{"id":8114,"date":"2009-10-15T15:14:07","date_gmt":"2009-10-15T20:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=8114"},"modified":"2009-10-15T16:33:29","modified_gmt":"2009-10-15T21:33:29","slug":"deaf-users-sound-off-on-sidekick-outage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/10\/15\/deaf-users-sound-off-on-sidekick-outage\/","title":{"rendered":"Deaf users sound off on Sidekick outage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sidekick<\/a>

Deaf users sound off on Sidekick outage<\/p><\/div>\n

Deaf users sound off on Sidekick outage<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the T-Mobile Sidekick started having data problems two weeks ago, it
\nwas a big pain for nearly all of the company’s roughly 800,000 subscribers.
\nBut it became particularly rough for the many deaf people who have been
\namong the Sidekick’s most loyal fan base.<\/p>\n

“It was severely limiting and made me very dependent on others,” Carla
\nMcCraw, a Web designer from San Antonio, Texas, said in an e-mail interview.
\n“This loss of independence was very stressful on me.”<\/p>\n

McCraw said she relies on her Sidekick to manage everyday tasks, from
\nkeeping up with closures at her son’s day care to whether soccer practice
\nwill be rained out.<\/p>\n

“It was extremely frustrating, not being able to know, and my mother had to
\ncall the soccer coach and day care, making me feel extremely inadequate,”
\nshe said. “I had to rely on the Internet through (alternative services such
\nas) Yahoo and Facebook to let my friends know my Sidekick was down.”<\/p>\n

The good news, for both deaf and hearing users, is that Microsoft and
\nT-Mobile appear to be making headway at restoring much of the data that, at
\none time, appeared gone permanently.<\/p>\n

But even an outage can be a big deal for those that use the Sidekick as
\nsomething of a communications lifeline.<\/p>\n

“As the outage went on, I became concerned about how my deaf teenage son
\nwould be able to communicate in an emergency,” Jamie Berke, an About.com
\nguide based in the Washington metro area, said in an e-mail.<\/p>\n

“I know he is not the only one,” said Berke, who is also deaf. “The outage
\nprobably meant that thousands of deaf children who depend on their Sidekicks
\nto communicate with parents were unable to communicate in the event of an
\nemergency. Plus, I myself, would have been unable to communicate in an
\nemergency.”<\/p>\n

The Sidekick became an early favorite in deaf circles because of its good
\nkeyboard, then-state-of-the-art instant-messaging abilities, and ability to
\nconnect to relay services. T-Mobile improved things further by adding a
\ndata-only option so that deaf users weren’t paying for voice minutes they
\ndidn’t use.<\/p>\n

Because the Sidekick didn’t evolve as fast as other smartphones, many
\nusers–deaf and hearing alike–moved to the BlackBerry and other devices.
\nAnd after their recent experiences, many of the remaining Sidekick users in
\nthe deaf community have said they are considering jumping ship, once their
\nT-Mobile contracts end.<\/p>\n

“I am going to look into Sprint’s BlackBerry, which more and more deaf
\npeople are taking up, and have complimented, and (said) that it is a lot
\nmore reliable,” McCraw said.<\/p>\n

Lisa Gault, a deaf Sidekick owner in Katy, Texas, said she in an e-mail
\ninterview that she relies on the Sidekick as a means to stay in touch with
\nher family.<\/p>\n

“It’s a way for the school to get a hold of me, if something were to occur
\nwith my son who is (not deaf),” Gault said.<\/p>\n

Gault said that even short of an emergency, it is a problem not to get her
\ne-mail for an extended period.<\/p>\n

“It’s annoying, as my friends think I’m ignoring them, when in reality, I
\ndidn’t get the e-mails yet,” Gault said. “It really put the deaf community
\nat more of a disadvantage–more so than for hearing people, since we’re so
\nreliant on e-mail (devices) to keep in touch.”<\/p>\n

Source: http:\/\/news.cnet.com\/8301-13860_3-10375186-56.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deaf users sound off on Sidekick outage When the T-Mobile Sidekick started having data problems two weeks ago, it was a big pain for nearly all of the company’s roughly 800,000 subscribers. But it became particularly rough for the many…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[1539,1544,1538,1540,833,1184,1108,1542,1333,1467,1465,1541,1466,17,1543],"class_list":["post-8114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-blackberry","tag-carla-mccraw","tag-cnet","tag-danger","tag-facebook","tag-jamie-berke","tag-katy","tag-lisa-gault","tag-microsoft","tag-outrage","tag-sidekick","tag-smartphones","tag-t-mobile","tag-texas","tag-upset"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-26S","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8072,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/10\/13\/t-mobile-sidekick-owner-please-read\/","url_meta":{"origin":8114,"position":0},"title":"T-Mobile Sidekick Owner – Please Read","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"October 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"T-Mobile Sidekick Owner Hi all, Sorry to intrude on the list\u2014hope it is OK. I am working on a story for CNET News on the recent T-Mobile Sidekick outage and now data loss issues. We have covered a lot of the basics (at http:\/\/www.news.com), but i am interested in doing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8463,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/11\/18\/deaf411-new-sidekick-lx-2009-features-is-attractive-to-deaf-consumers\/","url_meta":{"origin":8114,"position":1},"title":"Deaf411: New Sidekick LX 2009 features Is attractive to deaf consumers","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"November 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"View online: http:\/\/www.deaf411online.com\/fuse www.deaf411online.com\/fuse","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1247,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2007\/02\/16\/deafpagerscom-news-and-updates\/","url_meta":{"origin":8114,"position":2},"title":"Deafpagers.com News and Updates","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"February 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Deafpagers.com News and Updates * New Deafpagers.com Blog * DeafTax.com * Updated Wireless Devices * Updated Accessirues DEAFPAGERS.COM BLOG Deafpagers.com is proud to add this new feature to our web site. We will start posting weekly articles written by Deaf people. The articles will include reviews of wireless products, device\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13731,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/03\/30\/attention-deaf-hard-of-hearing-texans\/","url_meta":{"origin":8114,"position":3},"title":"ATTENTION, Deaf & Hard of Hearing TEXANS!","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"ATTENTION, Deaf & Hard of Hearing TEXANS! Need to replace your T-Mobile Sidekick? Or just need a better phone? No STAP Voucher? No worries! Check out http:\/\/www.morayowireless.com for great deals on cool phones! HTC EVO 4G, Samsung Epic 4G, Blackberry and many more! Questions? Contact our friendly staff at: Tel:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3104,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2008\/03\/13\/three-day-sidekick-blowout-sale-extended\/","url_meta":{"origin":8114,"position":4},"title":"Three Day Sidekick Blowout Sale Extended","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"3 Day Sidekick Blowout Sale Extended&Plus Free Accessories From now until Friday March 21st you can get HUGE SAVINGS on the NEWEST SIDEKICK PAGERS! Fuse has the largest selection of Sidekicks available with prices starting at FREE! Just Announced&Purchase your NEW PAGER by March 21st and get a FREE CAR\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2152,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2007\/08\/31\/labor-weekend-sale\/","url_meta":{"origin":8114,"position":5},"title":"Labor Weekend Sale","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"August 31, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"http :\/\/www.deafpagers.com Deafpagers.com is the leader in the deaf wireless market. New Accessories Come In Crashed up to 80% off on Accessories Free Shipping for Ancestries orders Most Popular Device - Sidekick 3, Sidekick iD, and Blackberry 8700 - On Sale! New Device Comparison Chart New Accessories come in! http\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8114"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8123,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8114\/revisions\/8123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}