Dear Walter...

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20031211.html' target='_blank'>http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20031211.html</a><br /><br /></div>Walter S. Mossberg is a technology journalist who's word is practically holy to some people. He published an article last week that was so flippantly biased I'm amazed his editor let him publish it. Being a truly unbiased journalist is nearly impossible, and I certainly don't pretend to be unbiased, but somehow Mossberg and his audience thinks he is. I didn't even know where to begin with writing a rebuttal to Mossberg's column after reading it, but Smartphone Thoughts reader Randall Lewis saved me the trouble. Here's what Randall had to say:<br /><br />"No prizes in this event, but I am curious just how long veteran technology reviewer Walt Mossberg actually used the MPx200 before he wrote the review of this phone and the Samsung 1600 in last Thursday's Wall Street Journal. Walt reviews lots of products and can't spend too much time with each. Besides the WSJ column, he also appears on various television technology programs. I generally like his work and respect his opinions.<!> <br /><br />But something happened with this review of the two new Microsoft Smartphones. There were two glaring errors concerning the MPx200; items that anyone who has used the phone and read the manual would have known. First, the MPx200 DOES have a speakerphone despite Mossberg's claim to the contrary. The manual clearly describes how to enable it and it should be readily apparent that all those little holes on the front cover must serve some purpose. Cooling? <br /><br />Mossberg is also critical of AT&amp;T for disabling the task bar at the top of the screen by locking the icons in place. I was annoyed at this at first too, yet it took me less than an hour to discover how to unlock the icons with a simple menu selection. <br /><br />The Smartphones aren't perfect and Mossberg has many valid points in his review. He clearly favors teeny keyboard style devices which is his right. I wouldn't compare the MPx200 to a Treo 600 like he does, but that's just me. <br /><br />I wouldn't normally write a review of a review, but this time a respected journalist reviewed one of my favorite gadgets and made two obvious mistakes that he shouldn't have made if he is really spending anytime at all with the products he reviews."<br /><br />Thanks for your rebuttal Mike! :D

[Macguy59]

I wonder if being gadget geeks in general makes us overly critical of reviews that may not be 100% correct? I've read far worse and factually incorrect product reviews. While an icon bar and speakerphone [may] be important for some hardcore people like us, I doubt they would be deal breakers for the general public. Randall was correct to point out that the Treo 600 is not an appropriate device for comparison. Perhaps Walter could do another review comparing the Samsung i700 to the Treo 600 :wink:

[Ramin]

I agree - Mossberg wasn't doing an apples to apples comparison. He should have compared the Handspring Treo 600 with an O2 XDA II (Windows Mobile 2003 Phone Edition device) if he wanted anyone to take his article seriously. And Microsoft Smartphones (e.g. Motorola MPx200, Samsung SCH-i600 etc.) should be compared with Nokia Series 60 devices (e.g. Nokia 3650, 6600 etc.). It doesn't make much sense comparing those smartphones to a PalmOS, Pocket PC GSM/GPRS capable PDA.

[Luzerman]

Mossberg is also critical of AT&T for disabling the task bar at the top of the screen by locking the icons in place. I was annoyed at this at first too, yet it took me less than an hour to discover how to unlock the icons with a simple menu selection.

Walter Mossberg is quite correct in his observation and his follow up that has been posted on many websites. The fix for this is not going to be easy for most users to find and its not apparent that you can fix it. He write for people that are not going to go through and do registry tweaks and fiddle with every setting just to see what it does.


Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2003 2:50 pm Post subject: Dear Walter...
Walter S. Mossberg is a technology journalist who's word is practically holy to some people. He published an article last week that was so flippantly biased I'm amazed his editor let him publish it. Being a truly unbiased journalist is nearly impossible, and I certainly don't pretend to be unbiased, but somehow Mossberg and his audience thinks he is. I didn't even know where to begin with writing a rebuttal to Mossberg's column after reading it, but Smartphone Thoughts reader Randall Lewis saved me the trouble. Here's what Randall had to say:

"No prizes in this event, but I am curious just how long veteran technology reviewer Walt Mossberg actually used the MPx200 before he wrote the review of this phone and the Samsung 1600 in last Thursday's Wall Street Journal. Walt reviews lots of products and can't spend too much time with each. Besides the WSJ column, he also appears on various television technology programs. I generally like his work and respect his opinions.

