Biggest iPhone disappointment

[dbpaddler]

Personally....I'd never buy an iPhone or an iPod. I have bought iPods for others because I know they need the sheer simplicity of it over other features. I've used Macs and with them finally using multi button mice, they're pretty good. Could never stand that single button all the way back to my Mac Plus in college.

I could care less about bashing the iPhone and praising anything else. It has its good points and its bad points. Is it revolutionary? I'll say it is to the point where it just may kick the other manufacturers in the *** which I think is sorely needed seeing all the crap that is out there in the market. I like some of the nice features it has and would like to see them incorporated in other smartphones. I think if they keep it crippled, other companies will have a chance to catch up really quick and only improve on products that are already better than the iPhone in some ways. This industry is not the DAP industry, and they will not have the lions share of the market to the point where they almost dictate it or drive it.

 

[AnteL0pe]

I think many people are trying to compare the iPhone to a smartphone which isn't fair. The iPhone isn't a smartphone and it isn't meant to be.

 

[braj]

I think many people are trying to compare the iPhone to a smartphone which isn't fair. The iPhone isn't a smartphone and it isn't meant to be.

The thing is it is a travesty really: imagine what an awesome device the iPhone could be if you could extend the functionality with 3rd party apps? It just seems really neutered to me

 

[dbpaddler]

the iPod is crippled also. It's the way they do things. So many features and codec support that can be found on other devices. The philosophy carries over.

And even though it's not considered a smartphone, it does have quite a few smartphone functions, but it lacks some of the basic smartphone functions we've all taken for granted with Palm and WM. So of course if you want to like the device you find it frustrtating. If you're coming from anything but a smartphone, you're probably fairly happy, well, unless you can't even connect the thing from the get go.

The thing is it is a travesty really: imagine what an awesome device the iPhone could be if you could extend the functionality with 3rd party apps? It just seems really neutered to me

 

[AnteL0pe]

I think you're just looking at it from a "glass is half empty" point of view. Apple never intended to take on the smartphones, it's like looking at a harley and saying "it's so neutered, just think what it could have been had they made it a hummer." It's meant to be a phone, a phone that is better than any other phone, one that takes what most other phones already do and do it leaps and bounds better. This is exactly what it does, it just so happens that it does some of these things so much better than any phone that it also outdoes most smartphones.

 

[CountBuggula]

I think many people are trying to compare the iPhone to a smartphone which isn't fair. The iPhone isn't a smartphone and it isn't meant to be.

Exactly. It's an extremely high priced Feature Phone and granted those features are darn purdy but plenty of us are still looking for a good smartphone. I wouldn't mind some of those innovative UI features creeping into the smartphone market too, now that they've set the bar. But those of us who still need a smartphone will be looking elsewhere for awhile.

 

[silverado]

[...]
I've got my calendar, email, contacts, and notes, just as I did on my Treos.

How did you get the notes in there? My notes weren't imported from Outlook.

Thanks.

 

[MacUser]

I respectfully disagree. Stable, accessible, and impervious to assault mean a whole lot more than "closed". They mean a machine that works beautifully and reliably and without any availability to hijacking by a 17 year old goth in Germany.

In an analagous way, I'm totally okay with Audi having some say about how the integrity of the A8 they designed and built is maintained over time. It works so magnificently, so much better than any other car I see on the market for so many meaningful real-world purposes -- performance, safety, UI(!), aesthetics -- that I (quite reasonably, I think) am willing to forego another 150 short term horsepower. Yeah, I know what wicked automotive performance is about, I've had 400 hp in a 1900 lb car. And I've had the headache of staying on top of it all the time. Fun? Lots. But over time? Gimme 360 hp, 4WD, the safest crash-worthiness in the industry, the most beautiful cabin this side of a Bentley.

Very, very true.

 

[ohbw]

How did you get the notes in there? My notes weren't imported from Outlook.

Thanks.

I'm just using the Notes program that comes on the iPhone. I create a new Note for whatever -- Books to Buy, Projects, Restaurants in SF, Crucial Numbers (mileage programs, disguised passwords, etc). It's not really a business app for me, just odds and ends I'd forget otherwise.

I don't know what notes in Outlook are. Never used it. I'm guessing something more elaborate.

 

[ohbw]

And even though it's not considered a smartphone, it does have quite a few smartphone functions, but it lacks some of the basic smartphone functions we've all taken for granted with Palm and WM. So of course if you want to like the device you find it frustrtating. If you're coming from anything but a smartphone, you're probably fairly happy, well, unless you can't even connect the thing from the get go.

I've been using Palm Treos for 7 years! And the iPhone is doing everything I want it to do. It wasn't designed to be in the pocket of a pharmaceutical salesman, sure. But it's a damn smart phone.

 

[MacUser]

Well today in an ATT store, I observed a few big disappointments. Three people came in and wanted to walk out with an iPhone and they were sold out. I gave one of them the phone number for the closest Apple store and they were sold out as well. I was nice enough to show them mine and give them a quick review...

They were still very disappointed they couldn't get one. How's that rate?

 

[Kupe#WP]

Great review of the iPhone from Engadget at this link. The conclusions were:

It's easy to see the device is extraordinarily simple to use for such a full-featured phone and media player. Apple makes creating the spartan, simplified UI look oh so easy -- but we know it's not, and the devil's always in the details when it comes to portables. To date no one's made a phone that does so much with so little, and despite the numerous foibles of the iPhone's gesture-based touchscreen interface, the learning curve is surprisingly low. It's totally clear that with the iPhone, Apple raised the bar not only for the cellphone, but for portable media players and multifunction convergence devices in general.

