amykhar's Full Review: Apple iPhone (8 GB) Smartphone
Maybe I should have waited, but then I'd be missing all this joy.
I am an early adopter, and sometimes this has burned me. I bought an Apple TV recently to have them come out with a better version three months later. I bought a Playstation 3, and now the price has gone down $100. Getting things first is not always the best way to go in electronics. So, I had every intention of not buying an iPhone until the second version was out.
I made it past the June 29 release date. In fact, I lasted eight days before I bought mine. And, I think I made a truly informed decision. I had heard all the reviews of the tech savvy journalists who stood in line for theirs. I knew the shortcomings of this phone, but I still couldn't resist it.
It's beautiful.
Compared to other smart phones, it's missing a lot of features. Support for corporate level email is so-so. There is no multimedia text messaging. It doesn't do video and it doesn't have GPS.
But, here's the thing. It's a heck of a lot better than my Motorola Razr. And, there are a few published third-party solutions that are starting to overcome the iPhone's shortcomings. I recently hacked my iPhone to add custom ringtones, an expense tracker and a simple game called Lights Out.
Hacking the phone was cake. I followed instructions published on Lifehacker.com, and within minutes had custom software running on my phone. As I said before, I'm just not that good at waiting and Apple shows no signs of opening up an official development platform for the phone.
In one of his many conversations about the iPhone, tech journalist Leo Laporte said the iPhone really isn't a replacement for a smart phone. It's not intended for a corporate market and comparing it to a Blackberry or a Treo is like comparing apples and oranges. Never having owned a smart phone, I'll take his word on that.
As a phone, the iPhone has a flaw or two. It needs voice dialing to be of any use on the road with a headset. It's also a bit easy to accidentally call people. Once, I mistakenly conferenced my husband in on a call to my sister when my cheek brushed the screen.
But, on average, it's a great phone - especially when compared to my Razr. My Razr crashed routinely. It would lock up and not receive or send calls until I restarted it. My iPhone has never crashed. When talking on my Razr, the screen would go black, hiding the on-screen menu options and clock. With my iPhone, if I move it away from my ear, it lights up and I can access necessary information.
I love being able to access Google maps and the weather no matter where I am. I love being able to quickly look up information online when I'm in stores. I love being able to check my mail, read the news and even shop online when I'm in a doctor's waiting room. I love the looks the phone gets when I use it in public.
The camera has received some criticism because it's only 2 mega pixels and it has no zoom. Even my Razr's camera had zoom. But, I must admit the iPhone takes pretty pictures - much better than my Razr's. I use it all the time when I'm out and about with the family. I wish it was easier to delete my pictures from the camera in bulk. Right now, I have to zap them individually.
Likewise, the lack of 3G support in this phone irks many people. The iPhone uses the EDGE network for data transfer when it can't find a wifi network to join. EDGE is slow. Painfully slow. BUT, what many people need to remember is that 3G isn't even offered in many areas of the country. Even if my iPhone offered it, AT&T doesn't provide the service in my home town. EDGE works for checking my email and looking up basic information online. And, many places have wifi available if you want to watch YouTube videos or view your flickr account. Lack of 3G just isn't all that big a deal for me and others like me.
The lack of a physical keyboard doesn't bother me in the least. I've never owned a phone with a keyboard, and I quickly adapted to the on-screen interface. The auto-correction feature works pretty well once you get used to it.
And, I love that I am able to keep this phone in sync with all of my various contacts, calendars, bookmarks, and email accounts. I use a number of computers on a variety of platforms, and yet I am able to manage them all and keep the iPhone current by using some freely available tools.
I use Plaxo to keep my gmail, yahoo, iCal and Outlook calendars synchronized. Plaxo also manages my address books. So, when I sync my iPhone to my Macbook Pro, the phone is also in sync. I use the Google browser synch extension for Firefox to keep bookmarks and cookies coordinated on my work and home browsers. Then, I use Bookit to keep my Safari bookmarks the same as my Firefox bookmarks on the Mac. Because the phone picks up my Safari bookmarks, I have all of them available to me.
For email, I found I wasn't thrilled with the iPhone Gmail application. I needed an option so that it would leave mail on Google's servers unless I deleted the message. If I zapped a message from the phone, it didn't remove it from Google. Ick. So, I ended up forwarding all of my email to a new free AOL email account. With the new account, I am able to keep my email under control.
When it comes to the iPod portion of the iPhone, I'm generally happy. The sound is good, the interface is pretty, and it's easy enough to use. I just wish it had a physical pause button. When I'm listening to my music at work, I have to unlock the phone and then pause the music with the touch screen. It's annoying and time consuming. However, I have learned that unplugging my headphones will instantly pause the music.
One another glitch is that the iPhone seems to lose its place in audiobooks or long podcasts when I sync. My iPod could always jump right back to where I was listening in a book, but the iPhone frequently starts over from the beginning. I'm sure it's a bug Apple can fix with a software patch.
As geeky and powerful as this phone sounds, it is incredibly easy to use. If you aren't a techno-wiz, the iPhone may be the phone for you because it's designed to be intuitive and easy. Like other Apple products, it works without making users think about making it work.
Finally, I know that when you come from a 30 GB video iPod, the idea of an 8 GB iPhone sounds pretty lame. But, I have discovered that 8 GB is sufficient for my music, podcasts and videos. In fact, I gave my brother-in-law my 30 GB iPod because I no longer needed it. The iPhone hooks right into my car stereo and plays my podcasts and audio books while I drive, just like my iPod did. I control the phone's iPod component through my car stereo, which means I don't have to try to navigate the touch screen while I drive.
I am certain iPhones will become less expensive in time. I am also sure they will have more storage and features. But, I'm genuinely happy that I bought mine now. It has the features I need and it is a pleasure to use. If you have a good phone, hold on to it a while and wait for the next iPhone, but if you are in the market for a new phone, I think you can use and enjoy this version without experiencing too much pain when Apple releases a newer model.
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Update - On September 5, 2007 Apple slashed iPhone prices by $200. Initially, only people who had purchased an iPhone within the past 14 days received any kind of credit toward the difference in price. But, consumer complaints (and yes, I emailed Apple to complain) were heard and Apple offered early adopters a $100 credit.
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