What the shit is he complaining about?

You bring up the key pad, you dial the number and it works.

If you're really lazy, you look up the contact and hit the "Call" button.

What "features" would you need?

*stupid motherfuckers*

But it's open!

Undoubtedly a perfect Tomas-device would be inadequate for the needs of everyone. Very occasionally, the inverse is also true. It would appear, from the article, that different people pursue different things, and have differing needs.

How weird is that?

We're talking about a goddamned phone here, specifically typing in phone numbers and browsing contacts to call them. If the fail is that strong, hang it up, pun intended.

I use my Android to IM my friends, browse the web, write comments on LJ posts (this one, for instance), write stories while I'm exercising, update my LJ, view and update the shopping list that syncs with my SO's, track my budget, track my exercise, and, oh, a couple of times a week I make phone calls on it.

It is, in point of fact, not a particularly impressive device at making phone calls. The dialer crashes sometimes. Exactly why I should instantly abandon the platform because it does the thing it's named for shabbily while it does all the stuff I actually WANT TO DO well is not clear to me, though.

A better question would be: "Why does the dialer crash?"

It's a PHONE for God's sake. Sure, AT&T couldn't handle the traffic from the iPhone, but I've never heard of the phone app crashing. That's just absurd.

Yes, it is absurd. But the impact on my quality of life from the phone app crashing is virtually nil. I really don't care if, once a month, it takes me an extra 30 seconds to make a phone call. I have this device for writing while away from my computer, which it does pretty well. Honestly, getting a separate row of keys for the numbers would have FAR MORE impact on my happiness with my 'phone' than fixing the dialer would. Fixing the dialer may be an important issue for the larger market, but it's negligible to me.

Really? I've been using Android devices since the original (T-Mo G1.) I've never had the dialer or contacts crash...

I wouldn't know as I've never used an Android device, but the evidence is documented on the comments in this post. Maybe there were some "improvements" made.

I've had it happen on my HTC G2, and on my previous android, a MyTouch 3G Slide.

I upgraded the G1 to a myTouch 3G Slide, and that to my current G2. I've had hardware issues with the G2, but never OS problems...

"Android's native dialer is super fast, but pretty basic. It works alright, but just doesn't add that extra something that brings making a phone call up to par with the rest of the things your phone can do."

Sounds to me like there's no real problem, just wanting to make it sexier/prettier/jazzier than the original. It sure doesn't sound like it's lame, just people wanting different skins for different looks/feels.

I am in the market for a new phone fairly soon. Was going to tap you for suggestions. I've heard conflicting reports about the iPhone 5 but am leaning towards LG or HTC phones right now...

If you've always wanted an iPhone and want the latest and greatest, I'd hold out for the iPhone 5. By all accounts, it should drop this year.

There's nothing wrong with the iPhone 4. It will run iOS 5 when it comes out later this year. It wouldn't be a bad choice, but you might want to wait and see. It's possible that the 3GS will go away and there may be a $50 version of the iPhone 4.

On the other hand, if you want to tread in the murky, piranha-filled waters of Android, be my guest. However, I can tell you right now that as a fellow Mac user, you won't ever be truly happy with anything other than Apple's phone. Still, if you can't justify it...

Why go generic when you can have the real thing. Besides, Google may wind up and be found in gross infringement of Oracle's patents on Java (which Oracle received when they bought Sun) thus forcing a permanent injunction against importing Android into the United States as well as Google having to pay out triple damages. And that's just one lawsuit. There are others pending across the industry from various players. It ain't looking good for the little green gremlin.

In other news, I have several "books" to send you. Perhaps if we can hook up on G-Talk tonight say around 1800?

Hmm.
I'm going to be thinking about it, and once I'm back from Australia and I'm eligible I'll look into it a lot more. Basically right now I don't have a smartphone/internet capable phone and I'm beginning to get to the stage where it would be really useful to me.

Books are fun! I'll see if I can get on later today... is that 1800 CST?