> 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.
>
>
>