OT - Success! - The new Palm Pre, Google Calendar and Kontact

Patrick O'Callaghan pocallaghan at gmail.com
Thu Jun 18 02:46:58 UTC 2009


On 06/17/2009 04:19 PM, Christopher A. Williams wrote:
> On Wed, 2009-06-17 at 13:15 -0430, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote:
>
>>>>           But on this point I must agree: The Pre absolutely does
>>>>           rock!!! Based on
>>>>           having used mine for just a few days now, I can confidently
>>>>           say that
>>>>           Apple and the iPhone have some serious, formidable competition
>>>>           on their
>>>>           hands - including the new iPhone 3Gs.
>>>>
>>>> Not while it's only available for CDMA networks.
>>> That's a matter of opinion and taste as opposed to fact.
>>>
>>> http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/151
>> Well, no. The pros and cons of GSM vs CDMA as *technologies* are largely
>> irrelevant in this discussion. The fact is that that most of the world
>> uses GSM and only a GSM phone is of interest to it. The same applies to
>> those Americans who want to use their phone while travelling abroad. The
>> Palm Pre will become competitive in these markets only when a GSM
>> version is released. I hope it's soon as the phone itself looks gorgeous.
>
> Umm... If you actually read the article, you would know that it
> specifically states the technology is not the issue, but market is, and
> that even here the "war" is likely to continue ad-infinitum.

I'll admit to not reading the article, given that the title is "Which 
Technology is Better: GSM or CDMA?" and we agree technology is not the 
issue. I have now read it. It's very short and is 4 years old. It talks 
about stuff that CDMA is going to do someday. Has it done these things 
yet? I don't know, but I'm sure a more up-to-date reference would be 
more useful.

> If I were living outside the USA, I might tend to think the way you are
> too. But actually, I *am* one of those Americans who uses their phone
> while traveling abroad. I'm based in the USA and travel internationally
> (mostly Western Europe right now) on a regular basis, and I have a
> different perspective than you might realize. I will use GSM when I have
> no other alternative - which actually is surprisingly less than I
> thought.
>
> Also, international roaming rates being what they are, I can vouch for
> that most people's preference is to try to use a locally based mobile
> phone, so the network compatibility issue is even smaller - regardless
> of preference. I've personally paid some of those international roaming
> charges. It's not a pretty sight...

I actually use multiple sim cards, which I can do with GSM. No need for 
multiple phones.

> CDMA is also growing in several places outside of the USA, and we're not
> planning to replace that infrastructure in the USA anytime soon. The GSM
> tide here seems to be shrinking more than growing.

References?

> But all of that said, I would be shocked if we don't see a GSM version
> of the Pre by early next year when AT&T and Verizon are supposed to pick
> it up.

I understand some European operators are offering it from August 2009. 
AFAIK all of these are GSM-based.

Don't get me wrong: I can easily believe that CDMA is cooler technically 
that GSM (as Betamax was superior to VHS). I can even believe that a 
future GSM might work over CDMA, because the user couldn't care less how 
the signalling works, but they do very much care about the easy sim-card 
portability. That's GSM's killer feature.

poc




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