[Cialug] OT: Best phone for the geek

[Don Cady]

>  I have sprint for personal use and Nextel for blackberry.  My only real wish is that plans were less expensive for whatever phone.
>
>  -Nate
IMHO the phones and plans should be divorced of the subsidies. Without
the subsidies, many of these phones cost more than the eeePC!
Separating this subsidy system would force all consumers to understand
what they're really paying for, drop the cost of the service, and
eventually drop the cost of the devices too.
..but I'm not holding my breath..

Don

>  > -----Original Message-----
>  > From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org
>
> > [mailto:cialug-bounces at cialug.org] On Behalf Of Matthew Nuzum
>  > Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 11:48 AM
>  > To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
>
>
> > Subject: Re: [Cialug] OT: Best phone for the geek
>  >
>  > On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 4:25 PM,  <jrnosee at gmail.com> wrote:
>  > > My current cell plan is about up and my wife, by some
>  > miracle is telling me
>  > > I *SHOULD* get a PDA phone (she never wants me to spend
>  > money on tech).  I
>  > > have never liked GSM when I've tried it so unless someone
>  > wants to convince
>  > > me ATT & Tmobile are off my list.  What provider/phone does everyone
>  > > suggest?  I'm looking at the HTC Mogul from Sprint right
>  > now on the SERO
>  > > program (1250 min and unlimited txt/data for $49.99/mo).
>  > I'd prefer Windows
>  > > Mobile, since that's what I have now on my regular PDA.
>  >
>  > Here's a slightly related note from Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox article
>  > that came in the e-mail today. Jakob is a usability specialist.
>  >
>  > > iPHONE USABILITY STUDY
>  > >
>  > > The Swedish usability firm inUse has conducted a
>  > competitive usability
>  > > test of the iPhone and 3 traditional phones that are
>  > operated by pressing
>  > > buttons and function keys. (Simple through medium-complexity phone
>  > > tasks were tested, ranging from "place a call" to "take a
>  > photo and send
>  > > to a person in the address book". No truly high-end mobile
>  > tasks were
>  > > tested, such as connecting to an enterprise-level sales
>  > force automation
>  > > backend to update a customer's order status.)
>  > >
>  > > The iPhone had the highest usability in the study, in terms
>  > of users'
>  > > ability to complete the test tasks. Also, participants' subjective
>  > > preferences were in favor of the iPhone.
>  > >
>  > > The biggest difference between the iPhone and the
>  > traditional mobile UI
>  > > devices came from the DIRECT MANIPULATION employed on the
>  > iPhone: you
>  > > press the thing you want. In contrast, other phones use INDIRECT
>  > > manipulation where you press various function keys to make
>  > things happen
>  > > on the screen.
>  > >
>  > > The difference is similar to that between a graphical user
>  > interface (GUI)
>  > > with a mouse and a traditional character-driven UI where
>  > you push function
>  > > keys that are divorced from the objects on the screen that
>  > they operate
>  > > on.
>  > >
>  > > Thus, I like to say that the iPhone is the "Macintosh" of
>  > mobile, because
>  > > it's the first mainstream direct manipulation UI with an
>  > interaction style
>  > > similar to a mouse-driven GUI. Other phones are the "DOS"
>  > of mobile user
>  > > experience, because they rely on keystrokes.
>  > >
>  > > Of course, what we really need is the "Windows" of mobile:
>  > something cheap
>  > > with a boatload of 3rd party applications and the freedom
>  > to connect to
>  > > any carrier. (Note that Windows Mobile is not the "Windows
>  > of mobile",
>  > > because current phones with this OS use indirect manipulation.)
>  > >
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  > --
>  > Matthew Nuzum
>  > newz2000 on freenode
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