There are basic rules of design and one of them should be: "Get the basics right". Especially when it's obvious what the basics are. Washing machines should wash clothes. Televisions should show broadcast tv. Cars should provide a means of transport. Phones should be a means of communication. Getting the basics right isn't precisely covered by any one of Dieter Rams 10 rules of good design, but it's implied in rule #8.
Which is where my Sony-Ericsson Xperia X8 (an Android phone) fails. It's great as an iPod Touch competitor: it can do Kindle, music, YouTube, sync with Google... all sorts of stuff. It's beautifully made, like most Sony kit and it feels really nice in the hand. There's something really right about the hardware ergonomics. But it's a lousy phone. I gave it 2-3 weeks trial and then I went back to my Sony-Ericsson Elm (aka J10i2 - I prefer Elm), which doesn't do most of what the X8 can do, entertainment-wise - but it's a very, very good phone. As a phone.
On the X8, starting and finishing a call isn't easy. Finding the telephone interface isn't easy - it's buried under layers of other stuff. Which means plenty of missed calls. And texting: the text displays in a tiny window - the rest of the screen is wasted - and you can't easily edit it once it's entered.
Being a phone, when all came to all, was what I got it for. It's just not just me. My wife, who really knows her phones, tried it for a day before going back to her temporary Sony-Ericsson W595 (she's awaiting an iPhone).
So, message to designers everywhere: get the basics right. If you're designing a phone, make sure it's a really great phone. Because even a smartphone is still, at heart, a phone.
Which is where my Sony-Ericsson Xperia X8 (an Android phone) fails. It's great as an iPod Touch competitor: it can do Kindle, music, YouTube, sync with Google... all sorts of stuff. It's beautifully made, like most Sony kit and it feels really nice in the hand. There's something really right about the hardware ergonomics. But it's a lousy phone. I gave it 2-3 weeks trial and then I went back to my Sony-Ericsson Elm (aka J10i2 - I prefer Elm), which doesn't do most of what the X8 can do, entertainment-wise - but it's a very, very good phone. As a phone.
On the X8, starting and finishing a call isn't easy. Finding the telephone interface isn't easy - it's buried under layers of other stuff. Which means plenty of missed calls. And texting: the text displays in a tiny window - the rest of the screen is wasted - and you can't easily edit it once it's entered.
Being a phone, when all came to all, was what I got it for. It's just not just me. My wife, who really knows her phones, tried it for a day before going back to her temporary Sony-Ericsson W595 (she's awaiting an iPhone).
So, message to designers everywhere: get the basics right. If you're designing a phone, make sure it's a really great phone. Because even a smartphone is still, at heart, a phone.
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