Garlic, harvested from an unknown location some time ago and obviously still alive.
And there you go wondering why parents are so protective of their children sometimes. Why they’re willing to invest all of their remaining energy into the child(ren).
It’s there, in nature, right in front of us.
A friend of mine, older, but also online like me, sorted her online friends into at least two groups: a) people I’ve met offline, b) people I haven’t met offline.
Another friend of mine, same age, recently did a website project and hired a programmer from Bangladesh. Obviously, the two have never met offline, yet they are working closely together. Online. Like the most of us.
Which begs the questions: how important is it to meet offline? Does it change anything? Would you continue working with your online contacts if you were to meet them offline?
And: how productive is online work with regard to the Wikipedia and other social tools – compared to the offline output of a project?
I know the following is a rather unorthodox comparison between a business and an entertainment device, BUT! – as much I condemn Apple’s business policies, walled gardens and hardware restrictions – I am more productive with a 1G iPod Touch from 2007 than with my new Nokia E72 from late 2009.
Having said that, this blog post could stop here. I still feel an urge to explain my switch to this archenemy though, so pls allow the following introduction:
I recently bought a broken 1G iPod Touch from eBay, fixed it, put in a new battery, installed the latest firmware (no jailbreak so far, btw) and started using it. And….oh, what a joy it is!
Browsing, e-mailing, searching for gadgets via the eBay app, using dropbox to share files between my computers, checking my bank account, using an UnP player to access files on my NAS, a nice Facebook app, various Twitter clients, interesting ham radio apps with decoding capabilities, games games games, a water level, VNC access…..and an app store with access to 140k+ apps.
And all of this from a three year old multimedia player that comes with a fixed battery, no real multitasking capabilities, no camera and a proprietary dock connector. So how come I am rejoicing on this device like a small child?
Because it delivers. And because it’s dead simple to use. The user interface is so intuitive, everything just works, I actually don’t have to *think* while using this device. And yet it’s just a multimedia player. Amazing.
The Nokia E72? Well, it is a great phone – it really is a great phone – but it sure lacks this comfort I’ve now experienced with the iPod.
I am also using a last.fm client on my E72, I can also use it to access the Twonky Server on my NAS, there also is a new Facebook app for the E71 & E72, there also is a really, really great Twitter client for the E72 which I still like best btw (Gravity is just perfect), and it also comes with an E-mail client that’s easy to set up. And I am very sure that it will take some time until I find another phone with a camera that’s better than my old Nokia N95 which is idling in the drawers here.
However, the Firmware on the E72 keeps on crashing, the browser is very cumbersome (I am not a great fan of the Symbia S60 browser) and the E-mail client isn’t as comfy as the one on iPhone OS 3.1.3. And I don’t even want to repeat myself on Nokia’s lame app store.
In short: I used to hate touch screen phones, I now like them.
I bought this iPod Touch as an introduction to the OS, because it was very cheap and because I will give it to someone special soon. I also bought a used 2G iPhone – with a broken screen, which is yet to arrive see update here and here. Spare parts like display unit & new battery are already here. Which means that I’ll be using the E72 and a 2G iPhone over the next few weeks to see which phone performs better. As I said, an unorthodox comparison because the iPhone certainly won’t be as fast as the E72. Both devices will have to compete for the space in my pocket though.
For all of you out there who have been using iPod Touch and iPhones in the past: yes, you were right, I was wrong. The user experience really is the important part. Everything else like removable batteries, a better camera, built quality – who cares about those details? Geeks like me maybe. And you can clearly see where this stupidity ends up.
12 years of using Nokia phones. Got my first mobile contract in 1998 on a D2 (now: Vodafone) line. 5110, 7110, 8210, 6210, 6310, 6310i, 6230, 6230i, N95 E71, E72. Like M said, we were Nokia 4 life.
However, when it comes to the hardware inside the phone, I am very much pro Nokia. Why? Because a Nokia phone can be disassembled and reassembled within 4 minutes. Try that with an Apple device… which of course weren’t built for being opened by end users. From an engineering point of view, disassembling Apple devices is really interesting. Ah well, Bwana Kikuyumoja is slowly starting to understand the way the cookie crumbles in the Apple Universe…
So why a 2G and not a 3GS? Because
a) too expensive
b) I have a working phone – the E72 also has a compass, GPS and so on
c) I am waiting for a chance to get my hands on the Nexus One
d) I am expecting other – interesting – phones with Android in 2010 & 2011 and will save on those.
[UPDATE:] Updated the Nokia E72 to its latest firmware but still prefer using the iPhone 2G. The phone just does the job for me. Amazing. Ok, I’d prefer using a 3G with better connection speeds and GPS, but I’d have to sell my phone collection in order to afford a better phone.
