The other day I needed a toaster. Toasters are pretty cool devices, and it's probably safe to say that most people own one these days. Toasters are cool.
I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and looked at the ones for sale. The sales associate pointed out a most wonderful toaster. It had a DVR, an onboard PS3, a theramin (look it up), and margarita machine. Wow, thought I...how productive and powerful. The associate gushed over its power and functionality. I was a huge fan of the manufacturer who produced the toaster (I've owned several applicances made by this manufacturer). Being curious I asked the associated, "Yeah, but how's the toast?".
"Toast?", asks the associate...
This brief story (read as: lie) illustrates my feelings on the iPhone vs. PPC/Win Mobile. Don't get me wrong, I think Win Mobile is fantastic. I love the apps and device. However, the PPC phone doesn't do what I want it to very well. It really isn't a good *phone*. I want a device that is a good phone first, and then does some cool stuff...not something that does really cool stuff and also happens to be a phone.
iPhone is a good phone first. It has very phone user-centric features that I love. Perfect example: voicemail on my iPhone is displayed as a list. I see who called, and can elect to delete messages w/o having to actually listen to them. While playing the messages, it appears they can be played on speaker phone...I can listen while doing something else easily. PPC does tell me I have messages (like a traditional cellphone), but doesn't really give me any advanced features for handling messages.
The iPhone touch interface is a breeze to use. No more stylus! I just don't like using the PPC interface that much. I've learned to use the directional button and assign shortcuts to things I use a lot...I even bought some software to improve the PPC interface (SPBWharehouse makes some great stuff). However, too much of the time I am stuck with the SIP, and that gets to be a pain. The touch on the iPhone allows me to press a button then move my finger around to the correct key should I get it wrong..saves lots of backspace. PPC requires tons of backspace comparatively. Backspace==reduced productivity.
PPC still is, I think, superior for uses such as data, number crunching, custom apps (VS makes writing them very easy) and the like. However, for day to day *phone* use, I feel the iPhone is far better.
Print | posted on Monday, February 09, 2009 8:46 AM