My iPhone review

Posted by: drakino

My iPhone review - 06/07/2007 00:17

So, having lived with the iPhone for a few days now, I can comment a bit more on it.

Overall, I like the device. It's been quite handy in several situations already, though most of the situations another smartphone could have also worked. The integration I think is what makes the device worth it over other phones though. Today for example, my coworkers and I needed a place to go for lunch that wasn't going to take forever. Our first attempt resulted in a long line, so we began thinking of alternatives. Noone was really sure how busy another place nearby was, so I quickly looked it up on the maps app, then dialed them right there. Turns out they had a 20 minute wait for a table, so we ended up finding another place. During this process, I simply opened maps, typed in the name, then tapped on the marker on the map. From there, I got a screen with the number, tapped it and was calling. No need to jot down a number somehow or try to remember, because the phone and map application were so well integrated.

Web browsing on the device is one of the best parts for me. Since it's not trying to scale the page some how to a small screen, sites work as expected for the most part. The zooming in on what you want to read becomes second nature, and being able to browse in portrait or landscape works well. The only real complaint I have with the browser is an unavoidable problem on a small screen anyhow. And that issue is the requirement to have to scroll back and forth quite a bit to read some things. Flash compatibility would be nice, but I don't feel like I'm missing much by not having it. Since it isn't pulling down flash items, browsibility over EDGE isn't bad. I'm getting a bit over 200k/s bandwidth, where as on wifi it hits about 1.1mbit. Since it transitions onto wifi easily, I'm rarely using EDGE anyhow. Having tons of free wifi access spots around town helps that.

Durability so far seems great, and from seeing the torture tests out there, I feel comfortable leaving the phone in my front pocket.

Camera, I'm actually surprised at how good it is. I forgot my normal camera at an event recently, and used the iPhone. For a 2 megapixel camera phone, the shots were decent.

My complaints with it are:

Mail. I live on smart folders at work, and the iPhone client has no such concept. It's also appears to only check the inbox for new mail, so on an IMAP account, I have to manually check other folders that get mail delivered to them directly. I'm hoping for full Exchange support with push as well, since the IT guys might allow that at work.

Inability to switch to landscape mode in any app. This seems to be something really inconsistent on the device. Some apps force landscape when they play video, but video in Safari doesn't. Not all apps allow a voluntary switch, and Mail could use a landscape mode for some messages.

Inconsistency with the double tap zoom between HTML mail in Mail vs Safari. Safari seems to try and zoom to the proper level based on what you double tap on, but the same doesn't carry over to mail. Mail requires a lot of pinch zooming on HTML newsletters to get to readable levels.

Syncing between multiple machines. Any iTunes media has to be synced from one machine. I have my music on my MacBook Pro along with audio podcasts. Video content including video podcasts live on my Mac Mini attached to the TV. So if I want both audio and video on my iPhone, I have to manually copy files on the OS side and import them into iTunes on one machine.

Adding to the syncing issue is the inability to sync PDA side stuff to multiple machines. The iPhone can bond the PDA side to a different machine then the iTunes content, but it's still a 2 way sync only. If I sync at home, then go to work and sync, it merges data. If I then go home, it merges again, quickly creating issues in Safari with bookmarks becoming duplicated, and lots of manual conflict resolution in the calendar and address book. .Mac syncing would fix my problem here, but I still refuse to pay $99 a year when all I would use of .Mac is the multi machine syncing.

Ringtones. I used to assign distinct custom ringtones to the people who call me frequently on my old phone, including some text to speech to be able to know who was calling without even looking at the phone. With the iPhone, I'm stuck with the built in ringtones, and then have to remember "Is Bob the Scifi sound or is Ryan?"

Notes seems pointless to me. I'm assuming this will sync to Mail in Leopard, but for now, it's worthless.

Lack of USB file storage space. I can't use the phone as a thumb drive.

No IM client. Being able to respond to IMs on the go would be great.

EDGE network usage can block incoming calls. Not sure this is going to be fixable by software either. So maybe it's a good thing an IM client doesn't exist.

This is more of a phone company rant, but I can't believe they can justify $20 a month for unlimited data, but still only include 200 text messages in my plan. I will be using SMS more, but not a ton more since I have to count my messages.

*edit*
Forgot about bluetooth. The iPhone is oddly crippled here. All it uses bluetooth for is hands free kits. It doesn't integrate with the Address Book in OS X, to allow me to SMS people and reject calls from my computer. It doesn't allow me to tether it to a PC for internet access. It doesn't allow me to sync to the PC with it for the PDA side stuff, forcing me to find the cable for my laptop every time. And it doesn't allow me to send pictures or contact information to other bluetooth phones. I'm hoping at least some of these features get added over time.

Posted by: gbeer

Re: My iPhone review - 08/07/2007 16:40

From watching the TV ads, one could almost believe, the image on screen, rotates as a result of the physical motion.

Posted by: andym

Re: My iPhone review - 08/07/2007 19:29

Reading that the UK version of the iPhone will not have 3G has pretty much made my decision for me. Shame really.....

That said, I really wish the N95 had a touchscreen.

Posted by: sein

Re: My iPhone review - 08/07/2007 20:35

I have a question which maybe only Hugo can answer: How come the iPhone does not have A2DP support?

