Having owned a Sidekick for a while, I’m very familiar with it’s reputation as a celebrity phone. Danger actually does list celebrities as one of it’s target markets! Personally I could care less who uses the phone I do, as long as it works the way I want. In other words, I’m totally not into the whole idea of supposed coolness because you where something or do something similar to a famous person. Many of the celebrities you see with phones visible from any company have actually been given the phone in the hope that they will increase it’s visibility and thus is clout. It’s kind of like a product placement, and while it’s possible that sometimes such deals are formalized in contracts, others I’m sure are just hopeful giveaways. And of course we all know that poor celebrities need all the freebies they can get!
So, with that in mind, I thought I’d try trumping the Sidekick’s cache of associated fame and basically beat it at it’s own game. I’m trying to gather a list of famous people who own and love their Treos. It may not be as flashy as those who own Sidekick’s, but I’m sure it will impress a lot more people to know that Lou Reed uses a Treo 600 than Lindsay Lohan. Maybe not teens or tweens, but guess what, companies, teens aren’t your only market!
So, I found another article about a whole bunch of celebrities who have Treo 600’s, mostly musicians as one would have it. Lou Reed, as I mentioned, as well as Peter Gabriel, Philip Glass, Branford Marsalis, Metallica, Aatronaut Buzz Aldrin and actor Kevin Spacey. Hmmm, no women. Apparently Matthew Broderick carries one as well.
In addition to celebs owning and using Treos in public, there is also Treos placed in TV programs and movies. Actually, seeing a Treo 600 used in a recent episode of The West Wing was what prompted all of this. Josh is seen using the phone in an attempt to reach Leo, the Chief of Staff. None of the Treo’s special abilities are highlighted – it’s just being used as a phone and that’s all. Also, a month or two ago I was flipping channels and saw a Treo on Disney or one of the other kids channels. There was a made-for-tv movie playing about a famous rock star who has dropped his phone with all of its scheduling and address info and this was picked up by a couple of adoring fans who then were trying to find him to return it. While this trumpeted a lot of cool features, they actually overlaid the Treo’s real screen with something that was computer generated to make it look a lot nicer and easier to read.
Well, if you know of other celebs you have the Treo and love it, let us know, even if you are that celebrity. Hey, we could have a celebrity war – Treo celebrities against Sidekick Celebrities. Hmmm, I see a new reality show in the making!
Update: Well, it looks you can add Howard Stern to the list – he talked about it on his radio show recently!
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