I dated an iPhone but I don't want to marry it

It’s the Nokia that’s earning its place next to my head. The iPhone was a present from an old buddy at O2. I had it unlocked to support an O2 prepay SIM fired it up with £30 of credit. Then I took it out for a test drive.

Yes - the interface is stunning. It redefines the word ‘intuitive’. I logged on to the office wi-fi network and had great fun playing YouTube videos, enlarging and shrinking the BBC web site with a pinch of my fingers, turning the screen on its side and back, and, courtesy of Google Maps, zooming into a satellite view of my back garden.

Then I loaded up 8GB worth of music and I flipped through the virtual cover art of my ‘record collection’. It was great fun. I checked some emails, made a few phone calls, and took some photographs of nothing in particular.

Within three hours the battery meter showed half the juice had gone.

So I hauled out my Nokia N73, which still had a full load of power after two days away from its charger.

The iPhone experience was like a date with a Page 3 model. A beautiful girl in a fabulous frock and great arm candy to impress your mates. But you wouldn’t necessarily want to marry it.

The iPhone's 'wow' factor is plain to see. To use all of its applications features throughout day requires a lot of spare time. You see I think I've worked out the weakness in the whole iPhone proposition. It's a computer. And what do you do with a computer? You stay in one spot and peer at its screen for minutes and hours on end. As a mobile device, this doesn't work.

Mobile devices are for when we're out and about - in between appointments - traveling from A to B - engaging with friends, family and work colleagues. We're not planted in one spot with the time to spare gazing at a little screen. We do our serious computing and web surfing from a fixed location, whether its the office PC or using a laptop on a beach.

Sure, the iPhone is a fantastic little gadget if you're stuck in an airport terminal, or on a train. But don't stray too far from a convenient power source or a wi-fi signal The time may come when we will all carry a versatile mobile computer/phone in our pocket. For the time being I'll stick to packing my pockets with my iPod Classic, BlackBerry, and N73.