Windows Mobile users push back on Pogue, 3-round fight ensues

I'm staying ringside on this one, but there's a little three-rounder going on right now. Round one started when David Pogue reviewed the T-Mobile Shadow, finding it to be a less than favorable experience. I'll definitely grant David some of his points on the Windows Mobile platform, but from what I've seen and read, the custom interface on the Shadow (called Neo) is a step in the right direction.

Round two found Chris Leckness expressing his disappointment in David's review and felt that he could debate 33 to 50% of David's observations. Could some of the negative thoughts be coming from David's lack of experience with Windows Mobile? Possibly, since a few of his stated issues have simple solutions if you know them.

The bell for round 3 rang last night as Matt Miller penned a point-by-point series of jabs in defense of the Shadow. Actually, he didn't pen them it turns out; on his way home from work, he tapped out a majority of the article right on the Shadow. That's no sucker punch, that's a statement.

Comments

[vm-01]

I don't even pay attention to anything Pogue or Mosseberg say anymore.

I think they lost any credibility they had with me when they trashed the UMPCs and glorified the Apple TV and the Iphone. It was how the reasoning used in these reviews that put them over the top.

[Jerry]

It's open season on WM. This is a good thing.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071108/ap_on_hi_te/tech_test_smart_phones;_ylt=A0WTUdS1mzNHmBkBdwSSxLEF

[Nikooo]

Maybe slightly off topic but here's a HTC vs iPhone comparison:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphones/htc-touch-vs-iphone-25-minute-head-to-head-video-320681.php

[Cody B]

Everyones an expert. Even when they dont have a clue. That bad part is that some people listen to them. Its sad really.....

[Alan]

I have been using the ATT Tilt for a couple of weeks now. I have been having the same experience as David P.

[Mike Cane]

>>>Could some of the negative thoughts be coming from David's lack of experience with Windows Mobile?

Could it be because it's crap?! Naw. I mean, didn't God Almighty give us Vista too?

[PhoningIn]

>>>Could some of the negative thoughts be coming from David's lack of experience with Windows Mobile?

Sure, but remember, NO ONE had any prior experience with the iPhone. Isn't that making a statement as well?

[tnkgrl]

I have not used the HTC Shadow, and I have not used the Neo shell (although I have watched videos of it and it appears to be a step in the right direction)...

However, I have used WM (5) extensively (Samsung BlackJack), and I totally agree with David Pogue. WM's UI is poor (and so is Symbian's, and I love my Nokia N95).

The iPhone is raising the bar - that's the bottom line!

[GoodThings2Life]

First of all, any article written by the NY Times is faulty as soon as it's written because they are nothing more than a bunch of op-ed pieces written by people who couldn't find work as real journalists and barely know what the heck technology is, let alone how to use it.

Now that I have my own sucker-punch out of the road, I digress...

I just bought my first cell phone ever a month ago (after swearing for years that I'd never own one)-- an HTC Mogul on the Sprint network. The phone itself is fantastic! It runs Windows Mobile 6.0, Office Mobile, and Windows Live Mobile, and the only issues I've had with it were caused by my own doing, and all were easily remedied.

What I like the most about the experience is how flexible it is when using it. Sure, I can use the old-fashioned button approach or the slide-out keyboard, but I can also use the stylus or my finger with the touchscreen (or any other object, really), and it does everything the bloody iPhone does except it lacks the self-righteous attitude of your typical Apple users (besides, I make up for WM's lack of self-righteous attitude, lol).

Anyway, I agree that WM5.0 wasn't all that great, and the phones that still use it are definitely limited, but WM6.0 is extremely easy to use and offers a much better experience. I read the article about the Neo interface and was impressed, and I know it's a short matter of time before some intuitive folks on a WM forum have taken the interface installer and shared it with the rest of us.

Lastly, I've said it before, and I'll say it again... the only thing Apple does extremely well is market their products. The problem is that their marketing is mostly dishonest (misleading at best), and the Apple experience is ALWAYS limited to one approach to do anything-- that is, seriously lacking flexibility to "think different" (as they used to say).

[GoodThings2Life]

Now that I've actually read Pogue's article, I have a few comments to make that haven't already been pointed out...

In theory, Pogue is right that no device should ever have to worry about memory. However, this is the real world we live in, and every computer on Earth has to worry about memory usage... yes, even Macs.

So, and pay attention here folks, the only reason they don't worry about task management is that iPhones use their storage memory (the 4GB, 8GB, whatever) as RAM. This means that the more music, pictures, e-mail, documents, whatever you put on your device to store, the slower it is going to get, because there is less "memory" you are going to have for actively doing something. That lack of task management is going to hurt over time, because they always taking up more and more memory.

Furthermore, he comments on how everything is buried in menus... umm, last I checked but it takes a press of the iPhone button to take you to-- guess what?!-- a menu! You click, and it takes you to your app where you are presented with a whole lot of-- you guessed it-- menus! It took me at least a dozen clicks just to setup a guy's email account for work, and I had to type out our domain name three times thanks to the inability to copy and paste (turningtechnologies.com ain't easy, folks).

Once it was setup (five or six taps later), I had to button back to the home screen (as tapping the "Back" button was the only other choice, and I didn't want to "Back" several times to that screen), and I had clicked on Mail (finally) and had to use-- once again-- menus to make it check mail, and work with the message.

OK, my apologies to Kevin for the blog-length response, but I think it's important that people reading mobile blogs should be aware of the realities that plague us all in our mobile computing lives. I'm the first to admit I dislike Apple products, but I try to point out serious reasons why I dislike them and how they are rarely the first/only brand to do something, no matter what their ads claim.

[Mike Cane]

>>>First of all, any article written by the NY Times is faulty as soon as it's written because they are nothing more than a bunch of op-ed pieces written by people who couldn't find work as real journalists and barely know what the heck technology is, let alone how to use it.

Wow. That puts everything in the proper perspective.

Not.

[ToeKnee]

tnkgrl wrote:
"the Apple experience is ALWAYS limited to one approach to do anything"

I can kind of see your point. If I want a dual-core laptop that can run
64-bit and 32-bit apps simultaneously on a fully UNIX certified platform (OS X 10.5 Leopard) and also simultaneously run Windows Vista Ultimate and Ubuntu and switch seamlessly between them, there is only ONE approach I can take.

Darn, I hate Apple for being that ONE approach to unsurpassed flexibility and options.