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Walt Mossberg Reviews the iPhone
WSJdpatton writes "Walt Mossberg tested the iPhone for two weeks, in multiple usage scenarios, in cities across the US. His verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is on balance a beautiful and breakthrough hand-held computer. Its software especially sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry, and its clever finger-touch interface, which dispenses with a stylus and most buttons, works well, though the lack of physical buttons can be a hindrance." Digital Daily has a roundup of early iPhone reviews.
I'm as big an Apple Fanboy as any, but the daily iPhone woodies from the editors is even making ME puke. Please guys, lay off the Kool-Aide!
All pass beyond reach of medicine. None pass beyond the reach of love.
Seriously, did anyone expect Mossberg to write anything else? He's been cheering Apple since before I can remember. I think he has the logo tatoo'd on his keaster!
This is my sig.
This is a serious question. I know my face tends to be a bit on the oily side and the littlest bit of grime on my fingers will leave a nice blotch on the screen.. I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone else mention this for the iphone. It's also a major PITA when I let people borrow my phone, then I have to wipe their face sludge off my phone. the Iphone looks like one giant magnet for grime.
So, it seems as though those people who have actually *used* it seem to *like* it. Unlike the majority of stories, posts, blogs, etc. etc. we've seen recently.
I've lost track of just how many uninformed iPhone-hater pieces I've seen over the last week. Of course, most of that is just blog-spam, and to get more clicks, you just say something controversial... As always, follow the money - then you can make a more-informed decision as to whether the opinion being espoused is worth anything.
Oh, and always ignore anything Dvorak or Enderle say...
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
You know, this thing is cute and it does lots of wiz-bang stuff. So do all of these "smart phones" out there.
But what I would pay money for (not this much) is a phone I could sit on, get soaking wet with sweat (it's 95 degrees with >70% humidity here), drop on concrete, etc... and still have the thing work.
I, and most folks I know, need a phone to do two things: Make phone calls and survive my day.
my $0.02
More of the same. The more I hear about the iPhone, the more I realize it's completely useless for my purposes. No real expandability, no real messaging applications, no real improvement from even phones such as the sidekick. Add a lack of ability to serve as a data modem and being tied to a crappy provider, and I would have to say no thanks.
Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses
Where?
Look at what Apple's been releasing, and you can see why he reviews them well. I don't care if you don't like the company, their products have been outstanding over the last couple of years -
As far as I can see, he's called all those pretty well.
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
Lots of us use touch screen interfaces every day without shedding tears. Why would this be different?
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
While Apple may have gotten things mostly right, they'll refine things and any problems will be well documented by the time the second gen rolls around.
While my old flip phone may not be super sexy, it will work until Apple gets all the bugs hammered out. Maybe by Christmas or this time next year I'll have one, but until then.
"The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
That's really interesting. You know what? There are already phones for your type out there. They've been out there forever.
But your type has been bitching and groaning since forever about what you would not buy. Great, we understand. Now go away or stfu and let us enjoy our gadgets.
From all I've gleaned from being at WWDC, reading the reviews, and sorting through the punditry, the most common negative themes seem to be these:
-The AT&T EDGE network sucks
-The iPhone ignores some key smartphone features (vid capture, SMS/MMS, etc.)
-The price
-No Flash support for browser
-No SDK for third-party developers (boo/hiss!)
Some of the surprises were:
-The battery life is close to the advertised numbers (well, more than expected anyways)
-The virtual keypad is actually useable but it takes a little getting used to "using the Force"
-The multi-touch thing works as advertised
-the Safari web browser lives up to the hype
-The WiFi is actually pretty good
-The iPod part kicks ass (except if you want to use it with 3rd party headphones or in your car's iPod dock)
My own opinion as a "Mac Professional" and Smartphone addict:
-If you want one, wait for rev 2--as you should with all Apple products
-If you don't want an iPhone but like some of the technology, your preferred phone will be getting updates, too
-It will be nice to merge two more devices that go with me everywhere--my smartphone and my iPod.
-The price is a bit high, but I think the market will bear it for now and the price will go down by Q4
-The missing features people are bitching about will come--some of them anyways
-An SDK will appear after Leopard is launched
-The entire market will benefit by the iPhone--and the tech will get cheaper
I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
I think this is a feature. I HATE dealing with morons on cell phones while driving. Most people have enough trouble navigating a 4000lb piece of equipment without the extra interference of a damn cell phone. If you need to make a call pull over to the side of the road, complete your call, resume driving and pay attention to the road. BTW, I was almost sideswiped by an idiot on a cell phone today.
In the car? You're not. You're supposed to keep your concentration on the road and the traffic where it belongs.
