The iphone is good … but not that good.

As Paul Jozefak rightly points out on his blog, it is truly unreal that after all the bitching about lack of cut and paste, they have still left it out. Maybe it will be a Christmas present from them instead

That aside, I still rate the iphone as a fantastic piece of engineering. As a net device, or for apps, its truly fantastic. But as a phone, it truly sucks. Its still better than a Windows Mobile phone, but that isnt good enough – nor should that be a measurement of success!

The iphone came down from Heaven and thus they were all in a clammer.
(know this artist? I’d like to leave credit and link – please leave a comment if you know)

If a phone is going to be “a phone” then it has to do one thing well first: Be a phone.  That means decent battery life, and easy one hand operation for making calls. If I cant retrieve someone from my address book, in the dark with one hand (this is a test, not a regular use case for me and get the right number atleast 50% of the time, its a FAIL.

My life is too rushed, too busy, too many calls to be faffing around with both hands, head dug into my phone screen.

Lastly, there are other more subtle problems– Why do I have to go back to the SETTINGS screen to do basic config changes which I should able to access from with the current mode? Why cant I add a photo into an email, FROM the email I’m writing, rather than START from the photos gallery?…..I could go on.

Currently, I’ll have to carry my beloved Crackberry 8800, the best phone Ive owned in 5 years, and find space in my clothing for the beautiful but flawed iphone, too.

• Want to know about phones? use GSM Arena – fantastic free and well updated resource on phones old and new. Not an ad, I’ve just used it for years and its a great site!

More Mobile Network Operator Mobile Data Woes

I posted this on MomoLondon today in an effort to understand how any MNO can roll out such a policy and think it is sane / sensible / will work / will grow their data business …

Can anyone explain to me why if I access the internet on my Blackberry one way (e.g. via O2 actives homepage) I get charged, but if I access the mobile internet another way (via “Blackberry bookmarks”) I don’t ?!  Even if accessing the same webpage – e.g. Google.

Another stunning example of wholly opaque pricing and usability from the MNO’s.

Momo Crackberry users, be warned. I have received £600 bill for data for one month, because I apparently accessed data via the wrong APN.

Apparently one pay’s for data via “mobile.o2.co.uk” but not  via “blackberry.net”.  Frankly, this is a joke.  I dont remember being quoted “100 mb of inclusive data provided you use the correct APN”. 

To be fair to O2 they have reimbursed me for the confusion, provided going forward I make sure I use the right APN; and I commend them for making the right decision on this.

There may be a good technical or other reason, why it is like this; but that is not the point.  Don’t give inclusive (albeit capped) data packages, but then apply a string of confusing criteria to the deal. Data is data. Sorry, but I dont care about the complexities of an MNO’s network or international roaming deals.  I am paying for an inclusive, international 100mb of data for email and browsing. That is what I expect to receive, without strings attached.