Wow...i am so disappointed

[bluesman87]

So i stood in line for two hours on launch day and got my hopes up that this toy would live up to the hype, and i am sorely disappointed. I am blown away by the fanboy response here and how people are overlooking the simplest things that are wrong with this thing. First, safari is pathetic. No saving documents, no flash and it CRASHES all of the time. You can't listen to the ipod and surf because it crashes constantly. The iPod is decent, but it constantly has problems deciphering whether its in landscape mode or not and i feel like when i am walking around with it i have to hold it a certain way so it doesn't go into coverflow. The headphone jack is ****ing pathetic as well! Why is it recessed? None of my headphones work with it, and the belkin adapter is large and inconvenient. The call quality is decent, but so low that people are constantly tell me that they cant hear me, and i have to hold it a certain way. The mail app and the phone itself seem to be the only usable and reliable programs. The wifi on mine does not connect to some routers, and my answer from the people is that it all depends on the router and how it is set up. Come the **** on! Apple says its not a watered down and i laugh historically at this, as that is exactly what it is. Edge is a smack in the face, and unless you are using low bandwidth websites like facebook or macrumors, it takes FOREVER to load. The widgets are elementary and quite laughable in my opinion. The phone function is the only thing that seems to be without problem, and I can't even begin to tell you how 'un-apple' this thing feels to me. I had the original iPod, and remember plugging it into my iBook and everything loaded and i unplugged it and that was it. I had to download software, and figure out how to load my media onto the device because it does not do drag and drop. If apple really was testing this thing for 5-6 months, I am blown away that they did not catch some of this ****. Either they did and are playing the business card and waiting to update it to continue sales, but for those of us that are out half a grand are stuck with a buggy piece. I am also blown away by the fanboy support of this. People are defending it like its near perfect, and it is far from it.

 

[DiamondMac]

Actually think Safari is quite good on this phone and most of the programs are quite well put into the phone.

Battery life is the only aspect of the phone that I consider "bad" but besides that, I don't agree with anything else you have said.

 

[AHDuke99]

i agree with some of your complaints .. but i am willing to give apple some time to get the kinks worked out in the OS before i write it off. as it stands, it's still a revolutionary device that has the potential to be almost divine. the volume is low, i hope they fix it, as many people say they cant hear me and the speaker phone is almost useless. i want ichat desperately, and yes, safari crashes on certain sites. i sometimes have to restart the phone. but, OS X was pretty unstable when it was first released, and i will give apple time on this. after the first update, we will see how apple responds to some of the problem.

Actually think Safari is quite good on this phone and most of the programs are quite well put into the phone.

Battery life is the only aspect of the phone that I consider "bad" but besides that, I don't agree with anything else you have said.

actually the battery is quite good for what the phone does and the hardware it's powering. surfing the net does drain it fast, but listening to the ipod or talking rarely effects it. it seems just internet is what does it.

 

[sethypoo]

You have an interesting point of view. If the phone really is crashing as frequently as you say it is, I would definitely call Apple and complain. You may have a lemon or a defective phone.

I played around with an iPhone in an Apple Store last week, and found it to be one of more "Apple-y" Apple products I have ever used. Its interface alone makes it worth the cost of admission, IMHO.

Good luck with your new purchase, I hope you can work your problems out.

 

[mashoutposse]

Safari blows away all of the other mobile browsers. Safari and email are the two big reasons why I'm absolutely in love with this thing.

 

[The General]

When I saw that your post contained the word "fanboy" I stopped reading it.

Get some credibility, don't insult the readers.

 

[buymeaniphone]

No first generation smart phone has ever been perfect on release. Maybe everybody is over hyping it, but still give it some time, most of the problems you mentioned could be fixed with a simple update and there are rumors that some other issues like flash and drag and drop will be added shortly. So you'll have to either be patient and give apple a chance to fix some bugs, or sell it on ebay and buy a Treo.

 

[skubish]

Wow you should send it in to Apple because I am not having those problems with Safari and the iPod function.

 

[damado]

I haven't noticed any crashing on mine. I do wish it had GPS and UMTS but I already wish battery life was longer and those two features wouldn't help things. I'd also like something larger than 8 gigs, but it's not that big of a deal. All the other features such as saving etc I don't really use. Diff people have diff needs and uses and for me it works perfectly so far.

