[pct-l] Is Pocketmail "semi obscure?" -- was: New On-Trail List?

[brick@fastpack.com (Brick Robbins)]

At 01:16 PM 4/11/02, you wrote:
>Yes,I have heard of pocketmail,  but have YOU not
>heard most people do not have pocketmail. ;-)

The thru hikers who use email, use pocket mail. I know several who started 
with Palms, but got TM20s and sent the Palms home.... The acoustic couplers 
on the TM20 and the PM-33 makes them work on almost any phone. You need a 
jack to use a Palm...

>Most people who have e-mail that are traveling, will
>be using a web-based e-mail account.

Traveling, yes, thru hiking no. Simply not that many on-trail access 
points. I admit I am not infallible....So, are there any thru hikers on the 
list who were able to keep in touch with web based email?

>Hence why I said
>a web based hookup. There are also sattelite phones,
>e-mail cell phones, and other kinds of techno goodies.
>that we can all mention but we don't. To mention one
>semi-obscure device to prove a point, well -shrug-,
>does not seem to help your point.

Cell phones have inadequate coverage for most the trail. Sat-phones are out 
of reach $$$ for most hikers except Tom Reynolds. (this topic has been 
beaten to death on the list...)

Calling Pocketmail "semi obscure" on this list, well -shrug-, doesn't help 
YOUR  point. There have been several posts like this one concerning 
pocketmail. http://www.backcountry.net/arch/pct/0111/msg00262.html

FWIW, the Sharp TM20 seems to have been discontinued. A replacement is the 
PM-33 Composer sold on the pocket mail site.....

More info
http://www.pocketmail.com/
http://www.pdastreet.com/boards/PocketMail/



--
Brick Robbins

"I may be wrong, but I'm not uncertain."
-----Robert Heinlein - Glory Road