I must say that I love me some Mike Rowe, the host of Discovery Channel’s hyper popular show, Dirty Jobs. Mike goes around to work on jobs around America and show everyone the filthy jobs people do which make our lives easier, and some are quite nauseating. It appears that I, too, have a job which is unpleasant but the results of which are coveted by people; reviewing products.

Why do I have this job? I cannot tell a lie, but I do what I do because I love gadgets and small gear and I enjoy having such stuff around me. I started in 2001 with PDA Handyman and migrated to the new name in 2007. In the seven years I’ve been online and expressing myself I’ve reviewed at least 200 products. No, not one of those reviews has ever involved gutting a fish, scooping poop, or scraping barnacles, but on occasion I get some really thick and noxious mud slung at me.

I’ve not seen as much mud slinging as I have with the Nokia N95 8GB review I wrote up a few months ago. Its one of the largest, single hit generators on the site since I published it and it has drawn some comments. All of the comments have been negative and many have stated that I should move into another field of interest. I have to admit that I’m a little surprised that, over a phone review, I’m called stupid and its even suggested that my father should have avoided taking part in my conception.

Harsh, to say the least.

I’m not exactly sure what drives such passion about a phone, though I think its more likely about the Symbian OS which is used almost exclusively on Nokia handsets. Its not unlikely that the intense love for Psion PDA devices which are no longer marketed has spilled over onto Symbian devices. Symbian OS is, after all, a direct descendant of EPOC32, the OS used on such legendary mobile computers as the Psion Series 5. There is still a rabid user community, and Symbian keeps that alive.

In case you weren’t aware, there’s also still a thriving Apple Newton user community, though its quite a bit smaller and I don’t hear people calling the iPhone Apple’s new Newton. In the past I’ve written bits Newtons, about my personal collection, and about the people involved, and not once did I ever get insulted. I won’t speculate about the differences between the Symbian and Newton user communities, as such observations would be useless. Maybe, however, there’s strength in numbers?

We have ample historical evidence to suggest that large numbers do have a tendency to try and push their ideals and values on others. That makes my job seem as if I am a solitary mole attempting to move an entire mountain. I’m also painfully aware that The Dojo is not one of the top sites for mobile device news and reviews. Engadget and Gizmodo fight tooth and nail for that distinction, so much so that it even garnered a feature story in a recent Wired magazine.

Okay, they don’t actually review anything. They both adopted the Slashdot model and re-spun it to fit for gadget frenzied 20-30 somethings. Neither site escapes being targeted for their presumptive biases, though. Commentors clamor loudly about both site’s unnatural love of Apple and its products. I myself, don’t shy away from making clear statements about my affinity for Apple and my disdain for master copycatter, Microsoft. I even make a comparison of the Nokia N95 8GB to Apple’s iPhone and note that I don’t see the Nokia as a smartphone.

My reasoning is simple. All phones have calendar and addressbook functions and the vast majority of them are capable of receiving and sending email and text messages. Most these days can even take pictures and videos, have Bluetooth built in, and have some kind of media playback capabilities. You don’t consider Motorola’s RAZR to be a smartphone, do you? Smartphones are Palm Treos, Windows Mobile, RIM Blackberry, and iPhone devices. Most of them have touchscreens and incorporate the extended functionality seen mostly in PDAs.

All of these devices also have some form of a full keyboard and do not require multi-tap or T9 to enter data. This is primarily why I don’t consider devices like Motorola’s Q to be a smartphone. Sure, it has a keyboard, but so does the LG Rumor and I seriously doubt anyone considers that a smartphone. There is an extended functionality afforded to users when you have a touchscreen and a keyboard, the mobile version of a keyboard and mouse on the desktop.

As such, the Palm OS, Windows Mobile (the non-smartphone version), the iPhone, and the upcoming touchscreen version of the Blackberry UI offer a great deal more functionality and developers are free to be more creative. I’d be amazed if any developer thought there was a market for a Word or Excel compatible editor for the Nokia N95 8GB. There is a PDF reader, though. Reader.

Of course, this discourse will likely draw fire, as well. Some people will take Microsoft’s definition of smartphone as writ. Microsoft calls its non-touchscreen version of Windows Mobile its Smartphone Edition. This is a pretty common ploy for Microsoft since the term Smartphone had been in generic use long before Microsoft decided to jump into the pool. As far back as the early days when Qualcomm’s pdQ hit the scene in 1997. Funny story: Qualcomm actually referred to it as a “palm-sized phone”! Really? What phone isn’t? HA!

All that detail, I’ve found, generally causes readers eyes to glaze over, which is why one of the guiding principles of PDA Handyman/MoboDojo has always been that less is more. Get to the point. Don’t tread water when you can simply climb on shore. I hate reading 500+ word stories which are simply re-hashes of press releases, which often contain far too much verbiage as it is, when everything important can be boiled down to 100 words, tops. There is a conflict here, though, in reviewing products.

You can’t just say “It sucks” or “Its sublime” and get away with it. A reviewer needs to impart his opinion to the reader so that the person seeking information about a new product feels that they have a personal, human connection to the product through the reviewer. This is inherently complex and riddled with issues, since each and every person has an opinion about everything and they can easily differ from person to person. I’m sure it would be very easy to locate reviews of Nokia’s N95 8GB which position it as the most brilliant product ever.

I can’t fault these reviewers. They have their own opinion and I respect that. I don’t agree, but I respect it. Its one of the primary reasons why I don’t use movie reviews to determine if I’m going to see a movie. I’ve seen plenty of films which I enjoyed but were critically panned. No, I don’t consider those movies to be art, but if I enjoyed it, who cares about the little plot holes, bad acting, or continuity errors (ahem… Star Wars: Episodes 1-3). I still very much enjoy the battle and action scenes for their vibrancy and attention to detail.

I can easily imagine watching a movie on the Nokia N95 8GB, as well. Its screen is as vibrant and detailed as Luke Skywalker free-falling onto the assassins hovercar in Episode 2. Then again, its slideout standard phone keypad is as cramped as Hayden Christensen’s acting in the same movie.
So, just like the movie reviewers I ignore when selecting a film to view, I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who ignore my product reviews. To the contrary, I’m sure there are people out there who appreciate my reviews. I just wish more of them would note that on occasion.

Am I asking for validation. Sure. I’m human, just like anyone else. Of course, I also still welcome the dissenting opinions, but would like to ask that you leave my father out of it. He’s not the gadget hound I am and wouldn’t really appreciate the value or quality of such a corollary.

written by Tyler Regas