Re: [NTLK] Is iPod Touch the Newtons future?

Hi Joe,

>Do you have an IPod Touch/iPhone? What do you think?

I was never all that excited about the iPhone. If I hadn't lost my Nokia 9300 during the Xmas break, I would never have taken the plunge and gotten an iPhone3G. And I'm sorry I did. I thought I might be able to come up with a setup that would replace both my HandEra 330 and the Nokia. Not so.

Luckily, my Nokia did resurface after all *phew*, and with it the installed REAL navigation application (as opposed to that bad joke in the iPhone), a copy-paste function (VERY sorely missing from the iPhone), real Bluetooth (as opposed to crippled functionality in the iPhone, which only allows you to hook up to a headset or a car system but does not support beaming data to another phone) and a real keyboard (larger than the virtual one in the iPhone that is at once too tiny to type on and too large for the limited screen estate).

Yes, the iPhone is a neat toy. It has an amazingly easy-to-set-up WiFi (WPA2 Enterprise works like a charm) and 3G, and it's really good on my ageing eyes. But there aren't that many open WiFi networks over here, and 3G coverage often fails in my area (you can watch the battery level drop). Add to that that I couldn't care less for iPod music or YouTube or games or any of that other 'consumer' stuff.

The iPhone3G comes with a 2 Megapixel camera, but when I need to take a photo, I use a real camera anyway (when you move house, you rent a truck, not a go-cart, right?). And although the iPhone's camera is decent enough, it can't handle MMS (not that I care, I've never sent a single MMS in my life, but that's the kind of thing a typical iPod-generation 'consumer' would expect, no?). And considering that this device is made by Apple and MacOS X based, I find it disappointing (for those iPod-generation consumers) that it cannot take videos (I mean, even that very cheap Motorola phone a friend lent me can handle MMSs and videos!).

While my iPhone is unlocked (I'm in Italy), I don't like being forced to install things via iTunes -- i.e. letting Apple decide what can or can't be installed on my device. In fact, of the applications available in the AppStore, I guess only 5% are of any real, practical use (e.g. Hardy's PocketMoney). There is nothing of the kind of stuff I have been using for years on my good old Palm-based HandEra 330, for instance (in addition to the aforementioned PocketMoney) MPG, DateBk6 (which handles notes/todos/dates all in one), or the free HandyShopper (used as a database application for zillions of uses, not just shopping).

Amazingly, although a vintage device, the HandEra 330 is still more practical and useful than the iPhone3G. True, it is no Newton, but it's MUCH better for note-taking than the iPhone. And although it can't handle WPA2 Enterprise or imap, popmail over WEP is no problem.

In the end of the day, I'm still carrying the HandEra with me every day. It's still my main source for contact management. That may change with the iPhone, though, because syncing the iPhone with iCal is soooooooo easy (and that was the main reason why I got an iPhone in the first place).

My 2100 does come with me every now and then, mainly when I expect lots of note taking, but that doesn't happen all that often any more. I prefer the HandEra's loud alarm, though (can't hear the Newt). Also, I am much too afraid I might damage the Newt if I took it along all the time. I mean, the Newt is a very special friend, and I tend to be a bit overprotective, I guess...

>It does have some serious flaws

Oh, the iPhone sure does. And the bad thing is, those flaws seem intended. No navigation application with spoken turn-by-turn indications, no copy-paste, no interoperability between applications, no tethering to a laptop. No downloading files with Safari, no attachments (other than photos) in Mail.

And no possibility to use the iPhone in cold winters while you're wearing your gloves, as I found out the hard way about a week ago. I guess I'll have to get one of those styli that Dennis mentioned...

Anyway, I'm still waiting for a real, workable substitute for the Newton.

Cheers,

Gisela

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Received on Sat Jan 17 17:08:31 2009