But something happened with this review of the two new Microsoft Smartphones. There were two glaring errors concerning the MPx200; items that anyone who has used the phone and read the manual would have known. First, the MPx200 DOES have a speakerphone despite Mossberg's claim to the contrary. The manual clearly describes how to enable it and it should be readily apparent that all those little holes on the front cover must serve some purpose. Cooling?

The speakerphone is a feature that is underdocumented and its hard to find in the manual. Your claim that it is easy to find is not correct. Its not in the Table of Contents or the Index. In fact its so hard to find that there are many posts on the various MPx200 forums out there asking if it does have a speakerphone and railing against Motorolas lack of a speakerphone. People that have owned, used, and perused the manual have done this. As for your claim about the manual, how many people actually read those? I do. I'm one of 2 people that I've known in my life that reads manuals, rulebooks, and technical information. Everyone else just listens to someone else.

The Smartphones aren't perfect and Mossberg has many valid points in his review. He clearly favors teeny keyboard style devices which is his right. I wouldn't compare the MPx200 to a Treo 600 like he does, but that's just me.

There are people in both camps-PDA phones and "Smartphone" camps that don't think devices are comparable. The only problem is that they both fall under the label of "smartphones". That means they will be compared. Both the devices are supreficially similiar. They are both phone centric and phone shaped. The difference is that the Treo 600 is a full featured PDA with a quick and easy method of text entry and the Smartphone does not yet have that capability, T9's capaiblities are very poor.

While tech geeks might understand that "smartphone" has sub categories most people do not. Its like trying to explain what the Bleed Air Manifold on an airplane does to a non A&E mechanic, what SONET is to someone outside of the Telecom industry, or heck even something as easy as SIM unlocking. These are things that most of the readers of the WSJ don't know or care about unless it directly affects them.

Both the Treo 600 and MPx200 are devices that have at a minimum basic PDA, e-mail, web, and phone functions. That makes them comparable.

Walter S. Mossberg is a technology journalist who's word is practically holy to some people. He published an article last week that was so flippantly biased I'm amazed his editor let him publish it.

I wouldn't agree that the the article was flippantly biased. He looks at the devices and found them lacking in what he was looking for. I disagree and so do many on this site. That doesn't mean he's biased. I would agree with many of his complaints and I have others that I think are almost but not quite fatal flaws, cough, "smart minimize", cough.

[rbrome]

Okay, I somewhat agree with the nitpicks about the article - but they were relatively minor points in the article.

The reason Walt ultimately gave both Smartphones the thumbs-down is:

1. Unlimited data plans WAY overpriced.
2. The totally inexcusable caller-ID bug.

...and I agree with him very strongly on both points. The companies involved had their heads up their a--es on both of these issues.

I still love Smartphone, and I would still recommend it to any early-adopter-type, but I don't blame Walt for not recommending it to the general public.

[Ramin]

There are people in both camps-PDA phones and "Smartphone" camps that don't think devices are comparable. The only problem is that they both fall under the label of "smartphones". That means they will be compared. Both the devices are supreficially similiar. They are both phone centric and phone shaped. The difference is that the Treo 600 is a full featured PDA with a quick and easy method of text entry and the Smartphone does not yet have that capability, T9's capaiblities are very poor.

While tech geeks might understand that "smartphone" has sub categories most people do not. Its like trying to explain what the Bleed Air Manifold on an airplane does to a non A&E mechanic, what SONET is to someone outside of the Telecom industry, or heck even something as easy as SIM unlocking. These are things that most of the readers of the WSJ don't know or care about unless it directly affects them.

