Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Back To School


Today was the kid's first day back to school. Catherine did a lot better than we were expecting and had no separation issues whatsoever. In fact, she just wandered into her class without even really saying goodbye and started working. Quinn meanwhile started in the elementary program, so he's with all the older kids now. He also brought his school supplies with him today. He used one of our free Independent Film Channel swag bags we got back when Ginger was working in advertising and we used to get free stuff all the time. He had the thing packed to the limit with stuff so it was pretty heavy for him.




So I'm about to pull my hair out. As frequent readers will already know, Ginger and I got new cell phones due to our old provider (Amp'd) going out of business. Now that we've got new phones though, I decided I would pull all our data off the old ones before we got rid of them. And therein lies my problem. They're Motorola Hollywood models (E816) and even though they have a USB cable and connector, they don't seem to be recognized by the computer. After researching it some, I think I know why, but I'm still not completely sure I have all the facts right. I think they don't make the phone available as a USB drive and make it so it can only be accessed via special software that you can get from Motorola. The other option I have to get the pictures off is to text / email them to myself from the phone, but since the provider no longer exists, that's not really an option. Is this the way all phones work? My one other option may be bluetooth. It appears that the phone can connect via bluetooth and I could possibly transfer files that way. The problem is I have no bluetooth devices and I really don't know anything about the standard or what hardware would be required (or even if the phone is using the OBEX connection or whether it will work). If it's something expensive, I might was well just shell out the $30 for the Motorola software and hope that works. Anybody local have a bluetooth connector I can borrow or something? All I know is not being able to access the data on sucks and I can't believe how much time I've spent trying to get to the data and having no luck. It wouldn't be that bad if they explained all this in the phone's manual, but nowhere does it talk about getting your data off the phone and to your computer in any of the manuals.

3 comments:

Curt Sawyer said...

I think this is common for Motorola. I think my old Motorola required special software to sync. Come to think of it, I had a NEC that also required special software to sync. I have a blackberry now. So much cooler. So much easier to sync (and the software comes with the phone!).

The Dogfather said...

I have a Moto, and the software, I may (or may not) be able to grab the stuff for ya. Not sure how "profile dependent" it is.
Just a thought.

Barry said...

I have a bluetooth USB dongle you can borrow. I use it to get pictures off my phone (Sony Ericsson)