[From Neil Tomlinson] I just read the article in which Palm CEO states "functionality trumps design", and you know what, I couldn't agree more. Like most, I was eagerly anticipating the Apple iPhone and in some respects it didn't disappoint. The Phone had a beautiful design, which is to be expected from any product that is designed by Apple. The OS was elegant and seemingly simple to use, again that was to be expected from a product made by Apple. As Steve walked us through all the different functions my awe continued to increase at exponential levels, and then he got to messaging and then bubble of ecstasy burst.
I watched as Jobs was text messaging with an onscreen keyboard, I listened as the man had the never to say that an onscreen keyboard was better than "those little plastic keyboards" on regular smartphones. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing, no slide out QWERTY keyboard….what?!?! The first thing that came out of my mouth was, is Jobs crazy or just high, I'll leave the conclusion up to you.
Beyond the current trendiness of smartphones and all their capabilities, we should never forget that their main purpose in life is work, to improve productivity while the owner is on the go, to have access to as much of your office as possible without weighing you down with multiple devices. Phones like the Apple iPhone and the LG Prada are amazingly beautiful devices, but their form factors limits their overall usefulness in a work environment and I'd truly be amazed if devices such as the Treo, Moto Q and Blackberry (apart from the Pearl) take a substantial sales hit from the iPhone or Prada.
While we're on the subject of the Pearl, it should be noted that this is another smartphone that has abandoned functionality for form. The device is a real looker for sure, but to get there it had to abandon the use of a full Qwerty keyboard for a compact keyboard design that needs predictive text to offer anything even remotely close to the efficiency of a real qwerty keyboard, which means the device is more or less relegated to email reader and not email composer, which I guess Palm felt was good enough for some users. As the market for smartphone continues to grow I imagine that even people that don't need the "office on the go experience" will want a smartphone for the multimedia capabilities that these phone can offer and for these people they might not care that data entry has been hampered to make the device more attractive, but for me, I know functionality has to trump design, and that's not to say I don't want an attractive phone, 'cause I do, but not at the expense of functionality..... I think it's fair to say that everyone loves sexy gadgets, but in the end, if that sexiness had to come at the expense of functionality, is it really a good device, or just a piece of art? Well those are my thoughts, don't hate them, just embrace the madness.