Deaf users sound off on Sidekick outage

The T-Mobile Sidekick LX.

(Credit: CNET)

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 deaf people who have been among the Sidekick's most loyal fan base.

"It was severely limiting and made me very dependent on others," Carla McCraw, a Web designer from San Antonio, Texas, said in an e-mail interview. "This loss of independence was very stressful on me."

McCraw said she relies on her Sidekick to manage everyday tasks, from keeping up with closures at her son's day care to whether soccer practice will be rained out.

"It was extremely frustrating, not being able to know, and my mother had to call the soccer coach and day care, making me feel extremely inadequate," she said. "I had to rely on the Internet through (alternative services such as) Yahoo and Facebook to let my friends know my Sidekick was down."

The good news, for both deaf and hearing users, is that Microsoft and T-Mobile appear to be making headway at restoring much of the data that, at one time, appeared gone permanently.

But even an outage can be a big deal for those that use the Sidekick as something of a communications lifeline.

Lisa Gault, a deaf Sidekick owner in Katy, Texas.

(Credit: Lisa Gault)

"As the outage went on, I became concerned about how my deaf teenage son would be able to communicate in an emergency," Jamie Berke, an About.com guide based in the Washington metro area, said in an e-mail.

"I know he is not the only one," said Berke, who is also deaf. "The outage probably meant that thousands of deaf children who depend on their Sidekicks to communicate with parents were unable to communicate in the event of an emergency. Plus, I myself, would have been unable to communicate in an emergency."

The Sidekick became an early favorite in deaf circles because of its good keyboard, then-state-of-the-art instant-messaging abilities, and ability to connect to relay services. T-Mobile improved things further by adding a data-only option so that deaf users weren't paying for voice minutes they didn't use.

Because the Sidekick didn't evolve as fast as other smartphones, many users--deaf and hearing alike--moved to the BlackBerry and other devices. And after their recent experiences, many of the remaining Sidekick users in the deaf community have said they are considering jumping ship, once their T-Mobile contracts end.

Audio

Impact on the deaf
CNET News reporter Ina Fried tells
editor Leslie Katz why the Sidekick
troubles hit deaf customers so hard.

Download mp3 (1.44MB)

"I am going to look into Sprint's BlackBerry, which more and more deaf people are taking up, and have complimented, and (said) that it is a lot more reliable," McCraw said.

Lisa Gault, a deaf Sidekick owner in Katy, Texas, said she in an e-mail interview that she relies on the Sidekick as a means to stay in touch with her family.

"It's a way for the school to get a hold of me, if something were to occur with my son who is (not deaf)," Gault said.

Gault said that even short of an emergency, it is a problem not to get her e-mail for an extended period.

"It's annoying, as my friends think I'm ignoring them, when in reality, I didn't get the e-mails yet," Gault said. "It really put the deaf community at more of a disadvantage--more so than for hearing people, since we're so reliant on e-mail (devices) to keep in touch."

[cloudmatt]

wow 2 stories about how MS screwed up in 3 hours, and this one shows how MS is picking on the poor deaf people. surely there is more out there in this great inter-webs that you don't have to beat this story to death repeatedly. this isn't even directly MS's fault mostly this danger company.

I feel like I'm in a mark twain story lots of Apple Pie and whitewash.

[mbenedict]

@cloudmatt: when a company screws up like this, they deserve to get dinged.

[Random_Walk]

"when a company screws up like this, they deserve to get dinged."

Agreed.

When a handful of folks lose data due to something freakish and unforeseeable, okay, give 'em a break... but when thousands of customers lose data due to sloppiness in basic practice by the vendor? The vendor has it coming.

[cloudmatt]

@mbenedict

dinged with out a doubt, Danger made a big mistake forgetting that redundancy is your friend. I accept that this sucks especially for the deaf seeing how the sidekick is a popular tool for them. but there has been 7 stories all by Ina
Fried in the last 3 days.

danger is the direct reason for the outage they just happen to have MS backing. Win-mo is not the OS the sidekick uses but all the readers get to see is Microsoft to blame. it's like blaming the I-phone for at&t's lack of bandwidth and coverage.

[jtara]

@couldmatt: So, should she have dropped the story about how Microsoft has now recovered most of the data? How is that story about "how Microsoft screwed up?" I take it more as about how Microsoft pulled an unexpected rabbit out of a hat.