Both the Treo 600 and MPx200 are devices that have at a minimum basic PDA, e-mail, web, and phone functions. That makes them comparable.

Mossberg's article fails to explain the difference between the "communicator" (e.g. palmOne Treo 600, O2 XDA II, Nokia 9210 etc.) and the "smartphone" (e.g. Motorola MPx200, Nokia 3650 etc.). I think Wall Street Journal readers are not luddites and would be able to distinguish between these 2 categories of wireless devices if the differences, pros and cons etc. were explained to them clearly in the article.

A car, a truck and a minivan are all vehicles, have 4 wheels and get you from point A to point B - but you can't start comparing them as if they were one and the same. My point is... each of these devices offer slightly different functionality which caters to the needs of different people, but Mossberg fails to explain this and starts another boring round of Microsoft bashing because he loves his Treo so much. :roll:

Funny how he doesn't bother to mention Pocket PC Phone Edition devices which are far more superior (functionality-wise). :wink:

[Luzerman]

A car, a truck and a minivan are all vehicles, have 4 wheels and get you from point A to point B - but you can't start comparing them as if they were one and the same. My point is... each of these devices offer slightly different functionality which caters to the needs of different people, but Mossberg fails to explain this and starts another boring round of Microsoft bashing because he loves his Treo so much.

The difference in your example and the reason its not applicable is that everyone uses cars and most everyone has a car. Not everyone uses a cell phone and an insignificant part of that crowd has smartphones. So to the vast majority of people out there they look at the MPx200 and the Treo 600 and think they're in the same category. If the smartphone category takes off and everyone has one then, and only then, will most people start paying attention to the differences between the devices capabilities.

[randalllewis]

Walter Mossberg is quite correct in his observation and his follow up that has been posted on many websites. The fix for this is not going to be easy for most users to find and its not apparent that you can fix it. He write for people that are not going to go through and do registry tweaks and fiddle with every setting just to see what it does.

First, the fact that something has been posted on many websites proves only how easy it is to post things on websites, not that the item posted is true, fair, accurate or anything else. Second, it doesn't take a registry tweak to change the AT&T locked task bar, just a simple menu change. Third, my guess is that most users do indeed poke around in the menus where they would quickly find how to unlock the icons (this would be particularly true of readers of Mossberg's column) and those users who don't poke around probably don't care that the icons are locked. Fourth, the whole point of my post was simply that Mossberg clearly didn't spend much time with the phone before he reviewed it. And while most users probably don't spend much time reading the manual, I expect reviewers to do exactly that.

And finally, while I would agree the speakerphone feature does not appear in the contents or index of the manual it is referenced at least three times. Page one contains a picture of the phone with the speaker marked, page 21 lists the functions of keys and "Activate the speakerphone" is clearly listed and page 47 describes how to switch between the earpiece and speaker during a call. Again, it is possible this might escape a casual user, it shouldn't escape someone paid to review a product.

[jdrive]

Just as an fyi to Luzerman...

1) The number of automobiles in the US (cars, wagons, SUV's, pickups and the like) was just under 200 million at the end of 2002. The US population currently stands at about 291 million, for a penetration rate of nearly 69%.

2) The number of cell phones in the US was just over 180 million at the end of 2002, for a penetration rate of 62%.

Auto purchases are growing in the US at roughly twice the population rate of 1% per annum (thus 2%). Cell phone purchases grew 29% per annum between 1999-2002, and are accelerating. Heck, by the time I post this reply cells may have Already surpassed autos!

[Luzerman]

First, the fact that something has been posted on many websites proves only how easy it is to post things on websites, not that the item posted is true, fair, accurate or anything else. Second, it doesn't take a registry tweak to change the AT&T locked task bar, just a simple menu change. Third, my guess is that most users do indeed poke around in the menus where they would quickly find how to unlock the icons (this would be particularly true of readers of Mossberg's column) and those users who don't poke around probably don't care that the icons are locked. Fourth, the whole point of my post was simply that Mossberg clearly didn't spend much time with the phone before he reviewed it. And while most users probably don't spend much time reading the manual, I expect reviewers to do exactly that.

