There is one (only one!) downside to being an iSkeptic: I can't report on the iPhone from direct PERSONAL experience.
What I wrote in my blog a week ago is STILL true: "I haven't touched the iPhone yet. I haven't sniffed it, stroked it, slipped it in my pocket, or tried to download anything over its very slow Internet connection. I also haven't tried to thumb-type yet on its slippery little glass face."
Why? Because, unlike all the iPhone faddists, I haven't plunked down hundreds of dollars for an untested unproven iDevice. I'm not drinking spiked Koolaid either.
Luckily for us, all those who bought the iPhone, like my buddy Steve Jones, can now answer our questions.
Here are my Top Ten:
1) What about, uh, just making a simple phone call?
Is it true that the iPhone takes six steps to make a phone call?
How long will that take to get on your nerves? Two days? Three?
Is it true that the required AT&T partnership forces you to use one of the most notoriously bad networks in the country?
Do makeup and fingerprints smear all over the device screen?
2) How about typing in a phone number or a note-to-self?
Call me "so last century" – but I save ideas in text form.
Can you type at all on the non-tactile "keys"?
I hear that period and commas require a 2nd screen. Is that one of those deceptive "urban legends"?
And I also hear that you can't copy or paste anything while you type. Tell me it ain't so!
3) Is it true that iPhones can't handle instant messaging?
Not even a little bit?
4) Is it true that non-Apple headphones need a special adapter?
All because Apple deliberately recessed the jack? And what about stereo Bluetooth headsets – is it true they won't work with iPhones?
5) Is it true the iPhone can't be used as a modem for your laptop?
How many of us have been using our internet capable phones (and the expensive internet access we pay for) as a modem for laptop surfing – in airports, or cars or wherever we like? Is it true that this basic ability was left off the iPhone?
6) Is it true that iPhone can't handle Flash?
How can it be state-of-the-art web-browsing without flash web annimation? Has anyone made a list of how many valuable sites instantly became unavailable? I just wrote a revew of the Transformer movie on another blog -- but often you can't even see high graphic sites like the official movie page without flash!
7) Games... there just aren't any, right?
Doesn't Apple claim they are all about "fun"? Is there a date when games might appear for the iPhone?
How come current iTunes games aren't usable on iPhones? Why are users stuck with only web-based entertainment (using the battery eating web connection)?
8) Is it true that you can't download songs directly from iTunes to your iPhone
Why can't you hear and buy new music directly -- the way I can download from Yahoo Music Unlimited onto my Sansa Connect?
Isn't syncing music completely out-dated?
And what about the iPhone not having a removable storage card – isn't that standard on every device you already have?
9) Can you share with me the implications of not having a removable battery?
What happens on a trip, or when you are in a hurry, or when you have a long day with lots of calling? Does it mean that your charger now comes standard, inside your briefcase? At least until you have charged the iPhone 300 or 400 times and that battery dies. What are you planning to do then – live without the phone while it makes a trip to the factory, or do what Apple expects…. Buy their next magic device?
And now for our final question:
10) First look at this equation: $500 or $600 + ($60/month) x 24 months + taxes = $2200.
Then tell me this: Is the iPhone really worth two grand for two years?!
On the basics of phoning and simple usefulness, is it even AS GOOD as what you are already using?
Comments
Interesting series of
Interesting series of questions, Eric. I'll bite, but I say that we give the community at large a shot at answering them. I've posted your questions to the forums one at a time. I'll be curious, over the next few days, to see what folks have to say about the iPhone and your questions / concerns / misgivings / angry rants about it.
Here's the iPhone question index...
Have at him, people!
So, tell me. How are those
So, tell me. How are those sour grapes workin' for ya?
Smittie
hmmmm. Why not deal with the
hmmmm. Why not deal with the substantive arguments?
I got to play with someone's iPhone for part of this morning. I'm underwhelmed.
The 'pinch your fingers to adjust the picture" is cool. the "stroke to see the album covers" is cool.
But both are limited in both interest and usefulness.
Three things jumped out:
a) the glass screen was smeared with fingerprints, and it only got worse.
b) typing was impossible... you were reduced to one finger hunt and peck. This thing is so hard to use it needs a stylus!
c) I thought the phone was a hassle. Admittedly it may become more second nature with practice, but this really is a PDA with some phone capability. It doesn't feel or act like a phone, and I don't seeing it working well for many people in that capacity.
