You know, I’ve got a challenge for anyone out there with some time to spare: get Sony Ericsson (and all the other phone manufacturers) a clue.

I was just surfing (read ‘getting lost’) in some product catalogues for bluetooth headsets and cellphones. I’ve had my trusty Sony Ericsson K610i for a while now (ie. more than 6 months) and technology moves pretty fast. Now I don’t need to tell you all the reasons why I think this is (or, until recently, was) the best handset on the market, just suffice to say that it’s red.

However, while getting lost in all the options and marveling at all the cool accessories you can get for a phone now, it occurred to me to just wait for the iPhone. Why spend money on just another phone, when by waiting a bit, I could get “The Most Successful Product Intro of the 21st Century”?

So it occurred to me: for all the great hardware out there, wireless headsets, keyboards, watches, bracelets, necklaces, the software on these handsets is appalling. They’re fine for making calls, and sending messages, but useless when it comes to being media players. Worse, while Sony Ericsson is pushing “Walkman” branded phones, they’ve overlooked one mega glaring elephant sitting in the room: there’s no way to get stuff onto these things!!

Who cares if it’s got 4GB of storage (in a brick, mind you!) if you can’t load your music or video library onto it? The program you use to load stuff onto the phone should be the same software you use to manage your library anyways. That’s where Apple got it right with their iTunes/iPod link: not only did they make a great media player, but they made bought a great tool for managing the stuff on the player (that’s even useful without the player!) Now, I know that these phones ship with software that allow you to do just that. But come on:

I’ll assume Sony Ericsson is just being sarcastic if this is meant to be a competitor to iTunes.

So the challenge is this: can someone out there design a better iTunes? It’s as if iTunes/iPod has become this incredible Everest that no one wants to attempt. It’s good, but it’s not that amazing. We’re not talking new technology that no one has ever seen before, we’re not talking flying cars or perpetual motion here. iTunes is just a simple idea implemented very well. But it’s not without faults, there’s room for improvement.

I’ll leave you with a little food for thought:

“Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy’s unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots. [11:19]” - Art of War by SunTzu