Last Friday, The Other Half and I decided it was time to take advantage of some of the new phones and specials and upgrade our old mobiles to new smartphones. For various reasons, we settled on a pair of LG Ally phones, on the Android operating system. 

After only four days with the device, I was fully onboard with the need for the data plan. The new phones browse the Web quickly and easily, and between checking out the Web, e-mail, and applications, I accessed more data in my first two days using the device than I did in two years with the old one -- and that included a fair chunk of (painfully slow and incomplete) Web research on the road. Were I paying by-the-megabyte, I would have racked up more than twice the monthly cost of the plan. 

I'm still gettimg used to the process of finding and using applications. Android Market -- like Blackberry World and The App Store -- only links to apps that have been tested by someone; however, Android is an open operating system used on a bunch of different hardware devices made by a number of different manufacturers, optimized for a a dozen or so different data and telephonic communications technologies, and tweaked to the specifications of a multitude of carriers around the world. It's a lot like the Wild West-like, early days of personal computers: there are so many possibilities, that it's almost certain that any given well-tested app will not work on some combination of device-and-carrier. It's a world of new developers being able to take advantage of the built-in features of the operating system and the devices to create something that performs a task -- no matter how crudely; it's a world of shareware and begware and crippleware and demoware all disguised as "apps". Eventually, some name-brand firm will buy up the most successful of these, integrate them into their desktop applications suites (or Software As A Service Web-based applications suites), and sell them for as much as Microsoft sells Office 2010 Professional. 

For those of us who "grew up" with building our own computers, component-by-component, and searching bulletin boards and early Web-based shareware sites like TuCows, it's a breath of fresh air. (On the other hand, one could blame me -- and many have -- for choosing to use Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and Adobe Creative Suite over Linux, Open Office, and Gimp.) It's also a challenge: find the best application that will do what you need it to do, for the cheapest price. It doesn't help that I'm still challenged to find the levels of transaction security the Android browser and Android Market employ to make sure my credit card information isn't stolen if I should choose a paid application over a free one. 

But this will pass. 

A few things annoy me about the system. First, I had to seek out an ICE ("In Case of Emergency") application. I thought these had become standard-and-required of all handheld devices using cellular or PCS mobile-communications networks. More annoying, you have to unlock my device in order to get to the ICE information. Which means that if I set a security gesture on the device, it's going to be absolutely useless to any first-responder trying to find out who I am, or what my medical conditions might be, or whom to call in case of an emergency. I consider this a rather ill-conceived lack of planning on the part of Google (who developed the Android operating system) and the various manufacturers and carriers. Second, I can't assign specific ringtones to specific inbound numbers. In short,I can't tell if that incoming call is from the doctor's office, the lawyer's office, or my boss (all of which I need to take immediately), or a friend from STARFLEET (which I can ignore and respond to later) without looking down at the phone. For those of you who need to answer phone calls while driving, once again, this is ill-conceived. Third, wallpaper is reasonably completely obscured by the application icons on each of my device's five home screens, so my usual Medical Alert wallpaper (in a yet-to-be-released high-resolution version) may not be all that useful, either. 

My initial evaluation is that this new generation of "smartphones" are less phones that can handle applications than they are handheld computers that are able to place phone calls. Considering how many of us text, tweet, and chat in preference to phoning, this is probably not a completely bad thing. Considering that a doctor can have access to prescription information quite literally in the palm of his hand, this is probably not a bad thing. Considering the possibilities that can be opened up for diabetes management (and the management of other chronic diseases), this is definitely not a bad thing.

But it makes me very glad I have, and wear, my RoadID.