Microsoft files EU Android complaint

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: Lennart Sorensen <lsorense-1wCw9BSqJbv44Nm34jS7GywD8/FfD2ys at public.gmane.org>

| > On a lighter note, you may end up living your whole life without a
| > smartphone :)  People change views though with time.
| 
| Well I certainly don't want to dial from a touch screen.

Apparently people don't spend most of their phone time dialing.  So
optimizing for dialing is actually a mistake.

For webbish uses, you want all the screen you can get.

But, in fact, most of the time you are just carrying a phone, not
using it.  So that application needs to be optimized: make it small
and rugged as possible.

But wait, it is a fashion accessory.  Make it beautiful and branded.

| It certainly has been very rare that I have thought a smartphone would
| have been handy to have.

As an old guy, I don't need a phone to be constantly in contact with
my community.  I think under-30 folks would be left out without a
phone (and Facebook).

I really like having a smart phone when I'm out of the house.  I want
to be able to access the internet.  But I leave it off!  I turn it on
when I need the internet, which is actually rare but unpredicable.
That makes the smartphone a luxury (but I manage to pay only $0.25/day
for "unlimited" internet access and almost nothing for the phone plan
(because I don't use it)).

Because of needing to handle emergencies, I started to also carry a dumb 
flip phone a while back.  It has to be on all the time for this 
application.  It has buttons but I dial it so rarely that I'm not 
particularly comfortable with them.  I hate that I'm tracked.

If you need a mobile phone just for voice, a dumb flip phone is great:
- rugged (self-protecting)
- long long battery life
- not worth stealing
- has real buttons
- optimized for the task (simple menu etc.)
- cheap
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