All these idiots yapping on their cellphones while they're driving make driving a lot more hazardous for the few of us left who actually know what we're doing.
Is that cellphone call so important that someone's gonna die if you don't take it? No? Then shut the fuck up and drive, because if you don't someone may well die because of your idiotic phone call.
Use 'slashdot stuff' in the subject line in any email you send me if you want to get past the spam filter.
I started working on a "Mac" when it was called a Lisa. I subsequently owned many (actual) Macs and wrote software for the OS professionally (6.x, 7.x, 8.x). Okay, I'm now a Windows user (got tired of the fight...and frankly, XP is just fine)...so I am not a basher...nor am I a fan boy.
:-) ...and I do...all the time. Games, JVMs, new browsers, whatever I want...from thousands of freeware and commercial titles.
Me? I'm not buying it. Sure, the external looks are great...sexy even...as are the visual bells and whistles in the UI...but features? They just are not there for me. Not even close.
Visual voice mail is neat. I'm sure the iPod also has some other exclusive neat tricks in there...but I have a year-old Treo that does what the iPhone does and more...for $200. Start with the overlap:
- Email
- Web browser
- MP3 player
- Phone
- Addresses
- Videos
- Camera
- Google maps with integrated calling
- SMS
- MS Office compatibility (iPod?)
and a range of other similar functions. Don't bother critiquing the individual Treo apps, because unlike the iPod, I can replace them with other apps. For example, the new version of Opera Mini provides the same means to view an entire web page and zoom in. There are dozens of replacement apps for any one of the above functions.
Now let's look at some core features of the Treo that the iPod lacks:
- Multiple carriers
- High-speed 3G network
- SD card slot...for essentially infinite on-the-go storage for MP3s et al.
- Numerous hard buttons to immediately get to the phone, MP3 player, or another app...and they are all programmable
- Can record video
- Has a GLOBAL find function
- CUT & PASTE (between apps)
- IM
- Tactile sensation on keyboard for typing...or for dialing
and perhaps the most important feature:
I CAN ADD APPLICATIONS TO IT
Yes, Walt claims that he finds the onscreen keyboard to be acceptable...but any Treo user can dial on the screen or on the keypad...and almost everyone I know dials on the keypad when they aren't selecting an existing contact. The actual keyboard and 5-way nav key allow you to use the phone when you aren't staring right at the screen. Yes, we shouldn't dial while we are driving, but we do, and you can do it without looking while using a Treo.
Hey, the iPod raises the bar...by a large amount...and the screen is 50% larger than that of a Palm-based Treo (320x480 instead of 320x320)...but a $600 phone that is not expandable and is only offered by one carrier with a two-year lock-in? One to which you cannot add software (outside of...ahem...AJAX-based apps)? How about one that claims to be a smart phone killer yet lacks basic features like cut & paste and global find? Yes, it has wifi. Great. So do many phones.
No, this is a beauty competition. I applaud apple for getting into the market and raising the bar, but I just cannot see how someone thinks this unit is worth the expense compared to other competing devices. I suppose techno lust is powerful...and form often wins out over function. Me? I'll wait a year or two and see what the next versions can do...and how the competition responds.
Your mileage may vary.
$0.02
"I'm not surprised people like it, actually I'd be more surprised if people didn't like it."
Actually, to me that's the hallmark of successful design: Invoke passion. Make something that some people love and that some people hate and you'll have a market.
Too many companies design by committee and focus groups to the point where the end result is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. Others seemingly design by comparison chart, cramming in feature after feature, and often for no more reason than to fill in the blanks.
The later approach also seems to be favored by commentators here on Slashdot. But by walking a mental checklist of missing features, they also miss what it does do. And by all accounts, does to the point of elegance.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
I don't own any Apple products, but I've been using touchscreen devices since I bought a Palm Pilot 1000 back in '96. I've owned several smartphones with various OSs on them and have a Windows based touchscreen smartphone now.
I'll cheerfully say every smartphone I've owned has been an annoying piece of crap, mitigated only by being better than having to carry both a PDA and a phone. I'll reserve judgement on the iPhone's annoyance level until I've used one, but I can confidently assert that smeary marks on a touchscreen pales into insignificance compared to many other moronic design decisions foisted on buyers.
Even if I never own an iPhone, I'm very pleased to see Apple competing in the market. Hopefully they'll raise the bar for all smartphones.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Ah yes observing the passenger's body language definitely increases the safety factor :)
Why not fork?
That seems quite odd considering that the iPhone doubles as an iPod.
Also necessary gaps in conversation with someone in the car to concentrate on the road is to be expected expected. Where as someone on the phone wants your immediate attention.
