ok, first let me explain my situation, so don't jump on me and tell me "its only supposed to be an iPod"
There are several gadgets I need to/want to replace:
My cellphone/FM radio is broken, I need to replace it
My Palm T|X PDA is still good, but I want a modern PDA to replace it.
So, my intention is to replace my T|X with iPT+future hacks.
Now, let me categorize my problems with iPT into 3 types: deal breaker, unfixable inconveniences; fixable inconveniences.
deal breaker, simply necessary, and I see no hacks can change it.
1. functionality, its purely not possible to do all I need to do on iPT.
for example I need to edit office documents, word and excel, or look up a word in dictionary, etc.
2. non-expandable capacity, I don't listen to music alot, but I do have a lot of podcast, which probably take more space through time(2.5G for now). and iPT won't be able to handle it.
unfixable inconveniences, These are not deal breaker, I can tolerate it, but there is probably no way of fixing them
1. ease of use. I need many more taps to finish the task that can be done easily on T|X. I can not access the menus of the apps when using them, instead, I have to go all the way back to home screen and tap settings.
2. battery life is poor, my T|X can only support 2hrs of internet surfing, that was one of my original reason to try iPT out, unfortunately, iPT's battery isn't that great neither.
3. input method is limited, on T|X, I have graffiti or keyboard, I can write on any part of the screen, which is very nice when editing office document. with myKBD, I can input 3, 4, 5, 6 letters in 1 sec. iPT is not great for input, also, before I use it, I never realize how painful it is with no select/copy/paste
fixable inconveniences: they are annoying, and I think apple can fix them through software update, tho Im not sure if apple would like to do it
1. safari crashes, much more often than blazer on my T|X.
2. safari does not download anything, I understand this involves other problem, like file manager, etc. but I still want it
3. music play auto starts, stops, definitely bugs
4. tightly bundle with iTunes/Computer, essentially, I can't enjoy this thing without a computer with iTunes. I would much prefer a free device that I don't need iTunes to use it.
5. System is not stable, I have twice encountered gray screen, black screen that needs restart, restore.
6. limited way of turning on/off device, I was just wondering what if the home button/power button were to break? I know I should put more confidence in apple, but with bad QC, I want to have more options.
7. shrinking of pics, I have my train/bus schedules saved on my PDA as pictures, but when moving them to iPT, they got reduced to a much lower res, so I can't read any info on it anymore. I know there is a workaround (transforming the pics into data of URL, and accessing it on iPT through synced bookmarks), it just so not convenience for me.
8. no functional calendars, note taking, map apps.
9. Scroll bar design, no scroll bar in safari, sure it feels pretty doing dragging, but way to slow to reach the place I wanna see.
Basically, its just that iPT is such a limited product, it virtually has no chance of meeting my need such that I need to carry more devices than I want to. Also I have big problem with apple's attitude towards 3rd party native apps.
Oh well, I just want to put these stuff down, I might forget these details in 2 days anyway.
I don't object users who just use it as a simple iPod, thats fine, we all have different idea of what this device is or "should be". I just see no hope of it being a good PDA in anyway in near future.
I will keep paying attention to apple's next try, may that be a version 2 of iPT or a iPDA.
There are several gadgets I need to/want to replace:
My cellphone/FM radio is broken, I need to replace it
My Palm T|X PDA is still good, but I want a modern PDA to replace it.
So, my intention is to replace my T|X with iPT+future hacks.
Now, let me categorize my problems with iPT into 3 types: deal breaker, unfixable inconveniences; fixable inconveniences.
deal breaker, simply necessary, and I see no hacks can change it.
1. functionality, its purely not possible to do all I need to do on iPT.
for example I need to edit office documents, word and excel, or look up a word in dictionary, etc.
2. non-expandable capacity, I don't listen to music alot, but I do have a lot of podcast, which probably take more space through time(2.5G for now). and iPT won't be able to handle it.
unfixable inconveniences, These are not deal breaker, I can tolerate it, but there is probably no way of fixing them
1. ease of use. I need many more taps to finish the task that can be done easily on T|X. I can not access the menus of the apps when using them, instead, I have to go all the way back to home screen and tap settings.
2. battery life is poor, my T|X can only support 2hrs of internet surfing, that was one of my original reason to try iPT out, unfortunately, iPT's battery isn't that great neither.
3. input method is limited, on T|X, I have graffiti or keyboard, I can write on any part of the screen, which is very nice when editing office document. with myKBD, I can input 3, 4, 5, 6 letters in 1 sec. iPT is not great for input, also, before I use it, I never realize how painful it is with no select/copy/paste
fixable inconveniences: they are annoying, and I think apple can fix them through software update, tho Im not sure if apple would like to do it
1. safari crashes, much more often than blazer on my T|X.
2. safari does not download anything, I understand this involves other problem, like file manager, etc. but I still want it
3. music play auto starts, stops, definitely bugs
4. tightly bundle with iTunes/Computer, essentially, I can't enjoy this thing without a computer with iTunes. I would much prefer a free device that I don't need iTunes to use it.
5. System is not stable, I have twice encountered gray screen, black screen that needs restart, restore.
6. limited way of turning on/off device, I was just wondering what if the home button/power button were to break? I know I should put more confidence in apple, but with bad QC, I want to have more options.
7. shrinking of pics, I have my train/bus schedules saved on my PDA as pictures, but when moving them to iPT, they got reduced to a much lower res, so I can't read any info on it anymore. I know there is a workaround (transforming the pics into data of URL, and accessing it on iPT through synced bookmarks), it just so not convenience for me.
8. no functional calendars, note taking, map apps.
9. Scroll bar design, no scroll bar in safari, sure it feels pretty doing dragging, but way to slow to reach the place I wanna see.
Basically, its just that iPT is such a limited product, it virtually has no chance of meeting my need such that I need to carry more devices than I want to. Also I have big problem with apple's attitude towards 3rd party native apps.
Oh well, I just want to put these stuff down, I might forget these details in 2 days anyway.
I don't object users who just use it as a simple iPod, thats fine, we all have different idea of what this device is or "should be". I just see no hope of it being a good PDA in anyway in near future.
I will keep paying attention to apple's next try, may that be a version 2 of iPT or a iPDA.
) I barely use it for more than 1 hr a day. Guess I didn't realize at that time, that internet is not all I need...