Two years ago, while interviewing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, I asked him what he thought about Apple's iPod and what Microsoft was going to do about it. "Well," he boomed, the iPod as a concept would not last too long as, according to him, cellphones and mobile entertainment devices would merge.
I took that to mean that Microsoft would ride the iPod frenzy out and come back with some killer app that would blow iPod out of the circuit. That has not quite happened I guess. Instead, Steve Jobs has unveiled the iPhone -- a combination of a cell phone, an iPod with touch controls and a device that talks to the Internet.
The product will launch only in June so no reviews are yet available. I am using a product that comes close to technological ambition, the Sony Ericsson p990i, a phone cum PDA cum lots of other things. And my experience of the last couple of months makes me wonder and ask a few questions which every potential user of such multi-feature devices should ask.
Why am I saying this? Because the p990i is crammed with some cool features, including a 2 MP camera, business card scanner, WiFi capability and yes, even two-way video phone on 3G. The bad news is that for all its technological sophistication, it breaks down like crazy.
Or behaves strangely. For instance, a command that appeared in one place in one operation may mysteriously disappear the next time. The camera will struggle to activate and then shut down, evidently in exhaustion.
The autofocus will be exactly that, with a mind completely of its own. Memory failures, runtime errors and the like are quite routine.
I then discovered that most of these glitches had been documented by patient users and fans worldwide on various message boards including official Sony Ericsson developer ones.
They had one consistent piece of advice. To those who had and had not bought the phone. That these problems were largely software related and the next firmware release should hopefully fix it. Which, as I understand, is yet to come.
Make no mistake. I am still amazed by what Sony Ericsson has packed into this device. Many of its usability and navigation functions are a generation above its predecessor, the p910. And yet, somewhere, size, space and ambition don't seem to match. At least at the outset.
Which makes me wonder about the iPhone as well. Apple may have a smart audio/video player but will it be an equally smart phone? Will the combined electronics hold up for sustained usage? The phone has no stylus or button operation and is entirely touch screen based.
How will that pan out? And finally, is Microsoft not venturing into this space (among other reasons) because it does not want to risk putting out a device that is technologically superb but frail on operations. Time will tell.