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ChangingMinds Blog! > Blog Archive > 27-Jul-14

Sunday 27-July-14

In search of the perfect phone

I've been looking for a great phone for a number of years, and watching how I look tells much about how my mind gets changed.

A long time ago I bought a Nokia with one of the first touch screens. It had a camera. It played MP3. It was pretty neat. I could drop it and put it back together again and it would still work fine. In fact it's still working, though the old Nokia Symbian operating system means there are no new apps, and those I have are, well, limited. I replaced it recently, but more about that later.

Phones these days are of course more than phones. They are multi-functional tablets too. Tablets have been something of a revolution and have replaced PCs for many, though not for me. As a writer and photographer, I need big screens and a proper keyboard where I can write quickly. Nevertheless, I had an iPad early, and it's still working just fine, though now seems a big heavy when holding for more a few minutes. I got tendon problems in my hand about it, so I got a Google Nexus 7 2013. Much quicker, higher resolution and a better camera. Accessible file system and easy to connect with PC. But it died, taking with it some writing I was doing.

So recently I decided to get an all-in-one device. After much chewing (notice how I was persuaded here), I got a Nokia 1520 phablet. Largely because it has a fabulous 20Mpx camera and a good GPS navigation system built in. Also because my old Nokia worked so well. And because I thought Microsoft, being further behind, would build a good operating system be trying hard and ensuring there are good apps out there. And there are some, though with appalling omissions (no proper Dropbox, for example). There are also vastly annoying missing features (no 'select all') and design flaws (many apps have the 'save' right next to the 'back' button, which closes the app without saving your work or asking you about it). Bafflingly, even the much-vaunted 'Microsoft Office' on the phone has a version of MSWord with hardly any features at all. And as a writer, that's very frustrating.

I've been looking to have my mind changed, to be as happy with a new phone as I was with my old Nokia. But sadly not. I was drawn in by glossy features and glowing reviews. Now I'm stuck for a few years. If I could, I'd put Android on the phone, which suited me far better than the dumbed-down interface that Microsoft seems to think the world needs.

Sigh.