I leave on vacation tomorrow, my first since December…. Apple releases the ridiculously hyped iPhone today. I have heard reports that it cures cancer… we launched our first BlackBerry product last week… Infinity Softworks’ web site or email system has been a headache for two straight weeks now… Palm and RIM announced quarterly earnings yesterday (my how fortunes have changed) and RIM has more new BlackBerry customers than Palm shipped Treos…

I have spent quite a bit of time during this maelstrom of activity thinking about what drives my purchasing decisions for mobile devices that fit in the pocket. Now I specify like that because I think there is room in most bags for two mobile devices — one that’s pocket-sized and another that’s notebook sized. I will talk about the differences and the future that I see later.

The pocket-sized device is one many of us are using today. It is what is popularly called a smartphone. Here’s the basics: it will be small enough to fit in your pocket, it will be easy enough to type emails and basic, personal information, it will include web browsing via multiple methods, it will help you stay in touch with people you need to stay in touch with.

Okay, we have that today, don’t we? Yes and no. Sure we have devices that do all these things — Palm Treo, Motorola Q, Samsung BlackJack, BlackBerry smartphones, iPhone — kind of. The kind of key word here is trade off — and I don’t see any single device that satisfies every need.

The critical factors that everyone thinks about are battery life, form factor, and device size (we’ll call these Market Factors). But I think it is just as important to consider carrier issues, cost to value ratio, available software and something I call flash (we’ll call these Elia Factors).

Market Factors:

• Battery Life: it’s never long enough, no matter what. I expect my cell phone to last a week of heavy usage. Since I won’t find that today and get internet, email and the rest, I am satisfied with a day and the ability to charge over night. But if you travel multiple days at a time, the need is completely different.
• Form Factor: tall screen and full keyboard, wide screen, reduced keyboard, no keyboard, rotating screen… they have all been done. If you send a lot of email or do a lot of typing, forget reduced keyboards or no keyboard. If you mostly answer calls then you can handle reduced size keyboards or no keyboard. Rotating screens, as far as I am concerned, is a gimmick because the screen is still too small to see anything well anyway.
• Device Size: does anyone ever really want a bigger, fatter and heavier device? I don’t think so.

Notice that these are all trade-offs. Smaller devices mean smaller batteries and smaller screens.

Elia Factors:

• Carriers: we don’t spend enough time thinking about the carrier’s impact on our device. When you have a problem, does the carrier provide relief for that problem or run you through the mill? Can you actually get and keep a signal when you need it? Is access to the web and email fast and simple? Does the carrier bother the snot out of you trying to get you to upgrade to their latest features? After a lot of research over the winter, I think you would have to be foolish not to go with T-Mobile or Verizon in about 90% of the US given what I read.
• Cost-To-Value: is the device bringing appropriate value to make the price worth it? Does the product lock you into a carrier that charges excessive fees? Does it come with the basic features you want and how expensive is it to add these on? Are you paying for the features you don’t? And is it flexible enough to do tomorrow when you don’t know what you will need? I read somewhere over the last few days that purchasing an iPhone will cost close to $3000 over two years. This includes service, phone and replacement battery in two years when Apple expects the battery to need replacement.
• Available Software: I mentioned flexibility in Cost-To-Value and software to me is such a critical factor. Is there a wealth of third-party and device manufacturer software available that makes this device really useful? Is there enough going on in the development community to know that as my needs change that accessories will be available to match my needs?
• Flash: let’s face it, most of us want a device that is functional and works, but our nature as humans is to also have a device that’s flashy, that’s cool and hip, and does some tricks. All you have to do is watch the commercials to see that iPhone will score very high on this factor.

If this is my criteria, then what do we have today? A lot of weak options, to be honest. How do the devices stack up:

• Palm Treo: 2.5 of 7 criteria met. wealth of software available, cost-to-value is solid (although data plans are expensive), works with all carriers so take your pick, battery life is poor, form factor is inflexible (meaning there are no options if you like everything else but hate the layout), device is too big, not very flashy anymore.
• Motorola Q/Samsung BlackJack: 3.5 of 7 criteria met. almost no software available, cost-to-value is solid, a variety of carriers available, battery life is mediocre, form factor is inflexible, devices are pocket sized and won’t pull your pants down to your ankles, sexy for a Windows product — which makes it not very flashy. 
• BlackBerry: 5 of 7 criteria met. very little software available (but growing), cost-to-value is solid, a variety of carriers available, battery life is decent, a couple of form factors available offer some flexibility, devices are pocket sized, nothing flashy about these machines at all.
• iPhone: 2 of 7 criteria met. no software available — in fact none even allowed, cost-to-value is low, only works with one carrier, one form factor — better hope not having a keyboard works out, devices are pocket sized, flashy and Apple go together like football and Sunday, email and BlackBerry… enough said there.

So based on my criteria, BlackBerry rates best and iPhone rates worst. Surprise! Even I didn’t expect iPhone to rate that poorly.

Picking a device is far more art than science. The entire process reminds me of buying a car. Do a bunch of research, talk to people that use one, test drive it for a few minutes, spend a ridiculous amount of time signing papers, and finally make a multi-thousand dollar committment that locks you in for years!

