12 Feb Apple’s iPhone… Pass!
In all of the recent hullabaloo about Apple’s forthcoming iPhone, I took some time to decide whether I really want one. The conclusion: NOT!
Okay, I admit it, I am frequently wowed by Apple’s sense of style and design. It is easy to get caught up in Steve Jobs’ “Reality Distortion Field” and think, as he exudes, that whatever Apple’s newest product is is the greatest thing ever. Beats sliced bread hands down!
But I think Apple made a fatal mistake in revealing the iPhone six months before it is actually available. The “RDF” wears off and people blink themselves back to sanity, wallets in hand, credit card outstretched, but having not been used.
So, yeah, it is easy to get caught up. For instance, one of my pet issues has to do with the OSX vs. Windows debate. To me, there is no debate. Windows is an operating system, OSX is a GUI. Let’s get things straight, Apple Fanboys! The real operating system in OSX is Unix! BSD, if I’m not mistaken. Apple didn’t invent that.
So, what is OSX? Well, as grand and glorious as it is, it is simply the window dressing, the interface between the user and the OS. And kudos to Apple. It is nifty. I have struggled with Linux and other Unix derivatives for years, and in most cases get frustrated enough to give up on whatever my intention was in the first place. But I am able to use my Mac just as adeptly as any of my Windows machines, and almost from the moment I first booted the machine.
But I digress. Where was I? Oh yeah, the iPhone.
So, when I saw the initial Jobs demo of the phone, I drooled. I panted. I sweat profusely with my credit card out, ready to buy.
But that’s all worn off now. And why? Well, the iPhone isn’t available until June. JUNE! That gave me 6 months of pacing and checking the calendar like Cartman waiting for the Wii to be released.
But as reports came in, and as I read every hands-on-type article I could find, pretending that the image of the hand holding the iPhone in the picture was my hand holding my brand new iPhone, I woke up. I smelled the coffee. And I realized that the iPhone is far from iGreat.
First of all, the name. Apple walked out on negotiations with Cisco on using the iPhone name. I am sure they will just go with Apple Phone or something, just like the iTV became the Apple TV. No biggie, but it does make the product lose lustre. Heck, Longhorn was a far better name than Vista ever will be. Just my opinion.
Then there’s the carrier. Apple wanted so badly to announce the iPhone in January that they dropped negotiations with Verizon and now only have Cingular. I have heard that the iPhone will be Cingular only for anywhere from 2 to 6 years! Ugh!
First of all, dropping Verizon is no big deal. Whereas Verizon is a fine company for people who like fast data plans for their laptops and who also want cellphones that they can use to, of all things, dial the phone and talk to people, Heaven forbid if anyone wishes to put something different on their cellphone, such as 3rd party software or a bluetooth connection for anything other than an earpiece. That’s right, Verizon locks their phones down so that they cannot be used for any intentions other than what they wish (Verizon had stated that they were going to end this practice by the end of 2006, but here we are in 2007 and they haven’t budged). I love the fact that I can use my T-Mobile phone as a bluetooth modem in a pinch. And I can connect any piece of hardware I wish to it, such as another PocketPC or my Dell XPS Laptop, or my Sony Vaio UX280P. Or even a bluetooth keyboard! I just wish the connect speed on T-Mobile’s data network were faster.
In any case, I had to make the decision, do I want to move my cell service to Cingular to get the iPhone? Well, as a phone, I’m sure the iPhone is comparable to others. It can dial and receive calls and you can speak to and hear the party at the other end. To me, that’s no big whoop. The appeal is in the nifty data-oriented features of the iPhone. Live mobile Google Maps! Usable non-WAP internet browsing! Internet freaking goodness!!!!
But if any of you read my blog with any great regularity, you will know that I have had my experience with Cingular’s data network via my new Vaio UMPC. And the results are: not that great. Whereas it is about twice as fast as my data plan with T-Mobile, it is also 4 times more expensive. It’s also somewhat unreliable, highly-dependent on a really good signal, and slow to initally connect. I don’t have any of these issues with T-Mobile. So, I decided that only if I really wanted the iPhone itself and was able to be resolute in the idea that the connectivity won’t be so great, would I go for the switch to Cingular. But Cingular itself wouldn’t be a deciding factor.