Its supposed to be "The best iPod" right, and it has Bluetooth already... I really don't understand why this feature was left out. There are quite a few Sony Ericsson phones out there with A2DP allowing wireless streaming to Bluetooth headphones, Bluetooth Stereos (Sony make a few) and a few car headunits and new Bluetooth car kits as well. It would be nice to play music from the iPod and take calls all in the car without any cables. All the hardware is there already anyway, right?

Posted by: jbauer

Re: My iPhone review - 08/07/2007 20:49

ok, one more thing i need to complain about...

There's no search for a contact, in the calendar, or - as I mentioned in my earlier post, in email.

In my opinion, this is severely limiting the functionality for these apps!

Wow, what an omission!

I'm sure that this will be remedied, but I hope this happens soon as the iPhone is now my everyday device...

- Jon

Posted by: loren

Re: My iPhone review - 09/07/2007 03:20

I played with someone's iPhone over the holidays while on a road trip... in fact I spent a few hours on it, I couldn't put it down. It's definitely one of those devices that makes you want to tell a naysayer to just try it. Go pick one up, and play with it. The interface and integrated nature of the apps is brilliant. It's not perfect, it's missing things, but damn, it's by far the best phone/pocket media device I've ever seen. After messing around with it for a while I picked up someone else's Blackjack, trying to do some similar tasks, and wanted to throw the thing across the room.

I was planning on resisting the 1st gen, but i found it incredibly useful despite it's flaws and will probably be picking one up soon. I don't mind paying extra for something that works the way I need it when I need it and isn't another tech headache to add to my life. I never in a million years thought I'd pay $600 for a phone, ever, but damn if an actual in person test with the thing hasn't convinced me otherwise (sort of like the Wii!)

Posted by: adavidw

Re: My iPhone review - 09/07/2007 06:42

Loren, I totally hear what you're saying. Here's my story/review in a (rather big) nutshell:

For the last 2 years I've been using a Nokia 6620 (Symbian Series 60). I thought it was slick at first because it could do so much and had so many features. However, over the last year, I've come to just absolutely hate it with the fire of a thousand burning nuns. There are so many nagging UI inconsistencies, and the thing is slow as hell (even though this is the one with the 50% faster processor over it's immediate predecessor). I can't get anything done quickly because either the thing is too slow to keep up with me, or I keep losing keystrokes to modal pop up windows that demand attention.

Nothing about the way it works is intuitive. I regularly hang up on people, because when I'm on a call and I get another call, I'm presented with a dialog that tells me there's another incoming call and gives me two options, "Transfer" and "Hold" (I think, working from memory here...). Every single time that happens I have to make a split second decision about which of those options will do what I want, and neither is worded in such a way that it's obvious what will happen. Sometimes I might want to keep the first on hold and answer the second; sometimes I might want to hang up the first and answer the second. Either way, I get about five seconds to guess as to which of those 2 options (plus the additional options of pressing either the green or red button) might do what I want. 9 times out of 10, I guess wrong and hang up on both parties. I could read the manual to figure it out, but I just refuse to do that on principle, and even if I did do it, that wouldn't help me remember what to do the next time. I'm a really smart guy, and if I can't figure some of this stuff out, how is anybody else even functioning with these things?

So, even though I'm the biggest techno-weenie in existence, this phone all by itself was slowly turning me against technology in general. I contemplated getting rid of cell phone service entirely because I couldn't imagine that any phone could be any better, and I wasn't going to put up with it anymore.

I've now become one of those guys that keeps saying "Just give me a phone that's just a phone, that only makes phone calls and does that well". I don't want a freaking camera; I don't use the one I have on my phone already. I don't care about the Internet on my phone. I don't use it on the 6620 because it's too slow, the browser sucks, and the data plans cost too much. The only advanced feature I care about at all is Bluetooth because I've got it built in to my car, and it's way too cool to just talk on the speakerphone with the phone still in my pocket.

I've had phones I liked before. I still have my Nokia 6190 from 1998, and I would have switched back to it long ago if it only did Bluetooth. I've looked around for new phones, but anything that does have Bluetooth also has the same problem of totally missing the point of what the user might actually want to do, which is usually just make a freaking phone call without any interference from the phone itself. The carriers are no help, because they've long ago been seduced by the method of selling extra features rather than putting any emphasis on improving the usefulness of their networks for voice calls.

So, I figured I was boned. I'm a Mac guy, so I was well acquainted with the iPhone from the first keynote. I thought it looked cool but didn't apply to me since I was looking for something simpler, and certainly not looking to spend that much on a phone plus a data plan. It wasn't until a few weeks ago when the commercials started running that I really thought, "You know, if anybody can make a phone that actually works for making phone calls, it's Apple". The actual phone call interface made it obvious what to do when I would get another call, for example. I started thinking that even if I only used it as a phone, it might be a great choice just for that purpose, even if I never opened the browser. It would be worth it to me to pay a lot of money for a phone that worked, but >$500 was just too expensive, so I figured I would wait until the first price cut to really look at it seriously. Even then, I figured I wouldn't get one unless I could get it without the data plan. $20 for unlimited is way better than the previous pricing, but I was still a neo-luddite, so what would I need the data plan for?

So, last Friday, I was sitting around watching TV at around 11:00 and thought, "Hey, the Apple Store's open until midnight tonight, I'll just go have a look at it at least". I drove there, spent about 5 minutes playing with it, and whipped out the credit card. Sold. Just like that. It really does work as advertised, and what's more, it works the way I dreamed it would. Not only does the phone work correctly, but everything else is so slick I don't mind paying the extra $20 a month for the data plan.

