May
23
So I Went Smart Phone Shopping
As geeky as I am it's kind of funny that I've never had a smart phone or web enabled hand held device. Until the past 5 months or so I never had even a hint of a legitimate need for one. B has had a Treo for about a year now and she loves it. Not because it's great for web browsing or email (it's so not) but because it allows her to view and edit Microsoft Office documents on the go as needed. Most importantly though it runs Epocrates. That's the killer app for her. It doesn't matter how many features or bells and whistles an iPhone or a Blackberry might have, if it can't run Epocrates (and neither the iPhone or Blackberry can) then it's of no real use to her.
I've been thinking about this notion of a killer app (or killer feature) as I've started shopping for a smart phone. Really good Gmail integration is my killer feature.
As I mentioned I had no real need of such a device until about 5 months ago. It was then that I started leaving the home office more and more for meetings where I either didn't want to take my MacBook along or where WiFi wouldn't be readily available. As my work projects grew, almost all of which are web related in someway, being away from email and the web for 3 or 4 hours became an issue. Not a huge, end of the world issue, but enough of an issue that I started thinking about getting a smart phone.
Being the Mac fangirl that I am it would make sense that I'd buy an iPhone. Two barriers to an iPhone purchase though: 1) I'm under contract with Sprint (and have some holdover ill will toward AT&T from when I used them before) 2) When I've tried the iPhone in stores I've found it very, very hard to type on the glass screen. A few weeks ago an associate at a meeting let me play with his beloved iPhone. He showed me what Gmail looks like on an iPhone and I fell in love with it too. But those two barriers still exist. So I went to the Sprint store to try out Blackberries. I was, in a word, unimpressed.
I was unimpressed with the form factor of the Blackberries I looked at, unimpressed with the browsing experiences of the Blackberries and most assuredly unimpressed with the service, or lack thereof, I got at the Sprint store (both the actual person to person customer service and the larger corporate service in terms of contracts, rate plans, etc.).
Point by point on my state of being unimpressed:
1. Regarding the form factor of the Blackberry (I looked at both the Pearl and the Curve) I was just meh. It wasn't ugly or clunky, it was just, there. Not bad but not exciting either. The Blackberries are significantly lighter than B's Treo though so I guess that's one positive.
2. I do the vast majority of my email work through Gmail. So when I talk of "doing email" (as my grandma would say) I'm talking about browser work. I did the Gmail/Imap thing for a little bit but using gmail.com works best for me. Why mess with it? If I used Outlook or Entourage or whatever it is that corporate IT departments love I might have been blown away by the Blackberry trial experience. Trying to read Gmail with it though was less than happy making in general but compared to reading Gmail on the iPhone doing it on the Blackberry was just bad.
3. Since I'm under contract with Sprint I can't buy a Blackberry at the "discount" rate that new Sprint users would get. So if I wanted to buy the new Blackberry Curve I would get the "sort of discount" and have to pay $525 for it. After paying $525 for the Curve I'd have to pay $30 for a data plan. We pay $15 a month for the data plan for B's Treo. The $15 data plan isn't available for the Blackberry. Why? The employees at the store couldn't really explain it but as far as they could tell it has something to do with GPS.
So where does that leave me? It leaves me visiting the Sprint store again today, both in person and online. Le sigh kids, le sigh. I'm totally buying an iPhone. How's that?
Let's, just for kicks, compare plans. When you go to the iPhone store page at Apple.com you immediately get straightforward information about minutes, text messages and data.
When you go to Sprint.com to research data plans you first must give your zip code.
Like I said, sort of.
Those screenshots sum up my experience shopping for a smartphone in a nutshell. If I go to the Apple store I can pick up an iPhone that actually functions and play with it all I want. If I go to the Sprint store most of the smartphones on display don't actually work. You can sometimes, maybe, get a store employee to show you a functioning model (normally it's their personal phone that they're showing off) but more often than not you're just supposed to get over the fact that you can't *really* try the device out. You can try one that's almost like it, or you can try the old version of it, or you can try the phone the kid working there has strapped to his belt.
To be more succinct, shopping for a smartphone and smartphone plan at Sprint has been very unpleasant. Shopping for an iPhone and iPhone plan at Apple has been quite pleasant. That has made me decide to leap over the two barriers that have thus far precluded me from buying an iPhone.
I've run the numbers and if I just keep my current Sprint plan (as it's a shared plan with B) + buy an iPhone + have an AT&T plan I will pay $235 more over the course of one year than if I buy the new Blackberry and have a Sprint data plan. $235. That's roughly a $20 per month luxury tax I'd be paying to have an iPhone. I'm ok with that. So that's barrier one down.