Yes, it IS directly Microsoft's fault. To correct both your statement and that of another saying that Danger has "Microsoft backing": no. Microsoft OWNS Danger. Lock, stock, and barrel.

Everybody should assume that data in "the cloud" is disposable. Back-up your data in multiple places. Nearly everybody seems equally irresponsible - what customers don't see won't bother them. My own "cloud" backup provider (CrashPlan) had a one-day outage the other day because GoDaddy somehow hosed their domain. (Their home page read "this page parked free courtesy of GoDaddy!". Boy, THAT's a reassuring thing to see! When criticized for their choice of GoDaddy as registrar their only excuse was "Mozy and Carbonite use GoDaddy too."

Thanks. I'll avoid Mozy and Carbonite.

[brian.lee]

Are you kidding have you not read the stories on the web regarding this outage?... this was all because Microsoft cut corners... to save money

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/10/12/microsofts-sidekickpink-problems-blamed-on-dogfooding-and-sabotage/

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/10/09/exclusive_pink_danger_leaks_from_microsofts_windows_phone.html&page=1

[mbenedict]

@brian.lee:

Those AppleInsider stories have zero factual evidence, and from a technical perspective they don't even add up. Those kind of stories just make Apple fanboys look really dumb for believing that kind of crap.

[Tech Diva XXX]

I don't even own a Sidekick but the whole enitre situation has left a bad taste in my mouth. I've seen some people post that the Danger division was purposefully neglected by MSFT in favor of starting up Pink, obviously "forgetting" that there are still customers on Danger. I don't know if that's true or not, but I can tell you this... I don't think they value their customers at all regardless. Otherwise this would never have happened.

Now MSFT claims they can restore data after scaring everyone and their Mama who owns a Sidekick, telling them it was gone forever. Can we get a straight story please? Even I feel jerked around.

One reason I'm concerned even though I don't own a Sidekick, is that many phones now want to try using some version of the "cloud". I never felt secure about the cloud to begin with, and I feel even less secure now. This situation proves your data is at the mercy of the competence of the companies. If any phone doesn't offer local back-up(PC or memory card is fine with me) along with the cloud, I don't l think I'll be getting it.

I plan to get Windows 7 so I'm not a MSFT hater, but this whole Danger thing is just terrible!

[Tech Diva XXX]

Sorry about the typos in the above post, LOL!

[GoDaddydotcom]

@jtara

For clarification, CrashPlan.com is not accurately describing the chain of events that occurred in this situation.

The customer's website down time was due to his own omissions, not any error or oversight on Go Daddy's part. We promptly restored the site once the customer took the necessary corrective action.

-GoDaddy.com Domain Services

[faceless128]

the best thing about this article is them mentioning "Sprint's Blackberry"

[DaveinDC]

That's true...why? Because Sprint employed many deaf people; they do excellent job outreaching to the deaf/HH community. Also, Sprint does advertisement in many local deaf-media outlets. Verizon does a small outreach on national level. AT&T and T-Mobile, you never see them doing any outreach and/or advertise the deaf/HH Community. Verizon is the only company doesn't have Data Plan -- you have to pay full service which includes voice.

[rich966]

b/c it is RIM's Blackberry.

[kj_dinesh]

@mbenedict

Everyone screws up one way or the other, but Microsoft's screwups are blown way beyond the scope.

[Random_Walk]

...tell that to the thousands who actually relied on the thing for their day-to-day living (e.g. the deaf folks highlighted in this story).

It also has relevance to the whole cloud computing hype - and points out one rather glaring flaw in relying on a cloud service.

It also brings up one hell of a counterpoint when the PHB's stop by the office and ask me why I haven't piloted cloud services for some of the services we provide ("Google for 'microsoft' and 'sidekick', then come back and tell me if you still want to park your customer data on the thing").

[sciontcya]

Really?
All you MS followers/lovers love to brag about being 90% of the computing world.
So, it's OK to be big if you monopolize software, but if your big screwup happens, it should be downplayed?
Give it up.
You types have been apologizing for MS' crap security and half-assed products forever.
And in case you missed it - when Apple had initial issues with the Mobile Me transition, it was everywhere - blown out of proportion.
Apple owned up, fixed it, and gave users extra months of service for free to make amends.
Don't recall anyone losing data though...

