All Things iPhone

With the iPhone release coming soon there is no shortage of stories being submitted. Here is an overview of all of its features and specifics on its technical workings. A list of applications is out and still growing. There are warnings however that some applications and peripherals won't be ready or compatible in time for the release. Finally with all the hype associated with the iPhone, we have a reminder of some previous Apple products that ended with a whimper instead of a roar.

Comments

Re:I'm buying.. Friday.

[itwerx]

The paltry 200 txt msgs standard to each plan is also annoying (so now I'll have to drop $10 or $20 per phone for extra). But even still, I'm firmly in the demographic that is willing to pay extra for the phone, the service, just for the UI (and non-crashyness) that Apple will bring to the table.

As something of an Apple fanboi myself, I'm actually going to wait awhile, maybe a really long while, for the simple reason that the data rate with EDGE absolutely sucks and Cingular's signal coverage is pitiful. I love the UI, I've been drooling over this thing since I first heard about it, but I'm not about to drop $500 on a phone I can't actually use productively in the real world. It's almost painful to watch this unfold; I so wish Apple had gone with Sprint or Verizon or almost anybody except Cingular (well, okay, T-Mobile would have been worse). And with a 5-year exclusivity no less!?! Egads, wtf is the Jobster smoking?

Re:But will it talk to my car?

[mr_matticus]

One-size-fits-all headset jack (May have to buy an adapter for certain headphones) Versus the 2.5mm stupid-ass jack on Windows Mobile devices? I'll take my chances with the fully standard minijack.

Songs as Ringtones - Games We don't know that. In the introductory videos, there was a ringtones tab in iTunes. The iTunes store for the iPhone hasn't been launched yet, so who knows what sorts of games and additional apps will become available.

- Instant Messaging - Picture messages (MMS) Why would you need either of those with an internet connection? Why pay 25 cents for a stupid MMS message when you can just send a friggin email?

- A real keyboard So? Notebooks don't have real mice. People get over it--all the reviewers have.

I'm sure the battery will be replaceable for anyone with five minutes, just like the iPod is now. It would be strange to expect any differently of a small Apple device. 3G isn't a practical expectation or a useful feature given that this is a GSM device. If you want a 3G phone, wait for a later version, to be launched around the time AT&T has a useful 3G network to take advantage of it.

It is not Jesus. It is not sex. It's just a handheld electronic device. But damn, if people don't try to find any little thing to put on a 'con' list. Some of this stuff just doesn't make sense--what is their reasonable base of comparison? Why not add "it doesn't run Windows" to the list? It's like someone put this whole thing together without even stopping to consider that there might be alternatives to some of these "essential" features.

Re:products did not end with a whimper

[porcupine8]

I remember when the ROKR came out, everyone was saying immediately that not only would it be a flop, but that Apple had put little effort into it because they wanted it to be a flop. Because then, they would be justified when they say "See? The cel phone guys can't do this right, we obviously have to make one ourselves."

And now it seems they were possibly right... So even if it was a flop, it's not clear that that wasn't exactly what Apple wanted.

Re:Why some of us are excited about iPhone

[Tibor the Hun]

It's not really about the grandma any more. Grandma doesn't want an iPhone, I'm (pretty) sure. It's the younger, or even middle aged people who would really really like to have a phone that is for once easy to use and is useful as well.

You know what happens when a person buys an Apple computer? They start using iPhoto to organize their digital photos. They start using the iMovie and iDVD to make movies. All of a sudden they do all the things they were supposed to be able to do on their PCs. I know this because my sister and about a half a dozen other people who switched are doing it.
So all of a sudden now, they see their computers as appliances that are actually useful and easy to use too.

Same will happen with the iPhone.

I'm sure that my shitty Motorlla has an address book function in it somewhere. And it charges via a USB port. But you know what, I can't for the life of me figure out if I can move my contacts onto it. Hell I don't even know where the address book on it is! But I only have 2 college degrees, so maybe I don't meet Motorolla's requirements for a cellphone license.

Re:I'm buying.. Friday.

[walter_f]

Keep in mind that Apple did approach Verizon first; Verizon turned it down.

I've seen a Verizon executive quoted saying that Apple wanted their share of the monthly revenues which Verizon denied.

So one may speculate whether AT&T/Cingular have been more "co-operative" in their negotiations with Apple or not...

Walter.