Re: iphone - disappointed

On Sat, 8 Aug 2009 07:16:40 +0100, "DervMan" <thedervman@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


Ok, but how does that affect those functions Apple chose (presumably?)
not to include but could have the first time round. ie, I'm not
talking about the convergence functions but what I'd think most people
would expect on even the basic 'phone' these days?

Some of the missing features are overblown.

To us maybe but not if you were using them all the time?

The iPhone could always handle
incoming MMS. It couldn't send them until recently.

And BGN explains why elsewhere (Yanks not supporting it so no one gets
it). I believe most other phone manufacturers do so for the total
World market. Are Apple *that* American (still)? I mean, how difficult
would it have been to include TX MMS at the get_go for 'the rest of
the world' ?

Not all that big a
deal. Copy and paste - very annoying.

Really? Now I would have thought that would be handy. I always try to
use copy/paste because my dyslexia means there is hardly ever a chance
I'd ever get any field correct if I relied on my memory.

Inability to multitask - much hot
air about how it makes it useless, but the TX can't multitask in much the
same way.

It can play an audio book while playing a simple game and that's about
all I can cope with at once. ;-)

What has and will make the iPhone platform is the applications available.
Just as with PalmOS. I've used PalmOS devices since 1997 or so and I badly
miss my Treo 680.

I've also had Psion (Organizer / II) Palm Pilot / Series III etc but
never had need to use them for anything other than toys.


What do you do when the Palm TX runs dry?

Carry on using my 6310i. 'Eggs in one basket' comes to mind here. ;-)

Not the same kind of device, though - you can't do the same things on both
devices...

Indeed, and why I don't always need both at the same time.


Or were cycle camping away from power for three weeks. ;-)

Solar panel charger? :)

In England! ;-)


I would always consider having the option to be a plus. Daughters new
camera has an external charger. At first look it may seem clumsy but
only till you get a second battery 'just in case' (when you can be
charging one battery whilst using the other).

Yeah - I agree. It's a advantage but not a dealbreaker.

It could be a deal breaker though. Imagine you were on a field
assignment and your built-in battery went flat?



That's the first I've heard of this problem, but there you go.

Really?

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1233355&tstart=0

Yup, really. I don't loiter around iPhone forums all that often mostly
because the die-hard iPhone fans throw rotten eggs at me for daring point
out that, yeah it's a good device, but it doesn't yet work for me.

They can be very precious. ;-)

See
above regarding using a keyboard. How dare I ruin the asthetics of the user
interface with a clunky keyboard? ;-)

How dare you indeed. Form over function. Daughters new b/f has a touch
phone of some kind and daughter finds it way too slow for texting. For
that reason she's also quite fussy about the buttons on her phones,
often discounting fairly high spec / cost models because the keyboards
just 'miss the point' (whatever that is).

<snip>

I'm basically lazy and forgetful, and don't want to have to remember to
recharge more devices than necessary. The Zen, like the 6310i, has really
strong batter life. In my case it's for a user error reason...

Understood. For me it's all about having something that fits and is
self sufficient, like the Quest as opposed to my V or 2610. The V is
very basic and the 2610 externally powered only. However I can run the
V on dry cells and the 2610 has a nice big screen. No one GPS
(therefore any inbuilt / convergent GPS) could ever compete. Horses
for courses.

<snip>

My most expensive (as in poor VFM) was my first laptop (a Compaq 386).
I always wanted one but after about 10 uses I put it down and never
picked it up again. My Garmin Quest I'm still using regularly and it's
VERY versatile and good at what it does. I have used TomTom's and PDA
based GPS's and just don't like them.

I love eBay.

Me too.

Somebody elses' discarded toy was your primary device for the
next year. My favourite PalmOS device is still the m515. Very, very
expensive new, but a bargain used. The T3 came close, but battery life was
a bit of an issue.

K

I write a lot. Knocking up six hours of PDA use a day isn't difficult.

It would be for me. Entering data on a PDA and 'looking' at that small
screen ... ? ;-(

<snip>

I think it does, IF the phone isn't typically as good as most current
devices. It's like *needing* a phone to also be a video camera or
handle picture messaging, if it can't it's useless. If it can but not
to a reasonable standard it might also be considered useless.

Possibly! I only really use the camera in the E71 for sending silly
pictures or videos. It's a cameraphone: I expect the image to look fuzzy.

No reason why they should these days though eh?

If I want to take a picture... I use a proper camera.

And that's kept where?

<snip
The
iPhone would not be a suitable substitute to her for any of those
devices.

Perhaps not, but the iPhone OS is receiving much developer love and
attention.

Ok

It's becoming a decent gaming platform.

For me there is only one decent gaming platform and that's the right
PC. I have only ever really been interested in FPS (especially MP) and
don't have a console or hand held as they would never match the
flexibility of the PC (for_my_specific_needs). ie, a game *like* the
one I want to play isn't a solution.

And of course it does
the music thing too.

Meh. Bit big compare with the tiny mp3 players you can get these days.

The compromise is that you maybe end up with something
that's 8/10s as good as the alternative, but combining four or five roles
into one, it becomes cheaper to buy and easier to carry. The disadvantages
are it isn't as good, it is vulnerable to loss or battery dry up, so on and
so forth.
Indeed. And if you aren't that fussed about most of the 'other' roles
it's just not a valid solution. Like, I *need* to have a GPS that
works in the rain on my motorbike, cycle or when walking. So it has to
be self powered when not on a motor vehicle and further have
replaceable batteries when I'm not going near power for a week or two.

