First of all … if you haven’t read the post about the "Windows Mobile 6 name changes" read it first. Otherwise I’m just going to seem like a rambling fool with no purpose.  

The rumored changes are:

• Smartphone version will become ‘Standard’
• Pocket PC version will be ‘Classic’
• Pocket PC Phone Edition will become ‘Professional’

My problems with this are as follows (NOTE: problem is with the naming!!! NOT PATRICK!)

PatrickJ stated in that post: Particularly for novice users and buyers, dropping the Smartphone title should save a lot of confusion.  FOR WHO??!!! Honestly the only way I know a Smartphone from a full fledged PDA/phone is this simple name. Smartphones have no touch screens. No don’t get me wrong here – I love the concept Patrick has in mind where they all become smartphones by generic name but these underpowered, incredibly crippled crap boxes need to be named completely separate from all other versions of Windows Mobile just because they suck so much more than the rest. Don’t miss read that – I love my BlackJack – but not the OS. This thing is so "dumbed" down that it’s incredibly frustrating at times. I love the form factor, I love the keyboard, I love the screen … I hate the OS. Of course I understand the need for some major modifications as the input capabilities are much less than that of a touch screen … but the amount of dumbing with smartphones is just overkill. 

More after the jump…

The average buyer of these devices (particularly the Q and BlackJack as they have been heavily marketed to the masses) don’t know the first frickin thing about Windows Mobile. If you doubt this … just hop on over to HowardForums after this and check out the BlackJack tips and tricks thread. You’ll get sick of how many times installing software has to be explained. So given the buyer’s average understanding, can anyone honestly tell me they will understand the difference between Standard and Classic?  And given the American need for bigger, better, stronger, faster … who’s going to buy "standard" anything? Microsoft – you aren’t targeting the Wal-Mart guaranteed low price crowd with these devices – nobody is going to feel satisfied with a device that costs $300 with a 2 year contract and comes labeled as "standard". No offense to Wal-Mart or their shoppers as I shop there too …  but given the choice between Standard and Professional my Americanism fires up and screams "WE CAN’T BUY STANDARD!". 

 Ok, so now that I’ve gotten that out of my system – again the average buyer on the initial purchase doesn’t know a whole heck of a lot. They see a commercial, they think the thing looks cool, whatever … and they go to the store. They don’t all remain "unknowledgeable" about the OS, most will become very familiar with it and quite skilled, so the understanding of the differences will become clearer, but again this is long after the initial purchase. Sure you can try and train the store staff, but in many cases they know as much as the customer, sometimes (like when I go in) they know less. No I’m not bashing the sales people … I’ve run into some that were excellent, but not every sales person is fully trained, so you can’t rely on the staff knowing every device and teaching every customer the differences.

So, here we sit with a renamed (possibly) OS … and in my humble opinion with more confusion over device functionality. I’m all for re-naming the OS to allow for "smartphones" to encompass the entire phone/pda functionality group … but we need more thought put into the naming. Without a very simple way to identify the different devices and their core functionality we will never have customer understanding. The naming structure honestly should have nothing to do with the OS … and everything to do with the type of the device much like it is now. Pocket PC to me means exactly that — a Pocket PC. Pocket PC Phone … duh !!! A Pocket PC with phone functionality. Smartphone … again sort of self explanatory.

When you put the OS as the identifier for functionality it’s always going to end up in a pissing match. My phone’s better than yours because it’s "Professional".

I’ve got to go get a new device now. My "compensation for short coming" requirements will not allow me to carry around anything "standard". And honestly if you still own a Pocket PC, I hope you have some granny panties hanging around with your "Classic"… old timer.

Related posts:

1. Windows Mobile 6 Mobile Office Suite ported to Windows Mobile 5 Smartphones
2. Short Rant: Nokia N95 Multimedia Computer Selling in US (via Experience Mobility)
3. Windows Mobile 6: Coming To A Mobile Device Near You.
4. Some Sensible Name Changes In Store for Windows Mobile 6 Versions
5. RANT: Zune, UMPC, PPC – what it means to me…