What exactly is the list of features a smartphone has to have to officially be a smartphone? I've never seen such a list.
I guess the best way to answer this in terms of what makes a smartphone for me is to take you through one of my days.
So I wake up in the morning, go to my phone and turn on the display, half asleep, half dead, brain hasn't kicked in yet, I just stare at the little arrow pointing to the right! You know I used to hate the Windows Mobile Today screen but what is it they say, people take for granted what they have? I can't believe I actually miss it now, being able to just power on the device and at a quick glance seeing everything, missed calls, upcoming appointments, unread emails......
Ah well, start going through everything, check my email (which is very well done on the iPhone), check my calander blah blah blah. I'm done, head out the door get that coffee.
I'm standing in line at the local coffee shop and get an email from someone with one of those long non hyper-linked URL instructing me to check this out. Where it was as simple as copying and pasting the URL, I'm again shaking my head staring at this long URL trying to memorize it but it's just not happening. I think to myself, as soon as I get some coffee I should be able to remember another 10 characters. Ah hell with it, I ask the server for a pen and paper and right it down while she's getting my coffee. Ah well it wasn't anything worth checking out, don't know why the hell they emailed it to me anyways. Get my coffee and head outside to wake up with a sip of coffee and a smoke (Hey I'm trying to quit, yes I know if I really wanted to quit I'd just do it instead of trying!)
So I'm standing there and I get a call from a recruiter, he's got a great contract, need to get him my resume right away he says. I tell him I'll do it as soon as I can. Pull out my iPhone, oh wait, I forgot, I couldn't easily store my Word Document formatted copy of my resume on my iPhone. Ah well, easy come easy go, I got a job anyways. Pop up my mail program and email him, "Hey Jeff, I'll send you my resume when I get home"
Just as I send the email off, I get an email from someone at work asking me to review some information. Man this guy typed a book, maybe I should go home and send my Resume. Ah the hell with it. Hmm kind of hard to read in potrait so I flip the phone to it's side. Hmm, the mail program isn't rotating to landscape mode. I shake the phone a bit, nothing, shaking it a bit more and still nothing, just about to shake it one more time then I hear a loud screaching sound. "I yell, I don't need a cab!" What the hell is wrong with the cab driver, he's swearing at me for nothing. Ah where was I, oh yeah trying to get my phone into landscape to read this email, oh yeah I forgot, can't do that with this device, that was my old device. Ah I'll go through this email later.
Coffee is done, smoke is done, time to head out, get in my car. I'm feeling better, almost fully awake but not awake enough to remember where I have to go. Just then I get a call from my Boss. "Hey where the hell are you, you heading out to that off site meeting." " Yeah, on the way right now, I can't remember the address can you email it to me?" "Sure he says, I thought I did already" "No you didn't" I reply back. He pauses, I can tell he's checking his sent mail then he snaps "Ah I must have forgot, ok I'll send it to you right away, btw do you have Steve's cell number?" "Uh No I say, I never put it in my contacts" The coffee is working, I'm thinking better. "Wait a sec! He called me a few days ago, let me check my call log" Hmm, how the hell do I access my call log when I'm on a call. "Hey boss I'll email it to you" He hangs up. Ahhhh there's the call log, and hey there's the number. Ah can't copy it, ok xxx-xxx-xxx, open mail, find email address, "Hey Boss here's Steve's number xxx-xxum" close mail, save draft back to call log, ah yeah xxx-xxx-xxx, back to mail, open draft x-xxx" And away it goes. Oh here comes an email, Ah the address?????? I'm thinking to myself this place is in the middle of no where, where the hell is this. Ah well, I open Google Maps, enter in the address. Route it, perfect here's the route to this place. I loook at the map, I look out my car window and stare at the street sign. I look back at the map, back to the street sign, back to the map, I tilt my head to the side as if it's some kind of human way of gaining one's bearing. Hmm, ok left right, left. I go left right left, at a stop light. I tilt my head the other way. Uh. I pull out my old Windows Mobile phone I keep in the car, start TomTom, the light goes green. I get into the left lane, make a U-Turn and off I go.
What a boring meeting, I'm out of the meeting, Now what was all that vibrating in my pocket about. I turn on my iPhone, I sit there for a second staring at that little arrow then I slide across to my emails got a double digit next to it. Ah I'll look at this later, I'm hungry. Wait a sec, I think I have a friend working not too far from here. Give him a call, yeah he's not far, hey I'm in the area, let's go for lunch. "Sure he says, but we have to go soon I have a meeting coming up" Ok hold on a sec I say, grab my old Windows Mobile phone again, hey have to save some time, he said he's gotta go right now. So I fire up TomTom and off I go.
