The way I see it, the simplicity of the Android phone platform will inevitably result in its overall success. And by simplicity, I mean the effortless process of moving a photo on and off the device.

I always thought the way Apple channels users through for (what should be) easy chores was idiotic. Having gone through similar and possibly worse agony with the Windows Phone software on the , however, really makes me wonder: What is wrong with these developers?

It began when I was charging the Lumia 710 on the computer. I noticed that at no point was I given the straightforward option of turning the connected phone into a virtual disk drive or storage unit, as you can with Android. Do you want to clean up your Android? Move files around? Just plug it into a USB hole, go inside the folders, and move or erase things. Not so, with the Lumia 710.

I wanted to find some way to address the innards directly but came up empty-handed. Fooling around with it connected via the device managerbecause the Windows computer could never "see" the phonegot me a message that said it could not find the drivers and I must insert a non-existent disk that came with the phone. Finally, I discovered that I needed to install Zune (yes, Zune) software that I could download online. This would talk to the phone for me. Really? Is that necessary?

The first time I downloaded the Zune software, it simply failed and asked that I try again later, which meant, I suppose, that the installation required some interaction with an overloaded server. The next day, I tried again and this time it seemed to work. Why it took about 10 minutes to download and install the product is somewhat mystifying, though. How complex is this thing, anyway? How hard can it be to attach a phone to the USB cable and allow the phone to act like a USB drive with all but the most hidden OS folders easily accessible? Most people just want to move photos, music, and videos on and off the phone. Why make it complicated?

Finally, when the Zune software installation was complete, I noticed a picture of a bunny peering out of a box. Is that Zune, the bunny?

So I launch it. It asks for a phone. I hook the phone up. It tells me that it wants to move all the photos from the device to some Windows folders. Then it asks me to indicate some of my favorite musical artists. What? Who gives a crap? After I refuse, it moves automatically to the next screen that says "Start."

Next it goes to see if the phone can be updated. It tells me to look at "Collection" and when I do, it takes me to my music collection. Hey, I'm trying to get my photos!

I get to the photos and it tries to promote "photos.live" online as a place to store them. Not interested. There is some sort of toggle phone icon and when I click on it, it toggles to the computer icon and when I pass over it, it says "Drag items from phone to collection." Collection? What collection? What sort of items? Who knows.

OK, so you can drag items over, but how do you get them off the camera phone? I'm fooling around, trying to figure out what's what, and I click on the phone icon that says, "Drag and drop things here to sync with your phone." What if I do not want to sync? I want certain pictures on the phone and only certain pictures. Boom! The opens up and a slew of pictures appear from the last few months that I can only guess were on various phones and the computer. This is not what I am looking for (although it looks like something worth exploring when I have more time). I'm not really sure where it came from or how to get it to load without the phone software running, but I suppose I can Google it. I am still not seeing a way to delete the photos.

How about left-clicking on the image? I do that and, violà, it gives me a menu with an option to delete. But do I have to delete each one individually? And what happens if I delete the photo then sync again? Will it delete the photo on the computer also? You'd never know until you tried. I click "delete" and it tells me it will delete it from the computer. I'm warned.

Now this is becoming humorous. I try something, knowing that this whole thing is backassward. I click on the phone icon to bring up the computer icon in the corner and try again. Delete? Yes! It says it will delete it from the phone. When you see the computer on the screen, it means you are on the phone. It is there to represent the other end of the connection. Ah!

Then, I try right-clicking on "Camera roll" on the menu items list and it, in fact, erases all the photos on the camera leaving the remote pictures in place. I did it!

This ludicrous process just gets worse as I try to move a few videos to the phone and the Zune software tells me I can only do it via a special folder that I have to create. I do so and the software refuses to use the folder, warning that it is locked or blocked or cannot be used for this purpose. But..but..but...

After struggling for some time and knowing Nokia's PR firm wants the phone back ASAP (now I know why), I decide it is not worth the effort to learn. I'll leave it for the suckers. I can only imagine the customer service issues that will come from this Zune backlash.

Let me just say that this all stems from the Apple iTunes software, which is one of the worst products ever invented. Yes, it works, and I suppose it serves the purpose of locking people into its system, but why did Microsoft take a cue from Apple when the model was so poorly executed? You'd think Microsoft could have tried iTunes and said, "Golly, we can do better than this because anything is better than this."

Somehow, the company made something more confusing. What is wrong with a folder full of files that you can access directly? Seriously, do these companies think people are too stupid to open a folder and click on a file? Instead, we need a middleman?

By the way, did anyone at Microsoft consider the possibility that the Zune name itself is jinxed? This whole Zune thing ruins a nice piece of Nokia hardware. And why would Nokia want to lock people into the Microsoft-Zune world anyway? With Apple and iTunes, it is understandable.

Meanwhile, who needs this aggravation? Android wins. It's just easier and quicker to get the job done.