I'm a Google Earth addict, so when I saw that the onboard Google Maps had access to the satellite imagery as well as the maps, I wet my pants. Now I can sit around looking at aerial photography anywhere at any time (like in church today). My wife could spend days just looking at all the pictures of our kids we've taken over the years. Now, she can do that anywhere at any time. Even better, she can do it without me telling her how. My son, who just barely turned three, already figured out how to turn it on, unlock it, bring up the home screen, tap the photos icon, and start flipping through photos. When I won't let him play with mine, he walks around for hours at a time with his hand cupped in the air like he's holding it saying "I'm Daddy. This is my iPhone. I'm looking at pictures of my sweet kids.", while making the little photo flipping gesture with the finger of his other hand. He even rotates his imaginary phone 90 degrees periodically when a landscape photo comes up on his imaginary screen.

There's not enough good I can say about this thing, and I haven't been this excited about a piece of technology in a long long time. I feel like anyone who thinks it's not for them needs to just try it for a little bit. If they still think they don't want it, there's a good chance at that point they're just confused or lying to themselves.

Maybe my story sounds like I've been seduced by the marketing or the hype, but I don't care, because I'm excited about technology again. Hugo, if you're ever involved in any discussions at Apple about how the phone is being received, be sure to mention that there's a measure of success beyond just how many of these things are sold. For at least a few us, the phone's a success because it restores our faith in the ability of people to do things The Right Way every once in a while.

Numerical success isn't bad either, of course. Stock's up almost 10% in the last week to new all time highs. I've seen about a 2500% return on the Apple stock I bought back in 1997. It makes me really wish I had bought more than one share, though...

Posted by: drakino

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 14:13

How did you two use the keyboard? Yes, it is different, and it does take a bit to learn, but hammering out on it trying to go full speed with two thumbs your first 5 minutes with the device is going to make it worse. I'm not necessarily defending it as the best thing, but I'm not finding it a problem either. Though I never walked around with a device with a small keyboard before, so it might be easier to learn from a fresh start.

This is the WPM scores from a review I saw recently, going at it with both thumbs once they had used the device for a bit:

Apple iPhone - 39.6
Blackberry 8800 - 39.30
Helio Ocean - 53.00
LG Prada - 33.80
Nokia N95 - 29.28
Palm Treo 750 - 43.8

As for another issue I noticed, you can't insert a photo into a reply e-mail. The e-mail must be started by going to the photo first, then clicking the button to e-mail. I also couldn't find a way to e-mail multiple photos.

Posted by: sein

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 14:57

There are a few videos on YouTube out which show how some people are finding the iPhone keyboard. Here is one, and here is another. Kinda looks ok, though it bugs me slightly that period and comma are both in the symbols mode only. Looking forward to trying it out one day though.

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 15:13

It's pretty impressive that those guys were able to type that fast. I simply was not able to. Maybe there's some sort of learning algorithm. Maybe there's some calibration that I missed. Even so, it is worth no more than $100 to me, and I have zero interest in paying, at minimum, $60 a month for cell phone service.

Given that you have to sign up for a 2-year contract at $59.99 a month, and the phone itself is $499, that's $1938.76 for a cell phone. Or I could stay with the same phone I have now and continue to pay $7 a month for service and spend $168 in the same 2 year period. That's well less than a tenth of the cost. Even if I got the phone for free, I'd still pay over 8 times as much in service. I'm fine where I am.

Posted by: loren

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 16:57

The keyboard has a learning curve and that's all there is to it. Some people might pick it up quickly, but expecting to type 40wpm right away will only lead to frustration and thinking it sucks. It takes a while to get fast on, just like any other keyboard that isn't a large standard layout. Start with pecking, then two thumbs, then work on speed once you figure out it's detection and style. Not directed at anyone, just sayin'.

And Bitt... What company and plan are you on that you are paying $7/month? I pay more than that just in taxes on the bill!

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 17:12

I use Virgin Mobile prepaid service. I don't like to talk on the phone at all, cell phone or land line, so I don't use it that much. Virgin requires that you pay them at least $20 every 3 months, and I usually don't even use that much service, at, worst case, 25¢ a minute. And they don't expire minutes, so if I have a heavy usage period, I end up just using up the money I've stored up previously. Even better, other than charging sales tax on the money I put into the phone, there are no other hidden fees. There's a charge for text messages, but I don't use them at all. And there's no contract. (Hm. Looks like they don't offer this plan anymore; I'm grandfathered in. There's an 18¢ per minute plan, but there are monthy "surcharges".)

Of course, that implies that I talk on my cell phone an average of less than 30 minutes a month, which is not a problem for me at all. I probably don't use 30 minutes of time on my home phone (which is VoIP with Voicepulse at $15 a month). I spend less than half of an iPhone user's bill on my cell phone and my home phone combined.

Posted by: drakino

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 19:10

Quote:
I use Virgin Mobile prepaid service. I don't like to talk on the phone at all, cell phone or land line, so I don't use it that much.

So yeah, in your case pretty much any phone with a monthly plan is a waste then. The iPhone, just like other AT&T phones does have options for prepaid service, though I didn't investigate it myself and what the costs are. I use enough time per month to justify a monthly service.

I know people seem to be highly polarized with anything related to Apple these days, but please try to keep the thread civil on both sides.

