The contract for my mobile phone is up at the end of the month. So I’ve started looking around for alternatives, starting as ever with consideration of what I want it to do, because that’s what I do you see, research, plan, consider… I am gently mocked for this by my own wife and friends, but I knew they would, you see, having considered their reaction to my over-pondering of things, see how this works? iPhone
Having spent many years with a Windows Mobile phone (varying models), I grew used to having contacts and calendar sync’d, keeping me on track during a busy day and giving me the comfortable fallback of having enough information at my fingertips that I didn’t need to carry anything other than my phone.
18 months ago I decided to simplify things a little and try and rid myself of gadget lust. It seemed to be working:
I find that I’m not using my new mobile phone for much more than phone calls and text messages (sorry txt msgs). This, in part, in because the phone itself isn’t as functionality complete as my old phone so I’m just not using the same set of features. Yet the thing is, I’m not missing anything and it’s liberating to NOT be able to check my email at a moment’s notice. The way I use my mobile phone is regressing back to being, largely, just a phone. However that’s more the technology forcing me to make specific decisions so isn’t quite the same.
Alas the last line of the above quote is the most telling. iPhone
Increasingly unreliable, recently it’s stopped ringing at all it seems, the Samsung D900 has been (form factor aside) a failure. Whilst it looks good and feels good in the hand, the software provided is shoddy and managed to triplicate my contacts as well as randomly delete some with no rhyme nor reason. Being without a reliable calendar or having any confidence that my contact list was up-to-date has led me to hack my way to some semblance of a workable system. Thankfully having most of such things covered online (contacts aside, why HAS no-one cracked that yet?) it’s not too bad… but even that is made worse by the grindingly slow internet browser that comes with the Samsung.
Basically, my experiment failed so straight to the top of my list are the ability to easily talk to my calendar and to keep my contacts sync’d safely and to be able to browse the internet. The latter requiring a nicer, bigger, screen than the Samsung offers. iPhone
OK, a quick question, has anyone read this far and NOT figured out where this is heading? iPhone
Cutting to the chase, it looks like a straight fight. In the (red) corner (geddit!!) we have the new iPhone 3G, in the blue corner the, Windows Mobile based, HTC Touch Diamond. Both are touchscreen and… well they both do pretty much the same kinda thing. Feature wise the HTC is the richer, but since when has any Apple purchase been down to features?
Having had a quick shot of the current iPhone, and the iPod Touch, there is a lot to be said for the way it “just works” – an awful phrase that one. The iPhone also gets free bonus points for being associated with the same people who made my MacBook and the operating system which all so “just works”.
Ohh hell, who am I kidding, come July 11th I’ll be yet another ‘fanboy’ touting his iPhone around. I don’t care if it has flaws, I don’t care if it’s not the best fit to my needs, I know that everyday I pick it up I’ll enjoy using it.
Which, in contrast to my current phone which makes me want to throw it off the balcony in our office into the fountain below, and then fish it out, stamp on it then run over it with a tractor… is a good thing I think.
If nothing else it’ll help keep my blood pressure down (ahem, worst argument ever?).
Ohh and once I DO get said iPhone, I promise I’ll try not to go on about it too much.
Hey, I said “try”…
Ah…I have phone envy now. I was *tempted* to get an iPhone a few months ago but went for a Crackberry instead but each time I see one, I feel myself feel a twinge of phone lust. I love my Macbook and I agree it “just works” – it helps that they look so great too. Mind you, I’m £200 lighter after being called up by Apple support today… He scared me so much with the supposed prices for fixing Macbooks that I hastily agreed….
You’ll have yours a week before I get mine because for some unknown reason they won’t be going on sale in France until June 17th.
I remember saying I wouldn’t go on about mac’s once I’d moved. What a fib that was. I’ll be picking one up on the 11th too…assuming there’s enough to go round. £35 a month still feels a little steep though.
Fanboy. I like my Nokia E51. It’s lovely. It uses Symbian, granted, but it’s still lovely. And it does *nearly* everything that your PiePhone will do, but in a more understated way, without the “look at me, I’m a gadget freak” cachet.
ok ok I’ll confess.
I’M ALL ABOUT THE CACHET!!!
There. Happy now? Ohh wait, you won’t know happy as you use a Nokia…
For contacts, look at Zyb – I’ve been using it for online contacts backup for about six months now, and it seems to work pretty well. They have been bought recently by Vodafone too, so they’ll be around for a while – and have said they’ll be keeping the service open to all phone users, not just Vodafoners.
Personally, I’m happy with the Sony-Ericsson K750i I got a year ago – which also syncs cleanly with Outlook etc. (it needed a small fix to the software which I blethered about a while back, but that’s been the only issue so far) and hasn’t caused me any of the hassle the previous HTC K-JAM caused me with invisible crashes.
Out of iPhone and HTC Touch, I’d go for the HTC – the cost of the iPhone seems high, and it’s also a highly visible and highly recognisable gadget which I (personally) would probably not want to advertise having. I could be wrong, but it makes me suspect iPhone owners/users will make up a significant proportion of the mugging stats come July/August…
God’s sake gordon mine is pink ..it rings and it costs me about £40 a year… + about £100 to buy it originally who are you talking to and how long?
Awww 🙂 I hope you DO go on about it because I want to be convinced that i really need one, even tho I’ve been spending <£10 a month on pay as you go ever since I moved here and never needed anything more than that… but… SHINY!
Ahhh as ever, shauny cuts to the chase and nails it in one!
SHINY!!!
And “Ian’s mum” (yes readers I do know her name) why would I want a pink phone??
I have a phone that work gave me. Every couple of years they upgrade it. I don’t really worry about it much, it’s just functional. The Orange coverage seems to be pretty good Scotland wide. I never use the phone to remind me of things or be connected with my diary. I just phone and text people with it. My dear husband has a Blackberry and it seems to get to the point where there is no way to “step away from the desk”. I don’t need that. I just need a little phone that is easy to use, will keep its charge and not cost the earth.
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