But getting things done with the iPhone isn't easy, and anyone looking for a productivity device will probably need to look on. Its browser falls pretty short of the "internet in your pocket" claims Apple's made, and even though it's still easily the most advanced mobile browser on the market, its constant crashing doesn't exactly seal the deal. The iPhone's Mail app -- from its myriad missing features to its un-integrated POP mail experience to its obsolete method of accessing your Gmail -- makes email on the iPhone a huge chore at best.

For us, the most interesting thing about the iPhone is its genesis and position in the market. Apple somehow managed to convince one of the most conservative wireless carriers in the world, AT&T (then Cingular), not only to buy into its device sight-unseen, but to readjust its whole philosophy of how a device and carrier should work together (as evidenced by the radically modernized and personalized activation process). Only a few days after launch it's easy to see June 29th as a watershed moment that crystalized the fact that consumers will pay more for a device that does more -- and treats them like a human being, not a cellphone engineer. Imagine that.

But is the iPhone worth the two year contract with the oft-maligned AT&T and its steep price of admission? Hopefully we gave you enough information about the iPhone's every detail to make an informed decision -- despite the iPhone's many shortcomings, we suspect the answer for countless consumers will be a resounding yes.

(Underlining added for emphasis) All-in-all a balanced review. Convinced me that for my uses, the iPhone is not quite ready, but for a large number of folks, it is a good fit.

 

[ohbw]

I'm 3-1/2 days into my iPhone. I've been power-using the browser and haven't crashed it (or any app) once. I've gotten instant and reliable push email from two different sources since I first synced the phone. And I can't remember ever buying a new Treo without being asked to sign on for two years.

My one problem in 3-1/2 days? I couldn't re-record my voicemail greeting when I wanted to. Called Apple, got a tech in 3 minutes (on Saturday evening, while they were in the middle of selling a half million phones!), got an answer in 30 seconds. Turned phone off. Turned phone back on. End of problem.

Would I change a few things? Yeah. Will Apple change a few things? Of course. (They just won't spend months declaring that there IS no problem, as Palm did with my 680).

Use the device, and find out for yourself. I think it's a quantum leap.

 

[InfiniteWill#IM]

Let's not exagerate

I've been using Palm Treos for 7 years! And the iPhone is doing everything I want it to do. It wasn't designed to be in the pocket of a pharmaceutical salesman, sure. But it's a damn smart phone.

That's pretty amazing since the first Treo, the Treo 180 was announced in October '01 and released in Feb '02, five (and a half) years ago.

 

[ohbw]

That's pretty amazing since the first Treo, the Treo 180 was announced in October '01 and released in Feb '02, five (and a half) years ago.

My brain got scrambled from trying to keep track of all the software downloads, battery problems, and round-robin tech support calls to Palm and the 37 software vendors it took to keep my Treos functioning. Mea culpa.

 

[dstrauss#IM]

I think many people are trying to compare the iPhone to a smartphone which isn't fair. The iPhone isn't a smartphone and it isn't meant to be.

This one bothers me because I've seen it again and again at many different sites. It was JOBS, not the press, that compared it to the Moto Q, Blackberry, Palm Treo, and Nokia smartphones in his keynote. There is no escaping the smartphone tag. Not that it is all bad, because it looks like a successful product. But you can't dodge the comparison.

 

[AnteL0pe]

just because steve says something doesnt make it so. Its widely accepted in the tech press that the iphone is not a smartphone.

 

[CountBuggula]

This one bothers me because I've seen it again and again at many different sites. It was JOBS, not the press, that compared it to the Moto Q, Blackberry, Palm Treo, and Nokia smartphones in his keynote. There is no escaping the smartphone tag. Not that it is all bad, because it looks like a successful product. But you can't dodge the comparison.

IMO, it's got the same problem the Foleo does (looks like a laptop, priced like a laptop, but...isn't a laptop?). The iPhone looks like a smartphone, is priced like (more than) a smartphone, but we're not supposed to compare it to a smartphone because it's a feature phone. And then we get into the discussion of "well, it's a good idea, if only the price came down from $600 to under $200..."

Wow...the similarities are striking.

 

[mikec#IM]

After reading the Engadget review, it looks like email functions are worse than expected.

The more I learn about this, the more I want to wait until rev 2 (but I still have to admit, it's slick.)

The other thing is I took a "snapshot" of my task in a day that I do on my Treo (no audio or video entertainment, just good old "work" stuff" - email, calendar, todo, messaging, etc..)

When I compared the list to the iPhone, I realized that I take a lot of stuff for granted on the Treo 700wx. It was eye-opening.

 

[ohbw]

Seems smart to me!

I just spent two hours waiting for someone in a doctor's office. I browsed the web almost continuously (on a full web page, not some stilted mobile version, and using my full set of bookmarks, which the iPhone grabbed from my Macbook Pro the first time I synced it), sent and received emails, made and received calls, made adjustments to my calendar, ordered a bluetooth headset for my iPhone over the web, sent photos of a recent trip to Italy to about thirty people, made some notes about a book project I'm working on, created a Google map and driving instructions for a friend of mine from Chicago who wants nice roads between there and Steamboat Springs, and sent it to him (while saving it on my iPhone just in case he loses it).
Oh yeah, I watched part of a movie on YouTube, too.

Not a hitch in any of it, and the web speed was as fast as my cable modem at home.

And boy did I have fun doing it.

And my battery was at about 85% when I hit the street, after two hours of nonstop use.

Golly but this phone seems smart to me.