Lunch was good, we head out, I figure, it's Friday, I'm going home. So off I go, on the way home I decide to call my boss. I know it's not a good thing to do, driving on the highway trying to dial a number. First thing I'll do when I get home is fireup Itunes and find a Voice Dial app along with some apps to work around these limitations.
Fast past the second coffee, the smoke, the door and I'm sitting in front of my computer. Hmm what was I looking for, oh yeah a Voice Dial Program. Here's one, hmm no Bluetooth Support, ah here's another one, hmm No Bluetooth support, one more, hmm none of them have it. I'll email the developer and suggest he add it. Must have been checking his email because his reply is back a few minutes after I sent it. "I'd love to add that feature he says, but the SDK doesn't allow me to program the Audio Gateway" Ah well, let's go through the productivity section. Ok first one on the list. Days To Christmas..."this program will tell you how many days there are until Christmas" Hmm will I guess there could be an argument for it being a "Productivity Program" Ok second one on the list "Days to New Years", next "Days to Vacation" next "Days to Valentines Day" Ah crap, how many apps does apple boast are in the AppStore, ok next, next, next........Ah here's a great memo program, hmm no copy and paste but it's great! Ah I can't sync, next, oh Here's one I can sync, I'll buy it. Run it, hmmm, I have to connect over WiFi, why can't it just sync like my old device when I dock it. Ah probably another missing thing from SDK. Ah well, better than nothing. next, next, next, greast now we are on. Call 1 Favourite, next Call 2 Favorite, next Call 3 Favorite. Hmm how many apps does Apple boast are in the Appstore again.
Ah I'm tired, F' this, gonna take a nap.
You know the iPhone is a great device, for the most part I love it, but when you get a thread like this about how Nokia is going and iPhone is end all, no offence but a lot of you guys really have to get out outside and see the world. I've been using cell phones since the Analog days, granted Nokia has had some real bombs but for the most part, of all the phones I've ever used, they have the clearest sound quality, best built and consistantly offer new features and functions not seen before. Add to that other vendors who have phones with 840x480 resolution screen, 840x480! We're talking full desktop browsing from your phone where you can see all the text, remote adminstration to a computer that's actually usable, SDK's that are years ahead of Apple. Data speeds that put the iPhone to shame, Video Recording almost as good as a dedicated camcorder, voice guided navigation, and let's not forget Copy and Paste.
The iPhone is on it's way but it still have a long way to go. As great of a device that the iPhone is, it really is overhyped. Whenever I see the Term it's not an iPhone killer, I think to myself, neither is the iPhone, but I can't wait until such a phone hits the market, be it from Nokia, Apple or whoever, I don't care, just give me a phone that makes my pathetic little life easier....So to answer your comment, that's what a smartphone is to me
So let's forget this friend, enjoy your device but don't knock the competition because in a lot of ways, they are way ahead.
BTW, Sorry for the long post, my iPhone is charging and I have time to kill
I guess the best way to answer this in terms of what makes a smartphone for me is to take you through one of my days.
...
Actually for a small novel there are some very fair points.
The iPhone does *not* do a lot of things which other devices do do. The iPhone is not so much a 2007 Smartphone, but a regular phone from 2011 that fell through a timewarp.
It's not that Apple don't care about battle-hardened road-warriors... they care more about everyone else.
And yes, Nokia and others have had all those swiss-army-knife features working for a while.
What Apple figured out was, it's not about the features, but the quality and usability of those features. The stats are very clear, people really do use the web on their iPhones. All of those millions of Symbian phones barely register.
Symbian's problem is not a lack of features. It's a lack of a way forwards. Symbian has had a long and noble development path, but just like Apple's System 8, it has got to a point where it is too cruel to keep it alive. It has to be taken to the veterinarians and put to sleep.
Comments
What exactly is the list of features a smartphone has to have to officially be a smartphone? I've never seen such a list.
I guess the best way to answer this in terms of what makes a smartphone for me is to take you through one of my days.
So I wake up in the morning, go to my phone and turn on the display, half asleep, half dead, brain hasn't kicked in yet, I just stare at the little arrow pointing to the right! You know I used to hate the Windows Mobile Today screen but what is it they say, people take for granted what they have? I can't believe I actually miss it now, being able to just power on the device and at a quick glance seeing everything, missed calls, upcoming appointments, unread emails......