And I have to say that these three probs are so clear that all the people who insist "nah, I don't see any of this as a problem" must be in deep denial.
well, i bought one of these
well, i bought one of these on release day (no line waiting to speak of, i probably wouldn't have done that) and, while i'm sure there is a self sorting theme to people's opinions - those who paid some silly amount for one are of course going to say they like it, and those who can't/won't generally hate apple/whatever are going to not like it, i honestly do very much like the iPhone, with all of its flaws.
to respond to eric's three things:
a) the glass screen - it does get all smeary, but so does every phone. i can't think of a single instance in the last 10 years when, after letting someone use my mobile, i didn't have to wipe it off before i would put it up to my ear again. not that i have especially greasy friends, mind you, but hot plastic + facial oil = icky phone. so the iphone gets equally messy when placed to your face, but my fingers are clean and they don't cause a mess. a quick wipe on jeans or any cotton surface and the thing is clean - no junk or lint between the edges of keys, which is nice.
last thing here - i'm mostly using the headphones while walking and bluetooth to my car while driving, so the thing rarely touches the side of my face anyhow.
b) typing is fast - remember when you got a palm or any other stylus based pda and it took a few days to get your writing in sync with the recognition on the device? same thing here. looking at the macro typing process - in other words, typing words not letters. not backspacing if i get a bad letter but trusting that the iphone will autocorrect - things go quickly. i write emails and browse websites, no problem. sometimes i miss on a number here or there - no autocorrect for #s of course, but i'm getting better. after you train, typing is more than acceptable.
c) the iPhone is other things besides a phone. it doesn't behave or act like a phone - maybe the name is misleading. you do need to select the phone icon to make a call (you simply slide your finger across the screen to answer when ringing - phone mode is assumed) but once you go into phone mode, you can simply tap a displayed inbound call to call it back, tap a contact and then tap one of their numbers to call them, or tap a favorite. no holding down a key or even scrolling a side wheel to get to the contact. it's just there. i can find a contact and call them much more quickly than with my razor, moto q, or any of the blackberries i had before those. scrolling, zooming & selecting, all native to the device, work as well in phone mode as in ipod mode.
i won't say i don't see those 3 things, and there are real nits that i'm seeing after 2 weeks of use: at&t coverage sucks inside my house, there are of course bugs - google for the list, there are missing features which seem so obvious, and of course no 3rd party native development. but all that is software upgradeable.
but, as a new type of device - again, think palm in the '90s, or even better the newton. it is really great both at what it does and in the ways it does them. new devices get new mindsets and if you adopt those mindsets you can see where they could go instead of why they aren't comfortable within the old mindset.
- auto sync up and down just like an ipod. i plug-in every time i come home/near my laptop. all my content is always in sync on both sides. think about a native quicken or something - all expense records always synced - super easy to enter as well. i can't imagine how much $ i've lost in poorly documented expense tracking over the years. mileage tracking, new contacts, bookmarks, etc. generate your content on either side and have it on the other just because it work so simply.
- there are no controls on the thing, which means there can be any kind of control on the thing that apple (hopefully others) wants to put there. soft keys suck for tv remote controls when i'm not looking and want to change the channel at night, but they are perfectly fine on the iPhone for me so far. you want to dial or text while driving? stay off the roads to begin with, and then realize you aren't that important anyhow. i pass my iphone around to people and _everybody_ makes it work right the 1st time without asking how to do something.
- one surprising missing feature, which may seem minor but could be very cool, is the fact that the airport express can act as a remote itunes speaker. so you could stream via wifi from the iphone out to a little tiny router/speaker source = instant audio system. not sure why it isn't already on the iphone, but think about airport express 2.0 with dvi out as well as audio. stand in front of a room using the iphone as your presentation control with the presentation on the control. wifi to the airport to the projector. the best presentation system i can imagine. the flick, pinch, zoom in and out are now available to navigate and highlight what you are presenting. no laptop needed.
in my view, that's really the thing about the iphone. we are this -> ' ' close to no laptop needed.
i do go on...
michael
nice post !
nice post !
its look good but still i have a queries about the this iPhone I come to know that Isn't iPhone Have the Bluetooth software actually i have lots people that why i am not purchase it can you clarify me.