The EDGE speed also seems pretty good to me in Miami, FL.

There is another headphone adapter besides the belkin one that's made by apple and is a lot nicer (and smaller) but it costs twice as much. I just modded mine to use better earbuds though since I wanted the mic/mute functionality.

Oh, I do wish the speaker was louder...almost unusable for me outside of a silent room.

 

[mullman]

WOW, coming from a Treo and then a Blackberry (and I have a family member with a Blackjack) I cannot see how anyone could complain about the iPhone's Safari web experience. The iPhone provides such a better web experience than either of the others I mentioned it is not even comparable. Out of the three the iPhone is really the only one usable.

The integrated Google Maps is pure genius - the speed is faster than my hardwired desktops.

Have not had one crash in a week, so I cannot comment on that.

Save pages? It is a phone, not a laptop.

I have been in NC and SC this week and Edge routinely returns 165-185 kbps on the tests I have run. MUCH better than my Pearl (which I just gave away).

Besides all that I am averaging about two days between charges which is OK for the functionality I am getting.

I will give you the non standard headphone jack complaint - I concur that is frustrating since I have about $400 in various headphones that will not work with the iPhone.

All in all, still I would say it is $599 well spent and I would do it again, oh I did, bought the wife one.

 

[damado]

At least no one is complaining about dust under the screen

I remember that was a huge issue with a lot of people with some phones and even cameras I have/used to have.

 

[mullman]

At least no one is complaining about dust under the screen

I remember that was a huge issue with a lot of people with some phones and even cameras I have/used to have.

Jury is still out on that!
My Razrs and Pearl had dust under the screen within a month - so time will tell.

 

[marksman]

I am on a business trip to scout some real estate. The iPhone between Google maps, safari and the rest has saved me a ridiculous amount of time, energy and money. Eight days out it has paid for itself.

 

[gr8tfly]

I've had Safari crash a few times and just relaunch and pick up where I left off. Very minor and not totally unexpected. There's no way a developer can predict all the possible ways an application will be used. Sometimes, they just show up when a product is released to the "wild". I'm not worried the slightest these stability issues won't be addressed in future updates (most likely, near future). It's not even to 1.0.1.

The headphone jack is a bit of an inconvenience, but I'd rather have the more robust design. From what can be seen from the take-apart pictures, it looks like the main reason is to provide strain-relief for the jack itself. If you push the plug side-ways, it will put most of the pressure against the case, not the jack. I could be wrong, but it looks like the most logical reason. I bet there were LOTS of heated design reviews before they settled on something that needed an adapter. There's no way they would expect the iPhone to NOT be used with 3rd party headphones/headsets (like, Bose?), so I doubt they came to the decision easily.

Hope you can get past these issues and enjoy your iPhone. It's an amazing engineering achievement. Worse case, you can always return it...

There is another headphone adapter besides the belkin one that's made by apple and is a lot nicer (and smaller) but it costs twice as much.

off topic, but, Apple headphone/set adapter? Link? The only other one I've seen is Griffen's. (I modded a RadioShack "Y" adapter to use until I get a commercial one).

 

[toneloco2881]

I agree with some of the OP complaints as well. Seeing that the majority can be solved through software updates, I'm willing to give Apple the benefit of the doubt; as getting the iPhone out the door on time was surely a huge undertaking. With that being said, Safari does crash on me more than I would like. It's been reproducible on every iPhone I've used, by playing music and surfing the web at the same time.

I also wish Apple gave the user the option an whether the accelerometer automatically corrected the orientation. I like to surf with my iPhone in bed at night, and it's annoying trying to hold the iPhone perfectly upright to maintain a vertical view for some webpages. Same thing for the iPod app. This type of functionality is great for "when" you need it but exceedingly frustrating when you don't.

 

[coffey7]

How dare you say a bad word about an apple product. Nothing apple ever does is wrong. What no flash videos. Well you should just boycott those sites. Now go and buy 3 more and keep your negative and mean spirited comments to yourself. Just kidding.

 

[mullman]

I also wish Apple gave the user the option an whether the accelerometer automatically corrected the orientation. I like to surf with my iPhone in bed at night, and it's annoying ...

