Guimikko

In fact it was over already before Christmas, when the initial enthusiasm over smudging the touchscreen and palying Angry Birds started to fade. I finally installed that notorious Samsung Kies-software's new version 2.0. So that is used to transfer data and sync the phone among other things. Well, at least it lives up to its reputation. Sure, I've used worse, but only slightly worse pieces of software. And just enough to find out once again that the data, meaning photos and empeethrees and whatnot moves noticeably smoother between the phone's memory card and computer's harddrives by just via the operating system's file management. Geez.

For those wanting me to be more precise, I can say that if a software like this one, that is meant for the common people to use, requires too much thinking to use, it's not good. If it is slower and clunkier transfering files with it, than done using the operating system, it's not good. The way you browse and choose your target folder and on the host computer in it could be implemented a little smarter. A company called Palm Inc. by the way, already in the last millennium, made a device whose desktop software was more functional and more usable. Using a Palm Vx (RIP) with it was a pleasure. In essence they made a standard with the Palm Desktop, but for some reason few have attained the same level thus far.

Yeah, my Samsung Galaxy 3 isn't all that bad a device at all, as some of my tweets might lead you to understand. It does, however, have a couple of features that take their toll on the level of user experience ad justify the complaints. Especially, since it is a phone. An interesting feature is the way it randomly drops itself off the phone network and asks for the PIN. Nope, it doesn't notify it at all by for instance beeping. The only way to tell is when you happen to wipe over the turned off screen, or just right in the middle of everything while I'm for example playing games or surfing with it. And it doesn't appear to be anything other than a good old awkward feature, for which hopefully there will be a fix sometime in the coming firmware update, if there even will be one for a cheap model this old. A while back I missed one fairly important call even because of it. Luckily it wasn't crucial, but still. A phone called missed is not a good thing for a telephone, if it is in fact because of dysfunctionality of the device's telephonic feature. So yeah, I am totally convinced it is a feature, not a bug. So there. The other awkward feature having a negative effect on the user experience I already mentioned, the Kies.

On the other hand, my user experiences are a bit contradicting. The camera is oh-kay, when you are not expecting any top-level exposure levels out of a squinty lens, but like a friend f mine once wisely elaborated on the matter: cameras are separate.  Good enough for meaningless shares in social media, as long as you are not expecting high quality. Android itself is a rather nice OS. The openness of the software is something I dig at a principle level, although Apple's closed architecture does have its virtues. The privacy on Android is in reality at the same level as Facebook, which is not-quite-so-good-but-manageable-somehow, no matter what you Fandroids may say against these claims.

There are even apps for it and surfing, reading emails and facebooking are all less painful than on my  SonyEricsson C702 or before that, the RAZR. Quick checkings are actually even more convenient on it than on a the computer. Texting with Swype is like from another planet when compared to thumbtapping texting. All in all Anrdroid is not a usability and menu hell like many nokias and other non-touchscreen phones. The truly hyperbolic user interface enabled by touchscreen is something I've been longing for a long time. As a Gmail user I can appreciate the good internet integration and the easy transfer of gmail contacts onto the phone. As a Mac user I cannot appreciate the lack of iSync support and miss being able to sync my iCal calendars as they are, instead of hacking them through Google calendar. Were I to use Outlook and the calendar in it, I'd actually be cursing at the same problem. Furthermore, the Samsung proprietary tweaks on the OS just eat away the user experience and this would most likely be the case regardless of the manufacturer. All of them Android-manufacturers do happen to make their own version of Android.

I did mention the Kiesin already, did I? According to my friend, it has been even worse in its earlier incarnations, so actually I'm just glad I haven't installed it earlier. Well, I haven''t even needed it really. Just that while waiting for the iPhone the Kies and the UX it produced had me open up a bit. And I just happen to like to bit...errr...to give constructive criticism, whenever there's a reason. And I didn't exactly bash the phon Yeah. And the problems with using the thing as a phone are currently solved by removing the SIM card and putting it back in my old phone while having my Android at home as a wifi terminal for now.