Future Phone
Zander goes into Best Buy. One of the 5 phone sales people pounces immediately. Before “I need a phone” was out of his mouth, it was some crap literature shoved in his hand and wait here in the iPhone line. Ok it finally has voice integration, but the iCloud is too new and behind even Microsoft Live by like 10 years. It’s also too much like the Blackberry infrastructure that is not too big to fail. Plus, it’s still the same small tiles and all the clutter, swiping, and downloading. Been there, done that – not bad quality, but it’s like buying a consistent Big Mac at steak prices without fries or a drink. Where can Apple go after Jobs anyway?
Here we go. Geek Squad guy’s next answer is the wall of Droids. At least you don’t have the whole iRobot thing and have some choice of hardware and form-factor. The problem was each of the devices had various versions of the OS and some ran well while others were visually very slow to react. Plus, it simply followed the Apple paradigm of download this app, get some more clutter from who knows where, and we all want to look foolish counting like the fair pony going through screens. The experience is really hit and miss.
“Dude. How about those?” Huge eye roll with some kind of stoner shudder and a weak comment about hating those phones and not even knowing how to call someone they are texting. “Seems like you press the name or number at the top.” The look of astonishment on his face said it all. Typical Generation Whatever that ran up their parents’ cell bill in the previous 4 years texting and calling more than the local tower could handle. Now he’s graduated to adding a Gmail account and whatever feels easiest to add contacts and update Facebook. Beyond Angry Birds and the latest app there is little or no understanding of how a smartphone really works.
So let’s see. The tiles are much bigger and have active changing displays. Click the People hub and you have all the status updates from Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Group button is just like Google+ so you can e-mail or text any group in one shot. Third generation voice makes Siri look as foolish as it sounds, especially with the recent edition of voice to text. Me tile to hit all your configured Social Media in one swoop. Built-in Office integration for Exchange and SharePoint along with direct posting from the phone. Post to your Sky Drive and find, wipe, or ring the phone all from Live.com – hmm no apps to download so far. And you get the latest games including favorite Xbox titles along with an excellent quality quick-draw camera and favorite music without the clunky iTunes?
The catch must be price. Nope. Superior technology and much cooler for $49 – $99. This looks like the phone for the future. Hell of a lot better than being a lemming at $400 an iPop. “Listen, Slick. Toke a little less wacky weed and start people with these first – and what’s with the white socks?”