Barrier two I'm just going to have to take a leap of faith that I can get over typing on the glass screen. Friends and associates who have iPhones assure me that I'll get the hang of the glass screen typing. And I think that my typing on the glass screen can't be much worse than the typing in emails I get from people using Blackberries. So I'm getting an iPhone. Maybe.
Maybe? Well you currently can't buy iPhones from the Apple store. This has everyone and their brother speculating that a new version of the iPhone is just around the corner. So I'll be waiting to see what shakes out in the next few weeks with a potential new iPhone. If it comes out and is relatively affordable (no more than $399) I'll be purchasing one. Otherwise? I'll just start packing my MacBook more often. After shopping with Sprint and giving Blackberries a look I've decided, that for my needs, it's either an iPhone or nothing. Don't cry for me geeks, I'll be totally fine without handheld web access. Yes, a hand held web device would be a help to me but it's not so much of a necessity for me right now that I'd pay for the privilege of a significantly broken experience. And that's how I look at both going into a new relationship with Sprint and with the way Blackberries function compared to the way iPhones function.
So, hurry the frack up and come out next gen iPhone.
I've been thinking about this notion of a killer app (or killer feature) as I've started shopping for a smart phone. Really good Gmail integration is my killer feature.
As I mentioned I had no real need of such a device until about 5 months ago. It was then that I started leaving the home office more and more for meetings where I either didn't want to take my MacBook along or where WiFi wouldn't be readily available. As my work projects grew, almost all of which are web related in someway, being away from email and the web for 3 or 4 hours became an issue. Not a huge, end of the world issue, but enough of an issue that I started thinking about getting a smart phone.
Being the Mac fangirl that I am it would make sense that I'd buy an iPhone. Two barriers to an iPhone purchase though: 1) I'm under contract with Sprint (and have some holdover ill will toward AT&T from when I used them before) 2) When I've tried the iPhone in stores I've found it very, very hard to type on the glass screen. A few weeks ago an associate at a meeting let me play with his beloved iPhone. He showed me what Gmail looks like on an iPhone and I fell in love with it too. But those two barriers still exist. So I went to the Sprint store to try out Blackberries. I was, in a word, unimpressed.
I was unimpressed with the form factor of the Blackberries I looked at, unimpressed with the browsing experiences of the Blackberries and most assuredly unimpressed with the service, or lack thereof, I got at the Sprint store (both the actual person to person customer service and the larger corporate service in terms of contracts, rate plans, etc.).
Point by point on my state of being unimpressed:
1. Regarding the form factor of the Blackberry (I looked at both the Pearl and the Curve) I was just meh. It wasn't ugly or clunky, it was just, there. Not bad but not exciting either. The Blackberries are significantly lighter than B's Treo though so I guess that's one positive.
2. I do the vast majority of my email work through Gmail. So when I talk of "doing email" (as my grandma would say) I'm talking about browser work. I did the Gmail/Imap thing for a little bit but using gmail.com works best for me. Why mess with it? If I used Outlook or Entourage or whatever it is that corporate IT departments love I might have been blown away by the Blackberry trial experience. Trying to read Gmail with it though was less than happy making in general but compared to reading Gmail on the iPhone doing it on the Blackberry was just bad.
3. Since I'm under contract with Sprint I can't buy a Blackberry at the "discount" rate that new Sprint users would get. So if I wanted to buy the new Blackberry Curve I would get the "sort of discount" and have to pay $525 for it. After paying $525 for the Curve I'd have to pay $30 for a data plan. We pay $15 a month for the data plan for B's Treo. The $15 data plan isn't available for the Blackberry. Why? The employees at the store couldn't really explain it but as far as they could tell it has something to do with GPS.
So where does that leave me? It leaves me visiting the Sprint store again today, both in person and online. Le sigh kids, le sigh. I'm totally buying an iPhone. How's that?
Let's, just for kicks, compare plans. When you go to the iPhone store page at Apple.com you immediately get straightforward information about minutes, text messages and data.
When you go to Sprint.com to research data plans you first must give your zip code.
Like I said, sort of.
Those screenshots sum up my experience shopping for a smartphone in a nutshell. If I go to the Apple store I can pick up an iPhone that actually functions and play with it all I want. If I go to the Sprint store most of the smartphones on display don't actually work. You can sometimes, maybe, get a store employee to show you a functioning model (normally it's their personal phone that they're showing off) but more often than not you're just supposed to get over the fact that you can't *really* try the device out. You can try one that's almost like it, or you can try the old version of it, or you can try the phone the kid working there has strapped to his belt.
