1. Multitasking? This is 2008, all other phones can download stuff while the user talks and surfs. Not iPhone.
I hate to break it to you, but this isn't a desktop with excessive resources to throw around, it's a mobile device that requires tight memory management.
I work in technical support at ATT, you'd be surprised how often we get calls about windows mobile or blackberry devices running sluggish b/c the average user just doesn't know how to manage their memory well, not everyone is as tech savvy as slashdot readers so please don't assume.
unified notification service is a more elegant solution, applications like IM clients can still notify users of new messages without running in the background, saving more battery life, having a single connection to the UNS rather than having a separate connection for every single internet based app is more efficient.
Imagine for a moment, you have 5 water slides running at the theme park, the water flowing down the slides represents the energy being drained from the battery and the people going down the slides represent an alert or message from an application being sent to your mobile device.
If people are only sliding down at a rate of 5-10 per hour, why not just have one slide running at all times rather than 5? That's exactly the problem, rarely is there a constant stream of data coming into your mobile handset so maintaining numerous connections even though they are idle for the most part seems really wasteful in terms of battery life.
3. Wireless headphones (BT)? - Forget it.
I'm sorry but battery tech has not kept up with mobile tech, yes it is cool but it's not practical, mobile handsets using 3G have short enough battery life, BT headphones would only make the problem worse and what is the only tangible benefit? No wires.
Why not just use the supplied stereo headset, for one it saves battery life b/c it's not wireless, two it adds an extra level of convenience, when a call comes in, just squeeze the mic button to answer the call, three you don't have to worry about your headphones running about of batteries before your mobile handset or the need to charge them.
4. Memory card slot? - forget it.
A lot of calls I get from ATT customers talk about memory card slots being such a great advantage, as if you were saving on money some how, if you compare retail prices of handsets combined with comparable storage sizes to the iPhone you still end up paying either more or equal, and you still end up with less features than what the iPhone provides.
5. MMS? - forget it unless you buy an MMS app.
I can't stand MMS and SMS for that matter, the only reason SMS and MMS even exist in the first place was b/c cell phones didn't have internet access, but now practically all mobile handsets have the option of Internet access, so tell me again why should we allow the telecoms to nickel and dime us to death, it's not a big secret, SMS/MMS is the cash cow of telecoms. Email seems like a much better deal and where we should be moving towards, no more ridiculous international rates for SMS/MMS. Why hang onto such an old technology that can be replaced by something much cheaper for the consumer and with less limitations.
7. Really good signal reception? - forget it. iPhone is on par with 1st gen 3G-phones from 4 or 5 years ago.
Just drop it already, testing already has been done and found it's not the iPhone it's the network.
Slashdot Mirror
1. Multitasking? This is 2008, all other phones can download stuff while the user talks and surfs. Not iPhone.
I hate to break it to you, but this isn't a desktop with excessive resources to throw around, it's a mobile device that requires tight memory management.
I work in technical support at ATT, you'd be surprised how often we get calls about windows mobile or blackberry devices running sluggish b/c the average user just doesn't know how to manage their memory well, not everyone is as tech savvy as slashdot readers so please don't assume.
unified notification service is a more elegant solution, applications like IM clients can still notify users of new messages without running in the background, saving more battery life, having a single connection to the UNS rather than having a separate connection for every single internet based app is more efficient.
Imagine for a moment, you have 5 water slides running at the theme park, the water flowing down the slides represents the energy being drained from the battery and the people going down the slides represent an alert or message from an application being sent to your mobile device.
If people are only sliding down at a rate of 5-10 per hour, why not just have one slide running at all times rather than 5? That's exactly the problem, rarely is there a constant stream of data coming into your mobile handset so maintaining numerous connections even though they are idle for the most part seems really wasteful in terms of battery life.
3. Wireless headphones (BT)? - Forget it.
I'm sorry but battery tech has not kept up with mobile tech, yes it is cool but it's not practical, mobile handsets using 3G have short enough battery life, BT headphones would only make the problem worse and what is the only tangible benefit? No wires.
Why not just use the supplied stereo headset, for one it saves battery life b/c it's not wireless, two it adds an extra level of convenience, when a call comes in, just squeeze the mic button to answer the call, three you don't have to worry about your headphones running about of batteries before your mobile handset or the need to charge them.
4. Memory card slot? - forget it.
A lot of calls I get from ATT customers talk about memory card slots being such a great advantage, as if you were saving on money some how, if you compare retail prices of handsets combined with comparable storage sizes to the iPhone you still end up paying either more or equal, and you still end up with less features than what the iPhone provides.
5. MMS? - forget it unless you buy an MMS app.
I can't stand MMS and SMS for that matter, the only reason SMS and MMS even exist in the first place was b/c cell phones didn't have internet access, but now practically all mobile handsets have the option of Internet access, so tell me again why should we allow the telecoms to nickel and dime us to death, it's not a big secret, SMS/MMS is the cash cow of telecoms. Email seems like a much better deal and where we should be moving towards, no more ridiculous international rates for SMS/MMS. Why hang onto such an old technology that can be replaced by something much cheaper for the consumer and with less limitations.
7. Really good signal reception? - forget it. iPhone is on par with 1st gen 3G-phones from 4 or 5 years ago.
Just drop it already, testing already has been done and found it's not the iPhone it's the network.
Swedish Scientists Test iPhone 3G's Antenna: It's Fine http://gizmodo.com/5041239/swedish-scientists-test-iphone-3gs-antenna-its-fine
10. Want to transfer files to/from iPhone without installing special software? - Forget it.
You're right, this was a key feature they were missing, if only they had added this my mom would have bought the iPhone 3G, tough luck Apple.