How Do You Find an Office Depot in Charlotte?

I'm on a media tour for the next ten days and today I learned something I just had to share with you that will no doubt be a great resource for you both at home and on the road. I can't believe I didn't know about this until now. Thanks to Jody, my traveling partner, now I know!

So let's say you're on a road trip with a friend and you're driving through Charlotte, North Carolina. You've been driving all day and you're starving but you don't know the area and you have a bad hankerin' for some pizza.  Or you really need to find a Post Office. Or the local Office Depot. What do you do?  If you have a GPS unit, you could use it to locate any of these places. But what if you don't? You just whip out your trusty mobile phone and...

create a new text message that says: OFFICE DEPOT CHARLOTTE NC and you send it to 46645. Voila! You've just sent Google a text message (46645 spells GOOGL on your phone keys).

Once you send Google the request, you get an instant reply. And I do mean instant -- as in within three to four seconds of hitting SEND! Google will send you back a text message with results. In this case, I discovered that Office Depot has locations on South Boulevard, JW Clay Boulevard and Independence Boulevard, all in Charlotte. It also gave me the street addresses and phone numbers so I can call and find out how to get there.

This super-kewlio service is also super-free on Google's end, but remember to check to see if your mobile carrier charges you for sending and receiving texts. This handy service works just like Google on your computer but all you need is your cell phone! What a totally awesome organizing and time-saving tool! Try it for yourself and let me know what you're phone-Googling and how it worked for you!

Comments

[Danielle]

Monica,

I've used this service for a year now and can't believe how useful it is! The other neat 'trick' that you'll appreciate is to send a text such as "from 1404 anywhere st, 92115 to 1049 anywhereelse st, 92104" to the same address - Googl (46645) and it will return with turn by turn directions. Its about as finicky as the website is, so you'll have to repeat a search every once in a while with more specific 'street' over 'st' type modifications but its VERY helpful when you're lost or hungry or in need of that elusive Office Depot!
-D

[Terry Lessig]

I did a text GOOGL of "Monica" and it gave me a cigar store and a dry cleaners in DC. Perhaps I should add your last name.