But everyone knows that the iPhone will have wi-fi connectivity, and then all will be super fast in the world of super cool gadget goodness! Again, I said big whoop. My T-Mobile MDA has wi-fi. I rarely use it and I’ll tell you why.
Wi-fi hotspots are not as ubiquitous as you might think. Sure, some urban areas have so many that you can’t get away from them. But most do not. And the reality is that if I am going to depend on my phone for any sort of connectivity, it will probably be in a pinch. I’m not going to be doing any real work on my phone, so if I am looking for a good connection to the net for serious work, then I will have a laptop with me. And then, what good is the phone’s wi-fi ability? As well, for those times when I am in need of the phone’s ability to get me some information I need (directions, a phone number, etc.), I won’t run around looking for a hotspot. Wi-fi is not the rule, it’s the exception.
Furthermore, for some oddball reason, my DSL provider at home will not let me loop back into my own LAN from the internet. One thing I do with my cellphone is keep apprised of incoming emails. I can even respond if needed, but the small keyboard makes it to where a lengthy response isn’t practical. But I have email servers running on my home LAN. So, if I connect my cellphone to my home LAN, then it cannot find my mail server via an internet address. It can with the local 192.168.x.x address, but who wants to change the email settings each time I come home and again when I leave? So, I just leave my MDA on the cellular data connection all the time.
I realize that this isn’t common among all of you out there, but it’s something to consider.
Okay, enough about the connectivity. Let’s talk cool stuff! Corrective Typing! The iPhone has a very intuitive method of correcting your typing. The virtual keys are small, so it’s tough to hit the right ones all the time. Well, the iPhone will try to figure out what keys you were likely trying to press and will correct your typing. That’s pretty cool, but in the end, I would rather just have a keyboard where I can hit the right keys in the first place. After all, there’s so much abbreviation and purposeful misspelling used in short messages, that it would make trying to get the real message across nearly impossible. Besides, this kind of typing correction is not that novel, really.
Okay, the landscape thing! It turns itself from landscape to portrait automagically! Yeah, okay, but is it ever wrong? Have you ever had a picture that was turned so you turned your phone to see it correctly? Well, guess what, now it’ll never be right. And what about if you have the iPhone flat on its back? How will it orient itself then? All in all, I can see this feature becoming more of a bother than a boon.
Hey, it’s an iPod too! With fullscreen video! Yeah, big deal. So’s my actual iPod (except for the fullscreen part), and it cost less, and has 10 times the storage. As does my Archos 504, and it does have fullscreen. And the best thing, if I run my ipod battery down on the plane, I can still use my phone.
Widgets! OSX! The iPhone has widgets and OSX! Again, so what? Apparently, someone decided that allowing 3rd party software to be installed would be a bad thing. Whatever. I can install tons of software on my Windows Mobile MDA.
Cheek sensor! The iPhone senses when it’s against your cheek and turns off the keys! Well, I have a phone that is almost all touchscreen, like the iPhone, and I have never once cheek-dialed anyone. In fact, I’ve never once cheek-pressed a single virtual touchscreen button. Furthermore, the 50% of my phonecalls that are incoming come in while my phone’s keys are locked, so I can’t possibly accidentally cheek-dial.
This list goes on and on in this fashion. In the end, the Reality Distortion Field lifted and I saw that the iPhone doesn’t have much to it that makes it a must-have device. And by the time it comes out in June, the coolest features, like the multitouch, will probably be commonplace in all such devices.
In the end, I really feel that Apple should have withheld on the announcement. That would have given them more time to solidify the offerings, work out any last minute bugs, and, most importantly, allow people to drop some cash whilst still in Steve Jobs’ trance.
Now… the Blackberry Pearl… that’s an interesting little phone…
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