Todd Allcock wrote:
> At 16 Jun 2008 19:45:36 -0400 Carl wrote:
>
>> It's been a long thread so some of the points have been lost in
>> translation.
>> To review how we got to here, I use a Blackberry device (8330) which
>> syncs
>> wonderfully with MS Outlook- no complaints. I am fascinated by the
>> iPhone however and said I would get one of the new 3G ones if it
>> synced as well with MS Outlook. Then the suggestions began rolling
>> in, from MS Exchange to
>> Mobileme to Funambol. None of the suggestions really does the job
>> without far greater expense and/or more hassle. That brings you up
>> to date!
>
>
> Perfectly, thanks! Nice synopsys.
>
> You had me up until the "fascinated by the iphone" part... ;-)
>
> Kidding aside, the iPhone is an impressive device in a "savant" kind
> of way. A great browser, e-mail client and media player powering a
> device that's been crippled in the most ridiculous ways. A friend of
> mine (who LOVES his iPhone) has to e-mail himself every document he
> thinks he'll need before any overseas trip because you can't store
> them locally on the phone- he has to open the documents as e-mail
> attachments to view them, (and still can't edit, annotate, or save
> them.) 16GB of storage, and he can't put a spreadsheet or PDF on it
> without his e-mail "trick." (Yet, as testimony to the device, he's
> willing and happy to do that rather than use his old Treo that could
> store such documents internally.)
>
> Sure the 2.0 software will add new features and third-party
> capabilities, but will it correct the flawed "ease-of-use at all
> costs"/ "don't rile the record companies" design philosophy? I doubt
> it. The whole lack of files/folders access smacks of Zune-like
> DRM-lockdown- only can load media from a partnered PC (or buy it from
> the iTunes store via WiFi), can't transfer media between iPhones, etc.
>
> As cumbersome as my WinMobile device can be to configure or use at
> times, at least it knows who owns it! ;-) Sure, I envy the iPhone's
> thinness and pretty display, but the price of those thngs (not in
> dollars, but in reduced functionality) just isn't worth it. I use my
> device as a laptop replacement, and the thought of mass-e-mailing
> myself the contents of my current device's My Documents folder just
> to have access to needed documents eliminates the iPhone, at least in
> current form, from my list of potential next devices.
>
Agreed. More or less as I see it: a wonderfully glorified consumer toy with
very limited use as a business tool.
Menatime, I had a client in my office the other day who had both a Curve and
iPhone, both on AT&T with its slower internet access. He told me he loves
his iPhone more and only carries the Curve because his business requires it
(a telling enough statement). I asked him why he loves it over the Curve
and, of course, he was fixated on all the neat 'gadget' things that attract
me too: the way the touch-screen menus work, the ability to expand and
contract a page by pinching your fingers, etc. I asked him to open a
website and we waited a long time for it to open and, admittedly, the
graphic had great resolution and looked nice. Then I opened the same site on
my Verizon Curve, and his response was like, "Wow!". Mine opened in less
than half the time and the graphic, while not quite as resolute, was pretty
damn good to our human eyes next to his. Plus the Curve was perhaps 2/3 the
size and half the weight. I asked him if he thought the resolution
difference was really that important when surfing the web for information.
He acknowledged that it wasn't. I think he (and his daughter) walked away
more impressed with my Curve's functionality FOR WHAT IT WAS NEEDED TO DO,
than I was by his iPhone's gimmickry, which has its strengths more as a
glorified iPod and a picture viewer.
That said, allow me to take the time to qualify that I recognize that the
internet browsing speed difference will be negated as of 7/11, but at a cost
in size and weight. And that we never got into PIM functionality, which the
iPhone has yet to address satisfactorily and the Curve beats it hands down.
But finally let me add that I am a gadget lover and none of the above, while
speaking from my practical, right-brain side, negates the fact that I'd like
to own an iPhone.