I wasn't stating that it took a registry tweak to change that particular feature. I was stating that most of the people that would find that feature and change it were the types that would be willing to do registry tweaks. I've worked in technical and tech support jobs much too long to not understand that 95% of the people out there will not bother or be afraid to change things as insignificant as the background on their phone.

And finally, while I would agree the speakerphone feature does not appear in the contents or index of the manual it is referenced at least three times. Page one contains a picture of the phone with the speaker marked, page 21 lists the functions of keys and "Activate the speakerphone" is clearly listed and page 47 describes how to switch between the earpiece and speaker during a call. Again, it is possible this might escape a casual user, it shouldn't escape someone paid to review a product.

Speaker does not equal speakerphone.

Ok, how is page 21 or 47 easy to find? Most people will not see that if they don't read the manual from cover to cover. Its poorly documented. The item on page 21 is a single line in a large bulleted list. On page 47 its not even a heading it is again just another item in a bulleted list though it does have a subheading that is not titled speakerphone.

He has stated that he will make a correction about the speakerphone. He was wrong.

1) The number of automobiles in the US (cars, wagons, SUV's, pickups and the like) was just under 200 million at the end of 2002. The US population currently stands at about 291 million, for a penetration rate of nearly 69%.

2) The number of cell phones in the US was just over 180 million at the end of 2002, for a penetration rate of 62%.

Auto purchases are growing in the US at roughly twice the population rate of 1% per annum (thus 2%). Cell phone purchases grew 29% per annum between 1999-2002, and are accelerating. Heck, by the time I post this reply cells may have Already surpassed autos!

My appologies, I was incorrect. The fact still remains that cars are a much more widely known and understood commodity then cell phones. Most people don't understand that when they see a phone at Best Buy the price is only good if they get a contract. They don't understand they can cancel the contract without penalty in a certain amount of time after purchase. They don't understand the differences between CDMA or GSM or why they can't use the phone they bought from Verizon on AT&T's network.

So while there things like Hemi's and dual overhead cams that some people understand and others don't there are going to be a higher percentage of people that understand those things then understand the difference between Symbian, WMPPCPE, WMSP, and PalmOS Smartphones.

[randalllewis]

Not wanting to carry on this argument, but my original post was not, repeat, not about what average users will or won't do and whether the manual is or is not easy to read.

My point was someone of Mossberg's stature should have done a better job. His errors about the phone features were significant and his comparison of it to the Treo was inappropriate. He has apparently agreed to correct the speakerphone error. Fine. I expect nothing less. I also expect much more from him than he produced in this review.

[Macguy59]

Not wanting to carry on this argument, but my original post was not, repeat, not about what average users will or won't do and whether the manual is or is not easy to read.

My point was someone of Mossberg's stature should have done a better job. His errors about the phone features were significant and his comparison of it to the Treo was inappropriate. He has apparently agreed to correct the speakerphone error. Fine. I expect nothing less. I also expect much more from him than he produced in this review.

Speaking for myself, I appreciated your rebuttal. But this thread is more debate then argument. Thanks.

[Luzerman]

Not wanting to carry on this argument, but my original post was not, repeat, not about what average users will or won't do and whether the manual is or is not easy to read.

I disagree with you on this. If someone that is as used to technology as Mr. Mossberg can make the error he made in his review then it is indeed an issue. The article was directed at average users and if he had problems identifying things then the average user will have even more problems. Devices don't make a splash and win the hearts of users based on the technogeek that is willing to put up with a lot of BS to get what they want. Its based off Joe Schmo who doesn't know how to download something from the web or fiddle with his registry.l

My point was someone of Mossberg's stature should have done a better job. His errors about the phone features were significant and his comparison of it to the Treo was inappropriate. He has apparently agreed to correct the speakerphone error. Fine. I expect nothing less. I also expect much more from him than he produced in this review.

