Where’d My Event Go? From Smartphone To Just A Phone

I’ve published several stories today referencing last night’s gdgt meetup event here in New York. So far, however, I have yet to post any video or photographic evidence that I was actually there. So here it is, my documentation of going to this exciting venue:

That’s it. My photo of the line is all that remains of all the media I recorded while attending this event, and even that only exists thanks to Photobucket’s automatic uploading. You see, my camera for this event was an HTC Droid Incredible. Not the greatest video device around, but it was good enough to handle 720p video recording. Most importantly, it was available.

Everything seemed to be going fine, but shortly after I spoke with the representatives at the SugarSync table, I needed to change my battery. I powered off the phone, opened the battery cover, swapped the battery, and restarted. When the process was done, I found I had a corrupted microSD card. All the day’s recordings were gone (Photobucket’s Android app can handle automatic video uploading, but I keep the feature off so I don’t end up with every video podcast I watch ending up in my account).

This is not the first time I’ve had this problem. I’ve been using variations of flash media in portable devices since 2000, ranging from cameras to PDAs (my HP iPAQ 2215 Pocket PC, with both SD and Compact Flash card slots) to netbooks to smartphones. With every device and every type of removable media, I’ve consistently run into situations where the card, for some inexplicable reason, becomes unusable. Last night’s was particularly frustrating, because the card was in good enough shape for me to view the file names on my PC, but not quite good enough to actually read any of those files.

I rediscovered on my way home last night just how vital a component that microSD card was to my smartphone, as it instantly transformed from a high quality smartphone into a device capable of doing little more than making calls. No on-board media players of course. No streaming media players, because they all cache data to the SD card. My ebook reader software had no books. Even my preferred web browser (Dolphin HD) crashed, because it stores many of its settings there. The only thing I tried that actually was working was Plants vs. Zombies, which for some reason doesn’t store anything to the card. It’s enough to make even an Android fanboy like me understand why Steve Jobs hates removable media.

Why, after over a decade, are we relying on this inconsistent media form? I think the answer lies in our willingness, as consumers, to settle for what’s available rather than vote with our dollars to wait for something better. I know my heavy use makes me more vulnerable to these problems than the average user, but my wife’s camera had the same issue a few months ago, and she rarely uses it. It’s an infrequent problem for her, as I’m sure it is for most people. So, why would we choose to give up the benefits of existing technologies? Despite the issues with its removable media, I love my phone and wouldn’t give it up for anything less capable. That means there’s rarely a reason for ScanDisk and its competitors to push the envelope on the quality and reliability of these devices.

For now, I’ve formatted my card and gone back to obsessively backing up everything that crosses its path. On most days I’ll be satisfied, because it will work or my backup solutions will be good enough. Starting tomorrow. For today, I want my interviews back.