My idea device was at one point a Tungsten T3-sized
device with the GSM chipset and handling voice calls via my Bluetooth
wireless headset. The E71 gets pretty close...

Never used BT much for much (and never tethered a PC to phone modem
etc). The nearest I've got to any of that is the Voda bb dongle and
way before that Icom ex PMR radio connected to my Kantronics Packet
Node.


Carry a paper? Pfft! I read papers on the device. :)

And I never read papers.

But you're right; I have the luxury of only needing to carry my lunch with
me to work.

The your *priority* is bound to be the all_in_one compact compromised
solution.


Ok. I would like that but they don't make one good enough yet. Also I
couldn't afford to keep updating the whole thing when one bit is
upgraded.

Why would one need to upgrade if the model does what you need?

I wouldn't because I wouldn't buy something that was knowingly
deficient at the outset. Like I wouldn't buy a WiFi device that only
supported WEP. ie, I would only consider an iPhone when it was able to
do all I expected of my phone (like send MMS and record video etc. Not
*my* phone you understand, say my daughters phone, I have no need for
a camera or MMS .. it's a 'phone'). ;-)

I had to upgrade at the end of last year because work moved to an Exchange
2007 server, which wasn't compatible with any PalmOS application I could
find. :-( Otherwise I would still be using the Treo 680.

That's what I mean. And if you knew that you needed that feature that
would instantly preclude the Treo form your shopping list.

<snip>

Don't get me wrong, I think they are a good idea (in principal) and
their obvious popularity means there will be plenty of stuff available
for them. It frustrates me I have difficulty buying say a small HiFi
unit without having to have some (in our case empty) iPod dock on
there ... like everyone want's one?

A small hifi is the audio equivalent of a convergent device... It does lots
of things well enough to be an acceptable compromise.

Until as my Dad has found now the CD play has broken and he has to
dump the lot.

Buying seperates..?
:-p

Yep, still the norm here. ;-)

Heh. You have an E50?!

Erm yes. Is that good or bad?

It's good...

Why and for what please?

<snip>

Have you considered slapping her hand away from the control..? :)

Oh indeed I have, many a time (but am reluctant to do so since she got
her green belt at Taiquando. Her blocks are instinctive and firm!).
Mind you she seems to have learned a little lesson re that. I was
'suggesting' she stopped playing with the radio and concentrated on
her driving. She said 'I have to, driving is boring' (she's prefer to
be on her motorbike) and at that point she found a large pothole and a
wheel trim flew off into the undergrowth. I recovered the trim then
explained that if 'driving was boring' she wasn't (obviously) paying
it sufficient attention. ;-)

Hmm. Off at a tangent here, but if she isn't interested, she should use an
alternative means of getting around.

She is and does (her motorbike).

I really, really don't want an
uninterested driver coming off a roundabout, changing the radio again, going
straight into me...

No (quite right too) and she (generally) knows when she really
shouldn't be fiddling with the radio and is actually a pretty good
driver (in comparison with a lot of what you see on the road
especially), but what she is saying is she doesn't actually enjoy the
driving experience (nor do I for that matter) and especially in
comparison with being on a motorbike (even in the rain / cold
<shrug>). Similarly (and IMHO) my Wife makes for a much better
motorcyclist (XV 750 Virago) than she does as a car driver. It's all
about having better visibility, being more aware of your surroundings
and knowing you are at a greater risk (if you don't stay focused) of
landing on the tarmac than you are in a metal box. No radios to fiddle
with or phones to talk on. However, we want her to get her car
licence so it can be another line on her CV and so that she can be
more self sufficient (and she will be doing her test when she get's
back from hols). FWIW she's driven about 700 miles with me so far (and
only had a couple of formal lessons in-between) and I rarely need to
say much re her driving these days. Anytime we have some driving type
chores to do I get her to drive. Mostly she's willing. ;-)


Hehe. On that subject I was thinking of designing a sleep aid to help
me drown out my tinnitus (possibly why I'm touchy around noise / music
etc), especially when I'm trying to get to sleep. It would be
something like a white noise generator with an adjustable starting
volume, an adjustable ramp-town period and a final volume (which
couldn't be 'off'). If I wake up I can hit the 'snooze' button that
starts the process again but from a third adjustable volume and
shorter ramp period. Is there an iPhone 'app for that'?

You know, if you asked a friendly developer, I'll wager they'll be able to
knock something up like this very, very quickly.


But would that mean I'd have to buy an iThingy?

Call it a fancy name like
iUniverse Noise, as white noise is reputed to be from the Big Bang, and you
could be on to a winner.

I think I'd make a point of NOT calling it an 'i' anything, just out
of principal (what a load of bollocks all that is).


Maybe. If I'm writing, I'm writing and since I'm writing just text with no
graphics or diagrams, I can write on anything that handles some version of
Microsoft Word, for all of my computers to be compatible. The E71 and
keyboard work best on the train because of their small size. The notebook
is usually a good compromise almost everywhere else.

Ok.


My E71 has this kind of support with the help of some third party
applications.

Want to buy my Pirelli LP-D10 then? ;-)

A WiFi tyre?

No, but another 'good idea' purchase that sits in a draw. Sipgate is
ok but not as cheap and easy in most cases as 18185 on our BT phone.

Cheers, T i m
.

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