Weblog of a “Switcher”

Check out my post over at Dave's Chalkboard for an explanation of this post. I don't really feel like cross posting this post.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Chalkboard

6 months later, a report card on Vista - Yahoo! News
"I can't live in Vista if the software that I use in my life for productivity does not work," said Pirillo, in the third minute of a 52-minute video he posted on YouTube.

It's the same everywhere. "My sound card doesn't work with Vista" or "I have to get a whole new computer just to run it" or "150 problems, no solutions..."

After 6 months in the hands of consumers, Microsoft Vista is still not doing what Windows XP has been doing for 5 years now. Work and work well.

When I looked at Microsoft Windows Vista last year when it was in Beta 2, then RC1 and RC2, I could see that there were problems that they were not going to get fixed by January, and even now, a year later, it's still full of problems.

Businesses are slow to adopt it for obvious reasons.

When I switched to OS X and Macintosh, I found out that Leopard was to be released in early spring of 2007. I deep down hoped that Apple would somehow get Leopard out before Vista to show them up. Now, with Leopard looming on the "November" horizon (Yes, I know it says October, but really, who expects it to come out any earlier than October 31st?), I still feel that Leopard is beating Vista out the door since I would put good money on the fact that when Leopard comes out, it will be much more stable than Vista.

Time will tell...

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Apple, Beta, Consumers, Early Spring, Horizon, Macintosh, Microsoft, Microsoft Vista, Microsoft Windows Vista, Money, New Computer, October 31st, Os X, Productivity, Sound Card, Vista Software, Vista Yahoo, Windows Xp, Wow, Yahoo News

OK, I've had the iPhone for 4 full days now. What do I think of it? Just amazing!

OK, there are some bad things, but let me do some of the really great things first.

1. Phone:
   The phone features are the best I have ever used. Calling someone is really easy. Touch the phone button, touch the contacts icon, touch the contact you want to call, touch the number in the contact that you want to call and off it goes. You can also bring up a numeric touchpad to type a number you don't have in your contacts, you can pick from a list of favorites you have selected from your contacts, or from recent calls.

   Another great feature is all the buttons that are available while on a call. You can switch to speakerphone mode which sounds great. You can put a call on hold, call a second contact/number, then merge the calls together. You can answer another incoming call while on a call and if you want, merge the calls. Of course mute your microphone. All from a set of 6 buttons when on a call.

   This is the best interface for a phone I have ever seen! I have never been able to use conference calling on my older cell phones because you had to use buttons that were not labeled for the process and unless you did it all the time, you just can't remember how to do it. Well, at least I couldn't

2. Mail:
   Mail is pretty much as you would expect from a smart phone. I didn't have to enter any server information since that info came from syncing the phone.

   Yahoo!'s push mail is pretty nice. I have had a Yahoo! email account for years, so I didn't have to do anything to start using it other than tell the iPhone what my account was. The tests I have run on this email was mixed. When I first got it, I tested the push mail and it took quite some time for the mail to appear on the phone. Later I checked again and it took just a couple of seconds for it to arrive. So I have to assume that the delay was tens of thousands of people doing the same thing.

   The rest of my mail works just as advertised. I get a sound and vibration when ever the phone checks the mailbox and sees new mail.

3. Browser:
   WOW! I have used other phones to try to surf the web. What a joke. I have tried using a PDA to surf the web. Also a joke, better, but a joke. The iPhone is just perfect. A true browser, Safari, that displays the pages you surf to. Looking at a webpage like the Wall Street Journal is as the ads show. Doubling tapping the screen will zoom into block based on the HTML so that the zoom shows all the text in the column. This can be a problem with some sites if the page is designed incorrectly, which is most of the internet these days. You may have to use the pinch to zoom out a little to get all the content you want to see.

   Links in most any other app will switch to the browser and display the page. It will create a new page (tab) so that you can go back to a different page that you had been looking at before.

   The speed is a mixed bag. WiFi is really fast. Of course. It's WiFi. EDGE is snappy, but it's not WiFi. So, if you can use the web with WiFi over EDGE, use WiFi. I think EDGE also drains the battery faster. At least that was my experience.

4. iPod:
   This is probably the best part of the new phone. This is truly a 6th Generation iPod along with everything else it does. The iPod features are really nice. Music, TV shows, Movies, Podcasts and Pictures. All work really well. Not much to talk about here. It works pretty much like a real iPod. The bigger screen is gorgeous. It uses Cover Flow when it's tilted on it's side. Nothing great there, but being able to pick tracks by tapping the cover of an album is nice.
5. Rest of apps:
   The rest of the apps are interesting, but some are not really all that necessary for the home page. Stocks? I have heard that Stocks were for the business people. Weather is nice, but why not just use a bookmark? These do say something though. They are Yahoo! widgets. So, one has to assume that we will see "widgets" as 3rd party apps for the phone later. That could be much better than using the web. YouTube? I rarely look at stuff on YouTube. I mostly watch stuff that other sites link to.

   SMS: We really want iChat, not SMS. Maybe later.

   Calendar: Really nice. I love the touch interface for setting an appointment.

   Photos: Just a great way to look at your pictures. Way better than the Video/Photo iPod.

