Smartphones Flunk IQ Test

Joe Nocera concludes that packing in features is making many phones dysfunctional

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 8, 2007 9:31 PM CDT

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Smartphones Flunk IQ Test — A Palm Treo 700 phone on display at a Verizon store in Salinas, Calif., Monday, June 4, 2007. Smartphone maker Palm Inc. will sell a 25 percent stake to private equity firm Elevation Partners for $325 million and name the former technical guru behind the iPod to be chairman, the company said Monday.... (Associated Press)

In a New York Times piece sure to resonate with frustrated smartphone owners everywhere, Joe Nocera unspools a Treo horror story that runs the gamut from weird, intermittent glitches to a lethal software upgrade. After turning in his moribund phone for a new one, and finding the replacement as balky as the first one, he discovers he's not alone in finding the Treo a dud.

Nocera concludes that Treos in particular, and smartphones in general, aren't indeed smart enough to do all the things they're supposed to do. Increasing pressure to put more features in ever-sleeker packages has left some functions in each device unsatisfying. With demand for smartphones, now only 5% of the market, expected to skyrocket, he hopes some company will "get it right" before a lot more people are disappointed. (More telephone stories.)

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