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Robert Scoble
Robert Scoble
I might have bought my last iPhone. Here's why: http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009... Well, that and AT&T sucks. Dropping calls all the time now.
July 20 - Comment - Share
I think you'll love an Android phone! I have a HTC Magic, and it's great! - Patrik Johansson
still looks like the iPhone's ugly sister - Roger Oldham
HTC Hero is the the one to keep an eye on. However AT&T will get this issues resolved, just going through growing pains with the recent success of the iPhone 3GS and other smartphones. I wouldn't leave just yet. - Sloan Bowman
Looks like a nice phone !!!! but i do not think i will give up my iphone - Aaron Thorn
Roger: it feels like 1993 to me. Remember that year? The Macintosh was WAY ahead of Windows. But here Google is catching up quickly thanks to having an ecosystem that's building Android in. It's the ecosystem that's getting me interested. - Robert Scoble
I'm already looking for excuses to switch thanks to AT&T - Jesse Stay
Well, that and the fact that AT&T is so bad. - Robert Scoble
If you use Google services (like Gmail, calendar etc), using an Android device is a brilliant experience. Everything syncs. Check out the Hero. I'm waiting for the HTC 'lancaster' -- or, indeed, anything with a physical QWERTY keyboard. - Ewan MacLeod
Robert since when do you base your choices on looks? What whats should be foremost what matters. Agreed? - Sloan Bowman
is the iphone screen big enough to watch videos on it whilst, say, sitting on an exercise bike at the gym - Mark
The Hero UI reminds me too much of Palm Pre, my girlfriend has the Pre and it's absolutely terrible. I don't see why so many people were excited about it. - Colin Anawaty
Colin: Were is the keyword there ;-) - Sloan Bowman
Until Android gains serious adoption by phone manufacturers (and app development community), Palm Pre nicely fills the gap, and Sprint's network for both calls and data have been stellar. Pre is great, by the way. - jcunwired
At&T was the deal-breaker for me, but then I actually like my G1. Android app still lag well behind iPhone apps tho... - Curtis Phillips
Trouble is that with GSM in the U.S. you have a choice of AT&T (bad) and T-Mobile (worse). We switched to Nokia E71 over a year ago and haven't looked back. Free tethering with JoikuSpot, too. - Ward Mundy
Ryo: I agree the iPhone simply is a very limited device. I'm a huge Symbian fan but Android is my number 2 pick by a long shot. I don't care about appearance. I want power and freedom to get the job done. The iPhone simply can't stand with the others when it comes to that. - Sloan Bowman
HTC can make anything look good - Kashif Khan
Ryo: what happened in 1994? Windows NT. What happened in 1995? Windows 95. Game over, Microsoft took over from Apple's lead. Same is happening here. - Robert Scoble
And as Ewan said: If you use a lot of Google services, Android is perfect. The only minus I can see is that iPhone has so much more apps. But I think that will change later on. - Patrik Johansson
where does rim fit into this discussion? - Tobias Lewsadder
I just want a android phone which has working 3g with AT&T. Just need Lancaster (Memphis) to come out - Ryan
all the best apps and games are on Iphone though, not other platforms - Mark
Patrik -- the apps will come-a-stormin' as people adopt. - Ewan MacLeod
N97? Anyone? :) - Holger Eilhard
Wow, that's an attractive phone. And I'm warming up to Android. Just wish it had more apps available. - Jason Huebel
Sloan: Symbian is dead. Sorry. - Robert Scoble
N97 lacks native SIP. - Ward Mundy
Robert: sure, that bit is interesting... be great if they focused a tiny bit more resource on the industrial design & UX tho' - Roger Oldham
RIM is fine as long as it continues to have the best keyboard and Exchange integration. But I think long term it has problems too. - Robert Scoble
Holger: have you actually used an N97? Sorry, isn't even in the game. - Robert Scoble
Why Rob? business people always need to email and thats awesome with blackberry - Mark
Pretty damning comment for poor Nokia! - Ewan MacLeod
To me it's a Palm/iPhone/Android world now. The rest have to get on board (IE, compete!) or go away. - Robert Scoble
Robert: I was referring to your comments about the N97 a few months ago. :-) - Holger Eilhard
