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Smartphones are not Toasters
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Jerry Raia
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Joined: 07 Jul 2003
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Location: Los Angeles

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 11:30 am    Post subject: Smartphones are not Toasters Reply with quote

First of all, Happy New Year! Next I would like to start the New Year off by bringing up one of my biggest irritations. Smartphones are not music players! I know I am in the minority here. I just have a basic belief that when a thing tries to do too many things, it does none of them well. Remember the Motorola iTunes phone? That's my point; you probably don't because it was a disaster. Smartphones are getting very good at doing a few things. Being a music player shouldn't be one of them. The iPod really set the bar as to how a portable music player should be. A Smartphone with Windows Media Player doesn't even come close! I find it awkward to use. What about battery life? Don't you want your phone to be able to make a call when you need it to and not have a dead battery? Finally, nothing upsets me more than those silly media buttons on the front of the phones! Should Media Player be part of the phone? Of course. Should the phone be built around the Media Player? No I say! So what do you think? Am I really way off base here? Should a Smartphone be like Swiss Army Knife? Go ahead, bring on the flames! I can take the heat!
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JDMountford
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Joined: 07 Jul 2003
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Location: Topeka, Kansas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 12:19 pm    Post subject: Extreemly Disagree Reply with quote

I am in the Wireless Industry. I work for one of the big Four Carriers in the U.S. I peruse all the rumor sites on mobile phones. I know my job and I love my gadgets. That being said, I want the "Uber Device”!! I do think that a properly implemented Smartphone or Pocket PC can be all things to all people. I would love to see Windows Media Player on the Smartphone take on more of a Zune interface. And I would LOVE for Manufacturers to realize that Smartphones can be cool looking and still functional. Lastly I know that for the Swiss Army Smartphone to take off and be the "Uber Device" Manufacturers need to start putting in much, much more memory. Even a four Gig phone w/expansion would meet my needs.
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chaznet
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Joined: 29 Mar 2006
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 12:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A Windows Mobile smartphone might not be a music player for a diehard listener who feels the need for 20+ gigs of music in their pocket, but...

I can cram a lot of music and video onto the 2 gig SD card in my T-Mobile Dash, plenty to get me through a week or so on the road. Storage space will ony increase as even more devices come to market. Nice to have just 1 device that'll pause playing and alert me when I get a call, then resume once the call (or rejecting of it) is complete. The screen is surprisingly watchable on a plane, and in flight mode the battery drain is next to nothing after a few hours of viewing. I find with all the radio functionality shut off, these devices can go quite a bit longer on a charge. Streaming internet radio is also a feature I use quite often, a great option for mobile listening.

You're right about the media player buttons on the phones though, especially on a Windows mobile phone with the same functions already in the navigation buttons. Though when I had a SDA, those buttons made great shortcuts for other often used programs.

Personally, I'd rather have an extra battery on hand than another device, charger, cables, etc.. I feel there are plenty of others like me in the marketplace, more than adequate to support the taking of the converged device market to the next level.

Apple may have been the leader in the portable music player arena, but it looks like they'll be trailing behind in the converged device marketplace.

No flames, just the opinion of someone who appreciates his Swiss Army Knife -- mine is far from being considered a disaster... Wink
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ifonline
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Joined: 27 Jul 2005
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Location: Braselton, Georgia

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:19 pm    Post subject: Re: Smartphones are not Toasters Reply with quote

Jerry Raia wrote:
Smartphones are not music players! I know I am in the minority here. I just have a basic belief that when a thing tries to do too many things, it does none of them well. Remember the Motorola iTunes phone? That's my point; you probably don't because it was a disaster. Smartphones are getting very good at doing a few things. Being a music player shouldn't be one of them. The iPod really set the bar as to how a portable music player should be. A Smartphone with Windows Media Player doesn't even come close! I find it awkward to use. What about battery life? Don't you want your phone to be able to make a call when you need it to and not have a dead battery? Finally, nothing upsets me more than those silly media buttons on the front of the phones! Should Media Player be part of the phone? Of course. Should the phone be built around the Media Player? No I say! So what do you think? Am I really way off base here? Should a Smartphone be like Swiss Army Knife? Go ahead, bring on the flames! I can take the heat!


