iPhone Report
No, I don’t use one. For now, my Treo 650 works better for me.
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“No, I don’t use one. For now, my Treo 650 works better for me.”
Umm…how do you know if you’ve never used an iPhone that the Treo “works better” for you?
Good question, Shawn. First off, I didn’t say I’d “never used” one, I just said that I don’t currently use one. And the main reasons for that are:
1) IMAP support on it doesn’t match what I have (and now require!) with ChatterEmail on my Treo.
2) No (current) way to sync with my Now Up-To-Date calendar.
In addition to the phone (which falls between #1 and #2 in terms of time spent), those are the 2 things I use my Treo for most.
Hey guys, my C.B. Radio gets me where I wanna go! That’s a “big ten-four”…..
Dave, first of all you should know better than anyone that using an Apple product means we sometimes sacrifice access to all the features we want for the glorious user experience that is Apple.
I’m curious what are the IMAP requirements that are missing? So far I’m not noticing anything, but I know you are more of an advanced IMAP user that I am.
Couldn’t you just view your Now Up-To Date calender through a web-browser?
Hadley –
Good questions.
IMAP: Based on my admittedly limited testing, it seems like IMAP IDLE, or P-IMAP support (for push email) only works reliably with the specially-configured Yahoo servers. With other, “standard” servers, my experience and reports are that it’s flaky at best. Beyond that, the mail client was pretty, but the interface was a bit *too* pedantic for me. With ChatterEmail on the Treo, I have one-button access to deleting, filing as junk, archiving, moving to my various folders, etc. On the iPhone, all of that seemed to require multiple key swipes/strokes, making triaging quantities of e-mail a much slower process than I’m used to.
Now Up-To-Date web access: yes, I’m sure you’re right. However, my experience with cell circuit reception/reliability is such that I’m not at all happy about the idea of relying on a solid connection to flip through my calendar or add a haircut appointment on-the-fly.
The thing about the iPhone is that the killer app (in my experience) is the web browser. And it truly is awesome. The thing is, I don’t use a web browser much on my Treo (though I appreciate might be because it’s a horrible experience!). For me, the killer app *has* to be e-mail, as that’s the thing I use my Treo for most.
As I’ve said, I think the iPhone is a remarkable device. The issue is that it doesn’t yet have the power in the spots that I have come to rely on with my current device. I have happily recommended the iPhone for many, many friends, colleagues, readers and listeners. It’s just not yet a device that works for someone like me.
I’m *really* happy with my Treo. I like all my buttons. I love my e-mail application. I like the fact that it syncs with my calendar. And it ain’t a bad phone, either. I’m actually at the point where my Treo 650 is in need of retirement, and I’m considering replacing it with another Treo. I like the idea of moving to the iPhone, and I’m hoping that in the next month or three (while I wait for the Treo Nitro), the iPhone will see an update that brings some much-needed features to the nascent platform.
I can’t speak for the Treo, but as a longtime Blackberry user here are my thoughts:
On the iPhone it is easier to:
- delete email (just hit the trash icon)
- move mail (hit the move icon and select the folder you want it moved it to).
As for the IMAP issue I’m not using a Yahoo (or gmail) etc. server, so nothing customizable on my part and I haven’t noticed anything wacky (but if I don’t follow up on an email from you I’ll be sure to use that excuse!!).
What I miss from the Blackberry is the oft-mentioned inability to cut and paste. But so far that hasn’t been a big deal. One thing I love on the iPhone (not sure if you get this on the Treo) is the ability to tweak how much of an email you want to see in list mode. If you list a few lines you’ll find yourself never having to even open email to read it before knowing whether it needs to be dealt with or not.