Android or Palm Pre. - Zachary TG
really thinking about buying one. the fact that it doesn't have to be bought at one provider is rather nice. - Pim de Groot
"Palm/iPhone/Android world"... certainly true in the U.S. - Ward Mundy
Is Nokia's OS miles behind Apples? - Mark
Looks nice. Love my iPhone I just wish I could get my MMS pictures without the dreaded Failure encountered during view message errors - Matthew Noreen
in my consultingi have always pointed people towards the iphone for fun and personal use and the blackberry for business purposes. does the pre or any android based phone fit in the middle? - Tobias Lewsadder
Re: Palm/iPhone/Android - No Sh!t - that is an understatement. - Don Strickland
I've always wanted an iPhone, but have no AT&T coverage. Now that they've bought Alltel assets, they should be coming here, but are likely 2 years out. That leaves me with Verizon. Android also intrigues me, but until they get a device on Verizon, I'm still out of luck. - Shawn Kirsch
Holger: I thought they woudl do a better job on the OS. I also didn't expect iPhone 3GS to come along or the Palm Pre to turn out as nice as it did. I also didn't expect that Google would be able to excite developers. All of which are bad trends for Nokia. - Robert Scoble
Robert, I've been hoping for a critique on Pre and WebOS from you for some time. I know lots has been on your plate... - jcunwired
Of course nokia if they were in this thread would say "we sell a zillion phones a day" - Mark
Tobias: you're wrong there. iPhone works great for business too. The only question is whether you can get used to the optical keyboard. I type thousands of words a month on the iPhone. No RIM needed. Android, though, looks like it'll be my next phone, unless someone comes up with a game changer. - Robert Scoble
Robert: I was waiting for that and no my friend its far from it ;-) But you can think that if you would like. - Sloan Bowman
Mark: yeah, and DOS was once #1 too. Who cares? - Robert Scoble
I tend to think Motorola, or any would-be smartphone manufacturer without an OS, should get down on its knees and thank Google for Android. And I'm still not sure Palm survives, even post-Pre. - John Craft
Mark: From a UI standpoint absolutely. From a feature standpoint its been years ahead for a long time. Yes its has its problems but I can do so much more with my Symbian phones than I can with my flashy iPhone 3GS. I'm not biased just being honest from my perspective. - Sloan Bowman
I actually asked you if I should get an iphone yesterday Rob and you said I had to decide myself. It's such a hard thing though. - Mark
Google crippled SIP in Google Voice. Waiting to see if they do the same thing with Android. - Ward Mundy
Robert: Have you ever thought that Android could have use for business purposes too? That's something that I was oblivious to when Android first hit the market. - Amir
Mundy: Crippled as in how? I love my GV - Sloan Bowman
Crippled as in can't make a connection to GV via SIP. - Ward Mundy
Sloan: I have a lot of Nokia phones too and have been a Nokia fan for a while (they still do better video) but the market does not care about having a Zeiss lens or MMS. Who cares? I watch teenagers in UK. They only text. The bleeding edge users are on the iPhone and Android. Developers like: http://www.youtube.com/scoblei... NRU. That app was built for Android first, then ported to iPhone. You can't do THAT with your N97. - Robert Scoble
Amir: I think Android is going to get lots of business users excited. Just like Windows did in 1995. Apple's risk is that they didn't learn from 1994. - Robert Scoble
Oh I played with an N97 (the guy wanted to sell me one so I wouldn't go to the O2 store for an Iphone) he said it was just as good. It wasn't, and it felt like a piece of shit - Mark
"Have you ever thought that Android could have use for business purposes too?" - Amir, see http://www.youtube.com/watch... . I have my G1 syncing to a Google Apps account, and given the costs associated with licensing and supporting Exchange, Android + Apps is a threat to Microsoft and RIM. Gmail's contacts format needs more work, though. - John Craft
Never trust "the guy" lol... - Colin
robert: what about bis/bes? arent those important in the business environment? - Tobias Lewsadder
The Android Samsung Galaxy looks quite good, and unlocked, but still over 400€. - Nils Sandin
