"Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9A81E9F8FB277noonehomecom@208.49.80.253...
> "Todd Allcock" <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in
> news:hvcNj.63$OV4.37@fe127.usenetserver.com:
>
>> That must explain why Windows Mobile owners got this "love" weeks ago,
>> as an installable application, rather than as a web page...
>>
>>
>
> To have installable apps, one must SUPPORT installable apps...(c;

To be fair, "jailbreaking" iPhones these days is hardly a daunting task, so
apps can be installed if the user is willing.

The "problem" of course, is this isn't supported (currently) by the Powers
That Be, so the app selection, while frankly quite impressive, is mostly of
the independent/ameteur variety. Professional software houses, probably not
wanting to ruffle Apple's (or AT&T's) feathers have stayed out of the iPhone
software business until it becomes "official" in June.

What always surprises me is the lengths folks go to to deal with the
iPhone's shortcomings. A friend of mine travels on business often, and
e-mails himself dozens and dozens of Office documents he thinks he might
need to access to before each trip so he'll have access to them on his
iPhone while away (he can then at least view them as attachments since he
can't store them locally on the device despite having several GB of storage
available!) In the past, of course, he'd just sync these types of documents
to his Treo. It's actually an impressive testament to the iPhone that he,
and people like him, find the iPhone experience, even with these crazy
workarounds, superior to anything they've used in the past. Personally,
it'd drive me crazy, but different strokes, as they say... To be fair- he
liked his Palm-based Treos, but always had trouble with the Palm Desktop
sync software (he's a Mac guy and says their sync software for Macs has
always been a PITA so this iPhone e-mail kludge is no more painful than
tearing his hair out getting his Treo to sync consistantly.)

For the record, despite my occasional "phun" with Vic or Oxford, I am VERY
impressed with the iPhone hardware and UI. It's the ridiculous design
decisions made limiting the hardware's functionality that keeps me from
using one.

Contrast this to Windows Mobile, where I'm very happy with the OS and
software, but can't find a decent piece of hardware up to the task- I've had
a number of great standalone PDAs that were virtually perfect except for the
lack of phone functionality, but every WinMo phone brought to market always
has an Achilles' heel- either horribly slow processors, not enough memory,
lack of useful ports/expansion slots, small screens, etc. What I'd REALLY
like is a two SD-slot VGA (or better) device with a 3.5" or larger
touchscreen- essentially a Dell Axim X51v or iPaq 2xx series with a phone
built-in. The upcoming Sony X1 might fit the bill if they get it under $500
(subsidized.) The problem is the WinMo phone market is all but controlled
by HTC- as unimaginative an OEM as you're likely to find. They can actually
build a decent product if commissioned (various HPs, Dells and even Sony's
upcoming X1 have been/will be built by them,) but they have absolutely no
sense of style or design, continually cranking out myriads of bland "me too"
devices. Even the Kaiser (AT&T Tilt) which is an improvement on prior
models, is simply the lesser-of-evils WinMo hardware option available now.
I shudder even suggesting this, but MS might have to get off their
collective duffs and design their own phones (Zune phone? ;-) if they want
to keep WinMo viable in the cellular marketplace.

Despite your love of your N800 tablet (I actually mistyped tablet as "table"
first- I'm sure our buddy 4phun would consider that a Freudian slip!), it's
a "converged world" we now live in- the number of N8xx's sold in a year
probably is dwarfed by the number of Nokia phones sold in a good hour. Look
at, for example, the number of mid-to-high end PDA devices available with
phones and without. It was a bit of a risk on HP's part to bring out two
new WinMo standalone PDA devices this year, since they sell absolutely
miserably compared to phone-equipped models. Given it's performance vs.
size, I'd probably own an N8xx if they offered a GSM-equipped version- it's
hardware is just about exactly what I'm looking for- but my days of carrying
two devices is over- my phone is also my PDA, MP3 player, and my "laptop,"
but it's got to be a phone. I don't mind carrying a "brick" if it's the
only brick I have to carry. (Of course, since I've used "handheld"
cellphones since they WERE "bricks" larger than VHS tapes, I find today's
concept of "brick" quite humorous! My current WinMo "brick" is roughly the
same volume as the BATTERY of my first handheld phone!)