The good news is that our president is sold on the device now, and the IT department is working on hooking both me and a coworker up for corporate e-mail on it. Should also make my life much easier for IMAP mail on my Mac here at work.

Posted by: oliver

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 19:34

Quote:
... it bugs me slightly that period and comma are both in the symbols mode only ...

If you press and hold on the symbol button, a menu should appear allowing you to select the symbol of your choice without loading the full symbol keyboard.

Same with the keyboard, if you press and hold, slide your finger around the animation follows your finger around, when you release it will select the key that was highlighted.

These two shortcuts helped me a bit when I was playing with my Dads iPhone...

Posted by: burdell1

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 21:42

Now if I could only afford an iphone...do you think it might drop in price before christmas? (i doubt it myself, but i am just wishful thinking)

Posted by: andy

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 22:08

Quote:

I know people seem to be highly polarized with anything related to Apple these days, but please try to keep the thread civil on both sides.

People have always been highly polarized with anything related to Apple, nothing new there.

Posted by: jbauer

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 22:15

Quote:
Now if I could only afford an iphone...do you think it might drop in price before christmas? (i doubt it myself, but i am just wishful thinking)

Looks like some analysts are speculating that Apple will release a lower end iPhone... http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/10/jp-morgan-retracts-iphone-nano-insinuations-hints-at-3g-flavor/

I dunno if I mentioned it, but the iPhone is my FIRST Apple product and even after a week with it, I'm still impressed. It definitely has it's flaws, and I think a lot of them will be fixed by updates - some won't be (EDGE is painful at times, and GPS really would make the Google Map product a lot more useful). The rumor is that iChat is coming, that they are going to have search ala Spotlight, and that Flash will be added shortly.

For me, the ability to do REAL web stuff while away from home is a slam dunk. I've never seen another device do this as well. Those that are naysayers - do you NOT have a need for this functionality, or have you found solutions that work well for you? If it's the latter, I'd like to hear what you use.

- Thanx
- Jon

Posted by: matthew_k

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 22:32

Quote:
Those that are naysayers - do you NOT have a need for this functionality, or have you found solutions that work well for you? If it's the latter, I'd like to hear what you use.

I use a 15" powerbook tethered to a samsung A900. The powerbook really is instantly on when coming back from sleep mode. Dialing the bluetooth connection takes another 10 secconds. At that point it's not just "the internet without mouse hover events, without flash, without search, without a keyboard, on a slow edge connection" it's just "the internet". My email? Well, it's the same interface it always is. Smart folders, filters, everything. The web? All my tabs are there, just where I left them. Instant messaging? Adium doesn't charge per message.

Yes, I have to carry a laptop around with me. Heavy? Not compared to the backpack of books I was used to as a student. Inconvenient? Not really. I've got a Tumi "messenger bag" for professional meetings, a tumi backpack for professional meetings whem I'm going to be carrying it long distance, and a timberland backpack with a SFBags Waterfield Designs top loading sleeve when I want to look like someone who isn't carrying anything of value.

It works for me. Unlimited 3G data is the key for me. GRPS/Edge just doesn't cut it, and not having the option on top of that really kills it.

I'm sure the iPhone is beautiful. I'm sure it makes a great phone, and I'd love to have one with 3G data and tethering, but I'm not willing to pay the price, I'd much rather upgrade the powerbook to a macbook pro.

Matthew

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 22:37

Quote:
please try to keep the thread civil on both sides.

If I came across incivil, I apologize. I certainly didn't mean to. That said, I like Apple computers. I've just found their consumer electronics a little underwhelming. And that's mostly based on the hype. If Apple (or anyone else, for that matter) had simply released the phone without all the fanfare, my opinion of it would probably be greater than it is now. But Apple and their unpaid shills would have you believe that it's the best thing since bread, and that's just not true. It's a cell phone, for God's sake.

I would be interested in a phone that had the Google Maps application on it, but I'm not interested in paying extra money for the service. If my company paid for it, I would totally use it. I wouldn't avoid the web browser, either, but I just don't care that much. My nose is in a computer at home and at work. I don't need it in one everywhere I go. Actually, when I had a Treo that my job paid for, the best application I had was a Wikipedia client. I used the hell out of that. I had the Google Maps application, too, but I didn't use that very often, mostly because it wasn't that good.

Does the fact that there's no GPS on the phone imply that it doesn't know where you are? If so, how does it know where the closest seafood restaurant is, as demonstrated by Jobs?

Posted by: mlord

Re: My iPhone review - 10/07/2007 23:39

Quote:

Does the fact that there's no GPS on the phone imply that it doesn't know where you are? If so, how does it know where the closest seafood restaurant is, as demonstrated by Jobs?

It has to have some form of location finder, either an onboard GPS, or cell tower triangulation -- I believe that US Law requires it for E911. Kinda weird that they don't take advantage of it for Google Maps (?).

Cheers

Posted by: jbauer

Re: My iPhone review - 11/07/2007 03:32

For the Apple fanboys... http://tofslie.com/work/apple_evolution.html

It's not really an evolution, more a timeline of their products...

- Jon

Posted by: andy

Re: My iPhone review - 11/07/2007 10:18

Quote:

The FIC Neo1973 OpenMoko Linux phone will be out too and I have pretty high hopes for it being a fun little gadget to have.

http://wiki.openmoko.org/images/8/89/FIC-neo1973_small.jpg

Is it just me, or is that a really silly shape for a phone ? Surely a rectangle (with rounded edges) has got to be the best use of space for something you are going to have crammed into a pocket 99% of the time ?