   Camera: OK camera. It's a 2 megapixel camera (1600x1200). Can't send that resolution to someone via email. The only way to get the images off the phone is syncing. It works like a camera then.

   YouTube: Yeah, OK, whatever...

   Stocks: Pretty good stock quote watcher. Great Yahoo! Konfabulator widget.

   Maps: Now, Google Maps are great. Just as good as Google maps on your computer. Traffic reports and travel directions are available. Travel directions works by touching a button, no GPS in the phone. Still, useful for a navigator/passenger. It also has satellite images and hybrid mode!

   Weather: Great Yahoo! Konfabulator widget too.

   Clock: I suppose it's good for travel. It does have an alarm, timer, and stopwatch.

   Calculator: Simple calculator. No scientific or programmers functions.

   Notes: This app seems pretty useless for now. I have a feeling that when Leopard comes out later this year, we'll see this app being more useful.

   Settings: Great interface to adjust and personalize your new phone.

   Virtual keyboard: This is great. I don't understand all the complaints I hear. I picked up an iPhone at the local AT&T store when I was out looking for one to buy. I just went into Notes and started typing with two thumbs. I have never typed with my thumbs before yet I was getting about 15 WPM no problem. I had to correct two words out of about 20. Not bad at all. I suspect as I go along, I'll get better with it. No complaints there at all.

OK, now for the bad stuff.

When I was waiting for my wife to arrive from Florida, she called me while I was on the road. I didn't bring the earbuds that have the pinch button that lets you answer the phone hands free (more or less). I had to try to slide the button to answer the phone while I was driving. That was not very easy. I'll have to use the earbuds or a bluetooth headset while driving.

The email is really nice, but so far I can't seem to create folders to put messages that I have received in. Surely there is a way to do this, but I haven't found it yet.

The cable that came with the phone to allow me to charge it while not connected to the computer is not working correctly. When I plug it in, it keeps bleeping telling me that it's got power then not then power then not. Not really happy about that, but I'll just have to plug it into a computer USB port to get power to the phone. This can be a problem if iTunes is installed. I'll loose all my data. (I just tried this while writing this review)

EDGE is pretty slow and seems to draw power pretty fast from the battery. My office has WiFi, but it's pretty weak where I sit now. So, at work, I turn email checking either off or on but checking ever hour.

It's slippery. Really. The metal it's incased in is pretty slippery. I haven't dropped it yet, but it has slipped around in my hand. So I got a rubber case to go around it to help hold it better.

No ToDo list. I can get one from the web, but if I am not able to connect to the web because I'm on a plane, that could be a problem.

If I come up with other bad things, I'll post them above. Same with good things too.

Was it worth the $499 for my 4GB iPhone? Yep, for me it was. Love it.

I really think that the list of bad things up there are going to go away as Apple updates the firmware on the phone. Pretty much all the things people are complaining about can be fixed that way. EDGE and no GPS can't be and if Apple does "fix" these, there will be a new iPhone. However, I'm perfectly happy with this one.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Buttons, Cell Phones, Contact Number, Contacts, First Impressions, Incoming Call, Interface, iPhone, Mail Mail, Microphone, People, Phone Button, Phone Features, Phone Icon, Second Contact, Smart Phone, Tens Of Thousands, Touchpad, Yahoo, Yahoo Email Account

Yep, I have joined the millions(?) of people out there that decided to go against all common sense and buy an iPhone.

I decided to go with the 4GB model for fear of my wife killing me when she got back from vacation.

I have to say, 4GB really isn't that much space. 8GB probably isn't either. Not for a device that lets you play movies, music, podcasts, etc...

That said, the thing is pretty amazing. All the complaints about the "virtual" keyboard are just people who haven't tried using it. I picked one up at an AT&T store while I was out trying to find one still in stock here in St. Louis. I pulled up the Notes app and started typing with two thumbs. I have never typed like that before. I was getting about 15-20 WPM typing this way. Sure I was missing keys, misspelling words, etc... I only had to go back and fix one word out of about 30. The virtual keyboard is truly an amazing piece of software engineering.

The phone is fast. All the graphics effects are smooth and fast. The phone is super responsive. Every app comes up without any delays.

One of the things about this phone that I really love is the ease of use of phone features. Being able to put someone on hold, mute, merge to phone callers/conference call. These are things that are available on pretty much all cell phones (I think), yet are near as to impossible to perform. I'm sure my old RAZR had the ability to do those things, but I'll be damned if I can remember how to do it. With the iPhone, all the things you can do with a call is right there on the screen just a quick touch away. Thanks Apple!

One thing I think is going to be a problem is answering the phone while driving. When the phone is in sleep mode, which is pretty much all the time, you have to swipe the switch to answer it. While driving, that could be a problem. I wonder if there is a way to answer the phone without having to use the touchscreen.

Another thing that is missing is the ability to cut, copy and paste text. This is something that just about every smart phone and PDA has been able to do for quite some time now.

I suspect that in future software updates, these problems will be resolved. It's really a minor problem.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Amp, Apple One, Cell Phones, Common Sense, Conference Call, Copy And Paste, Fear, Graphics Effects, iPhone, Missing Keys, Paste Text, Phone Callers, Phone Features, Razr, Sleep Mode, Software Engineering, Swipe, Touchscreen, Virtual Keyboard, Yep