IT'S ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE. ALWAYS.
I've had my iPhone for two weeks now. I got it in Des Moines, Iowa, halfway on our journey to west virginia. My wife suggested that there would be fewer people clamoring for it in the heartland than on the coasts. She was right. less than 18 hours after it's launched it only took two phone calls to find a store in Des Moines that had one in stock. And it was right off of I-80. No muss. No Fuss. No waiting in line. So far so good. :) So let's talk a bit about my experience with it.
The apple side of it is actually brilliant. The online process was flawless. The idea that you can activate your phone at home, or in my case, on the road, is very cool. Unfortunately, the complexities of switching my current phone number from Sprint, to my AT&T account, which was a data card account was too much for the folks at AT&T. The phone activated in minutes, so I've been able to call out and use all of it's features from day 1. However, when they switched my phone number, they switched it to the data card. Why? Even they can't answer that. Let's just say that this is a bad thing. It invalidated both Sim cards and I was forced to spend hours on the phone with AT&T trying to figure out why it happened and then drive 71 miles to the closest AT&T store in Washington, PA to get two new SIM cards. (I could go into details that would curl your hair.) As a result, I was four days without anyone being able to call my cell phone. I've not been alone in activation woes. I have to believe some of it was simply overload.
Set up was a breeze.
How easy was it? I don't remember doing it. That's how easy it was. The sync is done via iTunes and all of my Mail apps just configured themselves without me doing anything but selecting them. I didn't have to mess with my information at all, it all just ported perfectly first time. I was up and running in literally minutes.
It's a lot tougher than it looks.
If any of you remember the flack Apple got over some of their iPod models being easy to scatch, you wont' have to worry about that with the iPhone. From my own personal experience, it feels tough and seems very tough. I've put it in my pocket with keys and it comes out without a hint of a scratch. But don't take my word for it. I'm a Mac lover. PCWorld has tried its own stress tests on the iPhone (Video). They put the iPhone through some rigorous Scratch Tests and Drop Tests and even the PC guys were impressed. So, I'm happy about it's toughness.
Photo quality is pretty darn good... for a phone.
Unless you're in low light or the subject is moving. In general, the camera is good. You need good light and you have to hold it still. It's more subject to blurring from movement of your hand than a standard digital camera today. But I've been getting good results. I've taken over 200 photos with it so far and most of them have been acceptable. Some of them have been excellent. I could talk on about it, but it's best to show you some examples.
Here's are two photos of my breakfast at Jerry's in Grafton, West Virginia. Both were taken without flash, with just the restaurant's indoor lighting. The one on the left is taken with the Kodak v705, the one on the right is the iPhone. There is noticeable color cast in the iPhone photo. This can be removed in Photoshop or at Picnik.com.
However, I have noticed some random color inconsistency from photo to photo. Here's an example. Both photos were taken using the iphone. They were taken within 10 minutes of each other. They are of the same home at Prickett's Fort in Fairmont, West Virginia. Notice the color difference. The one of the right is more accurate. So I would doulbe check photos against each other before moving on, if you're using this to shoot a property.
But I have made some great panos with it.
Why you shouldn't buy it.
- AT&T’s EDGE data network. Let's just say it's slow and not go into adjective overload. This wouldn't be so obvious on this phone if it weren't for the fact that the Safari browser allows you to see the "real internet." So, you get everything... even people's poorly sized photos. (Yeah, I'm talking to you Ferenzi!)
- Can’t record video. I can actually live without this in a cell phone, but why leave it out? It has a huge hard drive and the camera is giving you live preview of what you're seeing anyway. Just capture it for goodness sake.
- Can't photo blog with it. Why? No MMS. Why no MMS support? There are some good reasons posted here, but I'm missing the point. Teresa Boardman does some great photo blogging at All T All Day. But she couldn't do it with the iPhone, because Blogger requires MMS. I consider this a major oversight. There should at least be the option to send via MMS when you wish.
