A long time since I’ve
written an editorial, but, I haven’t seen much worth writing about.
iPhone columns have become
exercises in redundancy; and, its way too early to tell if either Microsoft or
Nokia are ready to deliver something the American marketplace is willing to
buy.
In the meantime, I have a world-class case of ‘Palm Ennui’:
Palm OS is a
dead-end; and, while the Pre is a nice phone with a great OS, it has generated
far fewer buyers then Palm or Sprint expected. Of course, that’s due in no
small amount to Sprint’s doubling the monthly service rates for existing Sprint
smartphone owners who wanted to upgrade.
It just adds insult to injury when
Sprint justifies it by bundling in a bunch of feature-phone apps that a
web-enabled smartphone doesn’t need. They're just telling their customers:
“Bwa-ha-ha…we’re gonna screw you; and, you’re too dumb to notice.” Hey, Sprint! That
industry-leading customer attrition rate is there for a reason…everyone has
been noticing as they change their service to either AT&T or Verizon.
I’m still with Sprint; but,
only for two reasons:
1)
I have 4 months
remaining on my contract, and am too cheap to pay the early termination fee
2)
I haven’t found another
smartphone and/or platform that really floats my boat.
Despite endless in-my-face demos from well meaning friends and
colleagues, I remain curiously resistant to the iPhone’s many charms…mainly due
to the lack of interchangeable batteries and the lousy AT&T network. I
have already had smartphones running the Blackberry and WinMo operating
systems…and, they are definitely not for me (endless menus make me surly)
One very intriguing possibility is the upcoming Droid smartphone from
Verizon.
I really like the Google Android OS (widgets are fun!) and a
big-screen, skinny smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard looks like my idea of fun.
It will also save me money: my wife has her wireless service with Verizon; and,
if I get a family plan (her, my son and myself) it will cost less then keeping
her on Verizon and incurring the new ‘Everything’ Plan costs that Sprint is
waiting to shove down my throat at the end of my contract. Verizon is working
on getting me a unit for test/review; so, you will all get to share that
experience.
I am looking forward to putting the new ‘GPS’ version of Google Maps to
the test. According to Google, it provides real-time maps, directions
(including spoken), quick access to POIs (Points Of Interest) along your route;
and other things previously available only from a full-blown GPS device or
service. I currently use TeleNav (luv it!), and will use them as a comparison
benchmark. Google is continuing to demonstrate that they are focused on the
user experience, and not the technical slickness of a smartphone. Everyone else
had better watch out, because these guys play for keeps.
My interest in Google goes beyond smartphones: like everyone else, I use
Google Maps and Gmail (as my 2nd service); but, I am currently
testing Google Voice…and, there’s a lot to like.
For those who haven’t tried it yet, here’s the deal: Google Voice lets
you point a current phone (home, office, wireless) to their voicemail server.
You have the ability to create unique voicemail greetings for individuals (my
wife freaks when she my voicemail greets her by name!), or groups. Once a
voicemail is received, you get either a Gmail or text message letting you know
that you have received the message; and a text transcript.
Accessing the voicemail is a snap; however, I do have a few minor
caveats:
1)
Unless you have push-mail
or want to incur texting charges, you have to manually check your email after
an ignored call to see if a voicemail was left.
2)
You can’t delete a
message over the phone; it has to be done via browser
3) The voice-recognition software needs some tweaking. I
get some ‘interesting’ text transcripts of the voicemails left
That said, I really like Google Voice…and, especially its philosophy: as
with Google Maps, you don’t need to (nor, should you) pay carriers extra fees
for services and functionality that are available via the web. As Google pushes
the true capabilities of Web 2.0, the carriers are going to have to revise
their pricing models…before Congress re-instates Government oversight and price
regulation (tomorrow wouldn’t be too soon for me).
Finally, since I’ve segued from smartphone operating systems to web
services, I will take one more step to computer operating systems…specifically,
Windows 7.
Last Christmas, my wife’s family bought my in-laws a new HP laptop, to
replace their aging Gateway unit. A really nice kit…except for the inclusion of
Windows Vista. As I am the resident tech-support for my in-laws, I have become
intimately familiar with this vile demon; and, have been waiting for the right
spell to cast it back into the OS Hell from which it crawled. Happily, the
crazed sorcerers of Redmond realized that Vista was as welcome as a Balrog;
so, they regrouped for a Gandalfian effort and conjured up Windows 7.
I had been waiting for the upgrade release with a combination of
excitement and terror: excitement over the possible exorcism of Vista; and,
terror over the death and destruction left in the wake of previous Microsoft
home upgrades. Silly me!
Aside from the time it took the InstallWizard to verify the laptop’s
readiness and compatibility, it turned out to be one of the smoothest
installations/upgrades I have ever done (and, I’ve been in the technology
racket since 1978).
The laptop runs much faster, it streams the WiFi connection (from FIOS)
much faster, and its one heluvalot easier to navigate then old demon Vista
every was.
In fact, it looks an awful lot like Windows XP. Hmmm, I wonder…?
That’s it…I’m off the bloody soapbox!
