Sure, they're neat and all. But really, how practical are they? Think about how you use your iPhone when you're in your car. I tend to talk on mine from time to time. And yes, I will read the occasional text. Oh yeah, and I listen to music and podcasts which requires picking it up and scrolling through menus and whatnot. Am I really going to want to do any of this if my phone is docked on the windshield and running TomTom or Serius/XM? I'm sure plenty of people will buy them, but I imagine they'll regret it later down the road.
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iPhone docks (TomTom, Sirius/XM) make no sense...
- Thread starter btownguy
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Yes you're exactly right. I've been waiting for someone to mention this. It just seems uneccesary when the prices of these docks are so close to the price of the actual hardware, and they aren't even using the phones wireless features. They are just using the phone's screen
Then don't buy the docks for said programs.... It's really not that hard to figure out. However some of us DON'T like to put others lives in danger by not paying attention to the road when we drive.... Call us crazy....
If I had to chose one I would go with the TomTom one though. The Sirius/XM is for XM subscribers and I am on the Sirius side, plus I already have that in my car.
The TomTom GPS one wins in my book because It actually would serve a purpose.
The TomTom GPS one wins in my book because It actually would serve a purpose.
amen.
i work in/co-own a body shop and you can't possibly imagine how much of our work comes from people who can't put a damn phone down for the 15 minutes it takes to get to work. i don't mind the business, mind you. it's the wrecks that are so bad that i never have a chance to repair them or meet the dead drivers that really sucks.
get a dock and use hands free- it seriously saves lives.
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The dock is very useful considering there are laws in most states prohibitting pretty much everything you said you do. And they are being very strictly enforced in many areas.
The dock is very useful considering there are laws in most states prohibitting pretty much everything you said you do. And they are being very strictly enforced in many areas.
I don't think docks per se are pointless; a dock which charges one's iPhone and perhaps provides a speaker for hands-free use is something I will probably look into in the future. But I do not see the point of the TomTom dock, which, when combined with the iPhone and the TomTom app, seems only to produce an inferior but more expensive GPS navigation device. A TomTom One goes for, what, about a hundred bucks on sale?
I spent about $130 on a Garmin Nuvi a few months before the 3GS came out. It's got a 4.3" widescreen display and most of the features I have seen on iPhone GPS software. As the OP pointed out, most of us use an iPhone for other stuff while driving, so the GPS software can't help a lot of the time.
By all means buy it if you want it, but there's no way I'd spend $100 on the software when I can spend $130 on an actual unit. Sure, my unit was on clearance, but the differences in all of those things are not that huge. I can read street names, so having some voice read them aloud is hardly worth the extra buckage these guys charge.
By all means buy it if you want it, but there's no way I'd spend $100 on the software when I can spend $130 on an actual unit. Sure, my unit was on clearance, but the differences in all of those things are not that huge. I can read street names, so having some voice read them aloud is hardly worth the extra buckage these guys charge.
It's worth waiting a while. With app linked docks, it makes it easier for obsolecence via new docks or products with them. Worth waiting to see what comes with the new iPods/Touchs in particular.
You can get bean bags, window sucker mounts, and more - depends what your car layout is. It seems they're kind of 1.0 versions, and haven't sorted out the hardware in all of the docks for music, charging etc.
Maybe Voice Control is just the start of working on more usable hands free capabilities.
your not supposed to be using your phone while your driving in the first place. they made these docks so you could easily see the iphone while driving not so you could choose your music and other things... imagine trying to use that app without a dock on your windshield.
I can't imagine having an iPhone without my dock that mounts my phone right about where my stereo is, along with a line-out aux output, and charger. I have absolutely no trouble navigating the iPod this way, it's definitely no harder than using a stereo. If anything it's easier because I just touch what I want instead of having to scroll for 10 hours through 8000 tracks.
There is a better point to be made about these docks than the lawbreaking, jackass-driving OP tried to make. Especially with regard to the tomtom kit. The tomtom kit costs nearly as much as a full on navigation kit. But with TomTom on the iPhone, your screens are smaller, and your navigation can be interrupted abruptly by phone calls. With XM radio? ... Why? What could possibly be the point of it? Use streaming radio! Or just use a standalone XM tuner freeing up your iPhone to be... in your pocket I guess. It seems there's really no meaningful reason for this product to exist.
Of course, the same could be said about the service itself.
There is a better point to be made about these docks than the lawbreaking, jackass-driving OP tried to make. Especially with regard to the tomtom kit. The tomtom kit costs nearly as much as a full on navigation kit. But with TomTom on the iPhone, your screens are smaller, and your navigation can be interrupted abruptly by phone calls. With XM radio? ... Why? What could possibly be the point of it? Use streaming radio! Or just use a standalone XM tuner freeing up your iPhone to be... in your pocket I guess. It seems there's really no meaningful reason for this product to exist.
Of course, the same could be said about the service itself.