Has Microsoft Killed the Sidekick?
Oct 12, 2009 | 1:24 pm
#1
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Has Microsoft Killed the Sidekick?
I hope no one here uses the Sidekick. This week, Microsoft announced that they had lost all t-mobile Sidekick user data including pictures, contacts, calendars and other information from their servers. Since the devices sync with the servers, the devices also lost the data. The Sidekick data services have been out for out over a week.
http://forums.t-mobile.com/tmbl/?category.id=Sidekick
oops...
http://forums.t-mobile.com/tmbl/?category.id=Sidekick
oops...
Oct 12, 2009 | 6:03 pm
#2
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My wife was using one that belonged to my daughter because her Blackberry died. Of course, she lost all of the data, but we happened to have a backup of her address book. We can re-upload it when we're sure it is ready. It's been down 9 or 10 days now..
Oct 12, 2009 | 7:50 pm
#4
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I saw this and just couldnt believe it. I cant remember how long ago it was that Microsoft took over the company that created the SideKick but they obviously did not handle the takeover very well.
Oct 13, 2009 | 10:26 am
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Out of the tragedy for those who lost their data, I am hoping that T-Mobile will have to launch some sort of massive "sale" to maintain market share, and thus I can lock into a good rate by converting my flexpay plan...
Oct 13, 2009 | 10:35 am
#9
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Let's maintain a sense of perspective here. Data loss is not a "tragedy". Tsunamis, gun toting maniacs on a rampage, genocide in Darfur - these are tragedies.
Oct 13, 2009 | 11:05 am
#10
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Virtually every company does backups.
Virtually none of them actually test to make sure those backups are any good.
Please if you do backups, actually do a restore too so you know if the data is good or not.
In an effort to ease the sting of losing its Sidekick customers' data, T-Mobile is crediting a month's worth of data service to its Sidekick users, and issuing US$100 T-Mobile gift certificates to users if their data isn't recoverable. The cell service provider recently revealed that Microsoft's Sidekick cloud servers lost all of their data, leaving many users without their contacts, calendars and other personal information.
This particular story goes on to say
"We have made significant progress this past weekend, restoring services to virtually every customer," T-Mobile said. "Microsoft/Danger has teams of experts in place who are working around-the-clock to ensure this stability is maintained."
Presumably those are not the same experts that led to the data loss.
Virtually none of them actually test to make sure those backups are any good.
Please if you do backups, actually do a restore too so you know if the data is good or not.
In an effort to ease the sting of losing its Sidekick customers' data, T-Mobile is crediting a month's worth of data service to its Sidekick users, and issuing US$100 T-Mobile gift certificates to users if their data isn't recoverable. The cell service provider recently revealed that Microsoft's Sidekick cloud servers lost all of their data, leaving many users without their contacts, calendars and other personal information.
This particular story goes on to say
"We have made significant progress this past weekend, restoring services to virtually every customer," T-Mobile said. "Microsoft/Danger has teams of experts in place who are working around-the-clock to ensure this stability is maintained."
Presumably those are not the same experts that led to the data loss.
Oct 13, 2009 | 11:49 am
#12
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I'm not familiar with Sidekicks (I'm one of those luddites that just needs a phone, not a computer, in my pocket). (1) I'm sure they have a memory card slot and (2) I'm sure you can perform your own backup onto said-memory card or (2b) perform backups via bluebooth or USB to a desktop computer.
If not, then that's a product I certainly would not want.
If not, then that's a product I certainly would not want.
Oct 13, 2009 | 12:13 pm
#13
Join Date: Jun 2002
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Microsoft's Sidekick/Pink problems blamed on dogfooding and sabotage
The sources point to longstanding management issues, a culture of "dogfooding" (to eradicate any vestiges of competitor's technologies after an acquisition), and evidence that could suggest the failure was the result of a deliberate act of sabotage
The sources point to longstanding management issues, a culture of "dogfooding" (to eradicate any vestiges of competitor's technologies after an acquisition), and evidence that could suggest the failure was the result of a deliberate act of sabotage
Oct 13, 2009 | 12:26 pm
#14
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In response to comments that have characterized the story of Microsoft bungling Danger and Pink as too ridiculous to be true, the source wrote, "no one really grasps how dysfunctional Microsoft has become. Yes Microsoft did spend half a billion dollars for, as near as anyone can tell, absolutely nothing. Not exactly the first time. Asserting that it's a ridiculous supposition is in no way disproving it."
Oct 13, 2009 | 12:35 pm
#15
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I'm not familiar with Sidekicks (I'm one of those luddites that just needs a phone, not a computer, in my pocket). (1) I'm sure they have a memory card slot and (2) I'm sure you can perform your own backup onto said-memory card or (2b) perform backups via bluebooth or USB to a desktop computer.
If not, then that's a product I certainly would not want.
If not, then that's a product I certainly would not want.