I just want to create a Pros and Cons list for this device. I don't consider myself an expert on Smartphone, but I have owned a couple Smartphones, so I do have some knowledge regarding these devices. I will list several pros and cons with a critique for each.
Lets start with the Pros:
1) "Reinventing the Phone". So Apple has a glorified way of making phone calls. Is it really the "killer app" he claims what plagues all mobile phones (Smartphones in particular) today? Well, my Cingular 8525 does not look spiffy when placing a call, but it does get the job done. I'm not sure how iPhones new way of housing contacts and such is any different from any current contacting software in today's mobile phones.
2) The "Multi-touch" technology. Again, I have not done super extensive research on all phones and such, but I have not seen a mobile phone (any mobile device rather) with this type of precision control. This is one of the revolutionary features Apple hopes will place the phone on the map. Will it really?
3) "Real web Browser via Safari". Now all the mobile web browsing experience I have had with my Smartphone have always ended up as a , "well it kind of looks like a web page". I can only hope that the page I am visiting has a "mobile" or "go" version so that I can view it properly. Networking connectivity speeds aside, it sounds like a promising upgrade. While capped at only EDGE speeds, will it really deliver however? I know MS is working on a way of doing the same thing, but viewing the web pages as bit maps. Maybe Windows Mobile has something up there sleeve coming the next Windows Mobile 6, or soon after.
4) "It's a touchable widescreen iPod video". I don't know about you, but I'm sure if Apple only made this an iPod and dropped the price to around $300 - $400, people would buy it left and right. How much was the original iPod video, around $250-$300? But then again, this device can only house up to 8gig storage. Perhaps if they were going to just make it into an iPod, they would probably just add a hard disk. So why dont they now? I think it has to do with power consumption, and that Apple wants this thing to last as long as reasonably possible. After all, it is a phone with a cool iPod built into it. My only question is, what is the primary usage of this device? A phone, or an iPod? Are you going to buy it because it is a phone that also happens to be a iPod, or a touchable iPod that can also make phone calls?
And now the Cons:
1) Versatility. The iPhone is not versatile. That has always been the case with all of Apples products. The ability to change the product in a whim to meet the customers needs. However, what good is the ability to change into something you want, that cant deliver a reasonable functional product. That seems to have been Microsofts plague. Since I got my Cingular 8525, I have had a lot system crashes (ahem, a mobile phone having system crashes ), freezes and just some weird stuff. Granted, this is not a day by day thing, however it leads to one curious conclusion as to how stable is this thing? Do I really want to keep adding to this thing more and more gadgets, apps, whatever to a flakey system? I understand that Cingular 8525 is really Pocket PC with a WinMO 5 stamped on it, but doesnt that sound just sound lazy? I dont know, maybe I just want a system that was built from the ground up and can do what it is supposed to do well. Is that too much to ask for?
2) WiFi + EDGE Networking. Ok, so this version of the iPhone will not have 3G. Ok, what difference will I (as the customer) see? That is really hard to tell without an actual model to play with. So the phone will not have the fancy 3G fireball thing right next to it. I just care about what I will actually see. My older smartphone(not my current 8525) was only a GPRS phone, not even EDGE, and I thought it was adequate at looking at whatever mobile web pages I could find. I pretty much just used my data connection phone for e-mail and looking at CNET (oh, and the occasional movie time look up). I suppose that if you are the heavy mobile phone streaming type, that would really suck.
According to WikiPedia:
EDGE can carry data speeds up to 236.8 kbit/s for 4 timeslots (theoretical maximum is 473.6 kbit/s for 8 timeslots) in packet mode and will therefore meet the International Telecommunications Union's requirement for a 3G network, and has been accepted by the ITU as part of the IMT-2000 family of 3G standards. It also enhances the circuit data mode called HSCSD, increasing the data rate of this service.
