Maybe in a year or two we will wonder what possessed anyone to think that trying to have a mobile phone and a browser on the same device was a good idea.
I've actually been thinking along those lines for my next phone upgrade. Instead of getting the HTC Desire, I'm now seriously considering getting a Dell Streak as a portable browsing platform (I know it is technically also a phone) plus a simple solid dependable phone that is optimized for making calls, only needs to be recharged once a week and is cheap enough that I don't have to be too worried about it. Since very few apps actually make use of or enhance the phone calling abilities of smart phones, it seems unnecessary to have everything on one device. Am I a freak or have other people had the same idea?
You're certainly not the only one questioning the trend. I've been looking into phones like the Desire myself over the past few days, but having finally had chance to try one at the weekend, I was a bit underwhelmed: the screen really is very nice, but the UI you see on it is just full of junk stuff I would never use: millions of apps I don't care about, integration with social networking services I don't use, and the like. I'm also discovering that the battery life and, crucially, the mic and speaker seem to suck on all these new smart phones with big screens compared to a phone from a couple of years ago that is just designed to be a good phone, and that I hate typing anything with the touch-sensitive screens. Maybe they're just not the kind of device for someone like me, but I'm not sure anyone has made what I'm really looking for yet.
I've actually been thinking along those lines for my next phone upgrade. Instead of getting the HTC Desire, I'm now seriously considering getting a Dell Streak as a portable browsing platform (I know it is technically also a phone) plus a simple solid dependable phone that is optimized for making calls, only needs to be recharged once a week and is cheap enough that I don't have to be too worried about it. Since very few apps actually make use of or enhance the phone calling abilities of smart phones, it seems unnecessary to have everything on one device. Am I a freak or have other people had the same idea?