iPhone Comparisons to LG PRADA Debate Reaches Dull Nadir

The leading lights of Digg -- Alex Albrecht and Apple geek extraordinaire Kevin Rose -- dive into an in-depth but largely information-free debate comparing the LG KE-850 phone to Apple's iPhone. The argument was spawned from a post questioning whether the similarities of the touch-screen devices might result in a lawsuit.

And, as all such debates inevitably go, the substance of the argument is suspiciously absent. Instead, we get a long talk that amounts to: "They look the same!" "No, they don't!" "But they're both touchscreens!"

Is the world not ready for an honest conversation about interface and operating systems? I have more thoughts after the fold.

For unclaimed markets, such as truly mobile web browsing, an area where the iPhone will pioneer, it's difficult to understand the difference between a technical solution and a usable solution. WAP, the current technology used by even the smartest phones for mobile web browsing, can't view actual websites. Instead, most sites have a cut-down version that delivers much of the content in a way tiny screens and slow data pipes can handle. It sort of works, but it will never replace using a computer to browse.

The iPhone, by contrast, can handle the mainstream web. No matter what other facile similarities the device bears to other competitive solutions, the iPhone stands head and shoulders over the rest here. It means that mobile browsing might actually garner wide use. It's a usable solution instead of a trick to make something technically function. It's absolutely ridiculous in the above video when Albrecht claims the LG phone "probably" can look at real websites. I really doubt it. This is where interface and operating systems make the difference, and it's where Apple always looks best. Imitators need not apply.

The LG looks nice enough. It isn't a rip-off of the iPhone or vice versa. But it's even more expensive, and it won't make a dent in the same way.