Apple really could have done it..............

[cmaier]

battery: yeah, a year for me too, i'm thinking, since i'll charge every night probably (unless battery life is significantly better than i'm guessing).

wi-fi: for me, i'm still on a 2G network (treo 650 - cdma). So i won't experience much pain on edge since i'm not used to 3G. And, frankly, MOST of the time I am either at work or at home, and in both cases I have wi-fi. Though, frankly, wherever I have wi-fi I usually have a laptop or a pc, so i wouldn't be using my phone to browse.

remember, though, that 3G coverage (even on the EVDO networks) is not universal, and where it does exist it often won't work in interior offices, etc. So if you can't get 3G service, wi-fi is great to have. And the at&t hsdpa network is not in nearly as many places as sprint, so wi-fi is even more important.

I think the main reason they left out 3G is that the chips just aren't there (even ignoring the broadcom/qualcomm ITC ban on imports). HSDPA chips are not nearly as mature as EDGE chips at this point. The coverage thing cited by Jobs is probably a red herring; a 3G phone can drop down to 2G when no 3G is available.

 

[nyc_rock]

battery: yeah, a year for me too, i'm thinking, since i'll charge every night probably (unless battery life is significantly better than i'm guessing).

wi-fi: for me, i'm still on a 2G network (treo 650 - cdma). So i won't experience much pain on edge since i'm not used to 3G. And, frankly, MOST of the time I am either at work or at home, and in both cases I have wi-fi. Though, frankly, wherever I have wi-fi I usually have a laptop or a pc, so i wouldn't be using my phone to browse.

remember, though, that 3G coverage (even on the EVDO networks) is not universal, and where it does exist it often won't work in interior offices, etc. So if you can't get 3G service, wi-fi is great to have. And the at&t hsdpa network is not in nearly as many places as sprint, so wi-fi is even more important.

I think the main reason they left out 3G is that the chips just aren't there (even ignoring the broadcom/qualcomm ITC ban on imports). HSDPA chips are not nearly as mature as EDGE chips at this point. The coverage thing cited by Jobs is probably a red herring; a 3G phone can drop down to 2G when no 3G is available.

3G coverage is not universal, correct, and especially on At&t its spotty at best. further making the carrier decision baffling. But I travel for a living and I can tell you that my Treo WX gets EVDO in every city I travel too. On verizon, its very well established.

 

[nyc_rock]

The battery thing is baffling and something they'll have to change IMO. Your points about a phone getting heavier usage than an iPod are correct, given that the iPod is in the unit as well the battery is going to be caned on a daily basis.

Windows Mobile 5. I cannot believe the amount of people considering using this buggy, half-finished rubbish over on the TC forums. Had a TyTyn for a year after using a Treo 600 and it was awful, still have a year of my contract to go but was so pssed off with the phone and OS that I dropped 280 quid on an unlocked 680. Bliss compared to WM5, not perfect but so, so, so much better.

Im on WM5 I can report its solid as a rock on my WX. Im actually amazed and just how well it perfoms.

 

[Malatesta]

battery: yeah, a year for me too, i'm thinking, since i'll charge every night probably (unless battery life is significantly better than i'm guessing).

wi-fi: for me, i'm still on a 2G network (treo 650 - cdma). So i won't experience much pain on edge since i'm not used to 3G.
.

But you might, the browser on your Treo is optimized for mobile sites and uses less data to view a web site e.g. you are DL'ing the entire web page. On the iPhone you are.

 

[cmaier]

That argument makes no sense. You can still go to mobile websites on an iphone. I'm sure I'll be making lots of use of mobile.nytimes.com, mobile.fandango.com, etc.

 

[dgoodisi]

3G coverage is not universal, correct, and especially on At&t its spotty at best. further making the carrier decision baffling. But I travel for a living and I can tell you that my Treo WX gets EVDO in every city I travel too. On verizon, its very well established.

I have had EVDO with Sprint on 2 devices, one also had WiFi. With 3G EVDO I saw absolutely no reason to bother with WiFi.

Also, I use my network connection from my car (Google Maps with GPS rocks), from a soccer field, from an airport; i.e. no WiFi available. The idea that WiFi is a suitable alternative to good WLAN is ridiculous.

 

[Malatesta]

That argument makes no sense. You can still go to mobile websites on an iphone. I'm sure I'll be making lots of use of mobile.nytimes.com, mobile.fandango.com, etc.

You're daft.

If you go to those sites on a "real" browser like Safari, it auto-redirects you to the full site. Try it.

 

[cmaier]

i just did. some do and some don't redirect.

mobile.fandango.com does not
mobile.nytimes.com does

etc.

If there is a way to disable javascript on the iphone then you can disable the redirections i just saw (since they are on the client end, not the server end, it looks like)

 

[cmaier]

I have had EVDO with Sprint on 2 devices, one also had WiFi. With 3G EVDO I saw absolutely no reason to bother with WiFi.

Also, I use my network connection from my car (Google Maps with GPS rocks), from a soccer field, from an airport; i.e. no WiFi available. The idea that WiFi is a suitable alternative to good WLAN is ridiculous.

I have a sprint evdo card for my laptop. I happen to live in an area with coverage, so it's fine, but when i travel its hit or miss, depending, of course, on where i go. And in my office building, in my window office it's fine, but when i'm in some of the interior conference rooms my speeds go way down.

I'm not suggesting wi-fi is an alternative. I'm saying the ideal situation is both 3G AND wi-fi, particularly if they can switch seemlessly based on signal strength (something that apple seems to have gotten down with 2G, supposedly)

 

[morningstar1844#IM]

1) No removable battery-I dont care about this in terms of swapping batteries on a daily basis. What bothers me is that within two years, your Iphone will need to be shipped back to apple for a new battery? does apple not realize that people cant just lose thier cell phones for a week? This point alone will prevent me from getting the iphone.

2) No A2DP-This apple is supposed to be the most advanced music device on the planet. Well, ok, then how can it leave off this feature? Especially with 2.0 on board? I am sure you guys agree that once you use wireless stereo its tough to go back.

3) No 3G-Steve Jobs totally ran from this questions when asked by Walt Mossberg. To me, this is just horrific. A device as advanced as the Iphone and it doesnt have 3G? this may very well be the most perplexing decision of all.

I guess this is what version 1. I just think this device could have taken over the world had it addressed these three points. I might have even considered getting one.

MAYBE THEY ARE LEARNING FROM ****PALM**** ON HOW TO IRRITATE THE CONSUMER;
it's true no AD2P and lack of 3g is inexuseable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[morningstar1844#IM]

1) No removable battery-I dont care about this in terms of swapping batteries on a daily basis. What bothers me is that within two years, your Iphone will need to be shipped back to apple for a new battery? does apple not realize that people cant just lose thier cell phones for a week? This point alone will prevent me from getting the iphone.

2) No A2DP-This apple is supposed to be the most advanced music device on the planet. Well, ok, then how can it leave off this feature? Especially with 2.0 on board? I am sure you guys agree that once you use wireless stereo its tough to go back.

3) No 3G-Steve Jobs totally ran from this questions when asked by Walt Mossberg. To me, this is just horrific. A device as advanced as the Iphone and it doesnt have 3G? this may very well be the most perplexing decision of all.

I guess this is what version 1. I just think this device could have taken over the world had it addressed these three points. I might have even considered getting one.

1.I would have needed CDMA
2. device based applications, I need access to medical based applications and in hospitals signal strength is not good.
Who knows what will happen in 5 years, our circuits will be inplanted in our brains.