Ah well, start going through everything, check my email (which is very well done on the iPhone), check my calander blah blah blah. I'm done, head out the door get that coffee.
I'm standing in line at the local coffee shop and get an email from someone with one of those long non hyper-linked URL instructing me to check this out. Where it was as simple as copying and pasting the URL, I'm again shaking my head staring at this long URL trying to memorize it but it's just not happening. I think to myself, as soon as I get some coffee I should be able to remember another 10 characters. Ah hell with it, I ask the server for a pen and paper and right it down while she's getting my coffee. Ah well it wasn't anything worth checking out, don't know why the hell they emailed it to me anyways. Get my coffee and head outside to wake up with a sip of coffee and a smoke (Hey I'm trying to quit, yes I know if I really wanted to quit I'd just do it instead of trying!)
So I'm standing there and I get a call from a recruiter, he's got a great contract, need to get him my resume right away he says. I tell him I'll do it as soon as I can. Pull out my iPhone, oh wait, I forgot, I couldn't easily store my Word Document formatted copy of my resume on my iPhone. Ah well, easy come easy go, I got a job anyways. Pop up my mail program and email him, "Hey Jeff, I'll send you my resume when I get home"
Just as I send the email off, I get an email from someone at work asking me to review some information. Man this guy typed a book, maybe I should go home and send my Resume. Ah the hell with it. Hmm kind of hard to read in potrait so I flip the phone to it's side. Hmm, the mail program isn't rotating to landscape mode. I shake the phone a bit, nothing, shaking it a bit more and still nothing, just about to shake it one more time then I hear a loud screaching sound. "I yell, I don't need a cab!" What the hell is wrong with the cab driver, he's swearing at me for nothing. Ah where was I, oh yeah trying to get my phone into landscape to read this email, oh yeah I forgot, can't do that with this device, that was my old device. Ah I'll go through this email later.
Coffee is done, smoke is done, time to head out, get in my car. I'm feeling better, almost fully awake but not awake enough to remember where I have to go. Just then I get a call from my Boss. "Hey where the hell are you, you heading out to that off site meeting." " Yeah, on the way right now, I can't remember the address can you email it to me?" "Sure he says, I thought I did already" "No you didn't" I reply back. He pauses, I can tell he's checking his sent mail then he snaps "Ah I must have forgot, ok I'll send it to you right away, btw do you have Steve's cell number?" "Uh No I say, I never put it in my contacts" The coffee is working, I'm thinking better. "Wait a sec! He called me a few days ago, let me check my call log" Hmm, how the hell do I access my call log when I'm on a call. "Hey boss I'll email it to you" He hangs up. Ahhhh there's the call log, and hey there's the number. Ah can't copy it, ok xxx-xxx-xxx, open mail, find email address, "Hey Boss here's Steve's number xxx-xxum" close mail, save draft back to call log, ah yeah xxx-xxx-xxx, back to mail, open draft x-xxx" And away it goes. Oh here comes an email, Ah the address?????? I'm thinking to myself this place is in the middle of no where, where the hell is this. Ah well, I open Google Maps, enter in the address. Route it, perfect here's the route to this place. I loook at the map, I look out my car window and stare at the street sign. I look back at the map, back to the street sign, back to the map, I tilt my head to the side as if it's some kind of human way of gaining one's bearing. Hmm, ok left right, left. I go left right left, at a stop light. I tilt my head the other way. Uh. I pull out my old Windows Mobile phone I keep in the car, start TomTom, the light goes green. I get into the left lane, make a U-Turn and off I go.
What a boring meeting, I'm out of the meeting, Now what was all that vibrating in my pocket about. I turn on my iPhone, I sit there for a second staring at that little arrow then I slide across to my emails got a double digit next to it. Ah I'll look at this later, I'm hungry. Wait a sec, I think I have a friend working not too far from here. Give him a call, yeah he's not far, hey I'm in the area, let's go for lunch. "Sure he says, but we have to go soon I have a meeting coming up" Ok hold on a sec I say, grab my old Windows Mobile phone again, hey have to save some time, he said he's gotta go right now. So I fire up TomTom and off I go.
Lunch was good, we head out, I figure, it's Friday, I'm going home. So off I go, on the way home I decide to call my boss. I know it's not a good thing to do, driving on the highway trying to dial a number. First thing I'll do when I get home is fireup Itunes and find a Voice Dial app along with some apps to work around these limitations.
