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Posted by William on November 13, 2007, 9:00 am
Please log in for more thread options > At 12 Nov 2007 12:39:25 +0000 Rob Nicholson wrote:
>
> > I have read several reviews that criticise any Smartphone just because
> it's
> > based upon WM, i.e. cut-down Windows like this one:
>
> >http://mobile.slashdot.org/mobile/07/11/11/150229.shtml
>
> Oh, the David Pogue article. I swear that guy gets a check from Apple
> everytime he writes a column!
>
>
>
> > Don't get me wrong, I love my HTC S710 but I can also take off my rose
> > tinted glasses and recognise the flaws and I really can appreciate some
> of
> > the comments in the main article.
>
> Yes and no. Yes, I have problems with WinMo, but no, not the ridiculous
> things he writes about.
>
> Like his "free suggestions" for Windows Mobile improvements...
>
> "First of all, a cellphone should not display a "wait" cursor. Ever".
>
> Ok. It should just stop responding so you think it locked up? While
> it'd be nice if all smartphones ran Intel dual-core processors, the
> realities of battery demands means advanced phones will occasionally be
> slow to respond.
>
> "A cellphone should not have a Task Manager. You should never have to
> worry about quitting programs because you've used up too much memory."
>
> Actually this one frosted me the most! The Shadow has 128MB of RAM, and
> doesn't "run out of memory" as he'd know if he actually USED it rather
> than quickly scanned it for what he felt were defects. The task manager
> is not needed by anyone but power users, but we power users WANT it.
>
> Here's MY free tip for Apple: why not listen to your users rather than
> have the hubris to think you know best and expect your users to adapt to
> your design?
>
>
>
> > The CPU in my S710 is really a bit under
> > powered and the WM6 user interface does annoy me a lot sometimes but
> I'm
> > sticking with it because I can see the advantages for me.
>
> As can I. My problems with WinMo are more conceptual- WinMo devices rely
> too much on a connected PC. (But still nowhere as much as the iPhone
> relies on an iTunes-equipped PC!) These devices are miniature computers
> with the power and capabilities that desktops had just a few years ago,
> yet I need a connected PC (or 3rd party software) to change a file
> extension, make a media playlist, or edit my Exchange server settings!
>
> > However, I'm
> > trialling these kind of devices to decide whether we roll our WM6
> > Smartphone or go with the crowd and deploy Blackberry. As it stands,
> > I think I'd have trouble completely defending WM6, it's just too,
> > well clunky.
>
> It still needs some polishing, but WinMo's strength is it's malleability-
> devices like the Treo W's, T-Mo's Shadow, or the HTC Touch show the
> "value added" that OEMs can bring to the table, or you can go "plain
> vanilla" like the HTC 610 or 710. WinMo allows remote desktop access,
> advanced Exchange synching, VoIP- but of course, that functionality adds
> complexity and a learning curve.
>
> Blackberries are fantastic e-mail devices, but they're essentially one-
> trick ponies, and add the expense of BES to the organization's IT budget.
>
> > I'm not trying to act as a troll but do you think that devices like
> > the iPhone will cause a redesign?
>
> That's a valid question, but I doubt it. Flexibility leads to
> complexity. However devices like the iPhone should lead to design
> improvements, which I'd argue is what the Shadow and Touch are trying to
> do- hide the complexity of the WinMo interface with an OEM "task-
> oriented" one. This is good and bad. Ease of use is a good thing, but
> so is consistancy. Once you get the hang of the WinMo interface, it's
> easy to adapt to a different model. An HTC Touch user using the "cube"
> GUI might be stymied by a more traditional HP 510 interface, for example.
>
>
>
> > I also appreciate the iPhone is not without
> > it's flaws but boy does it look and feel nice. To you average mobile
> phone
> > user that goes a long way.
>
> Absolutely, but that comes at the expense of capability and flexibility.
> Some of the iPhone's "ease of use" comes from a lack of "confusing"
> features. Bluetooth support is headset only, so you won't be "confused"
> by complicated PAN or DUN setups or file transfer problems- no tethering
> options to confuse the user, no "complicated" OTA sync, no errant 3rd-
> party apps to crash the OS, etc. I suspect if a WinMo phone was limited
> to e-mail, a browser, Windows Media Player and a phone, and built around
> one single piece of hardware, it could be rock solid as well. Hmm-
> sounds like a ZunePhone! ;-)
>
> Such a closed system would be embarrassing if it was also complicated and
> unstable. My microwave oven never crashes, and is easy to use as well!
> Unfortunately for stability's sake, WinMo has to function on a variety of
> devices built by a number of manufacturers with different hardware configs.
>
> Most of the instability I encounter with WinMo is from 3rd-party
> software- the QMail newsreader I'm tapping this reply on tends to use up
> available memory and doesn't release it all, forcing me to reboot if I
> open and close it too many times. That wouldn't be a problem on the
> iPhone- it doesn't have an NNTP news client and wouldn't let me install
> one if one existed anyway!
>
> Different devices for different needs. The iPhone is a slick iPod phone
> with mini webtablet. Period. The Blackberry is a portable e-
> mail/organizer, and WinMo, is, IMHO, the Swiss-Army knife of portable
> computing. It can do almost ANYTHING, but does it with amazing mediocrity.
>
> No one in their right mind would CHOOSE to use the scissors or
> screwdriver in a Swiss-Army knife over a real screwdriver or scissors, if
> available, but the knife packs a number of functions into one all-
> purpose, easy-to-carry device. THAT'S Windows Mobile.
>
> Everyone has a different need for their mobile device. In my case, I
> want a laptop-replacement. While it's not perfect, it's as close to
> reaching that goal as anything has managed to so far.
Todd, that's one of the best and clearest discussions of the PDA-Phone
marketplace that I've ever read.
Thank you.
--
WH
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