Posted by: tman

Re: My iPhone review - 11/07/2007 12:11

Quote:
If they still think they don't want it, there's a good chance at that point they're just confused or lying to themselves.

Yesterday I played about with an iPhone that my friend bought just before he came over on holiday and whilst neat, I won't be buying one. Or was it the day before... I'm not too sure about it now as I'm confused and obviously lying...

Posted by: mtempsch

Re: My iPhone review - 11/07/2007 12:11

Quote:
[Surely a rectangle (with rounded edges) has got to be the best use of space for something you are going to have crammed into a pocket 99% of the time ?

Might appeal to the folks who carry their phone by a strap around their neck though...

Posted by: tonyc

Re: My iPhone review - 11/07/2007 13:18

Quote:
For me, the ability to do REAL web stuff while away from home is a slam dunk. I've never seen another device do this as well. Those that are naysayers - do you NOT have a need for this functionality, or have you found soelutions that work well for you? If it's the latter, I'd like to hear what you use.

I use a Treo 650. It obviously falls well short of Safari on the iPhone, but it gets the job done. When I need to do real web things, I fire up my Macbook Pro and use my Treo's data connection.

I think some of this really comes down to the very subjective nature of the "is it worth it?" question. Some of you guys have more expendable cash, some of you needed a new phone anyway, some of you were already on AT&T/Cingular before, etc. My response to adavidw was just trying to state that there are reasons that one might come to the "it isn't worth it" conclusion, even if they could potentially afford the device and pay the insane monthly bill, and those reasons go well beyond being confused or lying to themselves.

Regarding typing speed, my suspicion is that the average iPhone user's effective typing speed will be around 50% of that of the average Treo or Blackberry user. Again, I base this on my experience (and the experiences of others) typing on a full-size multitouch keyboard and hitting a very low ceiling on the learning curve. But, we'll see.

Posted by: LittleBlueThing

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 11/07/2007 13:25

Shape isn't really a problem.

The iPhone is polymorphic....

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/10/will-it-blend-the-iphone-smoothie/

Posted by: tman

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 11/07/2007 20:31

Quote:
Shape isn't really a problem.

The iPhone is polymorphic....

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/10/will-it-blend-the-iphone-smoothie/

Wow. Steve Jobs is probably crying because of that video! Actually, I'm amazed that nothing happened when he put what appears to be an on iPhone into the blender. All the Lithium Ion/Polymer batteries I've got have dire warnings about how you, your pet, family, neighbours and friends spontaneously burst into flames if you puncture it..

Posted by: andym

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 11/07/2007 20:43

I was amazed at how long it actually lasted before it finally died. Although the smoke and ash at the end was quite impressive!

Posted by: matthew_k

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 11/07/2007 20:44

Quote:
I'm amazed that nothing happened when he put what appears to be an on iPhone into the blender.

Oh I'm sure it's on. Just watch the video where they blend the video camera. Complete with footage from inside the blender. They then try and return it under the best buy extended warranty.

The publicity that Will It Blend has generated is worth far more than an iPhone and all the other items they've blended. I'd buy a blendtec if my vitamix died, but that's not likely to happen for a few decades. A professional class blender is a completely different appliance from a $40 target special.

Matthew

Posted by: andym

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 11/07/2007 22:02

I do wonder what Hugo would think if/when he sees that video.... Initially I thought he might get a little upset, but then I remembered they're making millions of the things and it was bought and paid for, so I assume everyone's happy.

Posted by: drakino

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 11/07/2007 22:41

Quote:
but then I remembered they're making millions of the things and it was bought and paid for, so I assume everyone's happy.

Thats what I figure too. The iPhones are also still generally available, so grinding this one to dust didn't deprive someone from being able to buy their own to use. Thats usually my only quibble with the "smash my X" people, they prevent someone truly interested in the product from obtaining one, and the same goes for the eBay scalpers too. Thats why I was glad to see the scalper market on eBay for iPhones implode pretty quickly.

Posted by: JeepBastard

Re: My iPhone review - 12/07/2007 01:26

i find the best phones are actually the WM5/WM6 phones made by HTC. I have the HTC wizard running the new Touch Interface ( [url= http://www.htctouch.com]http://www.htctouch.com[/url] ) and some tweaks that take the best of the IPhone interface such as slide2unlock ( [url=http://www.slide2unlock.co.nr/ ]http://www.slide2unlock.co.nr/[/url] ) - My wizard does everything!

The HTC phones have ad2p for stereo bluetooth, you can use them as modems, they have wifi, bluetooth and every other radio they can think of - and the platform Windows mobile is open to developers. There is always an app around that does what you need. The iphone UI is incredible - and thats important - but that will be replicated across competitors units rapidly.

Apples marketing and insertion of devices as lifestyle choices is brilliant and for that - everyone will want the crippled iphone.

THe iphone is a closed device with a battery that is integrated into the unit - im not really a fan of apple in general - but their marketing is brilliant for the ipod. Best print and tv ads period for a mp3 device. All other ads look like 80's video game console ads next to apples marketing might and the iphone is no different.

Posted by: altman

Re: My iPhone review - 12/07/2007 01:35

Sounds like someone had typed "Rhe" a few times, hitting "x" on the suggestion of "The". It'll then decide that obviously you want to learn this as a new word and adds it to the dictionary.

Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset keyboard dictionary will fix this, which is probably recommended operating procedure if you're going to an apple store to test the keyboard

Hugo

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: My iPhone review - 12/07/2007 01:36

That sounds reasonable.

Posted by: altman

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 12/07/2007 01:39

I was hiding behind my hands waiting for the inevitable li-poly fire which didn't happen (and, actually, has not happened often in the "will it blend" series). Maybe if you liquidise a lithium cell *really quickly* it doesn't have a chance to go critical.

Still, I wouldn't like to be in the studio where they do the filming, let alone sitting there with my hand on the blender...

Hugo

Posted by: loren

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 12/07/2007 03:30

Got one today. Can't put it down. Found all the commonly lauded flaws, but still, the functionality of everything else seems to push those aside. Or maybe it's the huge chunk of change I put down on one.

So Hugo... was it ever publicly stated what EXACTLY you had to do with this project... or can you not say?

Posted by: peter

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 12/07/2007 06:20

Quote:
I was hiding behind my hands waiting for the inevitable li-poly fire which didn't happen (and, actually, has not happened often in the "will it blend" series). Maybe if you liquidise a lithium cell *really quickly* it doesn't have a chance to go critical.

Still, I wouldn't like to be in the studio where they do the filming, let alone sitting there with my hand on the blender...

It probably helps that the blender is air-tight. I'm sure some combustion occurred -- everything was blackened when it came out -- but it would have been oxygen-limited...

Peter

Posted by: hybrid8

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 12/07/2007 11:47

I'm still not sure any of the BlendTec videos are real from start to finish. Along with VitaMix, they have arguably the best blenders available on the market, so I'm not detracting in any way from their excellent product.

The videos seem to all be edited for time - that is, they show in a few seconds what might have taken a few minutes in reality. In most of the videos I've seen (maybe 10 or so) the end product ends up a fairly consistent particulate (sand-like). In the recent iPhone video they were also left with some kind of metal frame that didn't blend.

A while back a video was posted by some DJ's who had duplicated the BlendTec "Will it Blend" in their studio. Sure enough what they dumped in was thoroughly destroyed, but it was never reduced to a consistent granular appearance.

If the blender will eventually create sand from what you dump in, I'd really like to know the actual time it took to achieve that state. Something doesn't seem right and I already had a hard time believing the end result of most of the videos before the DJ's attempted their own recreation.

Posted by: Schido

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 12/07/2007 12:18

Saw some video podcast (will look it up when i'm home) where they first tried dropping the iphone from the pants pocket, then shirt pocket.
And then they started 'disassembling' it, letting out some magic smoke when they skewered the battery with a big screwdriver.
All this outside the apple store, with people still waiting to get theirs.

Posted by: sein

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 12/07/2007 12:34

Arstechnica attempt to mar the screen of their iPhone with a knife blade, throw it down the road a couple of times, drop it from the 3rd floor of a building, step on it and then drop it down the toilet while it plays MP3s.

Its like a game to see who can destroy their expensive phone in the most ridiculous way. Does show how robust it is though.

Posted by: LittleBlueThing

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 12/07/2007 12:43

Thank goodness empegs are too big to fit in a blender....

Ugh, the thought sends shivers down my spine - whereas blending an iPhone made me smile...

Posted by: tman

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 12/07/2007 13:36

Quote:
Thank goodness empegs are too big to fit in a blender....

I want to know if an iPhone will survive JeepBastard's jeep

Posted by: Schido

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 12/07/2007 16:39

Found it:
"David Randolph and guest host Leah Culver stress test and then tear apart the iPhone immediately upon exiting the Apple store on launch day."
http://revision3.com/systm/cracked

Posted by: andym

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 12/07/2007 21:50

After watching the various destruction videos linked from this thread it's amazing how much stick the iphone will take before it actually dies. If I was wearing a hat I'd take it off to Hugo!

Posted by: JBjorgen

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 12/07/2007 22:09

My first post from an iPhone. Not bad.

Posted by: adavidw

Re: My iPhone review - 15/07/2007 07:17

Me:

Quote:
I feel like anyone who thinks it's not for them needs to just try it for a little bit. If they still think they don't want it, there's a good chance at that point they're just confused or lying to themselves.

I spent a very long time one night typing a very long post that I thought might be helpful, entertaining or at the very least interesting. I then go away for a few days and return to find that a few people have gotten hung up on two sentences out of the many I actually wrote and use them as the basis for some rather snotty replies.

I stand by what I said, but maybe not exactly as I said it. I feel the need to clarify what I said for the benefit of those who took umbrage. If what you understood is different from what I intended you to understand, I as the writer bear full responsibility for my failure to articulate the thought in a manner that would make my meaning clear, and for that, I apologize.

One overarching theme of my post was how I had changed over time, and how I was a little confused over what I thought I wanted or needed, and how it's different than what I've since come to realize I actually do want and/or need. Another theme of the post was that this is a product that works on me on an emotional level, not a rational level, and that my emotional reaction to the product is no different than that of someone who's been consumed by hype or fanboy-ism or the RDF or whatever, and that I don't care that my positive experience is indistinguishable from blind faith.

