The love affair has ended and frankly I’m looking for a hasty divorce.
Some background on the issue:
I was using a Nokia E61 before I got an iPhone. It’s a pretty cool phone: qwerty keyboard, 3G, big bright screen, the works. My complaints could be that it was a little on the big side and a lot on the slow side but if you had patience it was a decent enough phone. If it had a camera in it then I would have my perfect (patience inducing) phone.
Unfortunately for me I see pretty new gadgets and I want. So I got an iPhone sent to me by a family friend in America. Technically it traveled from the US to New Zealand and then on to South Africa but I finally got in and on the 19th of December 2007, it was like Christmas had come early for me.
“Look at the screen” half the house exclaimed! “You can go on Youtube and it works like an iPod” said the other members of my household. It was love at first sight and I was smitten. I spent hours adding music, pictures and images on to the phone. I spent days amazed at how brilliant its web browser was. I was flawed by how clever the threaded sms system worked. I was just like instant message!
Then four months went by…
You know that feeling when you realise that you’ve made a huge mistake? I’d like to state for the record that I like the iPhone. I think the screen is beautiful, the interface is phenomenal and the actual call quality is crystal clear. I cannot however, get over the fact that there is no keyboard.
I can’t count the amount of times I’ve nearly killed myself while driving and sms’ing on the thing. The problem is the lack of tactile feedback. I don’t know if I just touched over the “a” button or the “p” button on the opposite side of the “keyboard”. Not knowing if you touched a button and not being able to differentiate between keys makes typing any form of message on the phone unbearable.
Basically after four months of using the phone I still look like one of the monkeys from the intro sequence of “2001: A Space Odyssey” while using the damn phone. There are fingers flying everywhere usually followed by swearing and heavy usage of the (conveniently) large backspace key on the virtual keyboard.
I picked up my E61 today for the first time in four months and still could type faster on it with no practice than I can on the iPhone with four months practice.
While I love the iPhone I’m going to be giving it to a sibling and let them tear their hair out. As much as I like being the centre of attention I simply cannot stand the waste of my time involved in pushing a piece of glass to type.
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There’s your problem right there; you shouldn’t be doing anything other than driving while driving…
I could do it on my old phone!
I knew where the buttons were so I could type and drive with one hand!
Thanks for the comment and the advice
Yes! Somebody who feels the same as me with regards to the iPhone! It’s exceptionally pretty but that’s about it.
You left out the part about the battery having a mind of its own, as well as it not showing you how many characters are left before you double up from one sms to two…
E61 is a great phone, I would approve its use over the iPhone anyday
Since you’re in the same boat as me, any recommendations on what to buy instead?
Wow, a girl who likes gadgets… this is something out of a bad fantasy!
Well I’m glad you stopped by to agree on my post. I really think it’s a decent enough phone hampered by the touchscreen.
What would I recommend… I’m thinking maybe a Blackberry Curve or even the Nokia E61i. This is the same as the E61 but without a joystick and it also packs a camera.
It depends on your needs. Tell me what they are and I’ll do a “Tech Q of the week” section on the problem.
People like you, and there are many, are complete assholes. What fool uses a phone while driving…!!##@@%
Does against the law not mean anything to you? Your selfish and reckless attitude will one day cost you your legs and someone elses life!@!!
DickHead!
I find it amusingly ironic that people are focusing on my driving and messaging rather than the actual phone.
Anyway…
madAndPissed: I totally agree with you. I’m trying to stop being one of those asshole’s as I think it’s dangerous and stupid.
Your only gripe is that you can’t sms while driving. LOL!!! I guess the cons outweigh the pros by far!!!
Nope, I hate typing on it all the time. It’s kinda frustrating tapping a piece of glass and hoping for a response.
Needs? Haha Well I want a decent battery life, wifi, the qwerty keyboard & dont mind if its not so girly
So blueburry/E61 are both options… What do you think??
I understand about the driving an smsing. People seem quite offended-wow. I cant believe they’ve never used a phone in the car before? Anyway, its not like thats the worst thing to do on the road… Dont get me started on South African drivers!!
Please excuse if my typing is shocking-I’m using my dreaded iPhone
Well i still think i would like it a lot!
Look in your rear view mirror
i’v got you now,,
ha ha ha
You South African morons have nothing better to do than complaining about somneone who’s smsing while driving? Can’t believe it. Some people are able to drive a car without wrecking it, not Saouth Africans though. You are by far the most stupid people in the world I’ve ever seen.
