Over the past 2.5 years I have been addicted to my smart phone, not the worlds greatest, I’ve had both HTC Touch and Touch Pro with Windows Mobile 6.0 then 6.1.
Yes, the web browsing was basic, the phone (voice calls) was bearable, but I have really enjoyed the syncing of all my email and most importantly calendaring. There are (compared to iPhone and even now Andriod) basically no apps and the way Microsoft set up the Mobile Apps store with some kind of wonky conversion from US$ to CDN$ (serious Microsoft am I going to by an app for $3.29?!?) But I have made do even while many friends and neighbors flocked to the iPhone.
The one thing that has continued to vex my experience was the poor build quality of HTC (I beleive they were once know as Audivox) devices. The HTC WinMobile was supplier by my past employer and during these past 2.5 years I am now on my 4th faulty HTC device. Sadly all of these faults have been hardware related so I cannot blame the carrier or the software maker as much as be displeased with the hardware (one bad keyboard, one bad mini-USB port, and no a screen that no longer can display). So I am looking for a new device.
My thoughts are two fold. One do I move to a trusted brand of smart phone (e.g. RIM or Apple)? Do I try a Motorola or Nokia device with another O/S but tried and true hardware (I loved the simplicity and sturdiness of phones I’ve had from both of these firms)? Do I wait until the next iPhone is out and just pretend I didn’t mind the jerk that is Steve Jobs in how he’s made the poor Gizmodo reporter miserable after one of his engineers lost the phone… Or dare I say go back to a regular phone – as I really get all my Internet experience from my netbook , laptop and iMac? I think I’d be fine not having a data plan – these are still a bit dear in Canada after all…. and keep my Starbucks account for jumping on the Internet when I need to and basically where ever I need to…
Honestly, I just don’t know. What say you blog’osphere? Is there going back from the Smart Phone life once you’ve had a taste? Is there a good reason to think a slim basic phone with simple tools that handles all my calls easily and simply the right answer – esp as I know that there are more than enough hot spots across the city and country?
Anyway I am very keen to here what the thought are… What devices are people using that they feel meet their needs both from a phone and from a WWW perspective. Finally which carrier are people most happy with – if there is one….
I welcome your point of view! And thanks in advance!
I have over 15 years IT market experience managing products, performing qualitative and quantitative market analysis, developing new business and partnerships, and creating business/product strategies. My experiences vary from Microsoft to IDC where I have enjoyed the challenge of working with industrious and smart people both from a vendor, consultant, and customer perspective.
