People recently questioned my negative reaction to the confirmation of the suspicion that Eris’ processor would run at 528 MHz. So what, right? You have to get used to that kind of thing. But I like interacting with the people who visit this site, so I’ll continue. Some took my frustration as surprize (?), while others tried to convince me that clock speed is meaningless. (Would you folks get back in touch with me? I have some unusable old boxes vintage hardware that you may be interested in.) Some also wondered how I could rave about the GSM Hero, come off lukewarm from the CDMA version, and then seemingly disregard the Eris altogether. Well, first of all, I haven’t completely disregarded it.

A $99 price tag would be a good deal for such a device, and would make for some interesting competition. Perhaps I didn’t offer up enough praise for VZW’s economical alternative in that respect. So there you go. I acknowledge that this device has a place in the market, though I’m not sure how important it is that I do so. My problem is this: If you’re selling an Hero, call it an Hero. (Props to the grammar Nazis. “A Hero” sounds better in my head.) That’s it. End of argument. Do with it what you like.

As for the other questions. I’ve already given in answer in my CDMA Hero review over at PhoneDog. Nevertheless, here’s the nutshell: The GSM Hero brought Sense into the world, and that was huge, I think. I also loved the design. And while I still see great value and potential in Sense, I’m kinda over the novelty. Don’t get me wrong, I think it features some fantastic innovation and will be a huge selling point for the coming year. But merely dropping Sense on a device no longer gets that extra half of a star from me. I also experienced changes in between the GSM and CDMA Heroes; some good, some bad. Neither of the ones I tested were production models though, and I had problems where paid customers did not. I can only review what I am given. I was as thorough with each device as time allowed, and maybe that’s why one more Hero isn’t getting my attention. What is there left to say about Eris? Maybe that’s presumptuous and I am overlooking a great product.

I hope I’ve clarified my position. I don’t expect everyone to agree with it, but in these hectic early days of DroidDog, when I have to balance the flow of original content with keeping up on daily news and rumors, I don’t want my readers to feel like I’m tossing out half-baked or glib posts. Sure I make mistakes, but I’d like to think I own up to them appropriately. In this case, I still look at Eris and say, “Meh.” In the context of blogging, it bores me. So perhaps I’m failing to look at the phone as a consumer, as I usually try to do. I’m honestly not that interested in the mobile phone business. I like to know my options, and which companies are willing to go the extra mile for my dollar, but that’s about it. Other bloggers are exceptional in their ability to balance this giant company against that one, and predict the impact of so-and-so a device in such-and-such a market, etc. I just like to know if a phone will do what I want it to. That’s all. I check it out and let you know what I find. I just have an affinity for cool $#!*. And from that perspective, it seems that Eris is just more of the same.