{"id":414887,"date":"2010-03-11T07:05:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-11T12:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:feeds.phonedog.com:\/\/8aa7afc6b4432ba63938a500f9593bc0"},"modified":"2010-03-11T07:05:00","modified_gmt":"2010-03-11T12:05:00","slug":"article-palm-pre-plus-webos-a-commitment-phobe%e2%80%99s-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/414887","title":{"rendered":"ARTICLE: Palm Pre Plus & webOS: A commitment-phobe\u2019s journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Palm Pre Plus & webOS: A Commitment-Phobe’s Journey <\/h2>\n

Today I am the proud owner of my first smartphone – a Palm Pre Plus.  <\/span>In the past, I had openly coveted the smartphones of others and obsessed about owning one of my own, but couldn’t get passed the idea of renewing my contract.  <\/span>This contract commitment phobia led to a sub-par relationship with the same basic cell phone for the past three years.  <\/span>Whether you are a techie, the average user or somewhere in between, you have probably taken advantage of upgrade offers and the opportunity to get something newer and better at a low price.  <\/span>Yes, I passed up at least one upgrade in those three years, but I was paralyzed by the thought of taking the bait and renewing my contract.  <\/span>What if I later decided that I wanted a new carrier?  <\/span>What if I upgraded just as an even better phone was set to release right around the corner?  <\/span>If I was going to make the leap with my current carrier and solidify our relationship for another two years, I couldn’t waste my upgrade on a passing fad or a phone that wouldn’t live up to my expectations.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Part of my problem was also that I couldn’t find the smartphone that held that special spark for me.  <\/span>The iPhone seemed like a great option, but could I really switch to AT&T from my trusty Verizon? <\/span>My fears about AT&T were readily confirmed during my family’s Christmas vacation to Walt Disney World, where we experienced AT&T’s version of the “Cell Phone Tower of Terror.”  <\/span>After narrowly surviving half a day of “Can you hear me now?” moments and dropped calls on my parents’ AT&T phones, my family swapped cell phones around so that when we divided up at Disney, each group had a non-AT&T cell phone at all times.  <\/span>I looked briefly at BlackBerrys, but once I tried their Web browser I found myself wanting more.  <\/span>I even flirted with the idea of a Droid, but quickly decided that its masculine look and flimsy keyboard weren’t right for me.  <\/span>I began to wonder whether I would ever find “the one.”  <\/span>Why wasn’t there an eHarmony for smartphones that could match me with my dream phone based on our 29 dimensions of compatibility?<\/p>\n

Then everything changed with the launch of the Palm Pre Plus and the webOS 1.4 update.  For weeks <\/span>Palm had been popping as I searched for my perfect smartphone, and the release of webOS 1.4 drove home the decision to go with the Pre Plus. <\/span><\/p>\n

Funny, I can’t help but laugh every time I write the terms “webOS” and “webOS 1.4.” <\/span>Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of either.  <\/span>Truth be told, I am no techie.  I am just an individual who enjoys technology – all the extraordinary possibilities that it creates and enables – in theory, but really only utilizes it on a mainstream level.  <\/span>I didn’t even realize that Palm was still a contender in the smartphone market before I came across the Pre Plus.  <\/span>Very few of the stores I had been to during my search even carried Palm, and my only “experience” with a Palm was a sweet but short-lived relationship with a Palm Pilot back in 2000. <\/span><\/p>\n

So why the Palm Pre Plus, especially when theres so much Verizon-faithful hype surrounding the Droid and other Android-based smartphones? <\/span>webOS and I have a spark between us, plain and simple (The phone’s stylish look and physical keyboard were great selling points, too).  w<\/span>ebOS is super slick – its multitouch capabilities and ability to swipe applications in and out of view are just fun, while also smooth and practical.  <\/span>It’s also very satisfying to swipe away an application that I no longer want on my screen.  <\/span>Intuitive and cool – what could be better?  <\/span><\/p>\n

Multitasking with webOS is phenomenal.  <\/span>I cannot operate in just one application or screen while doing my work as an administrator for, ironically, a software company. I<\/span> often will read an email that requires me take action via other programs or documents, or need to refer to an email while doing another task or two (or three).  <\/span>I need to be able to move between open screens seamlessly and simultaneously, and I can do it with webOS. <\/span> An in-store demo of the previous version of webOS left me feeling like it was a little slow when opening applications.  <\/span>This was frustrating and something of a deal-breaker for me.  <\/span>The 1.4 update makes opening applications faster – and more satisfying since I can now see the system working on my request before my eyes. <\/span><\/p>\n

webOS also has an outstanding notification system.  <\/span>As a part-time telecommuter and full-time stay-at-home mom of a seventeen month-old, I am not always in front of my computer, but still need to know when emails come in and things need to be done.  <\/span>Instant notifications of new emails on my Pre Plus – both on-screen and via notification light – has been a life-saver.  <\/span>I now know that as long as my phone is near, I can play with and take care of my daughter without missing a beat, work-wise.<\/p>\n

The Palm Pre Plus won me over, and I am sure this is only the beginning of a great relationship.  <\/span>Is my contract commitment-phobia cured?  <\/span>Maybe, maybe not.  <\/span>I guess we’ll have to wait and see two years from now.<\/p>\n

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Palm Pre Plus & webOS: A Commitment-Phobe’s Journey  Today I am the proud owner of my first smartphone – a Palm Pre Plus.  In the past, I had openly coveted the smartphones of others and obsessed about owning one of my own, but couldn’t get passed the idea of renewing my contract.  This contract commitment phobia led […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":671,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-414887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/671"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}