The iPhone cannot be called a 3G mobile device because EDGE is not classified as a 3G technology, that is why they call it 2.5G or even 2.75 G, but does that mean we wont see speeds that can somewhat approach 3G speeds? It is known that Apple is working very closely to AT&T, so perhaps they can find a way to bend the rules as it were. An unconventional phone using a conventional technology unconventionally? Who knows.
3) Qwerty touch screen keyboard. I was not sure whether to place this on the pro or con. Apple says it is a huge Pro, while others (including Engadget) say that it is Con. For consistency, Ill place it on the Con. So I kind of imagined myself typing in a screen with the same dimensions as the iPhone to sort of determine if I like it better or not. One point that Steve says is the fact that the keyboard is not present, as is the case as all other keyboard phones (virtually all phones really). With most PDA/smartphones out there, almost half the device is the keyboard. Prime examples would be the Moto Q and Blackjack. My Cingular 8525, however, has a hidden keyboard that does not really impede on the screen. However I have to constantly open it when I want to type in something, and that has been a hassle. Not to mention sometimes it would crash the PDA if I do it too often (why?).
A reason why consumers may not like the QWERTY keyboard is because there will be no tactile feedback. Personally, Im not too sure about this one. I kind of like not have a feedback while typing, it makes typing feel more free. There is no way to really know until it is played when the iPhone is released.
Conclusion
There are many more features, or lack thereof to write about, however I have to attend to my RL duties. The base question is is this a good purchase? and Who is the consumer base for this product?. At $600, it better deliver what was promised. I believe the iPod of the iPhone will deliver, and I have no doubt that it will be spectacular. I would gauge the iPod of this phone to be around $350, so now there is the other $250. It is a very pretty, and user-friendly phone. With phones like the Motorola RAZR selling for around $500 ($300 with contract)during its initial release, it is easy to say that the iPhone may be worth buying. With the iPhone, you get this very slick phone (perhaps not as slick as the RAZR, but close
), and with many of the bells & whistles as all the other hip modern phones.
Anyways, that is just my take on it. After doing some research, I think I will get this thing. It has everything that I like about a phone. It may not have the thousands of other capabilities that smartphones have, but who really uses all of it?
Lets start with the Pros:
1) "Reinventing the Phone". So Apple has a glorified way of making phone calls. Is it really the "killer app" he claims what plagues all mobile phones (Smartphones in particular) today? Well, my Cingular 8525 does not look spiffy when placing a call, but it does get the job done. I'm not sure how iPhones new way of housing contacts and such is any different from any current contacting software in today's mobile phones.
2) The "Multi-touch" technology. Again, I have not done super extensive research on all phones and such, but I have not seen a mobile phone (any mobile device rather) with this type of precision control. This is one of the revolutionary features Apple hopes will place the phone on the map. Will it really?
3) "Real web Browser via Safari". Now all the mobile web browsing experience I have had with my Smartphone have always ended up as a , "well it kind of looks like a web page". I can only hope that the page I am visiting has a "mobile" or "go" version so that I can view it properly. Networking connectivity speeds aside, it sounds like a promising upgrade. While capped at only EDGE speeds, will it really deliver however? I know MS is working on a way of doing the same thing, but viewing the web pages as bit maps. Maybe Windows Mobile has something up there sleeve coming the next Windows Mobile 6, or soon after.
4) "It's a touchable widescreen iPod video". I don't know about you, but I'm sure if Apple only made this an iPod and dropped the price to around $300 - $400, people would buy it left and right. How much was the original iPod video, around $250-$300? But then again, this device can only house up to 8gig storage. Perhaps if they were going to just make it into an iPod, they would probably just add a hard disk. So why dont they now? I think it has to do with power consumption, and that Apple wants this thing to last as long as reasonably possible. After all, it is a phone with a cool iPod built into it. My only question is, what is the primary usage of this device? A phone, or an iPod? Are you going to buy it because it is a phone that also happens to be a iPod, or a touchable iPod that can also make phone calls?