So, the operative word in what I wrote is feel. "I feel like anyone who..." My point being that my experience has made me feel like anyone else who doesn't share my positive view must be simply deluded, because there surely could be no rational reason why someone wouldn't want to have this phone. It's the point of view of the religious zealot who can't understand why everyone wouldn't believe the same way as he, and who explains it to himself by thinking "surely they have been deceived."

I know that not everybody wants this phone. I know that a lot of people have a lot of very good reasons for not ever wanting this phone. I know that if I were to stand here and say "I truly and firmly think that everyone who doesn't want this phone is either confused or lying to themselves" I would be laughed out of here for having lost all grip on rational thought. I know that's not a rational position. However, this phone or its marketing or something has caused me to feel the same way as someone who would think that that was a rational position, even if I don't actually think that way myself.

That was my point, that that's a terrific achievement for Apple to be able to act emotionally on someone when they're ultimately just selling a phone. It's a perfect case of hitting a target market that's just so primed to hear the message. If you're not part of that target market, that's fine. But, the ones who are in that target market are receiving this message very well indeed.

(Note: I said "there's a good chance". Even if I rationally thought what I said to be true, I still left enough room for you all to be in the other side of that good chance. Also, my first draft of that section included a lot more language that basically said "I concede that there are a lot of situations and people for whom this might not be a good solution, blah blah blah", but my post was way too long as is, and I cut it, figuring, "I'll leave it as the borderline hyperbole. People will understand what I'm talking about." I guess that didn't work so much.)

wfaulk:

Quote:
Wow. How remarkably arrogant.

Yeah, it's an arrogant statement, which was kind of the point, to show the depth and breadth of my conversion, so to speak. It was arrogant to demonstrate the exact level of religious zeal this has the chance and ability to inspire in people.

tonyc:

Quote:
"Think they don't want it?" How about actually not wanting it?
...
but it borders on haughtiness to say that people who don't like the device are likely to be confused or lying to themselves.

Doesn't just border on. Fully crosses into the realm of haughtiness, if you ask me. See above. And yes, I will concede that there are many who actually shouldn't want it because it doesn't suit any of their needs or fit with any of their desires, just as there are many who aren't giving the iPhone a fair shake because it doesn't do something on their list of needs that they may not actually need anyway.

tman:

Quote:
Yesterday I played about with an iPhone that my friend bought just before he came over on holiday and whilst neat, I won't be buying one. Or was it the day before... I'm not too sure about it now as I'm confused and obviously lying...

The other 2 were posted almost a full 24 hours before yours and already made the point, so you're just piling on at this point.

wfaulk:

Quote:
(Maybe if you're in church playing with your phone you don't need to be in church in the first place?)

This one I don't even understand. I think I'm offended, but I don't know why, because I don't even know how to parse the meaning out of this. Bitt, you've already apologized for the case of your post coming across as uncivil, and I appreciate that, but I don't really get whether this part would be uncivil, or where you're going with this.

For the sake of context, I'm at church for four straight hours each Sunday, in various meetings and functions. I've got downtime between them, and I now have an option for doing something with that downtime other than just sitting or walking around outside (which are both still perfectly valid options). Now, I can do internet type things even at the church, where doing those sorts of things would have previously been unconceivable due to not having internet access or not wanting to bring a laptop just to use for the five minutes I had available to me.

I'm thinking that you were perhaps under the impression that I'm surfing the web from the pew during the service or some such? If so, my fault for making the statement without giving the context. Even so, that doesn't mean I don't need to be in church. I probably would need to be there even more so I could better learn things like reverence and humility. And, if anyone was surfing the web during the service, your response to them should be even harsher, something more like "Maybe if you're in church playing with your phone..." followed by some command to shove the phone up something and an entreaty for the deity of their choice to personally do the shoving.

Posted by: burdell1

Re: My iPhone review - 16/07/2007 00:40

Has anyone the 8gb for sale for anything less than $599.00 (on ebay, craigslist, etc.)? I know it is way too new for that, but you never know....

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: My iPhone review - 16/07/2007 12:21

Quote:
I'm thinking that you were perhaps under the impression that I'm surfing the web from the pew during the service or some such?

Yeah, basically. Though my resolution would have been the opposite: If you don't want to be there, then don't be there. That was my solution, at least. Part of my point was that you were describing ways to waste time. If you have time that's otherwise unusable, then I guess that's great, but it read to me as if you were finding new ways to cram timewasting into your day.

As to the rest, I'm willing to accept your reasoning as long as you can admit that you used a turn of phrase that usually means something other than what you say you meant. It 100% came across as "you're an idiot if you don't love the iPhone, and it's just sour grapes if you say otherwise".

Posted by: frog51

Re: My iPhone review - 17/07/2007 12:50

A bit late to join the fun, but after playing with one, I can definitely say I wouldn't get one of these. It pretty much doesn't do anything I need well, even though it does lots of stuff I don't need really wonderfully)

I really couldn't do without being able to type without looking - and you can't do that with the iPhone.

a pity - as it is pretty and slinky

Posted by: CrackersMcCheese

Re: My iPhone review - 17/07/2007 20:46

Maybe Maddox is confused too?

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone

Posted by: drakino

Re: My iPhone review - 17/07/2007 20:50

I'm pretty sure the horse is dead at this point...

Posted by: CrackersMcCheese

Re: My iPhone review - 17/07/2007 20:55

Didn't know there was a horse but hey...

Posted by: jmwking

Re: My iPhone review - 17/07/2007 23:43

Hmm... Seems the iPhone is causing some network trouble. Duke and Cisco are trying to resolve it, and have opened a ticket with Apple.