[tigertony9]

I understand there frustations, but people we have to understand that this is technology and it is subject to failure wether by ignorance or not. We rely to much on one technology and not having a backup plan. Man is not perfect (some may not see it that way), therefor man cannot create perfect technology.

What did you do when the sidekick wasn't invented (created) yet?

[arch113]

So 2 Sidekick outages so far this year, how many blackberry outages has there been (more than 2)?

[Forked_Tongue]

Blackberries outtages don't last more than 4 days, service may have been restored and now it's almost been two weeks for them to recover data. The decision that should have been made is restore the service immediately and then recover the data from there, even that wasn't done. In this day and age, unless it's a natural disaster or nuclear war, at least get the lines up so people can at least sms and surf to check the emails thru a browser, how this was handled was a poor joke, Danger subdivision, Microsoft, and Tmobile should all deserve the bad press, loss of customers, and are damn lucky too keep those who'll tolerate their incompetence, backing up customer's data is crucial, I bet their own accounting records to make their customer's pay are backed up and wouldn't take 4 days to restore.

[sonicbath]

If I were in the position of needing a device to communicate with the outside world in such a situation, the last device I would consider would be a cloud based device.

I would suggest getting a device which stores data locally and backup/sync daily with my computer. I would also suggest setting your device not to delete emails at the ISP and let your computer take care of that (2 weeks). This is what I have done and have not had any problems in years.

[Perry_Clease]

My wife is deaf. Previously to getting our iPhones she used a Palm Treo for sending/receiving email, she synched data with her Mac. Since getting the iPhone she texts as well as emails, but also likes the easier synching procedure between her Macs, iPhone, and MobileMe.

[backwerds]

It's unfortunate for the deaf community but the sidekick outage impacted all users of the sidekick. As troubling as it is; relying on one mode of communication simply cannot be the best practice. If any carrier's system gets hacked or crashes, the entire carrier can be out of communication.

This is why it is important to understand alternatives to communication; whether you use other social media connections ( Facebook, twitter) or you rely on emails and instant messages.

[Dixon515]

I'm curious, are you deaf? Can you afford monthly payments for several mobile phones at once in case one crashes? If the sidekick crashes on a deaf person, where would you go? The person can't use a phone.. might not have access to wi-fi for his/her laptop.. so where would you go? What else would you rely on? There is the option of a mobile video phone.. but that isn't available to most deaf and certainly isn't affordable. For others who commented on how silly it is to be frustrated on this outage (and this is only the first of many with Danger, just the first to lose Data COMPLETLEY) since we all survived without a sidekick before... what came before a sidekick? Text pagers (no email, no aim for instant communication. AIM also allows you to use mobile tty just fyi. What came before text pagers? ....... POST IT NOTES!!!!!!! Your comment seriously marginalized the deaf person's needs for mobile communication and made light of the the deaf person's accessibility to other services... which are extremely limited.

[Forked_Tongue]

Dixon515, there are many great devices out there it's simply the carriers won't subsidize them because it would save you money. There are many qwerty phones, many have the ability to check emails as well as sms but then these carriers wouldn't be able to bleed the deaf community for a higher priced data package. I agree with what you stated though, many people don't know that the sidekick has constant intermittent outtages in addition to a major ones yearly, and data loss about every other year. I would recommend all deaf users to get a blackberry and follow the advice on the blackberry forum for deaf users (www.blackberryforums.com and do a search for "Mark Rejhon").

[DaveinDC]

Let put it this way -- if hearing people's cell phone network crashed for 5 days -- you bet FCC will look into this and take whatever actions. The cell provider will feel the heat. Because hearing people needs to have cell phone for emergency, last minute change in plan, etc. I always tell people that pager is "Deaf Cell Phone" -- we page others (or email) for same reasons I mentioned above.

As for other comment about switching to other qwerty phone -- they don't have Push Technology -- meaning getting email live or right away. The qwerty phone check for emails every 15 minutes or so. That's why there are very few choice of pagers to purchase.

[Tech Diva XXX]

Blackberry does have push. I believe WM phones can get push too.

[KevinXI]

why would a deaf mom reproduce a deaf son, that's immoral.

[DaveinDC]

I can't believe you're so insensitive! I hope your comment will be removed by moderator.

