The new smart phone on the block is the Windows 7 phone. I have to admit I kind of like their ending bad phone behavior with a better phone, themed commercial, because we have all been there, either as the phone user or the one saying “really?”
Whether you believe a “better phone” is the answer to our bad phone behavior (and whether that phone is a Windows 7 phone) is debatable. What isn’t up for debate is that people bounce from phone to phone. Cell phones now days are disposable. According to a 2007 Business Week article the average cell phone was replaced every 18 months. That was primarily before the emergence of the smart phone. Yeah sure the Blackberry was around but the smart phone tsunami had hit with the introduction of the iPhone. Cell phones back then were still relatively cheap. It is hard to think really that a $400+ smart phone device is disposable. According to an article on MSNBC it still remains to be seen if consumers are as willing to change their smart phones as often. But people there will always people who are going to change them (me possibly being one of them) for some reason and there are still quite a few people buying their first smart phone.
So I was happy to see iMedicalApps post, “Physician developer’s experience with moving his popular iPhone and Android medical apps to Windows Phone 7.” As the author mentions, the Windows 7 phone is still extremely new so there are a lot of medical apps available on the platform. Although it should be noted that Unbound Medicine recently announced the availabilityof their products for the Windows 7 phone. (My guess is that the iMedicalApps post was written just slightly before Unbound Medicine released their Window 7 products.)
Because the phone is so new and as a result there is a lack of medical apps available, I am not sure I can recommend the phone yet. The iMedicalApps post reminds us there are now some deeper considerations to investigate before we move to a new smart phone platform. Doing a search on Google will give you many results for switching from one phone platform to another and the pros and cons (particularly moving from iPhone to Android). However, if you are using the phone for work, one of the biggest considerations would be the portability or availablity of mission critical apps.
I am in the process of seriously considering moving from my iPhone 3G to a new Android. The reason for me is $$. I am having a hard time stomaching a $160 bill for 2 iPhones (mine and my husbands). I am seriously thinking of going with Virgin Mobile’s Android phone which is $40/phone for unlimited data, text, and 1200 minutes on the Sprint network. That would cut my two smart phone bill in half. Is this a good idea? I don’t know, I love my iPhone and the experience, I just hate the bill. So in a few months once things have settled down (switching cell phones just before delivering a baby is probably not a good idea) I will make the decision. One way other other I will let you know why I moved or didn’t move.
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