While your opinion is that the MPx200 should not have been compared to the Treo 600 there are many others that would disagree.

The Treo 600 and the other Palm OS licensees are direct competitors here in the US. Over in Europe its Symbian. While the MS WMSP devices are low end phone centric smartphones that does not mean that they do not compete with the higher end PDA replacement smartphones or PDA Phones that also fall into the smartphone category.

[pete]

Several replies above have stated that you cannot compare the Treo 600 to a Windows Smartphone. As an SPV owner, which in terms of OS is almost identical to the MPX200, I disagree. I bought the SPV partly because it promised some of the functionality of a PDA. I knew it wasn't perfect but it was as near as I could get within my price band. A phone which offers full PDA functions is therefore extremely interesting to me. They are comparable to me because:
1) They can both be operated with one hand
2) They are roughly a similar size
3) They both provide e-mail and internet capabilities
4) They have all the things I expect from a phone
5) They both have multimedia capabilities
6) They both have gaming abilities

For me that makes them competitors for my money. If the Treo has more bells and whistles then it's probably the Treo that'll win. I don't view them as totally distinct markets, the SPV for me is a halfway house, and I won't be happy with half measures for too long. The Treo is much smaller than any PPC Phone I've ever seen - that changes the market pitch.

[randalllewis]

Devices also don't make a splash and win the hearts of users when respected reviewers spend so little time with them that they make significant errors.

[aristoBrat]

Yep. You're right. I goofed. There is a speakerphone. The feature is
horribly documented, though. In the manual, it's not in the table of
contents or the index. It has no major heading. It's not under "Making a
Call," or "Receiving a Call." It's not in the table called "In-Call
Options." Instead, it's the last item under "Additional Call Features," at
the bottom of page 47. This is just one more problem with this phone.

Contrast that with how speakerphone works on the Treo. When you're on a
call, you get a big fat icon that says "Speakerphone." If you select it, you
switch to speaker and the icon changes to "Cancel Speaker." You don't even
need to read the manual.

That's how phones should be designed.

Having said that, I did make an error, and I will correct it.

Walt Mossberg
I think that should shed some light on Walt's thought process.

Damn MS for not having a big fat "Speakerphone" icon on their touchscreen. Oh wait, they don't have a touchscreen. That's definately another problem with the device -- it's not designed the way he wants it.

[aristoBrat]

I disagree with you on this. If someone that is as used to technology as Mr. Mossberg can make the error he made in his review then it is indeed an issue. The article was directed at average users and if he had problems identifying things then the average user will have even more problems. Devices don't make a splash and win the hearts of users based on the technogeek that is willing to put up with a lot of BS to get what they want. Its based off Joe Schmo who doesn't know how to download something from the web or fiddle with his registry.l
I'm sorry, but it takes just as many steps to activate the speakerphone on my Nokia 3650 as it does on any MS Smartphone.

The fact that the MS Smartphone doesn't slop up a big button on the screen that says "SPEAKERPHONE" doesn't mean that enabling speakerphone is "yet another problem with this device".

Any user (average user or technogeek) is going to have to spend some time getting to know their device. Personally, I don't think that Walt used either of the phones for more than an hour or two each.

[aristoBrat]

Several replies above have stated that you cannot compare the Treo 600 to a Windows Smartphone. As an SPV owner, which in terms of OS is almost identical to the MPX200, I disagree. I bought the SPV partly because it promised some of the functionality of a PDA. I knew it wasn't perfect but it was as near as I could get within my price band. A phone which offers full PDA functions is therefore extremely interesting to me. They are comparable to me because:
1) They can both be operated with one hand
2) They are roughly a similar size
3) They both provide e-mail and internet capabilities
4) They have all the things I expect from a phone
5) They both have multimedia capabilities
6) They both have gaming abilities
IMO, you forgot one HUGE thing -- the Treo has a touchscreen.