Well he was a salesman in a rival store :D - Mark
Mark: I thought it felt good when I first saw it, but they didn't redo the OS deeply enough and didn't make the Web really usable, like iPhone does. That's why iPhone is taking over. As people move from texting-only to understanding the web is important part of their mobile device they need something usable. Nokia isn't usable. Period. - Robert Scoble
Robert: Do you think Apple's mistake/risk in '94 will lead them to a different perspective on Android? - Amir
Android will revolutionise the enterprise because you can finally control the experience for the end-user. Imagine being able to take an HTC Hero and install a 'Citibank' approved and managed version of the Android OS. - Ewan MacLeod
Yeah Rob, the problem is here in the UK, People like me don't want to CALL people anymore, we want to SMS people and we want to check Facebook on a nice browser on the phone. - Mark
Robert: I hear you and trust me I know exactly what you mean. I'm amazed by the apps on my iPhone. I'm just trying to bring that into the Symbian world where its capable but has been neglected for so very long. I am able to share my life easily and with high quality with my Symbian devices. For me this is a powerful thing. You can do it on the iPhone but one app at a time ;-) - Sloan Bowman
Amir: it doesn't look like it, because Apple is very secretive and very closed to outside innovation. But they do have the best developer platform out there (which shocks even the iPhone team internally). That's already one difference between 2010 and 1994. Apple pissed off developers back then and stopped focusing on them. Right now Apple is VERY focused on developers -- their ads show it. - Robert Scoble
Discussions like this really show off the beauty of FriendFeed. - Ward Mundy
God if Nokia came in this thread they could learn a thing or two from this one - Mark
Amir: I think Android will overtake iPhone very soon if Apple doesn't change the way things are going. They are too closed about what they do and what they allow us developers to do. Its going to bite them. - Sloan Bowman
Bingo! - Ward Mundy
Mark: I wish they would. Doing my best to make sure that happens. - Sloan Bowman
Nokia are reading, I guarantee it. - Ewan MacLeod
AT&T is the only reason I don't currently on an iPhone. I have an Android phone (a G1 from T-Mobile) and while it's a great smart phone, I'd much rather own an iPhone. - Chrimmus Tad from fftogo
Mark: Nokia doesn't care internally. THAT is the HUGE problem. - Robert Scoble
Well they need to fucking care. I've played with their latest and greatest and its NOT GOOD ENOUGH. - Mark
a game changer to me would be apple incorporating iwork into the iphone. - Tobias Lewsadder
Mark: Nokia believes that having market share is all that matters, not in having OS leadership. They dropped the ball. I don't know if they will be able to find it again. - Robert Scoble
Robert: Correct. Do you think if Microsoft was in Apple's position [being oblivious to outside innovation] they [Microsoft] will be able to thrive like Apple did with the iPhone? - Amir
Robert - agreed. I had to give up my beloved iPhone because AT&T doesn't have service in my new home location. I even bought a cell booster to supposedly help but it didn't. No service at all but according to the AT&T coverage map, I'm in the "moderate" coverage area. Now I'm fighting the early contract cancellation due to no service. Sucks but I'm hearing a lot of AT&T coverage and dropped call issues lately. The woes of cell service and the electronic world - isn't it great? - Sharon Dexter
Robert: Untrue, I know several people at Nokia that care immensely. They realize the problems but I don't think they have the expertise to see how to fix it yet. I know some very great minds are working on it. - Sloan Bowman
Mark: now you are getting where I've been coming from for the past two years. There's a reason why I wait in line to buy iPhones when I get Nokia phones given to me to try. - Robert Scoble
Sloan: well, Microsoft has the same problem. And, sorry, they don't communicate to the world that they care. They are arrogant and go on stage and poopoo the iPhone and Google. I was there in the audience when they announced the N97. - Robert Scoble
