“The easy single-handed operation of the iPhone [] is not one of its obvious selling points but is one of those little features that grows on you and becomes nearly indispensable. A portable networked computing and gaming device that can be easily operated with one hand can be used in a surprising variety of situations.”

By Spitzgogo_CHEN. Titled "Niece & My Nokia 6230i (by Nikon D70)". CC by-nc. Flickr Hosted.

Jason goes on to describe some of the activities you can do at the same time as using iPhone applications, and the advantages one hand operation has — go read it and come right back.

The article reminds me of a concept that mobile computing buffs Boris Mann and Roland Tanglao suggested to me a few years ago, which really clicked for me.

You hold a phone with one hand.

Seems wicked obvious doesn’t it! It’s sorta what Jason is talking about though. If you use old school phones and dumb mobile phones with one hand, wouldn’t a “smartphone” need to be usable one-handed (or less)?

If I recall, at the time Boris and Roland were educating me about the death of PDAs and stylus based “smart phones”, but it’s just is relevant to the current generation of devices, particularly as Jason describes, these smartphones taking on more roles — camera, gaming, etc.

It doesn’t seem Boris, Roland and my discussions translated into online artifacts, but I did find one silly comment I made early 2007 , “One hand holding and navigation will be interesting, but it is important that it does it well, because I read somewhere that defines a smart phone ”. The iPhone does it well.

I’ve always gotten a kick out out of see people go from talking on a SideKick to typing with a flick of a wrist, or sidetalking Nokia N-Gage style, but why haven’t these hip tools caught on?

Should we be surprised that easy one handed operation feels good?

I suspect cognitive processes and social norms particularly in public settings play big roles:

• You use a phone with one hand and you always have.
• There is a casualness to using a phone.
• You often don’t give it your full attention.
• You need a hand free to interact with your environment.
• You require alertness in a public setting. One hand free in case a predator strikes.

• It’s embarrassing to give a device your full attention, particularly  in a public setting. Particularly if you are an adult playing a game or otherwise not being productive.
• It’s rude to not pay attention to the people around you.
• We are social creatures.

It seems to me that it’s only natural.

Much of the rest of bang of the 3G S will be available to current iPhone customers as part of the OS 3 upgrade.

Oh, the promise of better battery life is really tempting, but the original promise of the iPhone 3G’s battery life was completely bogus, so why would I believe the 3G S’s numbers. I’m still considering buying a battery sled or external battery.

Besides, because iPhone owners were required to sign a 3 year contract when it came to Canada, it will be another year before existing Canadian customers can get reasonable “subsidized” pricing. “Rogers/Fido Social Media Guy” Keith McArthur confirms here.

The good news is Kieth says “tethering included free in data plans of 1GB or more until at least the end of the year.”

Kieth does through down the gauntlet “@dasnutz Canada is a very different market than US.” in response to Jason Wilkes “@keithmcarthur why is it that Rogers wants us to sign up for a 3 year contract, yet in the US it is 2 years? Greed…”.

The problem I have with Keith’s claim is Canada stands part from many countries in allowing three year phone contracts. Challenge accepted fellow Canadians? Time to take it to our legislators?

I know Micheal Geist continues to rise to the challenge by appearing two weeks ago before the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications to discuss the state of telecommunications in Canada:

“Remove consumer barriers – Restrictive long-term contracts and the possibility of copyright legislation that could prohibit consumers from unlocking their cell phones make it harder for consumers to move between providers. Other countries place caps on long-term contracts, caps on overpriced roaming charges, and reject legislation that stops consumers from unlocking their phones.”

It doesn’t do anything fancy. It’s just a phone to us.

We joked about how many times we’ve dropped or thrown this phone. It has taken a pounding. I’ve also lost it many times, and it has always found its way home.

Sure after four years our Nokia 3220b is showing its age, but any product that serves me well for more than 4yrs, particularly electronics, makes I’m a happy customer. Thank you Nokia!