Pogue slams the Chocolate

My wife's flip Samsung mobile was disintegrating, and my candy bar Nokia had developed an "auto-repeat" function (where, if I pressed "3" the phone would dial "333", except when it didn't dial anything at all) so it was time for new cell phones.

I bought the latest candy bar Nokia Verizon offers (I've found that candy Nokia's have great durability and reception, with OK voice quality) while my wife got a free LG flip something.

The store was heavily promoting the new LG Chocolate, but in my experience phones that look cool don't work. Sure enough, David Pogue slams it in the NYTimes.

Whenever I review a product this badly designed, I just stare at the ceiling and try to imagine how it could possibly have gotten out the door. Haven’t successes like the iPod and the Treo taught the marketers anything about making things work simply and well? It’s stunning that nobody in a position of power at LG or Verizon actually tried this thing, tried pressing those infernal passive-aggressive buttons, and realized that the Chocolate is a usability disaster.

The cell phone industry seems to have forgotten that people buy phones to talk to their friends, and if a phone does not do that well, it's not worth having.