And when people come to them and say they have a problem they hem and haw and don't admit they have a problem. I've heard this over and over from people who go to Nokia and meet with execs there. - Robert Scoble
If they really thought they had a problem they would pull a Nokia and rebuild their OS from scratch. That's the only way they can solve this problem. - Robert Scoble
Apostol: like I said, it's an iPhone/Palm/Android world until someone changes the game. - Robert Scoble
Robert: I had voiced this opinion as well, communication is key and they are getting better at it. Making a good presence on twitter and other networks with real people listening to real users. - Sloan Bowman
But they paid good money for that OS. - Ward Mundy
With RIM hanging on due to business users. Check this out: http://online.wsj.com/article... - Robert Scoble
Sloan: nope, that won't help Nokia. I feel very happy with communication from Nokia. I get tons of devices to try. I get access to people. But the OS sucks and that won't stop being a problem. Nokia needs vision again and needs to ship a great product again. - Robert Scoble
Nokia is just not the company i think about when i want a smartphone. they made good normal mobiles, but apple and HTC/android are the ones that pop into view when you want an internet phone. - Pim de Groot
N97 just shows they finally caved to the providers. - Ward Mundy
The last few statements in this conversation is why Microsoft, Nokia and Blackberry should pay close attention to Android and WebOS, because they will be taking market share from them. iPhone too, but theirs is more a carrier issue than device functionality. - jcunwired
Apostol: What do you mean by that regarding the N97? What do you think is so bad about it? - Sloan Bowman
What about screen size? I find the the screens on the iPod Touch too small already. Can't imagine having a smart phone with an even smaller screen. Will trend to bigger screens ever occur? - Thomas Sheppard
Ward: just because you threw money down the toilet doesn't mean you should keep doing that. Palm learned that. Nokia will too. - Robert Scoble
I'll take an open system any time over a closed one. And I think it sucks bigtime that Apple decides what carrier I use. It's a great piece if software, but it sucks as a mobile phone. Android and this Helios phone look promising. - Alexander van Elsas from iPhone
Couldn't be happier with E71. Over half my calls are SIP, and they're all free. All I need is WiFi. - Ward Mundy
Thomas, there's a fine line between a phone and a portable media device. Any larger than iPhone and it gets to be a bit unwieldy as a pocketable device. - jcunwired
Good lord, Robert, this is you and me agreeing here :) - Ian Betteridge
The game will change I agree but to what direction is anybody guess now. If you want my opinion it won't be Apple that does it. I'm actually surprised you like the iPhone at all Robert. You seem to be a multitasking kinda guy to me. At least very heavy into communications. - Sloan Bowman
If you do decide to bail on the iPhone I'd be interested in the switching cost (the effort it took to move to a different mobile OS) and what kind of non-obvious lock-ins exist on the iPhone. - scott anderson
Apostol: It has a great battery IMO. I push mine very hard and it last all day no problem. Are we going to get into the battery war here? G1 iPhone are you serious? - Sloan Bowman
I agree there has to be an optimal screen size but in education they are talking about mobile learning using these phones (Mobiglam being an example of an early system) and I can't see it working on any smaller screens. - Thomas Sheppard
Apostol: No its not blazing by any means but for me it gets the job done and done well. I am able to communicate via email (personal, Exchange) Sync my google contacts live with Google Sync over Mfe. Have twitter open if needed, chat and last and entire day doing it. Not to mention document my life with my wonderful photos and videos and push them to the web without touching a computer. - Sloan Bowman
Ward, the E71 is a bit of a "hidden gem". For anyone wanting a "BlackBerry-like" phone with a keyboard, it's a really, really sweet phone. - Ian Betteridge
Ward: Right there with you. Google voice and Gizmo SIP make an powerful combination. Of course other SIP providers are just as well. - Sloan Bowman
google has a great opportunity with the chrome os and android. their flawless integration, if done right could be HUGE! - Tobias Lewsadder
