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iPhone Deserves Worship? iWish!

egadfly

egadfly

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 22, 2007
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18701-w150h150.jpg


[the following is from a blog entry by Eric Brandt]

here 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!

the rest of this article is here
 
This person says that they havn't tried one and even if they went down to a store with one on display they could find out that the typing is not hard at all I'm not going to bother to read the rest, because his opinoin isn't very valid if he hasn't at least looked at a display model which costs nothing to do.
 
Never mind that the poster of this has a total of 3 posts on the site - two in reference to the author of this cut and paste FUD and one promoting sling box over AppleTV - nice trolling.
 
the smoke ain't in my eyes

I gotta say, mrkramer....

I found every one of Eric's points thoughtprovoking and largely valid.

I have typed on the iphone -- and can't imagine using this as my main phone or as a way to enter data.

It is pretty, it is slick, it has some wild innovations, but I agree with the blog note: it is just not a great phone.

the phone I already have just does the basic stuff better.
 
egadfly said:
I gotta say, mrkramer....

I found every one of Eric's points thoughtprovoking and largely valid.

I have typed on the iphone -- and can't imagine using this as my main phone or as a way to enter data.

It is pretty, it is slick, it has some wild innovations, but I agree with the blog note: it is just not a great phone.

the phone I already have just does the basic stuff better.
Click to expand...

What Apple say about typing is true: once you learn to trust the software, it's incredibly fast. Watch the video clip about the keyboard on the iPhone website, and you'll see that it's thinking and adjusting the keyboard all the time, you just don't see what it's doing (because you don't need to). I can punch out texts and emails like crazy because I don't need to look at the message to see if it's got any typos.

More attention is required when entering proper nouns and such, but this is not a problem given the speed increase allowed for the bulk of your typing by the smart keyboard.
 
rayward said:
No: 1.Home > 2.Phone > 3.Favorites/Recents > 4.Call

Next?
Click to expand...

Are you honestly telling me that you found this an elegantly designed telephone interface? or that it is as quick and convenient as the mono-purpose clamshell phones?

If you are someone who answers calls and makes them all day long -- are you really telling me that this phone won't get on your nerves?

honestly? After the sexy aura wears off?

"after the debauchery comes the blues." (Karl Marx)
 
egadfly said:
I have typed on the iphone -- and can't imagine using this as my main phone or as a way to enter data.
Click to expand...

Well when I typed on it, I am not a fast typist on a regular keyboard, but I was typing about as fast as on a regular keyboard, and I'm sure if it was my main phone I would get faster quickly since that was after just a few minutes.
 
Typing on the iPhone is much, much faster than text entry on a regular phone. Or a phone with a qwerty keyboard, come to that. Until you've tried it, don't criticize, unless you're merely a troll. But we both know the answer to that, don't we?
 
yes, and no

its obvious an example of apple style: for what it can do, it does extremely well; for what it can't do.... did i say "it can't do it"?

so its a problem of target user base. for those who only need functions provided by apple, iphone absolutely deserves worship. of courses, if you neen more, you shouldn't have bought iphone in the first place
 
My thoughts on that Top Ten list

1. I never even think about it. And I don't notice smudges on the screen 90% of the time. When I do, I wipe it clean. Easy.

2. Trivial.

3. iphone.bejive.com

4. Yes, in most cases. Not always.

5. True. But so what?

6. True. For now.

7. There were games on my old phone? Who knew? If I want to kill time, I'll watch a movie or a music video, or a TV show, or...

8. True. Again, so what?

9. There are no implications that I know of for not having a removable battery. I never once replaced the battery in my PEBL. I just, uh, charged it.

10. My iPhone costs me $20 more a month than the service I had prior to activating it. So the net incremental cost to me is $480. Well worth it.

11. Do these people expect me to go "OMG!! How could I have been so stupid to have bought an iPhone [slaps forehead]" Idiots.
 
egadfly said:
Are you honestly telling me that you found this an elegantly designed telephone interface? or that it is as quick and convenient as the mono-purpose clamshell phones?

If you are someone who answers calls and makes them all day long -- are you really telling me that this phone won't get on your nerves?

honestly? After the sexy aura wears off?

"after the debauchery comes the blues." (Karl Marx)
Click to expand...

Why do you think the "sexy stuff" will wear off? Having full internet and email in my pocket; Google maps that can tell me how good or bad my drive home will be, even though I know where I'm going; full contacts and calendar, so I can dump my PDA; an iPod so that I can leave my old one at home and carry only one device instead of 3 (and 1 charger instead of 3); threaded SMS texting so that I know which question a random response applies to.

All of this is what I have an iPhone for. Having to make one extra keystroke for a phone call is nothing compared to being able to check-in online while stuck in a cab in traffic, let alone all the advantages for me listed above. It may not be as quick as a mono-purpose clamshell, but that's the whole point: it's way more than just a phone!
 
Who cares how many steps it takes to make a call? I like flicking and picking as well as watching all of the fun animations and transitions.

So much better than pressing a number button on my razr then pressing another one multiple times to get to the right contact.
 
iphoneluver said:
Who cares how many steps it takes to make a call? I like flicking and picking as well as watching all of the fun animations and transitions.

So much better than pressing a number button on my razr then pressing another one multiple times to get to the right contact.
Click to expand...

This is the fallacy in the argument that it takes too many keystrokes to make a call. Regular cellphone users end up using their recent lists as the phone book because actually finding a contact takes too long. With the iPhone, you hit the initial letter, flick, touch, touch and bingo...you're calling them.

