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Some people have been writing about the iPhone, and there are complaints as expected with any new device (or old for that matter). So I decided to write about them, and show what's really behind all this.
Price is the thing that hits you first when getting a new tech toy (unless, of course, you recieve the device as a gift). So it's not surprising that people don't like the price of the iPhone. I don't think it's too bad, especially considering that it's a widescreen iPod, and the price will likely come down. However, it's not going to be so fast. The iPhone isn't even going to be around for a few months, so if you're willing to wait, it's going to be a long time if you don't think the price is right.
The actual name is a problem, although not for us. For the lovely name "iPhone", they happened to pick a name that existed already and is owned by Cisco for already 6 years. That's before the iPod was released. Well, for one thing Apple isn't likely to let the name go. They're probably going to do what it takes, even if this means bribing Cisco. Anyway, I think this whole "i" prefix thing has run its course. It's over. Find a new naming system, or another company will. It's called Innovation.
Another thing that hits consumers hard is Apple's FairPlay Digital Rights Management, which is present in the iPhone just like the iPod. Although people seemed to accept the iPod fairly well, it seems to be a dirty trick that Apple's doing right now by forcing you to buy an iPod/iPhone if you want to play your songs on a device, and forcing you to buy from the iTunes store if you want to play songs on your iPod/iPhone. You could call it a lose-lose situation for some. Apple again claims it's not their fault, and that "the record labels forced them to do it". Well, obviously they were forced to apply some sort of DRM scheme to the songs, but certainly they could open up this technology to other companies?
Lastly, the iPhone isn't going to be released until June. Steve Jobs says it's "because of the FCC". Not entirely dissimilar to new operating systems that Apple releases, there's a huge display of it to get the media all worked up. This is actually interesting, since Apple has the reputation of being a secretive company. But lately, we've seen the iTV (now simply called the "Apple TV") and a number of Macs being announced far ahead of schedule. I'm not entirely sure about this latest practice of Apple's; it's sort of like having presents and not unwrapping them until the right moment. Spoiling the surprise takes away from the fun.
So does this mean that the iPhone is going to be a failure. Probably not. But it'll be interesting to see how Apple eventually reacts to these problems in the long run.
Some new videos over at apple.com
http://www.apple.com/iphone/usingiphone/activation_large.html
http://www.apple.com/iphone/usingiphone/guidedtour.html
http://www.apple.com/iphone/easysetup/getready.html
It's coming June 29th in the USA at 6pm!
http://www.apple.com/iphone/buy/
There's no memory-card slot, no chat program, no voice dialing. You can't install new programs from anyone but Apple; other companies can create only iPhone-tailored mini-programs on the Web. The browser can't handle Java or Flash, which deprives you of millions of Web videos.
The 2-megapixel camera takes great photos, provided the subject is motionless and well lighted, but it can't capture video. And you can't send picture messages to other cell phones.
Apple says that the battery starts to lose capacity after 300 or 400 charges. Eventually, you'll have to send the phone to Apple for battery replacement, much as you do now with an iPod, for a fee.
Then there's the small matter of typing. Tapping the skinny little virtual keys on the screen is frustrating, especially at first.
Two things make the job tolerable. First, some very smart software offers to complete words for you, and, when you tap the wrong letter, figures out what word you intended. In both cases, tapping the Space bar accepts its suggestion.
Second, the instructional leaflet encourages you to "trust" the keyboard (or, as a product manager jokingly put it, to "use the Force"). It works; once you stop stressing about each individual letter and just plow ahead, speed and accuracy pick up considerably.
Even so, text entry is not the iPhone's strong suit. The BlackBerry won't be going away anytime soon.
The bigger problem is the AT&T network. In a Consumer Reports study, AT&T's signal ranked either last or second to last in 19 out of 20 major cities. My tests in five states bear this out. If Verizon's slogan is, "Can you hear me now?" AT&T's should be, "I'm losing you."
Then there's the Internet problem. When you're in a Wi-Fi hot spot, going online is fast and satisfying.
But otherwise, you have to use AT&T's ancient EDGE cellular network, which is excruciatingly slow. The New York Times' home page takes 55 seconds to appear; Amazon.com, 100 seconds; Yahoo, two minutes. You almost ache for a dial-up modem.
These drawbacks may be deal-killers for some people. On the other hand, both the iPhone and its network will improve. Apple points out that unlike other cell phones, this one can and will be enhanced with free software updates. A future iPhone model will be able to exploit AT&T's newer, much faster data network, which is now available in 160 cities.
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