Technology PDA vs. iPhone for 3rd Year

[DMBFan]

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[PokerDoc]

If epocrates is your main concern, I think the iphone version is on par with any other version out there.

 

[45408]

We got a PDA through the school, so I've got a Palm TX, but if you already have an iPhone, use that. My intern uses her Blackberry for Epocrates. I'm sure the functionality is about the same, and now you have one less device.

 

[Blueprint]

Im still waiting for some of you with the iphone 3g to try out some of the over the air programs that are out for it before I switch to ATT from verizon, effectively cutting myself off from free minutes of talk time from my verizon only family.

Skyscape offers some of the programs that got me through internship and residency, mainly harrisons pkt med and wash u man of surg, for the iphone as over the internet webapps. Its always helpful to be able to access that stuff in case you need the algorithm to work up hyponatremia, the ARDS net protocol for weaning of PEEP and FIO2, etc, etc.. I think they have free trials of limited content versions.

As a resident, I used the treos which were fabulous as an all-in-one devices. Why carry a separate phone and PDA if you can combine 'em both? As far as surfing the web is concerned, the two hospitals I work at have limited the access to certain website categories including entertainment, games, sports, auctions, forums....so no youtube, espn, ebay or SDN. That's justification for having a smartphone with a data plan.

 

[southerndoc]

What over-the-air programs are you talking about? I have an original iPhone loaded with the 2.0 software (free update from Apple). I have ePocrates loaded on it, and it's a native application (doesn't require internet access except to load the photos of pills). PEPID is also going to be native.

 

[Blueprint]

All of the ones at www.skyscape.com. They are all webapps, you can access them over the internet. They have pocket harrisons, wash u manual surg, harrisons pedi,etc, etc. For the palm and the windows mobile OS, these were apps that were downloaded to the device. Skyscape says that for the iphone, the programs are accessible online only for now, they are working on downloadable apps.

Not being able to get these and other specialty-specific 3rd party apps was the reason I didnt go with Iphone initially. I am looking forward to seeing if anyone is able to use these on their Iphone 3g, not just epocrates.

 

[southerndoc]

All of the ones at www.skyscape.com. They are all webapps, you can access them over the internet. They have pocket harrisons, wash u manual surg, harrisons pedi,etc, etc. For the palm and the windows mobile OS, these were apps that were downloaded to the device. Skyscape says that for the iphone, the programs are accessible online only for now, they are working on downloadable apps.

Not being able to get these and other specialty-specific 3rd party apps was the reason I didnt go with Iphone initially. I am looking forward to seeing if anyone is able to use these on their Iphone 3g, not just epocrates.

I would wait and see if they develop native apps. You don't want to be stuck in a hospital with no cell signal and no WiFi where you can't access these things you've paid for.

FWIW, AT&T has very poor penetration into buildings. I think it's Verizon that still uses CDMA technology that penetrates into buildings very well. I frequently cannot get a signal in the ED, but some of my colleagues on other carriers can.

 

[anxiousnadd]

I've actually had great service and reception inside hospitals (even in the basement where they stick all the surgeons. One of the visiting docs had verizon, and couldn't get any signal.

I think it just depends on your city. I happen to live in a city where ATT has towers everywhere (a big reason I stuck with them even though I hate their customer service).

In any case, I'm waiting until the new Blackberry comes out (apparently it's supposed to be out end of this month/early August) and then play with the iPhone and BB to see which is more useful for me.

I'm really hoping the iPhone 3rd party developers come out with some handy native apps...I'm sick of researching which phone to get.

*annoyed*

 

[bullfrog]

I've been using an iPhone 3G now for a little while and the applications on it are excellent. Skyscape has added ALL of their resources for iPhone use and to be honest ... even the free ones (particularly OCM) are loaded with useful information. They are loaded directly onto the iPhone and do NOT require an internet/data connection to operate. I personally opted out of the data plan and had it blocked by Rogers to save on needless costs.

Netter's also has various sets of anatomy flash cards that you can download to the phone with descriptions/information for each one included (pretty much the electronic version of the anatomy cards that many of us probably have). Also, from the Application Store, you can access tons of medical calculators, etc. that are free to use.

Anyhow - from a functional point of view, it works extremely well and so far, I've been very happy with the product.

I was considering the BB as well (esp. the Storm) but imho, the interface on the iPhone was what sold me on the device. The Storm will probably be a good option too however, the click-touch-screen thing seems to be irking a few industry reviewers and I suspect it's going to be a little cumbersome (although I haven't played with one so ....).

 

[FruitFly]

I returned my Iphone for a refund. It's too prohibitive for answering phone calls. Too much button pressing to receive and make calls. It was never meant to be a phone with ease of use. I've rather opted to have a separate phone that functions as a good cell, and now I'm seeking to have a PDA or some other device to just function for programs. The Iphone does everything and is mediocre at each. Sometimes it locks up too, and to have a 2yr plan is a little scary since if it gets screwed up, you're PHONE is screwed up.

 

[StatCoder]

I would agree that smart phones like the iPhone are not nearly as good at being phones as stand-alone phones. Battery life is not very good and they crash sometimes. Good luck in finding a stand-alone PDA, however. They are getting more and more uncommon.

The purchase of an iPhone his heavily subsidized by AT&T. I mean, do your really think they actually sell you an iPhone device for $200? Now there is word of a 4mg iPhone that will be sold at Wal Mart. That should only increase the popularity of the platform.

 

[Monica Lewinsky]

I returned my Iphone for a refund. It's too prohibitive for answering phone calls. Too much button pressing to receive and make calls. It was never meant to be a phone with ease of use. I've rather opted to have a separate phone that functions as a good cell, and now I'm seeking to have a PDA or some other device to just function for programs. The Iphone does everything and is mediocre at each. Sometimes it locks up too, and to have a 2yr plan is a little scary since if it gets screwed up, you're PHONE is screwed up.

But as opposed to any other smartphone, how is the iphone worse? Its like 2 buttons (if you include the unlock) to get to the place where you type in a number (and honestly it becomes 2nd nature once you use the thing a couple times) and if you receive a call it instantly comes up. The thing was designed to be easy to use and I have a much easier time accessing things on it as opposed to palm and windows based smartphones which have slower, more awkward interfaces.

As for the 2yr plan, of course the phone could get screwed up, but thats a risk with any phone, not just the iphone. Have fun carrying around 2 devices instead of one.

EDIT: I just reread your post, how does it make any sense that ANSWERING your phone calls on the iPhone is difficult? If you are using any app and you get a call, it goes straight to phone mode and there's a BIG GREEN BUTTON you push to answer the call. I could foresee that using the iPhone as a phone would be difficult if you are blind, but otherwise any intelligent, competent person should be able to use the phone utility on the iPhone with ease. I think you are lying about the fact that you have ever used the device in reality.

 

[Flushot]

It's possible that some people just prefer Windows Mobile over the Apple interface. There are pros and cons with each and some people can't jump over to AT&T just yet, so I'd take that all into consideration.

 

[StatCoder]

Palm has announced that there will be no new PDAs. Only smartphones. that probably means there will likely not be any stand-alone PDAs from any of the other manufacturers either. They seem to really have been de-emphasized.

 

[deleted87716]

I've rather opted to have a separate phone that functions as a good cell, and now I'm seeking to have a PDA or some other device to just function for programs.

Good luck with that. You're bucking the trend.