No, I don't want an iPhone: I think it's underpowered and overpriced. But the release of the iPhone will hopefully cause other manufacturers to make thinner phones with nicer screens and better user interfaces.
It's the defining characteristic of the iPod, and Apple says the iPhone is "our best iPod yet." So where did that clickwheel go? Good column on this here
Presumably a 'ringtones' section will soon be appearing in the iTunes store.
I know. I do whatever it takes to keep my concentration on driving. If I have to tell a passenger to shut up, that's what I do.
Handsfree is probably better than nothing, but it's still a major distraction. The person on the cellphone doesn't know when to shut up. The passenger in the car usually does.
And finally, when you're on an "important call" on your cellphone, it's likely more than idle chitchat. In other words, it takes away even more of your concentration than a typical conversation with a passenger would.
No, I stand by what I said before, handsfree or no.
Use 'slashdot stuff' in the subject line in any email you send me if you want to get past the spam filter.
I mean sell the phone at the apple stores with out any service whatsoever, like you can with Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, etc, phones.
The iPhone's feature set isn't compatible with all the carriers. The iPhone is laying down a new standard that ATT / Cingular has adopted in order to be the exclusive carrier during the rollout. If the phone sells huge numbers, the other carriers will modify their infrastructure to support the new standard.
What is this new standard? Random-access voicemail. I don't have the money to buy this phone this week, but the new voicemail scheme ALONE is compelling enough for me to buy it if I had the cash. I absolutely hate navigating audio menus burning up my minutes trying to get to the 14th message out of 20. Being able to click on ten messages and delete them without dialing up is hugely attractive to me.
Making the phone compatible with every other carrier as you've suggested would have meant dumping this feature. It would have been too difficult to get all the telcos to change their VM systems to support this feature for an unproven single model of phone.
Reminds me of when the iMac came out and it ONLY supported USB. No serial ports. There were no scanners or printers available for it when it went on sale. Lots of pundits predicted failure for the colorful machine. Then it sold massive units and every peripheral vendor quickly ramped up production of USB devices to be compatible with the #1 selling computer model. Apple forced innovation onto the market in an area that had languished through adherence to legacy technology like serial and parallel.
Apple does have balls to 'do something different,' as you recommend. That's why the phone is only available through one service provider.
Seth
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
This product is just one in a long series, in a trend to completely overlook the needs of blind users. I have been in the market for MP3 players which could be used by blind people, and the general trend is, the newer the device, the less the chances it can be used. The iPhone continues this trend, and I fear the day when other manufacturers pick up on the novelty.
Just a little addition to my rant: I noticed that even simple changes to the firmware, that would make the interface more suited for blind people, like returning to the initial state of the menus, if no interaction for a minute (or such), is being dropped in newer models, even thought it costs nothing to implement. It's almost as if manufacturers have a requirement to make their electronic gadgets less usable by the blind.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
From the article:So basically it's at least as annoying as using T9 for me, where I constantly have to keep changing between the Finnish, Swedish, and English dictionaries?
I still want one, though...
.: Max Romantschuk
Amen and testify.
I actually see some omissions like dialing while driving and music as ringtones are Apple enforcing its taste and manners on the user. They think extremely deeply into the process of not only actually using the phone, but what the overall experience means to the user, and others around them. It's Apple's defining trait, actually, and it's shocking that very few in the technology industry really grok the human part of human interface.
I would put down money that both those omissions are 100% intentional, and good for Apple.
Someone needed to buck the norms of both the hardware and carrier aspects of mobile phones, and Apple's doing it in a big way. Maybe the thing won't take over the planet, but it'll certainly change the landscape for the better.
Side note: my current pet peeve is police officers surfing the web/emailing/whatever on dash-mounted laptops while driving. If you haven't seen one of these, be thankful. That soccer mom in the Caravan with 6 kids and a mobile to her ear won't look nearly as frightening once you experience THE LAW driving like they've just put away a quart of scotch.
--d
There is Openmoko. I really don't care about CDMA though, I have better choices amongst GSM providers with no lock-in. Welcome to the rest of the world.
I can throw myself at the ground, and miss.
Dear Lord Jesus,
Please could you please please save us from the interminable stream of utterly shite parodies of Apple ads? There's so many of them now. They think they're funny, but they're not. They're also not well written, acted, edited, paced, focussed, produced, framed or directed. In summary, they are made of LOSE and FAIL.
Thank you Lord.
kthxbye!
Maybe he generally writes positive reviews about Apple's products because they're generally good products. Just a hunch. Your conspiracy theory could be true, too.
EVDO covers over 250 million people. You may not like CDMA2000, but the majority of mobile users in the US use it. Saying that the US doesn't have 3G widely deployed is simply wrong.