Bottom line I don't disagree things don't need to change with Nokia but I do disagree when people say they are worthless. The communication power of a Symbian powered device are endless. But trust me I'm up for any platform that can offer this to me. If that is Android, iPhone then i'll support it. - Sloan Bowman
Great discussion. Here are perspectives from a few developers that may show some chinks in the iPhone's armor: http://furbo.org/2009... http://www.marco.org/143265621 - Sterling Zumbrunn
The industry is about choice. Open choices are always the best door to enter so you don't get hit in the ass by a door closing. - Sloan Bowman
I find the iPhone much easier to program for than Android as I only have to test on a small set of models -- Android is not so simple, especially with these new hybridizations of the operating system. I'm worried it'll become as painful as Windows programming. That said, Apple really needs to fix the App Store approval process. - Raj Advani
Raj, that's true now, but will it be so in the future? Apple is likely to follow the same slow-diversification path for the iPhone as it did for the iPod, I suspect. - Ian Betteridge
Sloan, I don't think anyone would disagree with you there. But the fact remains that both Nokia and Microsoft let the smartphone world pass them by in thinking that symbian and winmo were the OS of choice while others caught up (and surpassed). Unless and until this changes they will be worthless devices strictly within the context of smartphone useability and functionality. - jcunwired
indeed, plus the 3gs and 3g have enough differences that there are 3gs only apps. But i agree with Raj overall the hardware specs are the same - Kashif Khan
jcunwired: Agreed but clearly stating that its dead is dead wrong. People said Mac was dead too remember. Look at it now, all it takes is innovation and dedication and we will have a more rounded solution. Call me overly optimistic but I have faith the Symbian Foundation will change things. If i'm wrong I will be the first to admit it. Trust me I have plans for a HTC Hero in the palm of my hand the day they come out ;-) I bought the iPhone 3GS a couple of weeks ago and like it but wouldn't say I love it. - Sloan Bowman
Prasson: Oh I promise you the next iPhone will probably be incredible as far as hardware goes. Surely they will include a flash, surely right. - Sloan Bowman
I'm going to cry if this ends up on AT&T. - Christopher A Carr
Still looks like he has to touch the screen multiple times to get things to happen. Same problem with Windows Mobile phones. - Jeremy Gollehon
My 3G used to hold a rock solid signal. My 3GS is horrible. 20% drop rates confirmed by Apple Genius - they have a tool that can tell. This is my second one, the first was unbearable. I suggest everyone make an appointment with the Genius bar or drop into AT&T this week. Overwhelm Apple and AT&T with the complaints and testing. Maybe (probably not) it will get their collective attention if they have to spend an entire week troubleshooting. - chris tirpak
Unlocked N97, baby! - Thom Kennon
Didn't you say that when the Pre came out too? I think you may have "Oh Look! Shiny!" disease... - Kevin Pedraja
would verizon be the right answer for the iphone. every verizon phone i have played with was so locked down. i remember comparing my wifes razr to my brothers who is on verizon. it was a totally different os. will verizon give apple and the iphone users the freedom needed for a revolutionry product like the iphone? - Tobias Lewsadder
With competition, Android phones will soon cost less than $200 towards $100 UNLOCKED, which is the real advantage here.. - Charbax
Also, in theory, Android phones should be able to run VOIP and IM only, with absolutely no Voice and SMS contracts needed, but only a month by month pre-paid data only plan required. - Charbax
You can already do that in the UK, with a Skype Phone on the 3 network. Skype-to-Skype calls are free once you're bought the phone - you don't even need a data plan. - Ian Betteridge
After using Iphone(1st gen,3g and 3GS) for nearly two years, I feel no other phone can beat it in browsing the web and it is more of information output device than data input device. The touch keyboard is still very usable to type. I have not used any other smartphones but I feel they lack the smoothness of the Iphone UI. It is not multitasking but the process of going to other program is very quick and that makes up for multitasking. In regard to AT&T, we definately need an official statement from them about this fiasco. I may be wrong since I have not used other smartphones. - ashish