To be more succinct, shopping for a smartphone and smartphone plan at Sprint has been very unpleasant. Shopping for an iPhone and iPhone plan at Apple has been quite pleasant. That has made me decide to leap over the two barriers that have thus far precluded me from buying an iPhone.
I've run the numbers and if I just keep my current Sprint plan (as it's a shared plan with B) + buy an iPhone + have an AT&T plan I will pay $235 more over the course of one year than if I buy the new Blackberry and have a Sprint data plan. $235. That's roughly a $20 per month luxury tax I'd be paying to have an iPhone. I'm ok with that. So that's barrier one down.
Barrier two I'm just going to have to take a leap of faith that I can get over typing on the glass screen. Friends and associates who have iPhones assure me that I'll get the hang of the glass screen typing. And I think that my typing on the glass screen can't be much worse than the typing in emails I get from people using Blackberries. So I'm getting an iPhone. Maybe.
Maybe? Well you currently can't buy iPhones from the Apple store. This has everyone and their brother speculating that a new version of the iPhone is just around the corner. So I'll be waiting to see what shakes out in the next few weeks with a potential new iPhone. If it comes out and is relatively affordable (no more than $399) I'll be purchasing one. Otherwise? I'll just start packing my MacBook more often. After shopping with Sprint and giving Blackberries a look I've decided, that for my needs, it's either an iPhone or nothing. Don't cry for me geeks, I'll be totally fine without handheld web access. Yes, a hand held web device would be a help to me but it's not so much of a necessity for me right now that I'd pay for the privilege of a significantly broken experience. And that's how I look at both going into a new relationship with Sprint and with the way Blackberries function compared to the way iPhones function.
So, hurry the frack up and come out next gen iPhone.
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Michelle published this on May 23, 2008.
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"Don't cry for me geeks" I like that :) I got an iPhone about 3 weeks ago and love it! I was with Sprint for over 5 years and didn't have to pay anything for my service - yes, I had a serious hook up!
Anyway, the Blackberry simply didn't meet my needs. I had a Motorola Q that met my needs but the battery life sucks, which is why I was forced to replace it. The only other phone I considered was the iPhone.
You will get use to typing on the glass, but I still think about trying a stylus or something to see if it works. I think you will be happy with the iPhone :)
Wow.
1. AT&T is so much cheaper than Verizon! Why am I looking at my Verizon plan summary and it's only showing me my $40/mo phone plan and not the $30/mo data plan or the $5/mo for 250 txt? And AT&T is $60 for the same minutes/data and 200 txt? Pffffft.
2. I'm having a real hard time justifying the price of an iPhone since I did just spend $300 bones on a Pearl last fall. Especially since I don't have a business need for it.
3. Thank you for at least getting me to consider AT&T for service. I didn't really do the research because I get great reception with Verizon around here (compared to not-so-great with Sprint). The lower price of the plan does offset the cost a bit.
My contract expires in November... Hmmm...
yeah, i have a pearl and am not fond of it. ironically, i ended up with it because it was the cheapest phone i could get at the tmobile store the day i went to get a replacement phone for the one i cried into and killed. i couldn't bear being without a cell phone at all for longer than a few days so when i finally broke down and went to the tmobile store to see what my options were, they were having a sale on pearls, apparently only in ugly colors. but it was only $99, which was about $150 cheaper than any other phone, smart or not, that i could get that day. so i got it. it's BUTT UGLY (gold and silver) but i got a black skin for it so i can be a perpetual saints fan (their colors are black and gold, for anyone unfamiliar with football).
anyways. if i could afford it i'd be jumping for an iphone, for much the same reasoning as you - gmail. i can't afford the full web-browsing data plan on tmobile so i only have the unlimited email plan ($10/mo), so no gmail for me. at least not the web-browsing variety. it is my first smart phone, though, so i still consider it a luxury to have my email with me at all times, and i don't mind the tiny little keyboard too much. but yeah, an iphone would be so much better! but i think i'd have to win the lottery or something at this point to justify it, especially since i'm now indebted to tmobile for another year.
if the rumors are true, then ATT is going to give new iphone customers a $200 rebate, reducing the price of the basic model to perhaps $199 and almost eliminating your luxury tax.let's hope this rumors comes true, because that would be the only way i could afford one.