That's probably because you don't have a device with the right UMTS bands. AT&T's UMTS/HSDPA is broadly available in the Bay Area, from SF to Oakland to the Valley.
As for T-Mobile, they only just got the spectrum, and there aren't any AWS UMTS devices out in the wild yet. Give them a few months.
AT&T is rolling out UMTS/HSDPA aggressively. If it's not available in your area now, it will be soon. You're probably going to own whatever phone you buy for 2 years. If the $79 BlackJack has UMTS/HSDPA, it's inexcusable that the $500 "revolutionary Internet device" iPhone doesn't.
Not the most features, but the ones that are there are well done. Apple is not going after the people that love smart phones, so for most of the Slashdot crowd it is probably a dud, they are going after the people that could do with many of the features of smart phones but hate the ones that already exist.
So, this is all about bringing the features of smart phones to the people that previously would never buy a smart phone due to their clunky nature. By all accounts it is going to be a storming success.
Personally I like the feature set of the iPhone, except the lack of 3G, and I could never justify the cost of it. Do I want it? Hell yes, but I'm going to have to wait for a while. This is obviously part of the Apple plan:
1. Release a sexy phone that lots of people want
2. Make it initially very expensive, so that it becomes a luxury status item.
3. Wait until it is firmly established as THE status item, then start slowly release new versions at cheaper prices making loads of people buy it because they still view it as a status symbol even though everyone can now afford to buy one.
Exactly the same plan as with the iPod.
...and they will be $2.99, 30 seconds long, have terrible sound quality, and most of the money will go to AT&T. Cell phone ringtones are the biggest scam ever.
If I had mod points today, you sir would get one. This is also why Apple is both one of the most admired and despised of modern companies. Some people will like what Apple comes up with, others (maybe most) with different views won't. Down the road many years, most will look back and say, "They got it pretty much right." This is a recurring theme.
/.ers.
So many people/companies think the way to a great product is just to cram as many line items as possible from a feature checklist into a thing for the lowest cost. Fortunately for them, plenty such monstrosities of featurosis can be found anywhere today. There are also always people who take it personally when whatever new product nearly matches their wish list, but omits their ONE pet feature, and start flaming/trolling out of frustration.
Then of course, there are the
Perscriptio in manibus tabellariorum est.
Unfortunately, life doesn't quite work that way.
People who want to make calls while driving will do so. Period. Nothing's going to stop that, and to think so borders on the naieve and idealistic. It might take ten steps to make a call, but that won't stop anybody (remember the old car phones in the high-end sports cars?). They'll either switch to another phone while on the road, or they'll make calls with their iPhone. The complexity serves as a deterrent for the people who are sensible, but those people aren't the ones I'm worried about anyway.
Quite frankly, if someone's going to make phone calls while driving, I'd rather that person make phone calls using methods that are less intrusive. But educate them on the effects of making phone calls while driving, so that they'll think twice before every call.
It's like drinking. I'd rather let minors drink under my supervision to teach them what they should and shouldn't do along the way, than force them to abstain until they're 21. By then, they're beyond my reach, and since they're liberated from an artificial chain and feel that way, they'll drink as much as they possibly can whenever the opportunity presents itself.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
...and they will be $2.99, 30 seconds long, have terrible sound quality, and most of the money will go to AT&T. Cell phone ringtones are the biggest scam ever. If I have accidentally bought some 30 sec thing as ringtone from cell company, I would cancel my subscription no less.But their plans on that device possibly having dedicated AAC decoder chip is not "saving" you from horrible joke as song-as-ringtone , it is basically adding it as "feature" to make $600 customers happy and/or adding to iTunes store.
My Nokia 9300 and all my devices plainly rings just like a phone but the "ring" is actually "Classic.aac" or "Office Phone.aac" which is sample of actual phone ringing. You won't be having that too.
Lets not forget the business side of this decision. Ringtone is a billions dollar market which feeds lots and lots of music industry workers, artists etc.
All these idiots yapping on their cellphones while they're driving make driving a lot more hazardous for the few of us left who actually know what we're doing.
Those idiots would be idiots whether or not they had a cellphone.
Surely listening to the radio or talking to a passenger must be nearly as deleterious to driver concentration as mobile phone usage is. How come there's no push to outlaw those things?
This is the most absurd post in this entire article. Wow..
First of all there is nothing that prevents or using your iPhone while driving so I have no idea where that idea came from. Another..
I'm sure the song as a ring tone had nothing to do with ATT selling ring tones and making a profit from them huh. To test your theory, let's see if you can get any musically related ring tones at all. If you still have the ability do download musical related ring tones, what will your excuse be?