Comments on: Phone solo http://snarkmarket.com/2009/3927 The stomping grounds of Tim Carmody, Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson. It's a long-running conversation about media, journalism, technology, cities, culture, design, books, music, movies, the future and the past. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:58:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Jindo Fox http://snarkmarket.com/2009/3927/comment-page-1#comment-6820 Jindo Fox Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:19:43 +0000 http://snarkmarket.com/?p=3927#comment-6820 The iPhone is great one-handed computer, and mine never leaves my pocket because you never know how it could come in handy. Being able to play Scrabble while walking the dog is foolish, but in other settings, it's good to have something so small, unobtrusive, and quiet. The absence of clicky buttons or other moving parts makes it feel less like technology and more like an extension of my arm. When my young child had trouble sleeping, I'd often have to get up and rock her to sleep. That process sometimes took a while, so being able to go through Google Reader with my free hand on a low brightness setting saved my sanity. Similarly, it's great to have access to Kindle books in bed. The white-text-on-black-background is easier on my eyes and doesn't wake my sleeping partner. There are only two remaining "problems" to solve, but I think they're tricky: headphones and battery life. I wish something could be done about the mess that is headphones. Wireless headsets are pricey and don't work well. Conventional earbuds are a tangled pile of junk and get caught on things. They look silly, too. Battery life is the one area where the Kindle tops the iPhone. The Kindle can soldier on for days without a charge. The iPhone only lasts more than a day if I refrain from actually doing anything with it. The iPhone is great one-handed computer, and mine never leaves my pocket because you never know how it could come in handy. Being able to play Scrabble while walking the dog is foolish, but in other settings, it’s good to have something so small, unobtrusive, and quiet. The absence of clicky buttons or other moving parts makes it feel less like technology and more like an extension of my arm.

When my young child had trouble sleeping, I’d often have to get up and rock her to sleep. That process sometimes took a while, so being able to go through Google Reader with my free hand on a low brightness setting saved my sanity. Similarly, it’s great to have access to Kindle books in bed. The white-text-on-black-background is easier on my eyes and doesn’t wake my sleeping partner.

There are only two remaining “problems” to solve, but I think they’re tricky: headphones and battery life.

I wish something could be done about the mess that is headphones. Wireless headsets are pricey and don’t work well. Conventional earbuds are a tangled pile of junk and get caught on things. They look silly, too.

Battery life is the one area where the Kindle tops the iPhone. The Kindle can soldier on for days without a charge. The iPhone only lasts more than a day if I refrain from actually doing anything with it.

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