I don’t think I’ve read two blog posts in a row for the past 2 weeks without one of them mentioning The Telecommunications Product Apple Recently Released (TTPARR). I can’t get through my email without hitting a third or fourth one that was sent from TTPARR. Even DG’s dance teacher has the fever, coveting TTPARR while looking at her well-used and loved Blackberry with affection.
After my Razr went missing Monday I had to replace my phone, and I did, with one of these:
The Samsung Blackjack is a very cool little phone. It’s about the size of a deck of cards with about 1/3 the thickness. It comes with 2 batteries, a travel charger, and a CD with some utilities. It’s got a full QWERTY keyboard that can actually be used — it hasn’t taken me long at all to learn to type pretty fast with the thumbs (can Blackberry/Blackjack thumb be far behind?).
Hardware-wise, this phone is very, very cool.
I wish I could say the same for the software. It runs on Windows Mobile, which has improved somewhat from the days when I was in love with my Dell Axim enough to put up with the data overwrites and duplicate pairings that ActiveSync wrought on me. To say I hate ActiveSync would be an understatement, particularly after having an excellent experience with the iTunes sync interface on my iPod.
Here’s how I feel about Windows Mobile and just about every other platform I’ve seen, including TTPARR: They limit the user to one usage style, and if that style doesn’t fit, customizing is never convenient. Here are some examples:
- I use GMail. The phone comes with a push client which will integrate with GMail. Slick. Very slick. But it doesn’t integrate with GCalendar, so the screen on the phone constantly says I have no appointments even when I do. And I haven’t figured out how to turn that off yet, because the menus are so deeply nested that I haven’t even found them all yet.
- Because I use Gmail, my most current address book is stored with Google. No problem there, I’ve downloaded it into a nice neat little .csv file to import into the phone. But GUESS WHAT? I can’t find a way to import it without using ActiveSync, which won’t import the list because…I DON’T USE OUTLOOK anymore. So I can either manually input each one or wait for them to either call or email before adding them to my contact list. Sorry, but it should be a two-click process to import contacts into the phone. Period.
- There are lots of bloaty apps that come with Windows Mobile that I don’t want, don’t need, and don’t like using up the little bit of storage that comes with the phone. This phone came with AT&T Video (whatever that is), Windows Media and a bunch of other media apps that I don’t ever use anywhere. Yes, there is a slot for a micro-SD card, but I would be using that for my own MP3s and the like, which don’t need a bloated media player to play.
When Karoli rules the world, this is what mobile phones will be like:
- They will run on an open platform that models the Web, only without the incompatible browser issues the Web currently has because there will be a standard ahead of the platform instead of standards coming behind the platform.
- They will have widgets. Widgets are the heart of the phone’s functionality and will work regardless of the carrier or manufacturer.
- Users will choose the widgets that fit their usage style and habits. When buying a phone, the buyer should get the hardware and 3-4 widgets of their choosing included, with the option to purchase extras for a nominal fee.
- Widgets will be easy to set up and use. Buying a new phone should be as simple as deciding which hardware to buy and then choosing the widgets that enable me to work the way I want to work without the platform/carrier constraints in place now.
- Just like hardware, the best widgets will rise to the top and become the standard by which new widgets are developed and improved upon, driving innovation and development across the basic platform
Carriers will kick and scream like they did when the old leased phones were replaced with phones manufactured by anyone who wanted to make them according to the spec. Think about how long we had those leased monoliths in our living room, tethered to the wires running through the house, before the telcos gave up the lease fees to the manufacturers who were making better, prettier and more functional phones. It’s time to see that happen again. No more Apple/Microsoft/Motorola carrier-specific platforms.
Open platform, unlocked phones, widgetized interface, fully customizable to the way each user works.
That’s where this needs to go.
Oh, and one other thing: Standard charging cables. I have Nokia, Motorola (old), Motorola (new), and Samsung charging cables here in the house, all different. If I forget my charging cable, I’m screwed since I am the only one with this type. On the other hand, all the Motorola owners are interchangable..except for Sticks, who still has the ‘old’ Motorola connector on his phone. Enough. Make them universal once and for all.
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