Why This Outdoorsman Loves Palm's Small Smartphone

By: Benji Hadfield (@AlaskanKayak)

Recently I’ve written about the benefits of turning social media notifications off as well as my own personal one-week hiatus from the virtual world. Since then, I’ve read about the ability to use your phone to break the addiction to your phone! With these things in mind, you could imagine how excited I was to learn about the new smartphone from Palm.

Palm can be used either as a standalone, fully-functioning, android-based smartphone, or it can be used as a “companion device” that shares the same phone number you use on your current phone, allowing you the flexibility to use Palm during those times when it makes the most sense to you. Leaving my big bulky smartphone in my pickup truck when I go kayaking allows me to really feel like I’m leaving the world behind, yet still use my favorite apps like Spotify, MapMyRide, Audible, and anything else that works on an android phone.

The more I learned about this Palm the more I found myself nodding that this was what I wanted in my life. It was as though the company knew me and my priorities but also understood the realities about the world I live in. To address both of these, Palm gives me the option of putting the device in “Life Mode” (and how cool is it that they use a Palm tree icon to represent “Life Mode”??? Love it!)

In Life Mode, the device automatically goes into airplane mode anytime the screen is off. This means that when I’m with my kids, my phone won’t interrupt our time together - and that’s what it all boils down to for me…. time. The more I contemplate my kids growing up and leaving the home, the more I have come to view those silly everyday moments we have together as sacred.

Now, before you dismiss this idea as something that would never work for you, there IS the option of customizing your very own Life Mode, just like your very own life. Let's suppose you don't want Twitter notifications to come through but you’re waiting on an important text from your sister - you can allow texts to still function in Life Mode. And what about the opposite situation? What if someone in your contacts is driving you crazy but you just put out a tweet that was🔥🔥🔥and you can’t wait to see the likes and retweets come rolling in? You can totally “Life Mode” the texts but allow twitter notifications to come through! Brilliant!

Immediately after getting my very own Palm, I took it camping. On an island. In Alaska. And I loved it even more than I thought I would. Yes, it’s tiny, but that’s part of what I love about it. While I was kayaking and hiking around I wasn’t aware of the weight of the phone in my pocket. It allowed me to really be with my family and be one with the lake and the animals without interruption. Also, the 12 megapixel camera was handy for capturing those memories we made. The following images were all taken with my Palm:

 

To read more from Benji, head over to AlaskanKayak.com.