And now the Cons:
1) Versatility. The iPhone is not versatile. That has always been the case with all of Apples products. The ability to change the product in a whim to meet the customers needs. However, what good is the ability to change into something you want, that cant deliver a reasonable functional product. That seems to have been Microsofts plague. Since I got my Cingular 8525, I have had a lot system crashes (ahem, a mobile phone having system crashes ), freezes and just some weird stuff. Granted, this is not a day by day thing, however it leads to one curious conclusion as to how stable is this thing? Do I really want to keep adding to this thing more and more gadgets, apps, whatever to a flakey system? I understand that Cingular 8525 is really Pocket PC with a WinMO 5 stamped on it, but doesnt that sound just sound lazy? I dont know, maybe I just want a system that was built from the ground up and can do what it is supposed to do well. Is that too much to ask for?
2) WiFi + EDGE Networking. Ok, so this version of the iPhone will not have 3G. Ok, what difference will I (as the customer) see? That is really hard to tell without an actual model to play with. So the phone will not have the fancy 3G fireball thing right next to it. I just care about what I will actually see. My older smartphone(not my current 8525) was only a GPRS phone, not even EDGE, and I thought it was adequate at looking at whatever mobile web pages I could find. I pretty much just used my data connection phone for e-mail and looking at CNET (oh, and the occasional movie time look up). I suppose that if you are the heavy mobile phone streaming type, that would really suck.
According to WikiPedia:
EDGE can carry data speeds up to 236.8 kbit/s for 4 timeslots (theoretical maximum is 473.6 kbit/s for 8 timeslots) in packet mode and will therefore meet the International Telecommunications Union's requirement for a 3G network, and has been accepted by the ITU as part of the IMT-2000 family of 3G standards. It also enhances the circuit data mode called HSCSD, increasing the data rate of this service.
The iPhone cannot be called a 3G mobile device because EDGE is not classified as a 3G technology, that is why they call it 2.5G or even 2.75 G, but does that mean we wont see speeds that can somewhat approach 3G speeds? It is known that Apple is working very closely to AT&T, so perhaps they can find a way to bend the rules as it were. An unconventional phone using a conventional technology unconventionally? Who knows.
3) Qwerty touch screen keyboard. I was not sure whether to place this on the pro or con. Apple says it is a huge Pro, while others (including Engadget) say that it is Con. For consistency, Ill place it on the Con. So I kind of imagined myself typing in a screen with the same dimensions as the iPhone to sort of determine if I like it better or not. One point that Steve says is the fact that the keyboard is not present, as is the case as all other keyboard phones (virtually all phones really). With most PDA/smartphones out there, almost half the device is the keyboard. Prime examples would be the Moto Q and Blackjack. My Cingular 8525, however, has a hidden keyboard that does not really impede on the screen. However I have to constantly open it when I want to type in something, and that has been a hassle. Not to mention sometimes it would crash the PDA if I do it too often (why?).
A reason why consumers may not like the QWERTY keyboard is because there will be no tactile feedback. Personally, Im not too sure about this one. I kind of like not have a feedback while typing, it makes typing feel more free. There is no way to really know until it is played when the iPhone is released.
Conclusion
There are many more features, or lack thereof to write about, however I have to attend to my RL duties. The base question is is this a good purchase? and Who is the consumer base for this product?. At $600, it better deliver what was promised. I believe the iPod of the iPhone will deliver, and I have no doubt that it will be spectacular. I would gauge the iPod of this phone to be around $350, so now there is the other $250. It is a very pretty, and user-friendly phone. With phones like the Motorola RAZR selling for around $500 ($300 with contract)during its initial release, it is easy to say that the iPhone may be worth buying. With the iPhone, you get this very slick phone (perhaps not as slick as the RAZR, but close
), and with many of the bells & whistles as all the other hip modern phones.Anyways, that is just my take on it. After doing some research, I think I will get this thing. It has everything that I like about a phone. It may not have the thousands of other capabilities that smartphones have, but who really uses all of it?
