Survey Says Smartphones are Rubbish: I Disagree! :-)

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15075' target='_blank'>http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15075</a><br /><br /></div>"A survey by mobile software company Intuwave claims to show that Smartphones, far from being regarded as leading edge devices are not much cop at all. According to Andrew Wyatt, VP of marketing at Intuwave, only 40% of IT managers have confidence in Smartphones as a business tool. We're surprised as high a percentage of IT managers think that."<br /><br />Gee, this looks like a well-balanced article. :roll: The inquirer is using the uppercase "Smartphone", but the survey they're citing doesn't mention Windows Mobile-based Smartphones, so my assumption is that this covers all brands of smartphones. Do smartphones in general have a ways to go? Sure, absolutely - we're really only on the second or third generation of devices (depending where you start counting) and the hurdles of battery life and processing power are slowly being tackled. But to dismiss an entire group of devices so quickly seems foolish to me.

[Kevin Daly]

I recall when working for a company with a big investment (actual and psychological) in Big Iron I was assured by my manager that there would never be any conceivable application for colour in a business application, and also that users would always be happy with being asked to enter cryptic codes for what they wanted to do rather than selecting an option from a drop-down menu.
I think it is not a bad policy to regard IT managers as ignorant and brain-dead until they prove otherwise.

[TANKERx]

I'm reminded of a conversation I had in the office some time ago when I was highlighting (some may say bragging about) what my fancy new smart phone (not Microsoft, but you'll get my point) could do. I said; "I can play games, browse the internet, edit Word documents, take pictures...." and you can imagine the list.

A colleague replied "I'll tell you what my phone can do! I press some numbers, then press this big green button, say 'Hello' and someone says hello back!" (I think I alluded to this some time ago in a previous post).

This is not something that you can guarantee you'll be able to do on a smart phone. Sure, you can't put a cast iron guarantee on any phone doing it, but there's a better guarantee on an old 'dumb' phone being able to do it.....

And example; I was out with some friends and we were waiting for someone to arrive so we decided to phone them and see how long they'd be. I got my phone out and by the time I'd got the phone out of its sleep and unlocked the keypad and allowed the Microsoft based OS to catch up with the fact that I'd pressed some numbers, my mate was talking on his Nokia 6210 'dumb' phone.

So what's the score? Why is it that while my Microsoft phones can do fancy stuff, I am hindered when it comes to doing the basics?

And really, if we're honest, they're not THAT good at doing the smart stuff either since I don't know how many times my SPV has crashed, and the Execution RAM fills up so quickly these days that either Memory Management is naff, or the applications are leaky.

I can put up with it, but my dad wouldn't.

Smartphones do have a long way to go IMHO and while we may not think that they are rubbish, to the man in the street who can't get them to do the most basic of things without hundreds of hang-ups, freezes and settings changes, they are indeed rubbish.

By the way; the language on the front page for this topic isn't the kind of language I've grown to expect from Thoughts Media. Thought I'd just mention that.

[bibap]

I wonder if Tankerx's problem is the phone itself, rather than the OS. My Samsung i600 is just as fast as any of the non-Smartphones that I used in the past. It has never crashed and I haven't had any of the memory problems he alludes to. I guess that you have to come from a British backgroung to be annoyed by it, but, as an American, I don't see anything wrong with the language he mentioned.

[TANKERx]

Never crashes?

Maybe it's a network thing then? But MPx200 crashes far less than my SPV, but still too much for a layman.

[David McNamee]

By the way; the language on the front page for this topic isn't the kind of language I've grown to expect from Thoughts Media. Thought I'd just mention that.

Sorry if we let you down. The editorial staff here is half-Canadian, half-Yankee. English language being what it is, I expect that situations like this will occur from time to time. Please feel free to send us a private message when you have concerns like this. We just might need educating :wink:

( Did I just call myself a "Yankee"? ::Shudder:: )

[TANKERx]

I wasn't upset or offended :-D, just thought you may have wanted to know that it's a bit of a colourful word in some parts of the world and seeing on on this site was a bit like hearing the queen say 'Fart'; Nothing wrong with the word, just doesn't sound right coming from her ;-)

[Jason Dunn]

So what's the score? Why is it that while my Microsoft phones can do fancy stuff, I am hindered when it comes to doing the basics?

Yeah, I hear you - 90% of the time, my Smartphone is great and functions just like I want it to as a phone. But 10% of the time, I'll start punching numbers and there's a five second lag while the phone tries to figure out which contact I want to call. Just like voice recognition, 90% accuracy isn't good enough - the Smartphone needs improvement in this regard, without a doubt.

By the way; the language on the front page for this topic isn't the kind of language I've grown to expect from Thoughts Media. Thought I'd just mention that.

My apologies for that. I thought that "bollocks" was a quirky British word, and I really didn't know what it meant having only heard it in TV shows. :-) I've corrected it and will not use the word again in a headline.

[Kevin Daly]

On the issue of acceptable/unacceptable language, I'd just like to point out that this is an inherently difficult issue with internet-based media given the very real cultural differences between all the places where English is spoken. The various versions used outside of North America tend on average to be somewhat more, um, robust in their use of certain terms to provide emphasis.
I often find myself scanning things I'm writing and thinking "Oh bugger, I can't say 'bugger' or the Yanks'll get upset".
There is nothing surprising about this of course: it's just how language develops in different places, witness the fact that certain words which are universally regarded in English as obscene and deeply offensive have equivalents in other European languages that just mean "stupid" (I can think of one example here but I certainly wouldn't write it). And vice versa.

[Phoenix]

Yeah. "Pure rubbish." Whatever. :roll:


&lt;Momentary Rant About Statistics>:

Only 40% of IT Managers? How do they know? These type of statistics are so inaccurate by nature it's not even funny. Did they interview every IT manager in their country/world? Just because you interview 500 people, for example, and 60% of them don't like Smartphones, doesn't mean that's what the rest of that particular demographic in the country/world think. You can't apply that to the rest of the world. This is how they come up with stats and they're so terribly flawed. Ever seen the "Truth" anti-cigarette ads on TV? The consistency of their statistics is awful. Or how about everytime you hear about the 'number one killer in "whatever country you happen to live in"'. Everything is the number one killer according to whatever is being talked about. How can that be? I'm not saying that all stats are inaccurate, but these types of stats just can't be trusted. People accept stats because they can't do anything to come up with better answers.

&lt;End rant>


Smartphones will be just as important a part of business as anything else. I'm sure people said the same thing about fax machines, computers, regular cell phones, and handhelds when they first arrived on the scene. They said that about the 'Information Superhighway', too. Smartphones are the newest kid on the block so they're going to be teased for awhile before they're accepted.

Everytime I hear these stupid opinions of rejection about a clearly useful technology, it goes in one ear and out the other.

None of these dummies have any vision, and they clearly don't understand the technology and how it will serve mankind.

One day, most homes and automobiles, along with every computer, handheld, and phone device will be connected to the internet and other networks, and will send and receive data, audio, graphics, photos, video, TV and radio (freewave or satellite), along with voice calls (don't just think cellular, also think VoIP), and will have worldwide connections. I think a lot of people are aware of this. It's just a matter of time, so embrace and ride the wave.

Technology is only going to advance, not stagnate and stay put. One thing's for sure - a lot of people don't like change, so they'll always have something to say as technology advances.