Friend asked why I didn't buy an iPhone...

Because I read this guy's review: http://maddox.xmission.com/ and before you flame me, yes I fully understand that he's reviewing the 1G iPhone. Still salient points to be found within.

And yeah, I absolutely despise on screen keyboards too. I like the tactile feedback so that I can type without having to stare at the screen.

I got hooked on WinMo when I first switched to my very-soon-to-be former carrier, Verizon. Their proprietary UI stank, and was was wayyyyyyyy counterintuitive (I was migrating from a sidekick 3, which I still somewhat miss to this day, best hardware KB I've ever had) Now I can't imagine anything else in my hand. I write and post to discussion forums a lot, and I couldn't do it without WinMo, even as wart-encrusted as 6.1 is.

Also, AT&T's rate plans are usurious, and their coverage sucks where I live. I constantly get the few iPhone users at work (which involves some pretty remote field assignments in Arizona) asking me "You get reception here?" which was honestly the reason I switched from T-Mo in the first place, as my plan pricing was ludicrously cheap (sidekick data grandfathered at 9.99/mo).

[berserker]

I own both, long story short I had to switch to AT&T and didn't want to pay 299.00 for a Fuze

The Pros and Cons are there and I have to say that the iPhone has met my needs as a business owner.

Things I miss from my TouchPro

1) MMS: I can't just send a picture to a client on any phone. I can email them something after it's "optimized" for the iPhone

2) Bluetooth file transfer: The iPhone just doesn't have it.

What I like about the iPhone

1) I can hand it to anyone and they can figure it out. This comes in very handy....I work with very simple people sometimes

2) Support. What I mean is that there are 60,000 apps out there because people have a market. Someone is always working on a new app or updating one to stay ahead of the game.


The thing about the iPhone is that you just have to look at it like everything is on a shortcut key...

[Noir]

requoting what I wrote in another thread

I can't say I am loving it whatsover...in fact because I am still a student in school, I find it obtrusive when I am trying to access genebank or nimh when conducting research even from the school portal or the username/pass provided by my school for the databases. One slight saving grace for me is the good reader application that blows the windows mobile adobe reader out of the water. Problem is getting the pdfs downloaded to the device. I can find an en passe with the iphone as it is good at rendering graphics and even 3d acceleration. Problem is, for my personal tastes, it lacks in a varieyt of categories when you're not doing anything media related.

Take for example just listening to music and texting - the simplest of tasks. On a palm pre, it is fantastic and the multi tasking is exquisite. On windows mobile it wasn't bad but using the stock interface text message typing is much slower. But surprisingly on both iphone 2g and iphone 3gs it was terribly slow. If I had to type up a discussion response on an iphone and wanted to listen to music, the iphone was horribly slow. The media experience (movie rather) on iphone is just not superior to the touch pro 2 with either core or tcpmp installed, I get a greater experience and the ability to play most formats known to man on the fly.

I recognize what I do like about the iphone. The physics behind the scrolling engine is bar none the best I have used, with palm pre as a close second. What apple does with the capacitive touch screen revolutionized the industry as far as displaying information in your face. The GPU acceleration is bar none some of the best i have seen on a mobile device. But then when you get to using it for actual work (something like database retrieval of scientific/psychological articles on the daily basis), the only thing it is best at is reading adobe. And most database articles are in adobe AND in html AND in full text. This is where my touch pro 2 and even verizon touch pro shines in comparison to the iphone.

So when I say I am bored with the iphone, its beyond the fact of customization, beta madness of the new wm builds, giving full freedom of what I can do. It is also the fact of whether or not the phone suits my need in a scientific environment, as a student and as a researcher. The iphone is not equipped for either yet. Will that change? Hope so because so far I try work on the device and it is SLOWER than a windows mobile chug.

that essentially is why iphone is not for me. It doesn't suit my needs

[Drewidian]

Hi guys I was just reading some of the posts and felt compelled to reply to a few. That being said, take my responses for just my personal opinion and don't start a flame war.

Insightful and well thought out comments are welcome.

Cheers to all.

Originally Posted by x10guy

Yup. I agree. Unlocking and flashing is probably the best part of Winmo devices.

Here here. Customization with cooking our own ROMs is one of the best features with WinMo. The main reason Apple will never allow this is because they want a seamlessly uniform experience for all of their users. In order to make this happen though you have to seriously limit the functionality of the device and lock down the user to a simple UI. I don't know how apple will be able to compete in the future with all of the new features and functions and UI improvements comming out with WinMo 6.5 and 7.

But that being said, I'd have to say that we are in the minority. Most people don't really have the techincal acumen (nor the interest) in tweaking their phones like most PPCgeeks.

And that's the dilemma for WinMo. They have to keep the functionality of its user base to customize their phones, but have a high enough functional starting point for basic users who just want to use the phone with a good interface. We'll see how it all shakes out with Windows Phone 7.

