Back on January 10, I asked Is OS X the Key Component of the Apple iPhone? The first point I made in that article was about multitasking:
Elegantly-implemented multitasking on a handheld device: Windows Mobile handhelds have this capability already, but none devices I’ve seen have a UI that comes close to what Jobs demonstrated. Treo handhelds from Palm running the PalmOS don’t do multitasking at all. It isn’t clear to me whether RIM or Nokia have true multitasking OSes on their smartphones, and I’ve used both quite extensively.
I’m pointing this out for two reasons:
- I’ve got an iPhone, and I’m more impressed with the multitasking capabilities of the iPhone after actually using it.
- Marc Hedlund from O’Reilly Radar brought up multitasking on the iPhone last week as a “new-ish” thought about the iPhone. I’m not sure it qualifies as a newish thought anymore.
I think Hedlund’s article is very insightful for some of the other points he makes. He compares the iPhone to several of the Treo’s best features, and tells why the iPhone comes out pretty favorably. He’s saying a lot of things that I haven’t had time to say, probably better than I would have said them.
The only thing he doesn’t mention that I think is a significant advantage to using an iPhone instead of a Treo is the $20+ discount you get on “unlimited” wireless data plans that AT&T gave me when I switched from my Treo 650 to the iPhone. I kid you not.
I think AT&T offers less expensive data plans for the iPhone because they realize that the iPhone will be in the hands of more individuals who pay their own mobile phone bills. These people will have a harder time expensing the monthly wireless bill than the average Treo or Blackberry user. That’s my theory anyway.