Fast past the second coffee, the smoke, the door and I'm sitting in front of my computer. Hmm what was I looking for, oh yeah a Voice Dial Program. Here's one, hmm no Bluetooth Support, ah here's another one, hmm No Bluetooth support, one more, hmm none of them have it. I'll email the developer and suggest he add it. Must have been checking his email because his reply is back a few minutes after I sent it. "I'd love to add that feature he says, but the SDK doesn't allow me to program the Audio Gateway" Ah well, let's go through the productivity section. Ok first one on the list. Days To Christmas..."this program will tell you how many days there are until Christmas" Hmm will I guess there could be an argument for it being a "Productivity Program" Ok second one on the list "Days to New Years", next "Days to Vacation" next "Days to Valentines Day" Ah crap, how many apps does apple boast are in the AppStore, ok next, next, next........Ah here's a great memo program, hmm no copy and paste but it's great! Ah I can't sync, next, oh Here's one I can sync, I'll buy it. Run it, hmmm, I have to connect over WiFi, why can't it just sync like my old device when I dock it. Ah probably another missing thing from SDK. Ah well, better than nothing. next, next, next, greast now we are on. Call 1 Favourite, next Call 2 Favorite, next Call 3 Favorite. Hmm how many apps does Apple boast are in the Appstore again.
Ah I'm tired, F' this, gonna take a nap.
You know the iPhone is a great device, for the most part I love it, but when you get a thread like this about how Nokia is going and iPhone is end all, no offence but a lot of you guys really have to get out outside and see the world. I've been using cell phones since the Analog days, granted Nokia has had some real bombs but for the most part, of all the phones I've ever used, they have the clearest sound quality, best built and consistantly offer new features and functions not seen before. Add to that other vendors who have phones with 840x480 resolution screen, 840x480! We're talking full desktop browsing from your phone where you can see all the text, remote adminstration to a computer that's actually usable, SDK's that are years ahead of Apple. Data speeds that put the iPhone to shame, Video Recording almost as good as a dedicated camcorder, voice guided navigation, and let's not forget Copy and Paste.
The iPhone is on it's way but it still have a long way to go. As great of a device that the iPhone is, it really is overhyped. Whenever I see the Term it's not an iPhone killer, I think to myself, neither is the iPhone, but I can't wait until such a phone hits the market, be it from Nokia, Apple or whoever, I don't care, just give me a phone that makes my pathetic little life easier....So to answer your comment, that's what a smartphone is to me
So let's forget this friend, enjoy your device but don't knock the competition because in a lot of ways, they are way ahead.
BTW, Sorry for the long post, my iPhone is charging and I have time to kill
I guess the best way to answer this in terms of what makes a smartphone for me is to take you through one of my days.
After reading that .... I guess not!
After reading that .... I guess not!
I'm waiting for the Reader's Digest version.
I'm waiting for the Reader's Digest version.
I'm waiting for the mini series.
I'm waiting for the Reader's Digest version.
That means I would have to log a diary for an entire month
That means I would have to log a diary for an entire month
Hire an artist. A graphic novel would be much more interesting.
Don't forget that the $200/$300 price tag is for a subsidized device.
Yes Apple is still selling $400-$600 phones.
Don't forget that the mass majority of the iphone sold are the subsidized kind.
Don't forget that the mass majority of the iphone sold are the subsidized kind.
Why are you repeating what we stated to you?
What exactly is the list of features a smartphone has to have to officially be a smartphone? I've never seen such a list.
At best we can look at sales to account for what features are required for a phone to be viable.
My point is, if you buy experience it is not the same as starting from scratch
I guess the best way to answer this in terms of what makes a smartphone for me is to take you through one of my days.
...
Actually for a small novel there are some very fair points.
The iPhone does *not* do a lot of things which other devices do do. The iPhone is not so much a 2007 Smartphone, but a regular phone from 2011 that fell through a timewarp.
It's not that Apple don't care about battle-hardened road-warriors... they care more about everyone else.
And yes, Nokia and others have had all those swiss-army-knife features working for a while.
What Apple figured out was, it's not about the features, but the quality and usability of those features. The stats are very clear, people really do use the web on their iPhones. All of those millions of Symbian phones barely register.
Symbian's problem is not a lack of features. It's a lack of a way forwards. Symbian has had a long and noble development path, but just like Apple's System 8, it has got to a point where it is too cruel to keep it alive. It has to be taken to the veterinarians and put to sleep.
C.
Half the phones sold in the world are made by a company called Nokia, I can only assume you have no clue about technology.
Maybe in Ireland, but in the US, Nokias have been absent since about 2005
Man! Look at the list and let's talk about the dumbing down of America...