Photojournalists need to be mobile. We have to file our pictures before the deadline, and sometime that mean filing on location. You have to bring your laptop and use an available Internet connection. Usually, you can use a Wi-fi  provided by the event you are covering, from an Internet café nearby, or by using an open and non-protected one (which is officially not legal).

But sometime, you just can’t. You have to file from a place where there is no Internet available around and you don’t have the time to find one. What do you do then?

I knew I would have to invest someday, and the time came for on last week’s election. I had to file from a restaurant where the ADQ from the Quebec City area where rallying during the evening. No Internet was available (at the end, there was an access, but it crashed during the night so…)

I went to see my friend Patrick at Telus. I bought a Treo 700p, so I could use it as a modem. No cable needed, it use bluetooth to communicate with the laptop. It worked like a charm. The communication was fast; a couple of MB of pictures was transferred in just a few of minutes.

And since then, I’m in love with my Treo. I can synchronize my calendar from my computer and have my contacts list everywhere I go. I use it to receive and send email. I listen to my MP3 collection. I can browse the Internet. I can even make phone call! So when I am in the bus, I can read my RSS feed while listening to my music.

Sweet!