The Case For Separation

[Adama D. Brown]

I have a confession to make: I don't particularly like Pocket PC phones. I find them unwieldy as phones, and unremarkable as anything else. They come in a variety of uncompelling types, almost all of which manage to be basically the same, the equivalent of lime gelatin for the technology market.

Yeah, I know, that's not much of a confession. It's no secret that I'm a pretty fanatical handheld user, and I've expressed dismay about the apathetic state of the industry on many an occasion.

What might surprise more people is that I'm also an avid Windows Mobile Smartphone user. I own both a Qtek 8500 and an older HTC Typhoon, both of which see regular use. The Samsung BlackJack is my favorite keyboarded device, and I drool uncontrollably over the forthcoming HTC Erato, also known as the S420.

A Converged Two Device User? Heresy!

To be honest I see no contradiction in these things. I've used a lot of hardware over the last few years, and I've seen arguments about even more. I've seen or read about almost every mobile device available in this hemisphere. And you know what I've found? I prefer a device that is great at what it does rather than trying to be adequate at everything.

A couple years ago, before the original Treo 700w came out and bridged some of this gap, one of the most common laments of Pocket PC phone users was that they didn't have a device with the form-factor of a Treo, because it was such a useful design as a phone. The most common wish on the Treo users side, though, was that they would have a device with a large, full screen, like many Pocket PC phones have.

This is a perfect example of the grass being greener on the other side of the hill. While I don't doubt that some of these people are now perfectly happy with a Windows Treo or some other device, I suspect most of them are finding that their desires aren't really satisfied by what's available.

I'll Take What I Can Get

It's been four years since the original Treo debuted, and there's one conclusion that I'm finding more and more irrefutable -- there's no device which does everything perfectly. That's of course a disappointment to most of us, since the lure of the "perfect device" echoes in our minds like a siren song. But the number of people who can actually find that perfect thing are few and far between. For my money, I've settled on the next best thing.

I don't try to read books on my Qtek any more than I make phone calls on my Axim -- the two units are wildly different, with individual strengths and weaknesses, which is why I like them so much. The areas where one is weak is exactly where the other is strong.

To me, carrying the right thing at the right time is much more appealing than trying to carry everything, all the time. While there's an inherent appeal to the victory over the machine of stretching something to do more than it was meant to, be that turning my Axim into a phone with Skype, or shaping a smartphone into a note-taking platform, it's never as easy as you want it to be.

Convergence is supposed to serve, and it's hard to be well served by your devices when you're fighting to make them something that they never were meant to be.

Other Editorials by Adama Brown

• The Future Is Coming To Get You
• If You Show Them, They Will Come
• Murder Most Foul

 

[Warden]

I couldn't agree more, and I came about it the hard way. For a long time I had a mild interest in getting a PDA, but I already packed a cell phone everywhere I went and didn't want to add another device. Then my cell phones started doing more PIM stuff and I was almost happy. But the allure of a real pocket computer with 3rd party software available was still there, and I eventually picked up a PPC phone. I was in love! Many times I thought, "Why would anybody want to pack two devices when they could just pack one of these?" But after the initial infatuation was over, I began to notice things. Like how my PPC just wasn't that great of a phone--mediocre reception, poor volume, bulky, buggy, hard to run one-handed. But then it wasn't the greatest computer either--small, low-res screen, mid-range power, bulkier than it needed to be if it was just a PPC. The point was really driven home when my PPC crapped out and I went back to a regular cell phone. I had forgotten how nicely a real phone did its job! So, yeah, I miss the computer side of my PPC and am in the market for a new one, but just a stand-alone PDA. Beauty of it is, it will be able to access the internet through my cell phone via bluetooth almost as seamlessly as if it were a Phone Edition itself.

Cheers!

[Robanga]

Hey I like lime jello. (particularily with pears)

In my opinion it's hard to make the case against convergence. I could certainly own a timeshare or vacation home to catch rays and play in the pool, but having a pool in my back yard is more cost effective and convenient that either of the first two choices, although not as full featured for sure.

Having said that I still find myself using my iPhone as my main mobile phone/device and using a TomTom device for navigation. For windows mobile the upcoming HTC Kaiser/AT&T Tilt seems to come very very close to the point where the non-converged party is over.

For Windows Mobile give me a 3G device, keyboard, GPS with turn by turn navigation ala TomTom, etc. and I am officially converged.

For my iPhone experience, the overal device is SO good I'd be willing to set the bar even a bit lower. Give me full exchange support and a bluetooth connection to a little bluetooth GPS that stays in my car along with the turn by turn Nav and I am also officially converged.

[Waiting to Buy]

My original post about The Future of the (HP) 5900 Series included my argument that the phone and the PDA sometimes have to be in use simultaneously. I fully agree with your opinions.