Also, try looking up a restaurant on a clamshell, let alone getting their website and having the phone turn the address and phone number into clickable links that open a Google map or call the restaurant. There's no number of keystrokes to achieve that on any other phone, clamshell, smart or otherwise!
 
rayward said:
Also, try looking up a restaurant on a clamshell, let alone getting their website and having the phone turn the address and phone number into clickable links that open a Google map or call the restaurant. There's no number of keystrokes to achieve that on any other phone, clamshell, smart or otherwise!
Click to expand...

I did that yesterday, for the first time, for real (meaning not just demoing the thing to someone). Looked up a restaurant with Maps, got the phone number, called the number. Exactly like the iPhone commercial.

In fact, I was humming the music from the commercial in my head as I did it. That was a little disturbing! Does anyone else hear the music in their head while they use their iPhone...or is it just me? :D
 
defeated said:
nobody cares about how many steps it takes to place a call? i don't think so
Click to expand...

The actual process of making a call (a few taps and swipes) is quite easy, and even pleasurable. The only thing that may be faster on a standard phone is calling someone right back (usually entails just hitting the call button twice; on iphone, you have to actually go to your recents). Practically all other calling functions are less of a chore on the iPhone. The fast software and innovative interface make navigating through contacts very intuitive and efficient. It can all be done one handed just like most other handsets.
 
egadfly said:
18701-w150h150.jpg


[the following is from a blog entry by Eric Brandt]

here is one (only one!) downside to being an iSkeptic: I can't report on the iPhone from direct PERSONAL experience.... [quote truncated cause it's too long]
Click to expand...

Yes, the phone is worse than the best non-iPhone on the market. We give. Really. Uncle!

I dream of sending MMS messages and downloading 3rd party apps!

Thank goodness for people like Mr. Brandt who can remove the wool from my eyes and let me see what a poor choice I made.

I cannot admit it though, because I had to buy an iPhone to keep my membership in the cool kids club.

How many confirmed returns do we need before people like this Mr. Brandt can crawl back under his rock?
 
egadfly said:
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"?
Click to expand...

It takes as little as 3, including unlocking (which, most non-flip phones would need anyway). So, let's say 1- unlock 2- touch fav and it dials. If you leave phone fav as the last thing you did, it'll be there when the phone unlocks. Otherwise, unlock, phone, fav, make call. It takes about as long as the delay when you press and hold a RAZR speed-dial number.

AT&T - not the greatest, at times. Mostly fine. I used to be with Verizon. Same thing. There are good and bad signal area in any system. A case of "grass is always greener..."

The screen is glossy glass. Yes, it smears. It doesn't interfere with the screen. You usually can't even see a trace of the smear when the screen is on. I wipe it off - just like I did after using my RAZR.

I can type with very little practice at over 20 WPM. For phone numbers, it has a virtual standard phone keypad.

Punction: touch and hold the "punc keyboard button" and slide over to the period, comma or whatever. Release and it returns to the alpha keyboard.

Finally - go try it yourself. There are a lot of pseudo-reviews by those who like to create issues out of non-issues, or flat out mis-inform.

It's not perfect, but it is so far beyond anything else in the industry, the imperfections are easy for most to live with. It will only improve with time.
 
rayward said:
This is the fallacy in the argument that it takes too many keystrokes to make a call. Regular cellphone users end up using their recent lists as the phone book because actually finding a contact takes too long. With the iPhone, you hit the initial letter, flick, touch, touch and bingo...you're calling them.

Also, try looking up a restaurant on a clamshell, let alone getting their website and having the phone turn the address and phone number into clickable links that open a Google map or call the restaurant. There's no number of keystrokes to achieve that on any other phone, clamshell, smart or otherwise!
Click to expand...

Lol.

Apple users are truly kids when it comes to technology.

You think Google Maps was first on the iPhone? Or what you said first to be done on an iPhone? I have been doing that with my Treo 755p since release.

OH BUT WAIT, you can turn it SIDEWAYS!

lol
 
EnderTW said:
Lol.

Apple users are truly kids when it comes to technology.

You think Google Maps was first on the iPhone? Or what you said first to be done on an iPhone? I have been doing that with my Treo 755p since release.

OH BUT WAIT, you can turn it SIDEWAYS!

lol
Click to expand...

I, for one, take offense with your first statement. But, I'll just let it go at that.

Anyway, about Maps (since it was your example): Sure. I could do it on my Palm T|X, too. Or, if I waited for eternity, on my RAZR. That doesn't mean it was particularly nice. You also make the assumption that every iPhone customer was a potential Treo (or other "smartphone") customer. You might not notice, but those do have a level of complexity a lot of people don't want to or can't deal with.
 
gr8tfly said:
I, for one, take offense with your first statement. But, I'll just let it go at that.

Anyway, about Maps (since it was your example): Sure. I could do it on my Palm T|X, too. Or, if I waited for eternity, on my RAZR. That doesn't mean it was particularly nice. You also make the assumption that every iPhone customer was a potential Treo (or other "smartphone") customer. You might not notice, but those do have a level of complexity a lot of people don't want to or can't deal with.
Click to expand...

you're missing the point entirely.

His perspective is the only one that counts.

And since he could do it on his Treo, obviously it invalidates the experiences of people who like their iPhones just fine.
 
Sobe said:
you're missing the point entirely.

His perspective is the only one that counts.

And since he could do it on his Treo, obviously it invalidates the experiences of people who like their iPhones just fine.
Click to expand...

Not true.

I am an open minded individual, unlike a lot of people here.

It is simply LIES to say that the iPhone is the only phone capable of using google maps the way he said he used it.

I agree, other phones do not have the same intuitive GUI but other phones offer the same "image resolutions / features" that the GMaps on iphone have.

I too wasn't aware of this till when I had the iphone, at is during this time I started researching other options.
 
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