Sure, and a cell phone shouldn't be a calendar, task list, notepad, etc. You have purchased a converged device, but are complaining about it being too converged? Odd.
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Jerry Raia
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am talking about Smartphones, not regular cell phones. Like the camera, the music player function is just an after thought. We know how great the cameras are too right? The Smartphone IS the Clanedar, Task List etc.
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Kris Kumar
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow Jerry! Great way to start the year - a rant!

I see my Smartphone as a jack of all trades, master of none. I don't expect my Smartphone to store tons of music and have great playlists, but I do expect it to perform decently and sound decent and most important, the extra media buttons better work otherwise I am gonna pluck them out.

The same goes for Wi-Fi, camera, BT based GPS navigation, BT headset etc.

The calendar, task, email and browsing are the most basic operations I expect to my Smartphone to perform really well, and reliably. I wouldn't want Microsoft to waste too much time on anything other than that (and OS tasks - memory, process management, RTOS stuff etc). I would prefer third-party vendors and Smartphone manufacturers to work on the other capabilities. But they should work as advertised otherwise it is not a Smartphone anymore.
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ifonline
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jerry Raia wrote:
I am talking about Smartphones, not regular cell phones. Like the camera, the music player function is just an after thought. We know how great the cameras are too right? The Smartphone IS the Clanedar, Task List etc.


I understand that. My point was simply that Smartphones are cell phones with added features. There are those that would argue a cell phone should not contain PDA functions, such as a Smartphone does. Then, obviously, there are those that argue that a Smartphone shouldn't contain media functions. It just seems odd to me that someone who bought a Smartphone should be complaining about too many features.

By the way, the Media Player in a Smartphone doesn't really seem like an afterthought to me. I consider the Media Player to be equally as worthless as most of the other applications designed by Microsoft. How long have Smartphones been around? Contacts on my BlackJack doesn't even have all of the fields that Outlook does. Most, but not all. How many more years will it take before Microsoft decides to make that final push over the hill and add all of the fields? There are fields missing that I actually use.

Oh well. I still love my BlackJack, Media Player and all.
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Jerry Raia
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ifonline wrote:
My point was simply that Smartphones are cell phones with added features.


I would disagree with your premise then. I think Smartphones as we define them here are MS Mobile based devices with a cell phone added (yes I know I'm skipping over the Pocket PC Phone/Smartphone difference). The purpose IMHO is to be a PIM with the convenience of the phone added. Last time I checked music player wasn't part of the definition of a PIM. The cell phone brings it all together by adding connectivity and communication, also part of a true PIM. It is nice to play songs and take pictures, I don't object to that in the least. When you start putting fast forward and rewind buttons on the device, what are you saying the device is? See what I mean?
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cortez
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Joined: 07 Nov 2003
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Location: north texas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

my 3125 works well as a PIM/Phone/Music player. i like having these features in a small package. i use my 3125 primarily as a music player/phone when i'm working out or running (daily in the morning). being able to monitor email (while i run) before starting my work day is also a plus. count me as one who likes the [3125] converged device.... Cool
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Rocco Augusto
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Personally, I dig the ability to listen to music and watch movies. I could care less for the media buttons as I feel they should be integrated in the headset and not the actual phone. My personal opinion is that Microsoft should work to better the Smartphones media playback features.

I'm not saying we should all have Zunes that happen to make calls, but I would like to see simple things added to the built in media player such as an equalizer with preset settings.

I use my phone to listen to music on my way to work. I have about a half mile walk to the light rail where I grab some coffee and hop on the train for a few stops and then wait about 10 minutes for my bus. After I hop on the bus, it is about another 15 minutes before I get to work. All in all, I have about 30-45 minutes worth of transit both ways everyday and I find my phone to be a great resource to pass the time.

Lately I haven't been using my phone though do to how many steps it takes just to get everything set up, as you can see below:

1) Bring up the wireless manager
2) open my bluetooth settings
3) tell the phone to connect to my bluetooth headset
4) repeat step three if my phone is being bratty
5) open up WMP
6) load what I want to listen to because I can't tell it to play all songs by all artist or I'll end up listening to all of my ringtones along with my music... which is ALWAYS annoying.
7) lock the phone and put it in my jacket pocket or messenger bag pocket.

It doesn't sound like a lot of steps but it easily takes about a block and a half to two blocks to even get the music playing. There should be an easier way to get everything done. Sad
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