The joy and awe of my Blackberry Curve (on T-Mobile) lasted until I heard it would not get another firmware update. This was six months after I bought it from a kiosk at Costco. I am now a whole two days outside my two-year contract and my fingers are hovering over the keys, zooming left then right then clicking the mouse, looking, looking, waiting, hoping. Which new phone to choose.
For those people with just-a-phone in the pocket or purse, this would be a quick “Which phone is free?” conversation at any mobile phone retailer. For a Smartphone owner, this is a major purchase. Not financially, oh, no. I’m not talking money. I’m talking which technology do I want to be saddled with for the length of my contract.
In the two years I’ve had this beast of a Blackberry, I’ve seen one heck of a ride for technology phones. Features, phone plan prices, hardware manufacturers, software platforms, and even a little corporate theft. And while I’ve been sitting on the sidelines with my phone, I’ve waited for the day to jump back in with a phone that was worth the two grand/two-year commitment. As a side note, this is also the commitment most companies make for the life of a computer – the one sitting on your desk.
If you don’t know me, I’m a softie at heart but I skipped the Kin (I also skipped the Courier but I didn’t get a choice there and not like I’m crying about it but boy would I like to give someone at Microsoft a piece of my mind about that and – oh, never mind). So the next release is the Windows 7 Phone. It better rock. It better be as awesome as the HTC EVO. Yes, I did mention a Google phone. It’s not the software that I want, it’s the hardware.
I want a Windows Platform phone so I can feed my Outlook/OneNote addiction while out and about, while having all the wonderful camera, chip, memcard fun I can stand. Oh, and if I could use a stylus with my touch capacitive phone for OneNote sync’d with my computer at home? Three points – no net.
I haven’t mentioned a mobile network because I live in a place where data stands still and time feels like it stands still. Dare I say I’m on the EDGE. A little mobile humor for you. Enjoy your 3G.
There does exist at least one partial solution for OneNote users with (gasp!) iPhones, MobileNoter. The OneNote notebooks are read-only on the phone, but it might be a good-enough solution in tangent with something like SimpleNote. (I use SimpleNote on the phone and Notational Velocity on the Mac, but there are Windows apps that sync with it as well. It’s text-only but exceptionally fast for capturing thoughts on the go; and I then organize them into the appropriate applications when I’m at the desktop).
I’m actually hoping Windows Phone 7 is out-of-the-park awesome — I will probably never use it, but I want Apple to have strong competition keeping them honest. But if it isn’t, remember that the strong third-party development ecosystem might make the iPhone worthy of consideration, even for a ‘softie.
Hi Dan — I am tempted. The IPhone calls to me but it not on AT&T’s network. HTC is amazing and right now I need some amazing instead of just cool. So glad to hear another note taker is out there living the mobile life. I’ll let you know what I eventually get, even it it takes until next year. OMG, that’s so far away.
Yeah, phone calling is far from my highest priority, so I’m lucky enough to be able to treat the network as a secondary consideration. I do sympathize from back in my Sudden Valley days, though; it was Verizon or bust.
I have tinkered some with a friend’s HTC Incredible. Android did not blow me away, but the hardware is solid, except for battery life. If MS does great work on the software side, it _could_ be a winner. The waiting game is on.