Re:Palm did it: better experience than Apple
by potatolicious on Saturday January 10, 2009 @05:16PM
(#428433)
I think it's shortsighted to think that Apple's shortcoming is any of those missing features.
In the end Palm has completely out-done Apple is one very crucial area: workflow. The iPhone has a great UI, but horrible workflow. Anyone can figure out how to do anything on an iPhone, but it's neither simple nor fast.
Palm is clearly not going after "trend" users, but rather the hardcore productivity types who need to get things done efficiently.
Re:Palm did it: better experience than Apple
by mattmcknight on Saturday January 10, 2009 @12:45AM
(#427686)
You missed "physical qwerty keyboard". That's my reason not to get a storm or an iphone, just can't type as fast without it. Pre's got the 320x480 res and a keyboard, and thus my interest. The webkit browser might push it past blackberry as well. I had a treo doing touch for few years, but the browser was useless. I wonder how the push email works on the Pre.
Re:Palm did it: better experience than Apple
by NyxWulf on Saturday January 10, 2009 @01:24AM
(#427725)
I don't consider not having a physical keyboard a weakness. One thing that you can do with the virtual keyboard that you can't do with a physical keyboard is change to the keys to show more useful keys depending on the situation. Then when you don't need the keys at all you can have all the screen to work with. Personally I consider having a physical keyboard to be a drawback.
Re:Palm did it: better experience than Apple
by jbrennan on Saturday January 10, 2009 @12:06PM
(#428047)
I agree with you, but I think your parent's post still makes sense. The Pre does have a static keyboard, yes, but it also has a nice big screen where (presumably) those extra functions you mention could still be used.
But then again, that makes the phone bulkier. I'm very pleased not having a physical keyboard on my phone at all.
Re:Palm did it: better experience than Apple
by NyxWulf on Sunday January 11, 2009 @05:22AM
(#429048)
Yeah the bulkyness is an issue. I noticed that the Pre is shorter than the the iphone, but it's quite a bit thicker. I really like how thin the iphone is and would even like it thinner like the ipod touch.
Re:Palm did it: better experience than Apple
by thamer on Saturday January 10, 2009 @01:26PM
(#428127)
As a user of both French and English, having the ability to switch from QWERTY to AZERTY in a single click on my iPhone is something I really appreciate. Especially since switching to French loads up the French dictionary, completing and correcting words in the language I'm currently using. I probably use 80% English, 20% French, and live in France so having only a French keyboard would be pretty annoying.
Granted, the fact that that iPhone already has an awesome product in the market (version 2.0 at that) puts them light years ahead of the product demo Palm has at the trade show.
But just because something is miles ahead of current competition doesn't mean your safe forever. The iPhone has some serious weaknesses, including but not limited to:
* No background processing for third party apps * No cut/copy/paste * Restrictive application distribution
Okay, true, I could only think of three weaknesses (cause seriously, my iPhone is f'ing sweet), but if Palm could match them on the UI, best them on their weaknesses, and make a strong play for the corporate market, they could be on to something.
At a minimum it would be nice for Apple to sweat a bit so they finally get MOVING on the aforementioned weaknesses.