Originally Posted by Aleki

Sheesh. I know the Iphone is overhyped, but lets face it, until HTC moves away from the qualcomm chipsets, we wont be seeing phones from them that can blow the Iphone out of the water

Snapdragon and Tegra chips are the future. With the 3D functionality and power integrated into the OS UI will move WinMo well past the Iphone in terms of function and "cool factor". Look at the ZuneHD for example. Its UI s based on the 3D capabilities of the Tegra chip. Add capacitive screens, HD Radio, and a bunch of Hardware manufacturers in competition (unlike apple) to one up each other and we can expect to see significant upgrades in UI functionality and operation not just once a year, but multiple times a year as they constantly try to 1 up each other. Look at Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Acer, and those numerous little guys trying to break into the WinMo market, and you see what I mean. Granted all of them have built their own UIs based on the fact that MS has done a piss poor job of updating to now, but I think that even with 6.5 and 7 they will try to differentiate themselves from one another.

Android poses the biggest threat to WinMo since they are diversifying their manufacturing base.

Originally Posted by Exil3d

Ya, its even kinda funny thou. My iphone friend told me the other day he is pretty bored with the phone and does not want to pay more money fro the apps. He said that he bought a few app in the past but found them useless and boring after 5 minutes. I told him.. them exactly why i wont buy a iphone. I mean, look at us now.. here we are playing with opera mini 5! We get candies free all the time!

And here is the biggest issue I have. The sheer number of apps on Itunes is impressive, but they are just that. Apps. Apps can be ported or emulated on other platforms, it just takes the development community to do it. My biggest concern is that when the Microsoft Marketplace opens, we'll see those great free apps go away so the developers can get paid. I like that they will get rewarded for their hard work, but what made this community great was all of the free support and help we see. I don't know what the future holds and things may not change that drastically, especially if communities like XDA and PPCGeeks remain in full force, but let's face it, If you were spending many hours customizing kitchens, tweak cabs, and the like, wouldn't you like to be rewarded for your efforts? I just hope it doesn't get out of control with the pricing. I do donate when I really think its worth it, but paying 5 bucks for a tweak cab, will set a bad reputation for what has been built here.

Just my two cents. On that note. I love my new Verizon Touch Pro 2 and am looking forward to getting that quad core Tegra device next year with Win Mo 7.

[BetaMan]

A friend of mine is already on her 3rd iphone in 9 months and her husband is on his second in 9 months. They just BRICK without warning and for NO apparent reason!

And when we're together, I have signal and they have tears!!!!

[imnuts]

Originally Posted by Drewidian

My biggest concern is that when the Microsoft Marketplace opens, we'll see those great free apps go away so the developers can get paid. I like that they will get rewarded for their hard work, but what made this community great was all of the free support and help we see.

What I think is going to happen is that developers will move to the new Marketplace and sell their applications, but, the current system of delivery will still be in place for those that know how to use it. The problem right now is that stuff for WinMo is spread out all over the place, and people these days want instant gratification and can't be bothered to actually read up on stuff or search around multiple sites for it. There are those in XDA and PPCGeeks however that will take that time, so I feel like most people will probably go and pay for the stuff, but the free avenue will still be there. Unlike Apple, I doubt MS is going to prevent anyone from install apps they already have or got elsewhere, so installing free stuff will still be available.

[jmorton10]

Originally Posted by BetaMan

A friend of mine is already on her 3rd iphone in 9 months and her husband is on his second in 9 months. !!!!

Sounds like the TouchPro to me........

~John

[butler360]

Aside from the blatant sexism and homophobia going on in the thread, this could be a useful discussion.

For those who are criticizing the "iPhone isn't for getting work done" argument, I'll simply allow a major Apple-loving technology blog to explain:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/10/e...he-job-market/

The funny thing is, he ends the really long explanation of why the iPhone sucks with a suggestion that Android is more suitable for getting things done, except that it needs a hardware keyboard. But if you read the post, WinMo could do everything he wants to do plus already has a hardware keyboard in many instances.

What's even funnier is that these major proponents of the iPhone (and anything Apple, really) lay out the best argument against the iPhone here, better than anything I've seen on this WinMo forum.

Also, I should add, the reason for the "Apple hate" probably has to do with the general perception of the iPod/iPhone. It's annoying to be asked, "What kind of iPod is that?" when I'm standing there with a Cowon MP3 player. Not to mention the smugness of their users and advertising. The whole situation makes Apple seem like a bunch of elitist ****heads. Lastly, in reality John Hodgman is waaaay cooler than Justin Long.

[Noir]

the apple iphone is not meant for business primarily because of every single point josh pointed out in the article. I emphatically agree and was also in that situation he was in. I couldn't switch from app to app, I couldn't leave apps in background and even with apps like backgrounder, I was still left with an insurmountable amount of lag (and this is on the 2g and 3gS iphone)

It isn't for me. Why its for others, heck if I know...but it makes me realize how much I like the windows mobile platform. Has it changed in 10 years? Heckie no! But that is both a positive and a negative. Its a positive because the formula is constant and it makes it useful for developers and manufacturers. In the eyes of a new demographic, it is horridly bad. But you have to admit, save from palm pre, I think windows mobile has a lot of things downpat. The palm pre is always going to be a close second for me in terms of devices and ease of usability goes. Yes, that is a bias, sue me. But take it for what its worth. Iphone isn't good at work.

It's barely good at playing video...I ran a small test playing an AVI, a converted mp4 on an iphone and touch pro 2 (well we know iphone can't "officially" play avi) but I realized that the touch pro 2 played my files well (hi quality episodes of the anime Noir). Surprisingly, the iphone...did not which left me a bit perplexed. I should post the video if I had a better camera and tripod.

[sonji]

Because you are not a lemming