by Gary Truitt – December 4th, 2009
What to get “the farmer” for Christmas is an annual questions asked by wives, children and others with farmers on the list. Most chainsaws are too big to fit in a stocking, artificial insemination equipment does not go over well when opened at family gatherings, and somehow a new pair of work gloves just seems a bit ordinary. Let me suggest a new Smartphone. More than just a cell phones, these devises are information and communication workhorses. What is more they are portable and will work just about everywhere. For someone who is on the go yet needs to stay in touch, more and more farmers are using Smartphone more and more often.
A recent research study conducted by the National Association of Farm Broadcasters revealed that farmers rely on wireless devices for e-mail, internet, text messages and even phone calls. More and more farm information sources are now available on wireless devices. For example Hoosier Ag Today Mobile provides, markets, news, and weather free on any internet capable wireless device. But what phone to get.
For the past several months I have been testing several models with agricultural applications in mind. The first decision is what carrier the farmer has or should have. I regularly travel across Indiana and in my opinion Verizon has the best coverage. Even in very remote and rural areas of the Hoosier state I have had good coverage with Verizon. At Hoosier Ag Today we use Verizon for many of remote broadcasts. Consumer Reports just rated Verizon the best in service and quality if a bit pricey.
The newest phone in the Verizon line up is the Droid. A collaboration of Verizon, Google and Motorola, this phone is being seen as the first serious challenge to the runaway iPhone success. In many ways the Droid offers the look, feel, and functionality of the iPhone but is based on a totally new operating system, the Android system developed by Google. This is likely to be the future of cell phones. It offers a number of advantages’ over the current industry standard Windows Mobile. Why this is important to us regular folks is that future applications are going to use this system.
The droid has a very larage, very clear, and very bright screen. Text is very readable and the touch screen is very responsive and smooth to operate. The speed of the Droid is impressive. Programs, and applications launch very quickly.
The real fun begins when you start looking at the applications for the Droid. There are something like 10,000 “aps” with more coming every day. They range from the extremely useful to the extremely stupid. Many are free while others have very small price tags. An “aps” are simply small programs that do a specific task. They can find and automatically provide you with specific information you want or keep you informed on certain items or conditions. The phone is tied with with the Google database, the largest sum of human knowledge on the planet. Thus with a simple voice command you can find out just about anything.
There are under development special applications for agricultural use. With the droid you may soon be able to find the location of the nearest part you need, instantly alert you to a new market high, or tell you where your hired help has been for the last 3 hours. Hoosier Ag Today may soon have an app that delivers the news you want directly to your Droid. The Driud also has audio and video capability, works well with social media like Twiter and Facebook and has a removable and up gradable storage chip for data and music. The phone also has a metal case that allows it to handle life in a truck or combine cab.
The droid does have some drawback including a lackluster battery. Best buy a car charger with the phone. Also some reviews have panned the 5 mega pixel camera that comes standard. The slide out qwerty keyboard adds real functionality to the phone but the keyboard is a bit small and cramped and not the easiest to use.
If you are not ready to take a leap to a new system and want to stay with a Windows based phone, I have also worked with the HTC Touch Pro 2 and found it to be a very good phone. The Storm 2, also from Verizon is a good choice if you like the Blackberry system and are comfortable with an all touch phone.
No matter what phone or carrier you chose, a Smartphone is a gift the farmer will enjoy and use all year long.