Why you should buy it.
- It's the real Internet. Despite everything I said above about AT&T's slow cellular network, you can still use a wifi connection most places you'd be sitting long enough to surf the web. You're not surfing the web while driving. And with this phone, you can actually surf the web. In addition, this will be the integration point for third-party applications.
- The software. It's running a version of OSX. Why is this important? Because most of the issues I point out that would be reasons NOT to buy it can be fixed with software upgrades. And they're going to happen. Flash support is a perfect example. Adobe will have a flash plugin for this phone. Guaranteed. When they do... wow! is all I can say.
- Visual voicemail. I hate wading through voicemail. The ability to see who called and go directly to what I think is most urgent, without listening to 5 or 6 other calls first... that's worth the price of admission for me. Right now the iPhone is the only phone that comes with this fully integrated. There is a solution for non iPhone users, however. It's called SimulSays.
- WIFI. This is not a common feature on cell phones. Only three or four phones support WIFI, so it's a benefit that can't be overlooked. For me, this nullifies the AT&T Edge speed issue. As I said above, if I'm in a place where I have time to be surfing the web a great deal, I'm likely near a WIFI connection. And the iPhone makes connecting to a WIFI hotspot ridiculously simple.
- It's a joy to use. It's rare when something looks and acts just like the commercials you see, but this one does. The animations, quick response to touch, fast screen redraw... it's all just part of a unique experience that can't be explained. You have to touch it. But be careful, it's hard not to like it once you do.
Things that just bug me.
- No voice recognition or voice dialing. I consider this one a minor issue, but I just don't understand why it's not there. This is arguably the most robust cell phone operating system in existence and it doesn't do voice dialing?
- No way to copy/paste text. I'm just going to say, "are you kidding?" Why give me the real Internet if you're not going to allow me to copy and paste? This is one of those simple things that simply can't be an oversight. So, I'm left to believe they made a conscious decision to leave it out. I just can't figure out why.
- No Adobe Flash support. OK, so most phones don't have it, what's the big deal. Well, it almost defeats purpose of “real internet in your pocket” if there is no flash support. Flash is ubiquitous. Leaving it out is just stupid.
- Screen doesn't rotate in SMS and Email. The fact that the screen can sense when you rotate is great. It's particularly handy when you need to type, because the keyboard is larger and it fits in two hands better. But when do you need that most? When you're typing an email or text message! They gotta fix that one.
Things that I love for no good reason.
- The way things animate into the trash. It made me smile the first time I saw it and it still does.
- Flipping through photos and other stuff with a swipe of my finger. Yeah, arrow keys work fine, but this is way more fun.
- Resizing everything with my fingers. It's just intuitive and simple. And it's incredibly responsive.
Would I buy it again?
You bet I would. I'd do it without hesitation. Even if I had to go through the activation pain again. Why? Because of the user experience. It's easy and fun to use. And because it's easy and fun to use, I will actually use it.
I'm not afraid of technology and I didn't use half the features on my last phone because it was just too hard. And it wasn't even a "smart" phone. The iPhone is about the experience, not the technology. If you compare feature sets, it will often come up short. I don't care. What good are more features if you won't use them because they're too hard?
My recommendation?
Wait. Unless you're at or near the end of your cell phone contract, then don't wait. If you're at or near the end of your current cell phone contract and you need a new phone... go to an AT&T store or an Apple Store and play with it yourself. Pick it up, touch it, make a phone call, take a photo. Surf the web. Check out your ActiveRain page. See for yourself how simple and elegant it is to use. Easy is better.
Now... for the most exhaustive, detailed, step-by-step review of the iPhone you're going to find anywhere, check out this iPhone review at ARS Technica.
Jeff Turner
;)
;)
Jeff - Sounds like - as with most new tech releases - version 2 or 3 may be the one to wait for. Great review - thanks for detailing the plusses and minuses.