I have talked to a number of customers and seen a number of blogs where people are asking what device they should buy next? [One example here.] I thought I would take the opportunity to talk about devices based on operating system and my opinion of each.

My first entry is on BlackBerry devices.

The Good

1. Simple design: screen and menu. Outside of shortcuts, there are very few “hidden” features.
2. Easy to control with a single hand to look up a number or appointment.
3. Tight integration between address book, calendar, browser and email to make phone calls and send email.
4. Nice form factors on the new devices (Pearl, Curve, 8800 series).
5. Easy to sync data with Outlook via USB.
6. Standard USB connection for both charging and syncing.
7. Solid battery life.

The Bad

1. Improved BlackBerry Internet Service to sync contacts, calendar and tasks to Outlook wirelessly.
2. Better calendar, address book and tasks integration.
3. Wider breadth of third-party software applications.

Comments

I hadn’t worked with a BlackBerry device until January, when Infinity Softworks started writing software for it. I always saw them as a bit bulky and as an email device for corporate folks. To be honest, I saw the BlackBerry as a step backward. No touch screen? No handwriting recognition? Ugh!

Boy, was I wrong. I have found the devices to be quite nice. I have worked with most of the recent models, while I carry a BlackBerry Pearl myself. I picked the Pearl (8100) because it is the right size for me. I was tired of carrying bulky handhelds and wanted something all-in-one. While the SureType entry method is adequate, it is not as consistent as the QWERTY keyboards on other models. Given that, I understand some trade-offs must be made for the smaller form factor and, after years of writing Palm Graffiti, that is one I am willing to make.

From a software/OS perspective, it is very straight forward. You use a small trackwheel to navigate around and select it to go to a screen, there is a menu button to display the menu, and a back (escape) button to go back to where you were before. There is tight integration to make phone calls and send emails. When any software application detects text that is a telephone number, email or web address, it underlines it. To call, scroll to the text and hit the phone’s send button. It makes the call. Selecting an email or web address pops up the appropriate application as well.

The areas where I can see some improvement is really in the way the core personal information is handled (calendar, contacts, tasks). These three could be integrated better. For instance, I should be able to see today’s tasks in the calendar and be able to click them off as I complete them. If I enter a contact name into a task or appointment, I should be able to click on that contact to see their details and call them.

In addition, I would like to see better email, contact, calendar, task and note synchronization with Outlook. Yes, it synchronizes the latter three when you connect via USB. I would like to see them sync wirelessly. I make a change on my BlackBerry it should show up automatically in Outlook next time I open it. The same is true when I make a change in Outlook. It should automatically show on my BlackBerry. And I should be able to “file” emails and have them sync to the desktop as well (I have had to blind carbon copy myself to get copies of the emails I have sent to others from my device.)

These, though, are minor announces that I have partly solved with existing third-party applications and partly solved with some work-arounds provided by BlackBerry.

To be honest, BlackBerry Pearl is the first device I have found that got me to use an all-in-one device. The biggest complement, though, is what I have seen from others. Customers who use BlackBerry devices seem to keep buying BlackBerry devices. Loyalty: the holy grail of mobile device manufacturers. And RIM, the makers of the BlackBerry, seem to have it.

On June 30, Palm announced the Foleo. In my mind it’s an ambitious endeavor.

For the third time, Palm is trying to re-invent a product category. First was the personal organizer (PDA), then was the smartphone and now the laptop. Palm wasn’t the first to design a product in each of these categoriesbut they arguably made each of these devices useful to the masses. With PDAs and smartphones someone had made previous versions but it was Palm that “perfected” them and others that copied. Now they are taking on an established hardware device, the laptop. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

Palm is pitching this as a “smartphone on the big screen” for those times when seeing the web, email and documents is a pain on a small screen.

I believe Palm is trying to get at a significant issue: mobile professionals could use a device somewhere between a smartphone and laptop. I agree completely. I’m just not convinced Palm has made the right device to do that effectively, at least based on the way it is being pitched.

A little perspective on my own mobile usage: I used a Palm handheld and a standard cell phone for years. I had a hard time finding an all-in-one device that had the right combination of ease of use, battery life and device size. I also have carried a laptop where I use email, web browser, word processor and spreadsheet about 80% of the time.

This mix changed in January when I adopted the Blackberry Pearl. Now I find myself leaving the laptop in the office in the evenings and when I go to meetings, carrying the Pearl instead since I get email and web browsing on it. If I need to access a document, I log in to my laptop from home or use my home computer.

Given my mobility needs, I’d think I was a likely buyer of the Foleo but it doesn’t appeal to me. Why? Because its a small laptop that works in conjunction with my smartphone. First, I don’t see the inherent benefit of connecting to a smartphone. Second, if I am going to get a small laptop I might as well get one with Windows.

See, I am not convinced that the object in my bag that needs replacing is my laptop. Instead, I am convinced the object in my bag that needs replacing is my notebook. And to this point I have yet to find anything that will do it well.