the treo as "quality".
I take gadget purchases way too seriously. But it's for a reason: when I use something, I really buy into it. I get accessories, I integrate it into the goofy-ass "systems" upon which I base my life. In short, I don't think of these things as "toys" and I commit a lot of time and/or money into them. Weird, I know.
So it's disappointing when expensive, specialized gadgets don't live up to their promise. Our Squeezebox is disappointing. My freaking Nikon D70 turns out to be very hard to focus manually(!?!?).
In general this phenomenon is only getting worse as companies release new models faster and faster -- because all that means is that they have no intention of supporting anything they sell. 1) Put something new and sexy on the shelves that people will buy on impulse. 2) Repeat. Never mind if every "new model" behaves like a half-cooked beta release.
It's taking me four paragraphs to get there, but my Treo 600 has yet to disappoint. It has limitations, but it's brilliantly designed and executed. Which isn't surprising: unlike other phone vendors, Handspring committed to the T600. A lot of money and research went into Getting It Right, and sonofabitch they nailed it. Motorola and Nokia keep releasing phones with keyboards or whatever but none of them will ever amount to shit until they get the goddamn memo and try. (also: it helps to run an open platform so developers can fix your product's shortcomings.) Maybe Mr. Nokia needs a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Anyway, for those of you that stuck it out on Verizon, it sounds like they're finally about to support the Treo 600. Why'd it take so long? That slashphone story had a big quote from a Verizon rep explaining why, but for some reason that page is no longer part of the article. Fortunately I saved it, because if it's actually true it's a nice piece of "quality" itself.
True or not, it definitely makes sense. If your phone keeps dropping calls, you say "fucking Sprint, they fucking suck" -- but what if it's your phone that fucking sucks? (Reminds me of the insane crap that Microsoft does to try and stay compatible with broken applications.)
Anyway. Quality. Live it, love it, let it paralyze your every decision.