[KevinXI]

How would you like to have been born deaf with your genetically deaf mother knowing that you would have been? It's almost as irresponsible and selfish as a mother drinking while pregnant. But that's my opinion, i'm not saying that deaf people don't deserve to live. I just think it's immoral to knowingly share your disability with someone as innocent as a child.

[Tech Diva XXX]

There's no guarantee a "perfect" couple will have "perfect" children either! I use quotes because apparently that's how you think, only "perfect" people deserve to have kids. I also wonder how true it is that a person who's deaf will always produce a deaf child, I'm not sure that's the case. What if the other parent can hear? I thought you carry chromosomes from BOTH parents.

I think it's immoral when "perfect" people bring children into the world then refuse to raiseor support them! I would rather have a deaf Mom who loves me than a "perfect" Mom who abandons me!

T mobile sends people who dont know ASL to DEAFESTIVAL in L.A. to sell sidekicks... now how the !@$% do they expect to sell any?

[DaveinDC]

Not surprised. It happened at other cities too. That's another reason why I don't use T-Mobile. They're making money out of us when they don't understand Deaf Culture.

[bellewitch]

Unhappy sidekick customers can get a peek pronto for free. http://blog.getpeek.com/2009/10/its-peek-to-the-rescue/

[Dixon515]

The reason I, and many other deaf, went with T-mobile before is because the sidekick offered a "data only plan" that elminiated the need to pay for minutes on a phone. Why should deaf pay for the minutes if they can't use them right? As a result, this was the most affordable and practical phone for the deaf.
Unfortunately, thats about all t-mobile ever did to cater to the deaf community. However, it was more than what other carriers offered to the deaf which was NOTHING. That was a few years ago. NOW other carriers such as Sprint and Verizon cater to the deaf. Heck, Verizon has THREE data only plans and a FAQ about these plans with a link in each answer to vew the answer IN ASL (american sign language). I plan to switch to a Verizon blackberry as soon as possible... but unfortunately, I'm screwed by the two year contract I signed with T-mobile.

[tbarbe]

Its interesting how the deaf community is actually quite wired and quick to adapt technology to their needs..

We built a video blogging widget and found that a large community of deaf people showed up and starting using it as a video communication tool! Was very nice to see them making their own use of it.
You can see some of them using it here:

http://www.blipback.com/deafbikersnet/169059

http://www.blipback.com

[slammeddeaf]

I've still not gotten back contacts and bookmarks and stuff. I got back emails. Not like its any real comfort.
I felt particularly slammed by this because I'm Deaf and virtually all of my stuff is on my Sidekick. I got the Sidekick precisely because data is backed up remotely. But I'm takin away a lesson to bear some personal responsibility to back up my data proactively...
BUT why hasn't Danger enabled the USB port for precisely that ability to port Sidekick data seamlessly?
After this fiasco (somehow the word is too tame)... should I feel a degree of comfort from here on out that MS / Danger / server providers will now be trebly vigilant over customer's data?
One reason I like the Sidekick is the ability to set up folders for sorting. The other is the data o;y plan which ATT and Verizon does not offer. Blackberry doesn't have that - plus I HATE the narrow keyboard!
I'm waiting for Sprint Relay Store to drop the price of the HTC TouchPro 2 to 199 dollars and I'll consider making the jump. Well yes its Windows 6.1 - but I'm certain MS is even going company-wide to ensure ALL data integrity.
I'm reading that t-Mobile and MS sent out letters to Sidekick customers but I've yet to see anything. I'm still vigilantly watching online for any further instructions on getting back the rest of my data (hope!)

[kharkin]

I love how people are saying to back up the SK data yourself. My partner and I use macs ... for which there is no backup option. There used to be a bad 3rd party product for syncing address books, but that was dropped years ago and has not been compatible with the Mac OS since 2007.

She is Deaf and I hate using voice (besides, it is not like I am going to talk to call her with voice anyway). So our SK2s both have the data-only plan. Then when I called t-mobile to change to a G1 they wanted me to change to a plan that costs more that twice as much, mostly because of voice minutes. I use a few (like 5/month at most) pay-as-you-go minutes for emergency calls, but most of my communication with it is via email and texting.

[BoomerB51]

Looks like the full story about CrashPlan.com is out.

http://domainnamewire.com/2009/10/20/domain-registrars-often-blamed-for-customers-mistakes/