Ian Betteridge, the Skyping that you are talking about is fake. You still need a voice and SMS contract plan. VOIP should be VOIP, it should be located on the data plan. In Europe we can have $20 month-by-month pre-paid only data plans, with absolutely no contracts just perhaps a 10GB or 20GB monthly data usage limit. - Charbax
Android UI is not only developed by Google, but is now developed by thousands of embedded Linux engineers in each of dozens of companies. So obviously Android UI should provide the best possible UI. Anyways, all smartphone UIs are the same. What matters now is freedom to do what you want with your phone, and the price of these devices can only be brought down by increased competition. Android only enables that. - Charbax
Try supporting this on your iPhone... without paying AT&T through the nose: http://mundy.org/whereib - Ward Mundy
Texas Instruments OMAP3, Qualcomm Snapdragon, Freescale i.MX51 or Nvidia Tegra all would have been 3-4x more powerful ARM based processors. So I'd much rather have an ARM Cortex A8 based device. Lots of Android phones are coming out in the next few months by many other manufacturers than only HTC and Samsung. - Charbax
Awesome thread. I'm struggling to find one device that does all I want. I'm testing a bunch right now (fringe benefit). 3GS is probably the best overall. Tweetdeck for iPhone is the koolest app I've ever used. Palm Pre has a slick UI and does great with Office 07 attachements, but apps are limited & no good roaming package for me over in Asia + no tweetdeck (yet)...N97 is interesting.. taking me a week or so to learn Symbian...keyboard can't compare to bbery and sometimes the SW is flakey + again no tweetdeck (yet). Bold is my workhorse... I'm so used to that keyboard I could practically give up on a notebook. They also have this awesome all-you-can eat global data roaming that is perfect for me living in Taiwan. Seems what I need to do is follow Robert's lead & learn how to touch type on the iphone...only problem is I will have to buy another one for local use here since the damn roaming charges are insane. - MarkHirsch
The iPhone is the best gadget I've had in a while but lately the AT&T service really sucks here in NY/NJ - it drops calls and email replies don't get received. Really getting ticked off with it. - Sally Church
Golly gosh O'trousers Friendfeed is quieeeeet tonight - Mark
AT&T really, truly sucks - big time. - J.D. Deutschendorf
T-Mobile's pretty great, in my experience. I understand that varies greatly depending on where you are, however. - Keith Bourgoin
You really can't go wrong with Verizon and a Blackberry. - Bryan R. Adams
except for the blackberry part.. - Chris Heath
I haven't had many problems with the Blackberry. Push email (that works) is king. - Bryan R. Adams
AT&T seems to be in meltdown re: providing, even voice bandwidth. i left them for Sprint, big improvement. I discovered that Sprint has a "free roaming deal" with Verizon so their footpints are the same. - Steve Bell
I am so glad I saw this thread. I am going to check out the HTC Hero. Hope it has a release date soon in the US. My iphone 3G is good, but I want more w/o having to pay $400 to upgrade and get AT&T's service. - Amani
@Scoble - I really, really, really want the HTC Hero but from what I understand it's 3G bands are the ones that AT&T uses in the US so the most recent speculation is that it will end up there. So you'd be stuck with Ma Bell still anyway. I wish this could have gone to US T-Mo, I'd be all over it. - Bryan Zirkel
Hey Chaps, in the UK the Iphone has unlimited data plan built in monthly cost, the Hero has 500mb a MONTH plan built in. That's a 3 minute youtube video every day and a few emails. - Mark
AT&T service is dropping calls almost everywhere now. - Amir
Realized the problem with too many phones around... blew one up today...Plugged the AC adapter for the mophie 3GS battery/case into a N97 since they for some reason have the same custom connector & poof.. blew the N97... - MarkHirsch
Probably will stop me from buying my first iPhone - Kenneth Younger