iPhone Update & Other Usability Issues

sharon — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:45:17 +0000

In case that you were wondering, I said goodbye to the very cool and useful iPhone and I’m now using my old BlackBerry, which continues to serve me well. During the 4 weeks that I have used the iPhone I managed to type very fast, however I found it still inferior when it comes to sending emails. (Try to send iPhone emails while you are walking the dog or waiting in traffic on 101 South at the rush hour). Other than that, I only had issues with “spontaneous” calls that took place when I was placing the iPhone in my pocket without locking the device first. Unfortunately, my iPhone was calling home (3 times during a 5 day trip). Calling home at the middle of the day is nice, unless home’s time zone is PST and you are 10 hours ahead. To be honest, this problem is not unique to iPhone. Using BlackBerry, even when the keys are locked, I managed to call the emergency services (spontaneously of course) several times. The example below is clear (even though the picture was taken with an iPhone):

BlackBerry, ready to call 911

At any rate, thinking about usability and MMI, this should not happen.

Last week, Assaf asked how to judge securitysolutions/systems/products. In my opinion, those different nouns should not be connected together in the context of this question, even though there might be a problem that can be solved by a specific solution or some kind of a system or using someone’s product. They are not equal and should not be compared as such. Just like the iPhone is an excellent lifestyle solution and poor outbound email product, the my old BlackBerry offers poor entertainment capabilities but it excels as a handheld email terminal.

You might be asking yourself what’s the context. What is he trying to tell us?

Sometimes, poor design of a single feature might stain the entire product. Using the BlackBerry example: I’m sure that product management had good intentions, but the emergency call feature is damaging. iPhone has its own limitations. BTW, today, the Wall Street Journal told us that “lots of people want iPhones, but a relatively small percentage go through with buying one, based on Nielsen data that the company will be releasing in a report later this week.”

Well, maybe they are looking for something that the iPhone can’t deliver in a cost effective manner that would make the expense or the move to a new carrier worthwhile.

I’m still in the market, looking for this one phone that will be good enough for my needs, but better than my current BlackBerry.

Clear Passwords

sharon — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:06:48 +0000

2008 is almost over but still there are respectable and notable companies that act like security is non of their business. I find it very irritating that some companies that promote security as a product and company differentiators act in a non secure fashion. Following the “no one want to see an obese promotes healthy food” analogy, I would expect companies nowadays to act in a secure fashion. Most of the web sites will send you a thank you letter after registering at their web site, but as I discovered today, some will send you an email confirming your registration alongside your username and password in cleartext.

As a service for those who forgot, here’s how email privacy works:

How email works

And here’s the message that turned me mad (Identifiable elements deleted to protect the innocent):

Security Pie » email

iPhone Update & Other Usability Issues

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