If someone calls me on the cellphone and wants to book an appointment or job, I cannot successfully take the phone away from my ear and navigate the small buttons on the phone to an already very limited scheduler section. I have tried it, and I've lost calls because of it. Doesn't it make sense to be able to (a) stay in conversation on the phone and (b) be able to refer or consult a PDA for answers? I think so.

Try holding a DAYTIMER in the same hand as your office desk phone and see how silly it is. Get me a separate PDA anytime. Just get me one with all the newest features and stop my waffling. I'll be patient...but hurry.

[dmccunney]

I never wanted a converged device in the first place.

The issue is form factor. We want our cell phones small and light. To get that, we have to compromise on things like screen size.

We also want to be able to use cell phones one-handed, and PDAs tend to be ill designed for that.

My PDA is my PIM, and my pocket reference library on nearly everything. I want a screen as large as I can get in the form factor, to display the maximum of information, with a lot of on device RAM and a lot of external storage capacity.

The Treo is about as good a compromise as I've seen on form factor, but it is a compromise. In particular, I want a 320x480 screen (and woiuld like even higher resolution). No can do on a Treo.

I don't care for thumbboards, and don't want to do email on my PDA. If I have to do any significant amount of text entry, I have a folding keyboard. I also don't want an included camera, as I already have a pocket sized digital camera I like.

I'm perfectly happy to carry two devices, cell phone and PDA. I use a phone for placing and answering calls, period. All I ask is that they can talk to each other, and that I can sync my PDA address book with my cell phone directory.
______
Dennis

[JRakes]

Many of these points are exactly what I've been whining about for some time! As many of you might have seen, I simply have no need nor desire for a so-called "smartphone" converged device. Quite simply, I don't use my cell phone that much. I don't even have it with me all the time. My T3, however, is pretty much always with me - I manage my life by it! I also carry tons of reference info, keep up with my finances, track my work hours, carry my pics (no paper pics in my wallet,) play MP3's in the car, etc etc etc. I need a full-function, high-end, no-compromise PDA for that. The cell phone? I have a cheapo Nokia on a pay-as-you-go cheapo plan, and I never come close to using all of my minutes for that. The phone works just fine - Reception, clarity, volume, etc. Both do their jobs very well.

I read over and over about "converged" devices being a compromise of their different functions, i.e. phone vs PDA. Why would I possibly want to use a compromised device simply to have the occasional access to another compromised device in one unit? Worse, why would I possibly want to pay money to have less than I have now? And then there's the idea of being tied to a particular carrier just to get full use of this "wonderful compromise..." (Yeah, apparently I could get an unlocked Treo, and possibly get a similar plan, but... That doesn't really address my primary misgivings.)

The bottom line is that many of us don't need or want a half-a$$ed variant of two devices, the combination of which still doesn't cost any less than the two separate devices.

Yes, many folks, perhaps the majority of folks, need to have a cell phone in their ear at all times. I don't. Show me a Treo that can out-perform my T3 IN EVERY SINGLE WAY and I would consider it. Show me a Treo with a screen rivaling my old m505, slower processor, less RAM, less heap, etc, and I'll just chuckle to myself and lovingly hold onto my T3. And my cheapo "dumbphone."

Joe
(Who is STILL waiting for a standalone Palm PDA that would be a worthy upgrade to the T3...)

[Ashton]

I agree with Adam, I think convergence is about a device that does everything poorly and nothing well. I had a MotoQ, it had poor resolution, it was awkward to navigate, it crashed often, it couldn't runa lot of the true PPC aps I wanted, and as a phone it has poor reception (0-1 bars vs 2-3) and locks up during calls. It also advertises a GPS but it's "gps" is tower triangulation that has an accuracy of something loike 2 football fields...

I want a VGA display with a touchscreen, I want the pwoer to run apps without locking up and hte ability to run true pwoerful applications.

My Axim and a samsung a900, which can tether with BT, is so far the best setup for me. it works so well, in fact, I've only turned on wifi once or twice since I got theis setup. I'm happy using my cell and my axim instead of using my home wifi network with it! (saves on battery power too!)

There are only 2 things I miss from my Q. The thumbboard (though I plan to rectify this by getting a belkin snap-n-type for my Axim) and the easy-to-update contacts list. AFAIK there is no way to share contacts with Axim and my a900 (dial via bluetooth does not work) and it's awkward to have to look up the number every time somone calls or to spend hours manually inputting my dozens of buisiness contacts....

[berylrb]

good points ... the only thing I can add is that robanga had a marvelous analogy!

[Antoine Wright]

Heracy, burn him at the stake, we only do converged devices here!

...good points and I agree totally with ya Adama. Great piece (as usual).

[BAB2000]

Hey I like lime jello. (particularily with pears)

We too! and at Christmas time, keep pears halved and place a cheery on the the indentation

I have not tried converged, still use my PDA as a total reference tool. Work forces me to a Blackberry 7520 for email tether, but the phone function is horrible, so kept my i90c for work cell as well.