In February it will be two years with my iPhone 5. I’ve come to hate it.
Granted, it’s a good camera, not bad shooting videos, and I’ve enjoyed the GPS and mapping service. But it’s a crappy phone and totally useless for web browsing.
My carrier is Sprint and they have some odd restrictions on things, but I’m very near to disconnecting this thing and switching to a Kyocera Dura phone. I can probably buy my own, perhaps a refurb, very cheaply and just own the thing outright. About the only actual drawback is that texting will be a lot slower. I promise not to weep about that.
I’m especially interested in pertinent comments you might have on this.
Are you sure the bad web experience is not a symptom of using the web in general on mobile? Or is it something about Safari? AFAIK, mobile Safari usage is steadily trending, so a lot of sites have been catering towards that.
Personally, I prefer browsing with a full tactile keyboard and screen, so I can see why mobile in general is second-class.
My strongest dissatisfaction is the phone part of “iPhone.” A year ago it started crashing on random incoming calls, and the touchscreen has always been a little insensitive when I try to accept a call; it tends to ignore my swipes. That it sucks for web browsing is, indeed, a symptom of it being a mobile, and a rather minor issue. It’s aggravated by the way Apple makes everything counter-intuitive, non-obvious. Worst of all is the planned obsolescence built into iOS and how it chokes slightly older iPhones to force users to upgrade. Nobody is doing that to flip phones.
Given that I have a really fine laptop and a decent netbook, as well as a nice desktop, there’s no reason to rely on a phone for web access. I’m not a millennial.
I use a throwaway flip phone. It does what I want, it makes phone calls, texts and fits in the side pocket of my carpenter jeans. Plus it doesn’t break if I drop it. In spite of all these sensible reasons my kids think I’m a dinosaur. I guess the old saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” doesn’t apply any more.
Yeah, I’m a dinosaur in the same sense. I ordered the DuraMax because it’s MilSpec tough and only $20 or so to own free and clear, plus it’s not so ancient as to be useless on my provider’s network. I’ve tried the “smart phone” path and it ain’t for me.
That’s strange re: Apple, because they practically invented the UX discipline in the mid-90s or so.