Abu Mami

Nice – much better than the iPhone. By the time I was done with all the swiping and tapping on the iPhone, I felt that I was leading a symphony orchestra. And all I wanted to do is to make phone calls.

The HTC device on the other hand is convenient and much more functional. It even has 6 buttons and a trackball – as opposed to the iPhone’s one lonely button.

After using the iPhone for a about three weeks, I finally decided to return to my trusty Blackberry (which I use without a Blackberry plan). Not only was the iPhone crippled by me to provide a normal battery life, but in spite of the fact that many claim the iPhone to be “insanely easy to use”, I found it extemely inconvenient to use. Access to recent calls in a “standard” cellphone is only one button away. On an iPhone (after unlocking) it’s at least three actions away. Same with favorites (even when assigning the favorites to “home”), and I really missed the speed dial option. I also ended up frequently making calls by mistake, and inadvertently hanging up on incoming calls. Are all touch devices (Android, Windows CE, etc) this obtuse?

The iPhone is a slick bit of techno-fluff and great fingerprint magnet. I don’t want a status symbol – I just want an easy to use phone with some smarts for extra apps (Blackberry or other Java-powered phone).

The Motorola Startac was a small, light, easy-to-use and ultra-reliable clamshell cellphone. My new device is bigger, heavier, and has fewer features. Of course, if I’m willing to endure battery life of about 4 hours, I can soup up my iPhone (yep, that’s my new device) with an array of amazing features… Bluetooth, WiFi, 3G, audio equalizer, and so on. However, in order to be able to make and [more importantly] receive phone calls throughout the day, I’ve had to disable all of these nifty features.

So what am I left with? A heavy, large device with touch operation that has proven to be much less convenient than the straightforward operation of cellphones such as the Startac. And it doesn’t even fold!

My previous device was a Blackberry Curve. The battery would last nearly 3 days with normal (light) operation, or about 2 days with a lot of calls. If I wanted to listen to music on the bus to and from work (and hour and a half each way) I would still get over a day’s use).

I figured I’d try out the iPhone to see what all the fuss was about. But, what good are all the iPhone features if I can’t use them? And I don’t even want to think about dropping my iPhone. Can’t even remember how many times my Startac hit the floor – and I never had a problem. *sheesh* Gotta get myself another Startac – now that was a classic!