Greystone has been kicking around the idea of changing cell phone providers, hoping to find a phone that supports our line of business applications. We have narrowed it down to a single provider that has a variety of mobile devices we’re interested in. Decisions such as these are never a quick fix. Research, referrals, and numerous tests have gone into finding the perfect fit for our needs. All of this is so far pretty typical when a business or even user decides to change providers.
What is frustrating, and also pretty typical I’ve found, is that not one product review has actually mentioned the quality of the phone function itself. Reviews seem to discuss and critique the higher-end components of these devices: the processor, internal memory, camera, browser-viewing angle, screen resolution, keyboard functionality, everything but whether or not the product is actually a good device to carry on a conversation with someone. There are some mentions about dropped calls or reception, but this is only in relation to the particular provider networks.
I am a tech-head and get excited about the latest and greatest technology out there, but it just seems odd that nobody is concerned enough about these new phones (they are still phones being sold by a cell phone provider remember) to mention how they actually work as phones.
I’ve been around for awhile (even using the first mobile phone that was housed in a small suitcase) and remember clearly when these devices were simply mobile telephones used for carrying on conversation only. Not a single phone/pda or mobile device existed. The first 2 or 3 generations of the phone/pda device usually had the pda component down pretty well (except for any Windows Mobile device), but the phone function was seriously lacking, and there were reviews that warned us.
Perhaps these newer generation mobile devices all excel as phones now, becuase the various providers have figured this piece of the puzzle out. Maybe I’m just behind the times (my wife sure seems to think so because when sharing this with her, she said “Who cares?!”) I guess I do because I’d still like to know if my phone will function as a phone.