Plug and Play my arse

[liadnan]

Well, you see, I 'bought' (for a price equal to a discount on my next bill) a new mobile phone, as I was entitled to a free upgrade, and with a sigh of relief ditched the piece of Samsung crap that has bedevilled my life for a year and more and put me off ever buying anything made by Samsung at all again. Ever. Ever.

Said phone has a camera, which had nothing to do with my choice: to be honest the current mania for sticking a camera on every new gadget seems vaguely pointless to me and despite Orange's best efforts I continue to use my mobile phone almost solely for that archaic purpose, making phone calls.

Nonetheless, I thought I'd give the camera a try out, and took a couple of photos today.

And now what? The bugger actually has a USB port, but neither Linux nor Windows (the first time I've logged into Windows since shortly after I bought this machine, I suddenly realised) knows what to do with it. Windows helpfully tells me that it knows it's a Motorola V220 but that it knows of no drivers for it, sorry guvnor. I can, at enormous cost, access my email through the phone, and thus send myself an email, but I don't appear to be able to attach anything. So I can sent other people text messages including the photo. How, um, pointless.

Which is a shame because to my surprise the photographs were significantly better than expected, though obviously not as good as if I'd used the digital camera I was carrying in my jacket pocket instead.

Comments

[eccles.livejournal.com]

Maybe you can download a driver from the manufacturers website.

[rainstorm.livejournal.com]

to be honest the current mania for sticking a camera on every new gadget seems vaguely pointless to me

I wonder where it's going to stop.

"I want a pair of socks."
"Here you are. They have a camera attached."
"I just want socks. Don't you have any without a camera?"
"No, just the camera-socks. Socks without cameras just aren't popular any more."

I am sure that soon the world will be like this.

[eccles.livejournal.com]

Of course, how else do you expect your socks to contact your fridge over the internet to order more pizza?

[rainstorm.livejournal.com]

It sounds more tempting when you add pizza to the arrangement.

[greyarea.livejournal.com]

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/111426

contains some links to get the appropriate drivers, programs etc. Provided you're looking for the "cabel" software, of course, not the "cable".

[liadnan]

Good lord. I embarked on this but lots of the links started timing out and I decided I couldn't be arsed. Also discovered that Motorola sell a CD of the necessary for 25 quid. but screw that, it isn't that important. And I don't really think I'm going to be using my mobile as a modem regularly, which is a further benefit of the software.

Inevitably, someone is actually working on a linux driver it seems.

[liadnan]

(cheers for finding that though)

[liadnan]

Next thing you know you'll be converted to the cameras with everything cult.

[liadnan]

Rather more complicated than that - see answer to Rik's post above. One comment on the board he linked to indicates that Motorola itself doesn't have a clue about any of it.

[liadnan]

Camera contact lenses on the other hand, now those I'd buy.

[nicnac.livejournal.com]

So I can sent other people text messages including the photo. How, um, pointless.

I assume that's the main point, e.g. if you're at a great gig you can send a photo text to say "ha ha I'm here and you're not."

[rainstorm.livejournal.com]

I think I'm far from convinced. Only when there is automatic pizza ordering technology on socks will I convert to the cult.

[sbp.livejournal.com]

Boo-toof? Infrared?

I side-stepped the whole thing by getting a camera-phone with removeable media so I could just put the memory stick in my laptop. And then I got fed up with that phone when it decided to wipe all its internal memory and went back to my trusty Ericsson T39m which I got off eBay (the last one was nicked at Glastonbury). No camera, small screen, but GPRS modem, infrared, BlueTooth, and a flippy bit so my pocket no longer makes phonecalls. A phone you talk down! What a novelty!

[liadnan]

Always have a flippy bit for precisely that reason. Which does limit my choice. I suppose BlueTooth would have been a good idea, but this one doesn't have it. Heigh ho, I'll live.

[liadnan]

I confidently predict it'lll be on the market for Christmas 2005.

[eccles.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I granted the patent for it yesterday.

[bitterfame.livejournal.com]

May I be so bold as to suggest a comma in the title of this post would be an idea? Or were you aiming for that reaction!

I'm liking the pizza ordering socks... Count me in!

[liadnan]

I require notice of that question.