Reasoning from above is still valid: Nokia = great hardware but lousy software. You know I am not alone with this assumption. Actually, what I’d love to have is Nokia / SonyEricsson hardware, coupled with the openess of Android and the Apple iPhone OS user interface. That would be great…
I know I’ve already mentioned this on my Posterous blog earlier today, but the truth is: I’ve never been so excited about a gadget/ an accessory since maybe when I unpacked my Leatherman Wave some years ago.
I was looking for a decent cover for my Nokia E72 as the leather pouch it comes shipped with isn’t that great. It opens to the side and is very tight, so you’d have to push the phone inside (with some force) and pull it out (with even more force). Not that smart.
Another reason – and explanation why I went for a cover instead of another pouch/sheath – is that the E72 is rather thin, maybe too thin for a phone. It lacks a rubber back, like the one on the E63 for instance. So any potential cover would have to ensure that the phone gets a better grip on the back side.
I then checked the market and bought a cheap (3€) silicone cover. The one that came delivered wasn’t good at all – the silicone was too stubborn and didn’t even cover all the edges (as pictured above). Such a cheap quality. I threw it away after taking these pictures.
So I kept on looking and stumbled upon this OtterBox Commuter Case. There are almost only positive reviews on the cover online, the people behind OtterBox seem to be innovative and responsive to customer input (they are on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) – and such a cover costs around 29 €.
Now, I can probably get two used Nokia 1208 phones for the price of such a cover, and it took me some time to think about this investment. Why should I invest 29 € on a cover that will only add weight to my phone? And it’s a lot of money for “just a cover”…
I am so glad I just bought it in the end. The cover instantly worked for me – it’s such a pleasure to handle the phone now (almost as thick as an E63 now, yay! :-). The OtterBox Commuter really is the BEST phone cover I’ve ever bought for a phone so far, makes so much sense on this particular Nokia phone and I am sure I’ll also never again waste any money on cheaper alternatives that just won’t work.
It also came shipped with a screen protector (sticker), a little card and a cleaning cloth which will help you apply the sticker onto the display. Amazing. I am yet to see something like that (the card) on other – also professional – screen protectors. Sooo… yes, I can only highly recommend the OtterBox Commuter Case to other E72 users.
Dear Internet Diary,
I’ve bought an iPhone today. A used 2G with a broken screen.
It was (really) cheap, a spontaneous deal and I bought it because I want to enjoy some apps like this one – which will most probably never be available for Symbian S60 3rd. Heck, it was even cheaper than a used iPod Touch (which are also still very expensive). Imagine a 2y+ old 2G iPhone still sells for the same amount (on eBay Germany) you could also cough up for a brand-new Nokia business phone.
So why this video? Because it’s cool and it represents to some extent what I’ve thought about the iPhone(s) & other “smartphones” in the past.
The apps, however, the missing apps…. the missing apps really did it for me.
My Nokia E72 is a great phone and I will continue using it as a phone, but – and that’s the important part – it will not be the device that I’ll pull out for some entertainment. Mind you, though, the same could be said about my N95, which obviously comes from the eNtertainment range of phones. However, I wouldn’t want to compare the iPhones with any Nokia phone, but the way apps are made available to consumers.
Sure, there are now free Ovi Maps with free navigation and a few other apps I’ve mentioned earlier, but that’s maybe 5-10 good apps for my E72 vs. a plethora of apps on Apple’s Appstore. And it’s not that there are no other Symbian apps – there are quite a few interesting ones out there – but you most probably won’t find them on Ovi, Nokia’s all-in-one website (“the door”) which also includes Ovi Store.
Now, Nokia’s “Appstore” Ovi Store is nothing but a lame joke. And this in February 2010. They could do SO much better and start selling all their R&D beta apps, market them accordingly and show what’s really inside their devices (think of all the sensors). Ovi Store is also available online, via a browser – which I think is a very good approach (does that also exist for Apple’s Appstore, or will you have to visit their store using iTunes?). The Ovi Store application for Nokia phones though is a failure. Imagine what could be done if e.g. the developer of (the Twitter client) Gravity was to redesign this app…
You’d think that Nokia is where German car manufacturers used to be some time ago – at least from a customer’s point of view: a company run by engineers who are trying to deliver a perfectly engineered product, but then getting stuck in bureaucracy and end up selling less than they could.
Nokia. Great R&D, but such lame implementers. Great hardware, lame software. Why?
I don’t know. What I know is that I’ve just invested money into my first Apple product ever. Because Nokia couldn’t deliver.