An open letter to Dan Hesse the Chairman and CEO of Sprint Nextel. It is a good read so please consider reading the letter.
www.sprint-really-sucks.com/open-letter-dan-hesse.aspx
Wow, iPhones and dissatisfaction with Sprint really get people talking.
hopluv: Good to know about the glass screen typing. I think it'll take a little while to get used to but I think I can do it.
swirlspice: I think the AT&T plans look really reasonable as well. The thing I really like though is how straightforward the plans are. Trying to figure out Sprint's plans is way more complex than it needs to be.
mags: The unlimited web access on the AT&T plans is a total winner. I think we have unlimited web access on B's Treo but trying to actually look at anything on the web on it is such a pain in the ass we barely use it.
At least you can rock your Pearl out in Saints colors. I'm ready for training camp. My Titans did horribly at the draft, again, but I'm still ready for football season.
Thomas: I will be a happy, happy girl if those rumors are true. If the iPhone is $199 instead of $399 it will put the price difference between a year of AT&T/iPhone and Sprint/Blackberry at a whopping $35. Sweet!
I totally understand when it comes to pricing of mobile devices and data plans; and how confusing it can all be when each company's pricing varies. I'm a Sprint user myself. The Sprint retail store employees are just NOT knowledgeable. There maybe some who are, but I'm not sure they work in any store that I've been in. I stick to reading forums when I want to learn about devices.
Check out the new Samsung Instinct. I'm sure this is Samsung's attempt to get as close to iPhone like features as possible with their device. I can't say it will be better than the iPhone, because I don't think there is any phone that is better than the other. Just a whole lot of different features for what a person intends to use them for.
I've played with the iPhone a bit; and I do like it, although it isn't for my needs right now. I don't browse much on my BlackBerry because I just don't need too. But if I do, I have the Opera Mini browser installed for my browsing needs; simply because the native BB browser just doesn't work well to me, and to many others as I've read over the internets.
As for Gmail, I have it's app installed and I think very highly of how its displayed; which when compared to the iPhone, it looks quite similar.
Overall, based on what you've mentioned, it seems the iPhone will fit your needs best. I say, go for it!
I did look at that Samsung phone but it very much just looks like an iPhone clone. If I'm going to get a clone instead of the real thing it's got to have something really great going for it above what the original has. As far as I can tell the Samsung phone doesn't and it would mean continue a relationship with Sprint that I'd just as soon sever.
You're so right about the employees in the Sprint store just not being knowledgeable. With the exception of the employee we worked with when we were first setting up the account everyone I've encountered in the Sprint stores have really not understood Sprint's plans and account settings. More than once I've sat there for 10 minutes while they look up something or call someone to ask questions that I think should be pretty standard for store employees to know the answers too. It's very, very frustrating but it seems consumers have absolutely no recourse in these situations.
I'm not under any illusions though that a relationship with AT&T will be all milk and honey. I suspect that all cell phone companies are pretty on par terms of a lack of commitment to customers however I think the direct connection between Apple and AT&T seems to be a step in the right direction. As a rule Apple doesn't treat customers like crap. I'm sure it's that Apple influence that made AT&T fly right with iPhone plans.
I'd wait for the Instict! (June 20th)
http://nowisgood.com/
Thanks for taking the time to break down the different smart phone options. I've had my Treo 650 with Spring since the week it came out. I think that was January of 2004 or maybe 2005. It's not the best phone buts its gotten the job done. Accessing my work email through the work exchange server has been easy. Web access isnt pretty but it works. My biggest problem has been syncing. It has never been a clean process. Most of the time its caused my contacts to be duplicated. Plaxo has improved this experience. I can't totally complain about Sprint. Thanks to insurance I've had my treo replaced with no questions twice. Both times the phone just got really buggy and they decided to just give me a new one. I don't think I will go the direction of the iPhone. I'm holding out for the NEW treo that will hopefully have WiFi and GPS.
It's great that they've replaced the phone that many times for you but kind of sucky that you've needed 3 phones over the past 3 years.
Trust me i hate sprint. I have them customer service is terrible. Salesmen have no idea whats going on. But I'm confused about why you think $99.00 for all services is a confusing plan. If your going to use the phone for as much internet, texting and phone calls as most girls then sprint and their network are the clear choice. I just wish that sprint would stop taking the wifi capabilities out of all of their phones. that really sucks. I sure do wish that CDMA phones were as up to date as the gsm phones. its annoying seeing cool phones come out overseas only to have to wait a year for them to come here. It would also be nice if ALL the smart phones had cdma/gsm capabilities. its torture!
Welcome josea and thanks for commenting. But I'm far from "most girls" and I don't get with that kind of stereotyping anyway.
Since I wouldn't be getting a new plan with Sprint the $99 plan you described wouldn't be available to me unless I wanted to get a new two year subscription with print. And since I have two phones on my Sprint line that plan wouldn't work for me either.