Being able to display mulitple dynamic buttons on the screen makes for a completely different User Interface experience then a phone that can only assign two choices at a time to the physical buttons on the phone.

IMO, complaining that you have to hit a menu button during a call to enable speakerphone on a MS Smartphone (compared to a Treo 600) is like complaining that you have to shift gears in a car with manual transmission to get it going 70MPH compared to just flooring an automatic.

[pete]

You're not wrong, but I don't think that takes it into a different class of object any more than an automatic car is in a different class of object than a manual. They're still both one-handed use mobile phones with data capabilities and as such they're competing for my money. Walt's errors aside I'm just making the point that it's reasonable for him to reference the Treo 600 as a competitor to the MPx200 because from my point of view, and apparently his, they are competitors. Crying foul because the Treo does a lot more than the MPx misses the point. I want a phone that does more!

[ekkie]

Yep. You're right. I goofed. There is a speakerphone. The feature is
horribly documented, though. In the manual, it's not in the table of
contents or the index. It has no major heading. It's not under "Making a
Call," or "Receiving a Call." It's not in the table called "In-Call
Options." Instead, it's the last item under "Additional Call Features," at
the bottom of page 47. This is just one more problem with this phone.
There were a lot of good points made in this thread on both sides. I'm not one who necessarily objects to Walter comparing this device with a Treo, as most casual users may not distinguish the finer differences between the two and just view both as combination devices.

However, this "correction" that Walter made is pretty funny. It almost sounds like the phone was flawed originally b/c it didn't support a speakerphone, and then it became worse when he discovered that it did!!

[aristoBrat]

You're not wrong, but I don't think that takes it into a different class of object any more than an automatic car is in a different class of object than a manual. They're still both one-handed use mobile phones with data capabilities and as such they're competing for my money. Walt's errors aside I'm just making the point that it's reasonable for him to reference the Treo 600 as a competitor to the MPx200 because from my point of view, and apparently his, they are competitors. Crying foul because the Treo does a lot more than the MPx misses the point. I want a phone that does more!
You can divide cars into different classes based on transmissions (automatic and manual), and you can also divide "one-handed mobile phones with data capabilities" into different classes -- those with a touchscreen, and those without.

To me, it's not more fair to say that the extra steps to enable speakerphone on a MS Smartphone is any more of a problem (when compared to a Treo 600) than it is to say that the extra steps to get a manual transmission car to move is a problem (when compared to an automatic transmission car). Each class has different physical limitations that confine them. A manual car must be shifted vs. just pressing the gas pedal. A non-touchscreen phone must present multiple choices in a menu format vs. popping up a big fat icon. :)

I understand that "they're both competing for your money", but like when you buy a car, you understand the basic differences between the two classes, pick the one that suits you the best, and choose between the models available in that class.

[pete]

Yep. You're right. I goofed. There is a speakerphone. The feature is
horribly documented, though. In the manual, it's not in the table of
contents or the index. It has no major heading. It's not under "Making a
Call," or "Receiving a Call." It's not in the table called "In-Call
Options." Instead, it's the last item under "Additional Call Features," at
the bottom of page 47. This is just one more problem with this phone.
There were a lot of good points made in this thread on both sides. I'm not one who necessarily objects to Walter comparing this device with a Treo, as most casual users may not distinguish the finer differences between the two and just view both as combination devices.

However, this "correction" that Walter made is pretty funny. It almost sounds like the phone was flawed originally b/c it didn't support a speakerphone, and then it became worse when he discovered that it did!!

ROFL Good point, I think he's trying to say that it's not user friendly enough but it does sound like he's a little biased.

[randalllewis]

So Mossberg did at least open the manual. He found the reference on page 47, but apparently not the one on page 21. Now his correction is more of a critique of the manual than the phone. Brother! And he still hasn't figured out that the home screen icons don't have to stay locked.