Yahoo! News: "Cell Phones Get More Computer Functions"

[Jason Dunn]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=562&ncid=738&e=10&u=/ap/20040322/ap_on_hi_te/smart_phone_software

"Everyone will want their cell phones to do a lot more computer stuff. People will shop for these smart phones with a careful eye toward the operating system, e-mail handler and Web browser, how many other programs are available for that platform and how well they all interact with a regular computer. It should be no surprise, then, that a famous software company which already gets paid more than $40 for nearly every PC sold in the world is trying to extend its business model to the cell phone market, confident the familiar look of Windows will be a welcome sight on the small screen. And where Microsoft is involved, of course, there are sure to be differing views, many of them revolving around familiar names such as Linux (news - web sites) and Palm."

I read this and my first thought was "Well, duh!" - but it occurs to me that the market is just starting to figure out that software matters. A friend of mine broke his CDMA phone and when he got the new one he re-entered 150 contacts manually...can you imagine the agony? The look on his face was priceless when I said if he had a Smartphone he could have just put it in a sync cradle and had all his contacts within a few seconds.

Microsoft has always asserted that software matters, so the next few years will be interesting to watch as they try to show the public that their software is better than what the other guys have. ;-)

[Jason Dunn]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=562&ncid=738&e=10&u=/ap/20040322/ap_on_hi_te/smart_phone_software

"Everyone will want their cell phones to do a lot more computer stuff. People will shop for these smart phones with a careful eye toward the operating system, e-mail handler and Web browser, how many other programs are available for that platform and how well they all interact with a regular computer. It should be no surprise, then, that a famous software company which already gets paid more than $40 for nearly every PC sold in the world is trying to extend its business model to the cell phone market, confident the familiar look of Windows will be a welcome sight on the small screen. And where Microsoft is involved, of course, there are sure to be differing views, many of them revolving around familiar names such as Linux (news - web sites) and Palm."

I read this and my first thought was "Well, duh!" - but it occurs to me that the market is just starting to figure out that software matters. A friend of mine broke his CDMA phone and when he got the new one he re-entered 150 contacts manually...can you imagine the agony? The look on his face was priceless when I said if he had a Smartphone he could have just put it in a sync cradle and had all his contacts within a few seconds.

Microsoft has always asserted that software matters, so the next few years will be interesting to watch as they try to show the public that their software is better than what the other guys have. ;-)

[albert]

A friend of mine broke his CDMA phone and when he got the new one he re-entered 150 contacts manually...can you imagine the agony? The look on his face was priceless when I said if he had a Smartphone

Boy you need some new friends . Software has been around for many years to import and export phone numbers from cell phones. Hopefully this is not the only advantage of a Smartphone.

[possmann]

I'm a believer of the model that phones are like PDAs are like desktop computers - you buy the hardware and install the software. I want phone makers to give me quality hardware and network connectivity - I don't want them to give me their special OS and pimped up apps. :bad-words:

I would love them to STOP developing software, sell me the damn phone and network connectivity and just slap the SmartPhone OS on it like Dell includes the Home or Professional version of Windows XP "pre-installed". Think of the money the phone companys would save - and could reinvest in building coverage?

Hmmmm maybe I should start up my own wireless company... :lol: