How Google Screwed Up My Gmail Mobile

I don’t have a very nice phone. In fact, my phone is nothing short of dated. When my contract is up in a few months I’ll probably take the opportunity to upgrade networks and get a Blackberry or an iPhone. In the meantime, I’m stuck with my Fusic, a hybrid MP3 player/phone that does neither all that well

But despite my dissatisfaction with the Fusic, it does what I need it to for the most part. Call quality is good, battery life is within reason and it is capable of mobile broadband speeds. If it had a bigger screen and a full keyboard, I’d doubt I’d care too much about its flaws.

The truth is that, realistically, there are only a few apps that I use. However, the most important, by far, is the Gmail Mobile app. It is the one app I use multiple times a day and something I’ve come to rely upon.

The first version of the app was great, a flawed gem perhaps, but solid. I would use it whenever I had a few minutes to flip open, check my mail and close it back up. It was so simple to use, it almost became an obsession, causing me to check my mail any time I found myself idle for longer than five minutes.

When I heard that Google had released a second version of the app, I was excited. Already a Gmail junkie, I thought this was my chance to get an even more robust mobile experience.

Boy was I wrong.

Though most people seem to be singing the praises of the Gmail Mobile, I am singing the blues. For me and my phone, this app has been a total disaster. Maybe when I upgrade my handset my song will change, but right now there is simply no excuse for how bad Gmail Mobile has become.

What went wrong? Well, I’ll tell you? Read more

Sprint: Redefining Stupidity

Sprint is a failing company. They’re bleeding subscribers and can’t seem to compete with other carriers. It’s phones suck, its service sucks and new marketing isn’t helping.

I have a deal with myself that when my contract with Sprint expires early next year, I’m taking my phones and throwing them into the Mississippi River (or finding some other elaborate means of destruction that I can video tape). I’ve been with them four years and have watched them deteriorate from a forward-thinking and “cool” provider to the Pabst Blue Ribbon of cell phones.

But what amazes me about Sprint is not that it seems to blow the hard stuff, but how badly it messes up the easy things.

Let’s say, for a second, that you took a quirky picture of your beloved family dog on your Sprint phone. You wanted to send it to your good friend but knew she doesn’t have picture mail on her phone (or, in my case, suffered from bad reception). So, you decide to email it to her and, being the lazy sort, you decide to do it from your phone directly rather than download it to your machine and then email it yourself.

Let’s change perspective and take a look at what you just put your good friend through and the steps they have to complete to get the image. Read more