The iPhone Reply

After using my father’s iPhone, I’m ready to give a reply to my initial comments and questions:

1. Network. The EDGE Network is acceptable, but a little slow.
2. Battery. Battery life is short, to say the least, but not as bad as some smartphones. Using the WiFi capability really decreases battery life.
3. Screen. Apple surprised all of us with a glass screen that won’t seem to scratch no matter what you do to it. It gets really greasy, but a quick wipe on the shirt takes care of it. I am very impressed.
4. Camera. Odd it doesn’t do video, but it takes nicer pictures than my RAZR.
5. Platform. Ok, the web apps thing was a joke. Saying you can use Safari to write apps just doesn’t quite cut it. How can developers take advantage of the iPhone’s memory? Still, some cool apps have been written and hackers are hard at work to get at this device.
6. Storage. No wonder Apple has sold 8gb versions almost exclusively. I would wait for the 16gb v2.0. Don’t expect to get much more than the three Pirates of the Caribbean movies on it.
7. Ringtones. Probably the biggest shock of all. You mean I can have 5,000 songs on my iPhone and not be able to use a single one as a ringtone. This feature has to be soon in coming.
8. iTunes. Still odd there is no music store, but it’s not a big deal.
9. Syncing. This has wifi. WiFi syncing would be a neat feature, but the dock is quite nice anyway.
10. Pricing. I maintain the price is very fair. People forget that the RAZR, which is almost given away these days, was up in the $500 range when it came out. The iPhone will fall in price later, most likely.
11. Design. Everybody is copying Apple. This is changing the way we think about phones.

Like what almost everyone says, the iPhone is almost perfect, with a few oddities and frustrations. I wouldn’t count on Microsoft Exchange support. This wasn’t meant to be a business device, much like Apple mocks PCs for not doing fun stuff too in their ads. The iPhone is, today, for the consumer with some disposable income who wants the best phone on the market. Don’t expect perfection, but do expect fun, functionality, and a great conversation starter with your friends.