I concur, but look how far things have come.
You are able to lay in bed, and cruise the net on your wifi (or neighbor's unprotected network, ect) on something no bigger than your hand with a gorgeous 160 dpi screen.
Life is good

Hopefully software updates will enable a cutoff.

 

[sigamy]

So i stood in line for two hours on launch day and got my hopes up that this toy would live up to the hype, and i am sorely disappointed. I am blown away by the fanboy response here and how people are overlooking the simplest things that are wrong with this thing. First, safari is pathetic. No saving documents, no flash and it CRASHES all of the time.

No flash? that was widely known before release. Also, there was absolutely no mention of the ability to save documents, so it was a reasonable assumption that it would not be supported. Why did you wait in line on launch day an not know these basic functional capabilities of the device?

You can't listen to the ipod and surf because it crashes constantly. The iPod is decent, but it constantly has problems deciphering whether its in landscape mode or not and i feel like when i am walking around with it i have to hold it a certain way so it doesn't go into coverflow. The headphone jack is ****ing pathetic as well! Why is it recessed? None of my headphones work with it, and the belkin adapter is large and inconvenient.

Good point on the headphone jack. Stupid decision by Apple. Safari and iPod should not crash. It could be the sites you are visiting. I know they say the "full internet" but you have to give it some time. Does this happen on EDGE or WiFi? Give us more details and we can help.

As for it switching modes--do you have a case on the iPhone? I saw this behavoir when I had a heavy leather case on the phone. It seemed to be confusing things. I've switched cases.

The call quality is decent, but so low that people are constantly tell me that they cant hear me, and i have to hold it a certain way. The mail app and the phone itself seem to be the only usable and reliable programs. The wifi on mine does not connect to some routers, and my answer from the people is that it all depends on the router and how it is set up. Come the **** on! Apple says its not a watered down and i laugh historically at this, as that is exactly what it is. Edge is a smack in the face, and unless you are using low bandwidth websites like facebook or macrumors, it takes FOREVER to load. The widgets are elementary and quite laughable in my opinion. The phone function is the only thing that seems to be without problem, and I can't even begin to tell you how 'un-apple' this thing feels to me. I had the original iPod, and remember plugging it into my iBook and everything loaded and i unplugged it and that was it. I had to download software, and figure out how to load my media onto the device because it does not do drag and drop.

Again, we all knew the device had EDGE well before release. There were reviews that it was slow. Why did you still buy the iPhone? Did you not believe the reviews? Same with the widgets. Did you not watch the intro video or the keynote? How do you decide to stand in line, spend $500-$600 but not know the features and capabilites of the thing?

As for routers. There is some talk that the iPhone is not doing a good job when WEP is on. This will be fixed in the first software update.

As others have said, maybe take it to Apple and have them check it out. You can also restart the iPhone that has helped many people. Keep track of what web sites you visit. It could be that one or two have some bad javascript or something that is causing Safari and the iPod to crash.

I hope you work it out. It is a great device. It does everything advertised. Yes, it is a 1.0 and there are issues. But I trust that Apple will send us software updates to help with many of these issues.

 

[toneloco2881]

I concur, but look how far things have come.
You are able to lay in bed, and cruise the net on your wifi (or neighbor's unprotected network, ect) to your heart's content. Life is good

Hopefully software updates will enable a cutoff

Absolutely! The iPhone's Pros far outweigh the cons. If this was any other device I'm not sure if I would have even been annoyed, as I wouldn't expect nearly as great an experience otherwise.

 

[gr8tfly]

I also wish Apple gave the user the option an whether the accelerometer automatically corrected the orientation. I like to surf with my iPhone in bed at night, and it's annoying trying to hold the iPhone perfectly upright to maintain a vertical view for some webpages. Same thing for the iPod app. This type of functionality is great for "when" you need it but exceedingly frustrating when you don't.

