Jeroen Ritmeijer

Using Bluetooth GPS on PocketPC - Would Apple have designed it this way

First of all a major disclaimer; although I quite often focus on functional and technical defects in software, the only reason I do this is because I actually use the software and, at least to some degree, admire it.

Right, so what do we have to moan about today? Well, today it is pairing PocketPC devices with Bluetooth GPS units. For me, and possibly most readers of this blog, this is a relatively simple process as we are....well..... technical. However, imagine you are my dad or, god forbid, my mum, who has finally listened to his son and decided to start using a car navigation system in order to save the marriage. They pick up a top of the line iPAQ and Bluetooth GPS unit at a bargain as well as a copy of the excellent TomTom car navigation software and then find out they somehow need to let the GPS unit ('the what?') talk to the PDA (again, 'the what!').

I have put together a visual guide and to my surprise and utter disgust it takes at least 38 clicks in 4 different applications to setup a Bluetooth GPS connection.

As an ex graphics designer using Apple Macs who happily switched to Windows I can only wonder, how would Apple have designed this process?