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November 27, 2008
Those Annoying Little Problems
I own an outdated Palm Treo 700p, released over two and a half years ago in May 2006. I purchased mine on eBay this March and consider it one of the better my better phones. The Treo is large, powerful, and very user-friendly. The Palm OS, Intel XScale, rivals the Windows Mobile OS featured on the otherwise identical 700w model. While it is the most advanced phone I have ever had, it also can give me headaches. After speaking with friends who have the same or similar models, I found out they shared these problems.
My carrier, Verizon Wireless promises no "dead zones" indicating that service is available basically everywhere. However, I do not have enough reception to make or take calls inside most buildings, a problem that my previous Verizon phones did not have. Worse, there are several instances in which my phone will not enough have enough signal strength to send or receive text messages. As I have already said, a phone's primary purpose is to communicate with others in the form of calls and text messages. If a phone is unable to do these elementary functions, then it will lose significant value, even if it is as loaded as the iPhone.
I understand that no electronic device is without faults and still enjoy the company of my Treo. However, the nuisances presented by this phone are excessive and I rarely had them with older models. Perhaps Palm sacrificed its routine functions to satisfy technological concerns. The former is probably as costly whereas the latter attracts far more consumers. Perhaps I became a victim of this scheme, letting the technology entice me enough to forget about the basic necessities. If this is true, then smart phone manufacturers including Palm are simply trying to minimize costs. The trouble is that they shouldn't minimize quality in the process.
Posted by iaijazud at November 27, 2008 06:59 PM