A Week Without S60, N95 vs iPhone - Part 1
Today marks the end of an interesting week for me; it was the first full week in a long time that I’ve gone without even powering up an S60 device. Since I first took delivery of an N80 about a year ago I’ve been through several non-S60 devices. I even enjoyed using a few of them (like the HTC Touch). Even still, I never went more than a day without an S60 phone and typically carried one along with whatever non-S60 phone I was playing with at the time.
For the past seven days however, I have not even looked at an S60 device. Instead, my daily carrier has been an iPhone - and I like it. Now before you exit this window and make a promise to yourself that you’ll never visit SiMo again, hear me out…
I equate going from the N95-3 to the iPhone to taking a good vacation. Ideally, a good vacation brings to somewhere beautiful and exotic. You can rest, relax and basically shut your brain off while you unwind from all of the tasks and trivialities that you deal with in your every-day life. From time to time of course you can explore a few new things and exert yourself to some extent but overall you’re there to chill out and soak it all in. Such is the iPhone.
The iPhone is a true beauty inside and out. The user interface (UI) is a masterpiece - a work of art. In my opinion there is no widely-available mobile UI that even comes close to achieving the look, fluidity and wow-factor that Apple has created. It is simple, elegant and incredibly attractive. Outside, the iPhone is sleek and sexy. It has a great weight to it and the feel is phenomenal. To compare the feel and build of the N95 to the iPhone is like comparing a 1998 Honda Civic to a factory-fresh Mercedes S-Class.
Vacations can’t last forever though and the N95 is represented by every-day life in this analogy. My life is fast-paced. I’m constantly working on something different - typically several things simultaneously - and I need a wide range of knowledge and skills to accomplish the many tasks I face every day. Versatility is equally important as I need to be able to shift gears on a whim and go from blogging an article, to finishing a presentation, to closing a new partnership deal, to researching a potential new market; all at a moment’s notice. To cap it all off, I have to be very good at everything I do in order to maintain my desirability. Such is the N95.
The N95 is the jack of all trades. It has an amazingly wide set of features and the versatile S60 platform holding it all together. When you find something it can’t do the odds are good that there’s a great third party app that can take the phone in a new direction and accommodate your needs. Even though my iPhone was jailbroken and packed with apps within the first hour of being in my possession, the majority of current app offerings are relatively trivial and extremely limited in functionality and interfacing capabilities. Once the Apple SDK is absorbed my the masses of developers waiting in line to issue “legal” iPhone apps we might see some change in this but for the time being the iPhone’s lack of flexibility is a huge barrier.
Over the coming week I’ll be publishing a multi-part series comparing the N95 to the iPhone. Keep in mind that I am most certainly not doing this in an effort to say that one phone is better than the other. This is merely a comparison between two very popular high-end mobile phones that people love to put next to each other and bicker about. While most will continue to argue over apples and oranges (no pun intended) I am going stick to what I do best and give you as much detail as possible about the few areas where these two great devices do intersect. Perhaps it was a bit odd to start with what most would consider a conclusion but I’ve done this intentionally so as not to be misleading. The title includes “vs” but this is a friendly fight with no losers, only winners. Some of the areas I cover may be things you’re already aware of and others might just surprise you. I hope you enjoy the installments to come and if there are specific things you’d like me to cover please do leave a comment and I’ll do my best.
subscribe to comments made about this post
Add New Comment
Viewing 10 Comments
Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
by the way you should consider changing your blog's name from SiMO to PhoMo (Phones in Motion), just kidding! :)
-Chirantan
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Keep up the good work buddy!
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
....
APPLE IPHONE is a rele crappy phone n N95 is much more GOOOOOD than IFooL !
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
The iPhone must have really left an intact for you to even jokingly consider the name!
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Secondly, I'd really like it if you could add something as exquisite and revolutionary as the HTC Touch to the fray. I remember you did an excellent job comparing Active Standby with the Today Screen. Some real life shots would be a nice addition too. Keep up the good work!
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
"This is merely a comparison between two very popular high-end mobile phones that people love to put next to each other and bicker about. While most will continue to argue over apples and oranges..."
For your purposes, I certainly wouldn't recommend the iPhone. The statement, "Someone who uses all the features of the N95 couldn’t live with an iphone" is far too broad though. I am certianly not your average mobile user and I would doubt that there's a capability that the N95 has that I haven't utilized. At the same time, I very much enjoy the iPhone in many respects. At this point, I wouldn't want to lose either handset...
Add New Comment