Re: Better voicemail indication

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At 24 Jan 2008 02:56:00 -0800 Anteaus wrote:


Not that the phone section is the only part to be riddled with ergonomic
bugs. I've since realised that the Today screen shows only one due
appointment when in fact several are due er.. um... T-O-D-A-Y. Again this
is clearly a major coding blooper, and one which can lead to
embarrasing mistakes, and loss of business-cred for the user.

"Loss of business cred?" That's a bit dramatic, isn't it? Like many
perceived "flaws" it actually works fine when you bother to learn how and
why it works like it does.

Actually, while I don't fullyagree with the designers' decision, it's by
intent- not a "major coding blooper."

The Today screen has two primary functions: it is supposed to give a LOT of
info "at a glance" PLUS be a "quick launch" screen for the underlying apps,
so the Calendar plug-in, by design, shows your _current_ and _next_
appointments only- not your agenda for the entire day.

While I'd like it to be more configurable, I understand the design
decision (even if I don't flly agree)- it's a quick display of what you're
supposed to be doing now, and what you're supposed to be doing next, with a
one-tap method of opening the whole calendar to see your full schedule for
the day. So, you're always one tap away from protecting your "business
cred."


There's only so much real-estate on the Today screen- if you had, say, 6
items scheduled for today and it displayed them all, it'd scroll the other
info off the
screen (like Tasks, E-mail, etc.), making one of the Today screen's main
features (one-tap access to most information) far less usable.

I suppose an alternative would be to go with the iPhone/HTC Touch style of
home screen and replace the current/next listed appointment with an
icon/button to launch the calendar app and give no visual listing at all,
but that's even less useful than the current design. Your beef seems to be
that a "Today" screen should contain your agenda for Today. In that case,
I'll agree it's crummy name. If they called it the "Home Screen" or the
"Overview" would you feel better?

I wondered if a WM6 unit might be any better, but I think I already know
the answer.

You do. WM6 was an incremental upgrade. Essentially WM6 should've
probably been called "WM5 Second Edition" but I suspect that the release of
Apple's iPhone last June prompted MS' marketing department to declare
"look, we've got something new, too!"

Having said that, I prefer WM6 for it's HTML e-mail support in the
Messaging app (finally!) and VoIP support (seamless VoIP integration into
the existing phone app- when on WiFi, my phone will receive VoIP calls as
well as cellular without having to run any resource-intensive 3rd party
VoIP app.)


A colleague in the know about such things commented that I should have
bought a pocket PC and separate phone instead, that in his experience the
combo units never work well. . I now see the wisdom of his advice.


I used to do that, but dropping from two devices to schlep around to just
one is worth the tradeoffs to me. As many folks wiser than myself have said,
Windows Mobile is the "Swiss Army Knife" of mobile devices- the Swiss Army
Knife is not useful because it combines excellent versions of knives,
screwdrivers, bottle-opener, scissors, corkscrew, etc., but because it
gives you access to admittedly mediocre versions of all those items in one
compact unit.

No one in their right mind would use the screwdriver in a Swiss Army Knife
if a real screwdriver was also handy, but carrying the knife means you have
some sort of screwdriver with you always. Similarly, my Windows Mobile
phone gives me admittedly mediocre equivalents of a phone, a video iPod, a
Blackberry, a digital camera, a GPS, an eBook reader, and even a small
laptop in one device only a little larger than a deck of cards. I've even
posted my replies to you in this thread with it (which hopefully explains,
if not excuses, any typos!) THAT'S the magic of Windows Mobile- it's the
proverbial jack-of-all-trades... and master of none!

Finally, as Sven pointed out, virtually any deficiency or shortcoming of a
WinMo device can be patched up with 3rd-party apps and utilities. There
are a myriad of Today plug-ins and enhancers available, as well as complete
replacements for the included PIM apps (Contacts, Calendar, Tasks.)
Unfortunately, I can't offer any specific suggestions, since I've never
found a need for any of them- the included PIM functions work well enough
for me.
.

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