On Fri, 23 May 2003, Michael Sydenham wrote:
> jog & dial selector: I think this is pretty cool - a very practical way to
> perform text input that has no equal on other handsets I think.
I thought so too, until I started using it. There are a couple of
problems with it.
First, it's very easy, when trying to click, to accidently spin the jog
dial a notch while doing this, which means you select the wrong thing.
Second, it's just "weird" for four-way navigation, since you think of
the vertical and horizontal directions as working the same way, but you
have to manipulate the phone differently (turning a wheel for vertical
movement, but pushing buttons for horizontal movement) for each axis,
which I find psycologically uncomfortable.
As for the text input, software makes much more of a difference. I like
the predicative input of the SO503iS I'm using now, but why on earth is
「。」 always the very last choice (after dozens of others) after 「です」?
And why can't they stick the question mark and exclamation mark on the *
button along with period and comma? Fixes to the software there would do
far more to speed input than minor changes like jog-dial versus buttons.
You could argue that it makes getting through long menus much faster and
easier, but then again, the Sony has a lot of long menus just because
it's so fast and easy to scroll that way. Other manufacturers don't miss
the jog wheel so much because they don't do such long menus.
> kisekae panels: This was pioneered by Sony Ericsson for AU. These are the
> exchangeable panels on AU phones. An interesting & fun way to significantly
> personalise the appearance your phone. Cool enough to be copied by others.
This is cool.
> hikari panels: User-customisable multi-coloured flashing light panel
> combined with the kisekae idea yields about 30 different illumination
> patterns upon incoming ring - a new spin on "manner mode".
This is very cool.
cjs
--
Curt Sampson <cjs_at_cynic.net> +81 90 7737 2974 http://www.netbsd.org
Don't you know, in this new Dark Age, we're all light. --XTC
Received on Fri May 23 08:12:29 2003