we now join the 21st century, already in progress

[cellio]

We have joined the ranks of the smartphone-enabled. We had been Verizon customers and the Droid Bionic looked tempting on specs, but we ended up going across the street to T-Mobile (it seems safe now that AT&T is unlikely to buy them), where they're selling an all-you-can-eat plan for less than Verizon's metered plans and the staff were very helpful besides. (By comparison, I was only able to use a dummy Bionic at Verizon and the sales guy didn't seem to understand my need to use the phone before deciding.)

We were both having trouble with the touch keyboard; I assume that's something you just have to learn to do. So we both chose the MyTouch Slide (4G), which also has a physical keyboard that we were both able to use easily. I'll try to transition more to the touch keyboard, but meanwhile I can still complete a Google search or type a text message or the like on the first try when I need to.

(In case you're wondering, Dani decided that if he really really wants the iPhone 5 when it eventually comes out, he can buy an unlocked one and switch over to it.)

So what apps are must-haves? (Android 2.3.)

Edit: How do y'all post to LJ from your phones? I downloaded both "Livejournal" and "LJ Beetle"; in both cases I could figure out how to compose a post just fine, but could not find anything like a "post" or "send" button. Once I've got a buffer to send, what then?

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/merle_/]

I much prefer real keyboards, even if the buttons are too small for my adult fingers. It makes for a thicker phone but even haptic feedback doesn't make up for tapping on a screen. Seriously, the ancient membrane keyboards feel more comfortable to me than a screen does.

[cellio]

I've found, on both this one (with all of an hour's experience) andmy Kindle, that I seem to end up typing with fingernails (thumbnails in the case of the phone). It's less error-prone than my big fingers.

[http://users.livejournal.com/merle_/]

Exactly. Oddly enough my thumb tips seem more agile than my fingertips (or, well, nails). It might be because the fingers are trying to grasp the phone.

The Kindle keyboard layout feels weird to me, but at least the buttons are a bit futher apart. On my Pre typos are quite easy to make.