Comments on: I Just Need a Little Touch

By: Samsung Instinct is a Novelty Rather Than Novel - GigaOM

Samsung Instinct is a Novelty Rather Than Novel - GigaOM — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:21:39 +0000

[...] it vibrates when a user touches in a command. Pogue calls it gimmicky and he’s right, but I liked it anyhow. However, it’s hard to think of ways to integrate that vibration into features that push the [...]

By: Kill the Mouse for a Touch Screen UI? It depends. | The Vine

Kill the Mouse for a Touch Screen UI? It depends. | The Vine — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:31:10 +0000

[...] “Look, I know Bill Gates has a vision for touch and speech navigation, and I’ve already admitted that touch is pretty compelling on a mobile phone, but when it comes to the PC, who over the age of five wants to touch the screen? [...]

By: Touch Feels Its Way Into Computing - GigaOM

Touch Feels Its Way Into Computing - GigaOM — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:30:30 +0000

[...] I know Bill Gates has a vision for touch and speech navigation, and I’ve already admitted that touch is pretty compelling on a mobile phone, but when it comes to the PC, who over the age of five wants to touch the screen? [...]

By: David Owens

David Owens — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:38:04 +0000

fortunately for me, ATT has proven to be better than the other providers where I live. I agree it is specific to that. I must be surrounded by cell towers, and looking at the ATT coverage map, I am smack dab in the midst of their 3G network. Can't wait for my new iPhone.

One thing not to be dismissed: the fanatical devotion to a product. I do not know, but I am certain nobody gives a flying ______ about Nokia or LG or whatever. I have had both and now are in landfills. My Blackberry, as I love to remind everyone, was the worst phone I ever had. May it RIP.

By: McGuire’s Law » Blog Archive » Enabling Technology: Week of 4/6/8

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:43:30 +0000

[...] Touch screens [...]

By: Stacey Higginbotham

Stacey Higginbotham — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:26:31 +0000

Carter, I live in West Austin, and while driving along Bee Caves Road I could never hold a call. I tried AT&T again about a year ago with a basic RAZR and found the call quality to be poor as well. But with cell phones, it is truly a function of where you live and drive, so perhaps other areas of Austin fare better. For me, Verizon rocks the casbah.

By: I Just Need a Little Touch | Stacey Higginbotham | Voices | AllThingsD

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:38:42 +0000

[...] Read the rest of this post Print all_things_di220:http://voices.allthingsd.com/20080404/i-just-need-a-little-touch/ Sphere Comment Tagged: Stacey Higginbotham, EDGE network, CTIA, GigaOm, Treo, Voices, iPhone | permalink [...]

By: Carter B

Carter B — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:47:28 +0000

Crappy AT&T coverage in Austin? Come again? I've had AT&T (blue), Cingular (orange) and AT&T (again) coverage for more than 4 years hear and have never had a dropped a call and always had a strong edge signal even in the middle of large buildings in the suburbs. AT&T may have its problems in other major cities but in Austin it is very solid. Of course it is hard to compare with other services in Austin so it may not be best but in no way is it crappy. If you've had crappy AT&T recently in Austin, it's probably the phone and not provider. Maybe your phone only had the 1900 band? The 850 band is so strong here.

By: Mark Sigal

Mark Sigal — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:44:58 +0000

Three quick comments to your post. One is that while there is a tendency to put mobile into one bucket of idealized, composite functionality, the reality is that different people ‘hire’ their devices to get different jobs done.

I write long emails and 500 word blogs on my BB 7130, and as in input device it rocks. Great phone, too. The internet experience does not compare, however, to the iPhone, and don’t even get me started on media functionality. That said, as an input device, iPhone is only decent, and while voice may be great for simple messages and search, in my case, that is the tail and not the dog for the voice and mail crowd.

Two is that while the tendency is always to net out competitive factors as “just add touch based” the reality is that it is akin to confusing a bunch of chicken parts with a living, breathing chicken.

Part of the magic of iPhone and its cousin, the iPod touch is that Apple has really nailed UI, workflow, usability, they have worked out the kinks in touch and accelerometer functions. It just works. Excuse free. The rest of the market MAY get there but execution is not trivial given the convoluted nature of the mobile market with device manufacturers, carriers, third party service providers and the like. Heck, Apple seemingly should not have the MP3 market to themselves given how commoditized the chicken parts are in that market. But they do.

Lastly, the platform side of this is where things get interesting, as history suggests that he who secures the hearts and minds of developers, secures the gold, and Apple is in a very strong position wrt to the iPhone SDK. That story is early in its telling but it is the distinction between everyone else moving into adolescence and one company heading off to graduate school.

Food for thought.

Cheers,

Mark

Read: Reasons for Mobile Optimism – iPhone SDK
http://thenetworkgarden.com/weblog/2008/03/mobile-reasons.html