A while ago, I had a passionate article that received a lot of comments and links across the web, entitled I Like T9, How About You? In this article, I was defending my position about T9 and how I perceived it as a very convenient way to type on a 12-key mobile handset. I also compared T9 to QWERTY, as well as other predictive text input software, announcing my preference for T9 at the end of each.
Part of the reason I was eager to trial the E61i is that it has QWERTY as the main input interface, but differs from the 2 devices that I have had a QWERTY experience on, which are slide outs. The E61i’s form factor resembles the more popular Blackberry, Palm Treo / Centro, Samsung Blackjack form factor, in that the QWERTY is crammed right below the screen. I have always wondered about the advantage of such a layout, and 4 days into the E61i, I now know.
Blackberries aren’t popular at all here in Lebanon, even amongst businessmen who either turn to S60 or WM, so for the past days, each time I have taken the E61i out of my pocket, I have received glances and side looks. I can see that many people think, from faraway, that it’s some old handset coming from the 19th century, because of the width of the thing, but those who have approached and held it in their hands immediately spotted the qwerty. The form factor is a relative novelty for most of them, and the first thing they ask me is “Is it convenient?”. And this is where I stop in silence and wonder what to answer. Do I go on for 5 to 10 minutes explaining the advantages and disadvantages, or do I just blabber a quick “relatively yes” or “kinda”?
You see, I am a long-time fan of T9, I can use it blindfolded, while steering and choosing the radio frequency with one hand, and arranging my hair and texting with the other. Talk about multitasking! I can’t imagine being able to do that on a qwerty, especially with the bulk that is arabic texting with latin letters (lots of numbers are involved: 3 and 7 mostly). There is NO WAY I can think of myself pressing the function button and the wanted number with one hand, period.
But fact is that I kinda sorta like the E61i’s qwerty. There, I said it! Actually, if like me, you’re not stubbornly hanging on to one form factor, you’ll find the E61i increasingly convenient the first day, and simply love it the second.
I have been enjoying the form factor a LOT for steady activities, like writing posts and thoughts while sitting on the sofa and watching television, while lying in bed before going to sleep or during my slow morning walks… As a matter of fact, each post I wrote in the past 4 days has been typed on the E61i : it is that nice. I have also been enjoying chatting with Windows Live on the E61i as well as checking medical information and taking consequent notes with MobiReader. These 3 activities are made very convenient thanks to the qwerty as well as the nice landscape screen that tops it, which I talked about yesterday.
Truth is, I am starting to see why qwerty can be preferred by those users who handle lots of email and documents all day long. I can most definitely see the usefulness of such a form factor in the medical profession, because information checking and note taking is made instantaneous. The fact that there’s a whole Eseries suite of business software to back it all up (which will be discussed tomorrow), just puts icing on the cake for professional and enterprise usage.
In conclusion, putting aside the lack of multimedia functionality, I know I will NEVER be able to use something like the E61i as my main phone because of the qwerty and the difficulty of using it one-handed, on-the-go or while driving. But I don’t find it weird now to get something like the E61i, as a backup handset for steady activities like typing posts or emails, chatting and medical usage.