Mine's totally stable - and will sense orientation down to about 30-40 degrees to the horizontal. Beyond that, it will stick in whatever orientation it was last in (my wife's and a friends work this way way, too). You shouldn't need to hold it anywhere near vertical. Might be worth a trip to the Genius Bar.

edit: oh, just occurred to me you might be holding it inverted. Yes, it does seem to ignore rotation beyond about 30-40 degrees past vertical, while inverted (screen down). It wouldn't work well in the ISS either.... I can see where a cutoff option might be useable in some cases

 

[Madame Defarge]

iPhone karma

No where in their promotions, or users manuals, does it say that phones may not fully charge or completely run down with 5 hours with normal usage. Or that Safari routinely crashes, or that you can't listen to the iPod function and surf the web at the same time. they don't talk about phone freezes or not being able to answer a call. They don't talk about a barely audible volume.

A lot of the people who bought the 1st generation, really had their hearts set on the ultimate Apple experience. Many, probably don't have a lot of money throw around. While their faith in this product is touching, Apple putting out a defective product is not.

Here's the link to the iPhone support page. The issues are too numerous to mention. They had to know these problems existed and yet they launched anyway, for a profit of $150 million dollars, in one week.

http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1139

If these problems as as widespread as they seem to be, Apple may have hurt it's reputation beyond repair, especially with those who are buying an Apple product for the first time, or only have an iPod. iPhone issues could very well blow back on the company. Some of you may be willing to tolerate a phone with lots of issues, but a lot of people will be turned off.

The vision was fantastic and hype was huge, the execution seems to run from OK to unacceptable. The battery not charging, being the worst.

BTW, I've been using Apple computers for 15 years, own 2 right now and own an iPod and a shuffle. While I can never see myself buying a PC, I don't think it's healthy to let Apple get away with a defective product either.

 

[doyouknowv]

...and this is why you don't buy a 1 Gen apple product.

 

[DiamondMac]

actually the battery is quite good for what the phone does and the hardware it's powering. surfing the net does drain it fast, but listening to the ipod or talking rarely effects it. it seems just internet is what does it.

Nothing about the battery is "good" to me though I understand people saying it is good for what it does in terms of functions.

I understood when I bought the phone that it was NOT something that would last me days while browsing the net.

But I also don't think it is too much to ask for a phone to stay juiced from 9am-5pm while using it on/off during the day for internet/email/texting.

I don't use or put any music on mine.

 

[gr8tfly]

edit:

No where in their promotions, or users manuals, does it say that phones may not fully charge or completely run down with 5 hours with normal usage. Or that Safari routinely crashes, or that you can't listen to the iPod function and surf the web at the same time. they don't talk about phone freezes or not being able to answer a call. They don't talk about a barely audible volume.

A lot of the people who bought the 1st generation, really had their hearts set on the ultimate Apple experience. Many, probably don't have a lot of money throw around. While their faith in this product is touching, Apple putting out a defective product is not.

Here's the link to the iPhone support page. The issues are too numerous to mention. They had to know these problems existed and yet they launched anyway, for a profit of $150 million dollars, in one week.

http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1139

If these problems as as widespread as they seem to be, Apple may have hurt it's reputation beyond repair, especially with those who are buying an Apple product for the first time, or only have an iPod. iPhone issues could very well blow back on the company. Some of you may be willing to tolerate a phone with lots of issues, but a lot of people will be turned off.

The vision was fantastic and hype was huge, the execution seems to run from OK to unacceptable. The battery not charging, being the worst.

BTW, I've been using Apple computers for 15 years, own 2 right now and own an iPod and a shuffle. While I can never see myself buying a PC, I don't think it's healthy to let Apple get away with a defective product either.

Sure, there are some issues. They are minor. 99% of the functionality they sold is there. Forums ALWAYS contain bad news - very few people post over how well a product is performing. Considering they most likely sold over 700,000 phones by now, even a few hundred (mostly anecdotal reports) is pretty insignificant. At this point in time, there's nothing to indicate a major design or manufacturing flaw.

 

[Abraxsis]

A lot of the people who bought the 1st generation, really had their hearts set on the ultimate Apple experience. Many, probably don't have a lot of money throw around. While their faith in this product is touching, Apple putting out a defective product is not.

Class this ends the our regularly scheduled after-school special about what happens when people are early adopters and don't realize that new stuff is generally buggy. Oh and be sure wear condoms and stuff, unless it's a new style that's just been released ... then YMMV.