearest are avid readers of your blog and will reply ASAP :-)

[william]

Although this is no help right now, a lot of Sony Ericsson and Nokia phones come with a phone-to-USB data cable and software you can use to synch the phone memory with (e.g.) your Outlook contacts folder. That's the ones with lots of memory, of course, and you may be planning on not replacing your phone with such a high-end one.

Having only one definitive list of contacts rules, though it is a bit strange to see your wife's number displayed as "Lastname Firstname" when she calls.

[Dan]

Sherry-

One of the companies, either LG or Samsung, recently showed a water-resistant cellphone but said they weren't going to produce it as there was no demand for it... DUH... There is a market, but they have no clue about it.

If you had a GSM cellphone, or if you get a new GSM cell phone (T-mobile or Cingular as carriers) then you can often back all your contacts up to the SIM card in the phone. The SIM cards are quite durable, as I've left the one I am currently using, out in the snow, slush, salt and rain of a Virginia winter for about a week.

Many phones with Bluetooth will let you copy your contacts to your PC or Mac (don't remember which you use, but believe you're still on a PC) without using cables. Other phones will let you do the same thing with a USB cable, as will pointed out.

I'm sorry to hear about the cellphone troubles... getting a new one is always a pain, and often a expensive pain at that. I seem to remember you got a new one not too long ago, about the same time I did, earlier this year. Ugh.

Anything I can do to help, drop me a note.

Dan

[fairhavenhorn]

Almost every cell phone now has one or more ways to back up your contacts.

For my T-mobile (Moto V360, personal) I've got both the SIM and a micro-flash card. I copy the addresses to the micro-flash and then save that onto my PC. So I end up with three backups. The SIM or micro-flash might survive a dunking, and there is the PC for when they don't. There is also software (Datapilot) that you can buy to copy back and forth using the USB. I had serious compatibility problems with it on Windows and junked it. Some people love it.

For my Verizon (LG, corporate) I use BitPIM to copy things to my PC for backup. It needs a special cable (about $25). I dislike both Verizon and the LG, but corporate makes those decisions. BitPIM is free, works on Windows and Linux, and does other useful stuff like copying photos, etc.

You probably did a salt water dunking. Those are tough. Not much survives salt water, although the SIM and micro-flash might if washed promptly in fresh water.

Whatever you get (I really like the Moto v360) you can get backups to a PC or Mac or Linux for it too.

Don't waste the money that the cell companies charge for their backup data holdings. For what they charge you could buy new cables and new software every year.

i know it's no consolation for the hassle of having to re-enter all your contact info, but didn't you dislike your phone...i mean, aesthetically speaking?
i'm about to upgrade my phone and hope there's some way to transfer all the numbers, which, thankfully, i still possess. good luck.

[Pat]

Low-tech: Carol Anne has a "SportsXtreme" water-tight pouch with flotation (one side is clear so a user can see what's in it) that she bought at the local "Sports Authority" sporting good store. The small size holds her cell, eyeglass case, and big hunk of keys (the car keys have remotes so they wouldn't like being dunked). Of course, it does take a while to open the bag to answer the phone.