Ok, now that we have the serious productivity issues out of the way lets look at how these devices stack up against each other in the area of entertainment.
Today’s winner is…
iPhone (did we really even think it would be close?)
Here’s the Lowdown
Blackjack I (Windows Mobile)
First, let’s look at Windows Mobile. I tried to use Cingular/AT&T’s video service to no avail and even loaded some MP3’s on my phone before an international trip. The videos were just too small and I was forced to use Samsung’s headphones because they didn’t have a standard headphone jack. The internal memory was too small, so I added a 1GB micro SD card which gave me some more music, but I generally didn’t have time to decide on which music I should take on a trip. I found myself always trying to guess what mood I’ll be in and I hated that. After one or two attempts I finally just gave up trying to use it as a music player.
The Blackjack’s camera had a delay that was so bad that it is virtually non-functional. I rarely took pictures.
iPhone
The iPhone is, of course, at it’s heart and iPod which beautifully syncs with iTunes. The only reason I started using iTunes to begin with was that a friend bought the red U2 iPod because he liked red and didn’t really care about the $50 credit for U2’s box set (which I gladly accepted and used). I’ve had a couple Nanos, but they’ve never been big enough to hold my whole catalog.
I am an ardent opponent of today’s DRM. While I wholeheartedly support a content owner’s right to profit from their work I also believe in the licensee’s Fair Use rights. I was very pleased to see Apple start offering DRM free downloads like Amazon and will be abandoning any last vestige of non iTunes based players on my systems. I love that my 32GB 3Gs can hold my whole catalog of music AND podcasts, so I always have whatever I want with me. No more carrying a separate player. I’ve even started using one of those old cassette adapters to play it in the car even though it’s hard to take a call and listen to music.
The iPhones focus selection camera along with editable video and Facebook app is great. I’m taking all kinds of web quality pictures and video of the kids and my trips. When you don’t want to carry a higher quality still or video camera the iPhone is a nice substitute.
With it’s iPod heart and App Store games this one was really a no brainer. Music…movies…TV…Autofocus Camera.
BlackBerry
The only thing I can say about the BlackBerry is that it had a Texas Hold ‘Em poker game that I liked and a nice flash on the camera. Does it play music? I don’t think it’s supposed to entertain.
While communication and productivity are definitely top concerns. Entertainment capabilities and device consolidation are making this category more important.
Stay tuned for tomorrows final installment when we look at the overall platform and extendibility of each device.