Lol you’re american right? Enough said
A solution for peeps, especially for guys… (as opposed to woman who are inately good at multitasking ;-P),could be found by introducing voice recognition – either by spelling out each letter of a word or using general phonetics
Climactix, cool suggestion. Ive seen plugins on normal phones that ‘talk’ when a caller calls… saying their name. Im sure someone will be able to write a plugin for the iphone. If what i read is correct (on other pages), they have left loads open for different applications to be added.
I’m from Russia. I’ve spent now about seven years in total in Cape Town. Having an evo9 in Moscow and an E55 in SA. Easy to understand how i drive them. It’s very amusing to find people acually bragging about “smsing while driving”. For all you braggers – if you can’t drive doesn’t mean that others can’t! I can argee with you SaulK that it’s quite difficult to type while behind the wheel – i’ve had an HTC Prothet, HTC Touch and an iPhone for the last couple of years. Although compared to those phones, the iphone is much better. The easiest keyboard for me so far is of the Nokia phones. Still, I’m hoping to get the 3G model
Albeit a very late reply…. thanks “Who dis” for the positive feedback… lets hope they consider it!
Must say, I sniggered at Denis’s retort with him finding it amusing how peeps can sms while driving.
Well, apart from reading the rather derogatory, defamitory and sad generalisation of how “LOL” views South Africans, let me assure him that driving on a road in SA is indeed a challenge in itself (let alone trying to keep safe proximity from the “majority” unlicenced drivers and keeping an eye out for the Big-5, lol). But, he has it completely wrong because he simply doesn’t understand that Africa is on a different level of lifestyle and outlook altogether.
Heck, if he wants to start slating a country for it’s “stupidity” then (assuming he is American), he should think about the president he helped vote into place and the archiac legistlation his country still has in place… and no, my rant is certainly not a lonely voice in the dark. In simple terms his accusation is extremely shallow and brittle…
All I want is a device that will communicate want I want to say and whenever I want to do it – without an accident the size of the gulf war from taking place
This is directed at MadAndPissed. I’m sure you’ve never driven faster than the speed limit indicates? That is also against the law… So please check your own behavior before commenting on someone else’s.
I thank you for your comment SaulK (and confirmation by Nadia), I was wondering if the touchscreen typing would be problematic, as I am currently looking at upgrading and don’t know if touch screen is the way to go…
i checked the iPhone ad on t.v. right this minute and decided to google up on it (I too am a sucker for gadgets). Your email got my attention before anything else and having read it – I reckon I’ll give this phone a miss…
Glad you agree with me Renee! After living with an iPhone for 10 months I just got myself a Nokia E71. It’s a far better phone!
Gave your iPhone to your sibling? Dude, that some serious hardware you have parted with…i’m going to write a voice recognition program just for you so you don’t have to type your sms’s any longer!
Aft reading your blog, wot i realized is – i don’t “need” an iPhone anymore. Wot i need is some genetically engineered vaccine to stop me drooling every time someone pulls out their iPhone! Someone help / save me damnit! Do you think Steve Jobs put something in the water to create this irrational response?
Coming in rather late for this but thought I would post anyway. Why are non of you thinking /suggesting the Nokia E90 – QWERTY, GPS, 3.2MP camera, Excel and Word (2007!!), PDF, internet, email (on demand which I prefer, or PUSH), etc, etc!! No smarter business phone on the market and got all the multimedia functions as well. Did I mention SUPER fast, with HSDPA??? Can’t be beat, sure, and damn easy to type on while driving!!
and NO, I don’t work for Nokia!! while I am on it – anyone got a lead on a NEW Nokia 6310i – also a brilliant business phone from days gone by and I would not mind getting one again, for old time’s sake!
Just learn some left handed typing skills, it’s pretty easy after some pracice
. Only improvements they could make on the phone is battery life, and to stop it getting so hot when you use the 3g for Long periods.
A lot of the gripes about the iphone are easily remedied – if you struggle with the standard keyboard get an app called “BigKeyMail” – it makes it much easier to use for messaging. Battery life is also poor, but this can be fixed with an external rechargeable battery from http://www.podpower.biz/ or by following some of the tips from Apple here – http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html
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Cheers! Sandra. R.