From NetworkWorld

Quote:
"It’s a pretty big annoyance, right now, with 20-30 access points signaling they’re down, and then coming back up a few minutes later. But in late August, this would be devastating."

That’s because the misbehaving iPhones flood the access points with up to 18,000 address requests per second, nearly 10Mbps of bandwidth, and monopolizing the AP’s airtime.

-jk

Posted by: loren

Re: My iPhone review - 18/07/2007 15:46

Interesting. I wonder if this would explain the weird outages I've been having on my router a few days back.

Posted by: altman

Re: My iPhone review - 20/07/2007 23:14

The update on this is that it turned out to be a Cisco bug...

Still, blame the new gadget for exposing it

Hugo

Posted by: altman

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 20/07/2007 23:16

Quote:
So Hugo... was it ever publicly stated what EXACTLY you had to do with this project... or can you not say?

I'm the hardware manager for the non-RF bit of it. I can't take credit for the amazing design (etc) but was deeply involved with the gubbins and spent a lot of time in china for it

Hugo

Posted by: Roger

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 21/07/2007 04:33

Quote:
I have a dumb question....what exactly are 'gubbins'?

Gubbins

Posted by: music

Re: My iPhone review - iPhone Smoothie... - 21/07/2007 12:02

Quote:
From it's heft you can tell there must be many, many, grubbins inside. Whatever they are.

Stands to reason.

Gubbins are renowned for their density and heft.

...especially Chinese gubbins.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: My iPhone review - 23/07/2007 16:02

Quote:
The update on this is that it turned out to be a Cisco bug...

Still, blame the new gadget for exposing it

Hugo

Yeah, the first thing I thought of when I saw the report was that yeah, it was likely a bug in the router firmware. I spend enough time in my current job looking at exactly that sort of thing...

...and making sure that the shipping versions of our Windows components don't induce the bug.

Posted by: drakino

Re: My iPhone review - 23/07/2007 19:03

Quote:
...and making sure that the shipping versions of our Windows components don't induce the bug

Any known issues between Vista and Cisco equipment regarding horrible performance? Specifically that "netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled" is required on any Vista box to get usable networking. Prior to doing this, machines will get 20 megs per minute transfer rates to local LAN XP or EMC NAS boxes, and 20k/s to a remote site over a 10mbit link.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: My iPhone review - 23/07/2007 19:39

I remember your thread on this a while back. (Assuming I'm remembering the same thread.)

I had never seen that one happening on any of the Cisco equipment in our lab, and I don't see a specific bug about it. However, now that Vista's been out a while, you might want to check back with both Microsoft's and Cisco's KB searches and see if any new articles have come up since the last time you did a search.

Posted by: burdell1

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 13:19

Can Safari on iPhone go full screen?

Posted by: drakino

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 13:45

Quote:
Can Safari on iPhone go full screen?

Thats how Safari looks. If you scroll down on the page, the address bar will scroll off the top, but the very top white bar and the bottom buttons always remain.

Posted by: Tim

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 13:46

I just saw a commercial for the iPhone for the first time last night. It looks pretty slick. The integration they showed (watching the movie I don't care about) between the map and calling the restaurant was really cool.

I only have one thing that would keep me from buying it, the integrated camera. Why does every new phone have to include a camera, instead of having an option of the same phone without one?

Posted by: loren

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 15:25

Probably because the cost of including one in every phone is cheaper than what it would cost to make two designs, one with and one without? Just a guess.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 15:40

I don't think assembly-line complexity was Apple's main reason. I'll bet it was more of a marketing thing. They know the initial run of iPhones will be snapped up by the zealots, and so they didn't need to offer a cheaper model right out of the gate.

After all the zealots have paid top dollar for the first iPhone, and the initial buzz has died down, then they'll offer cheaper models. At that point, they'll get all the customers they didn't get the first time 'round because of the price. See, those pricepoint customers will still be there later on. Whereas, with the zealots, they only had that one chance to milk them for every penny.

That's my theory, anyway.

Posted by: tman

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 16:23

People will complain if they didn't put a camera into the iPhone. OMG... The iPhone sucks! Even <generic phone> has a camera! Its supposed to be a multimedia online thing and they didn't put a camera in?!!! etc...

Whilst a camera in your phone is kinda handy sometimes, the photos they take are just terrible.

Posted by: tfabris

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 16:35

Quote:
Whilst a camera in your phone is kinda handy sometimes, the photos they take are just terrible.

I agree with that statement in the general sense, but I've read that the one in the iPhone is surprisingly good. I'm curious to try one.

Posted by: andy

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 16:57

Quote:

After all the zealots have paid top dollar for the first iPhone, and the initial buzz has died down, then they'll offer cheaper models.

I can't wait to see the iPhone shuffle:

- no screen
- a single call/hang up button
- no speaker or mic (head set only)
- a shuffle on/of slider to decide whether to step sequentially through your phone book or just dial randomly

Posted by: tfabris

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 20:03

Quote:
I agree cameras on phones are crap compared to a proper camera. However, if you're taking photos on a night out in a pub or at a concert they do just fine.

See, it's funny you say that, because I'd think that those would be two specific situations (low light) when cell phone cameras would perform at their worst.

Posted by: andy

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 20:09

I feel like buying up a large stock of these http://www.blueunplugged.com/p.aspx?p=115949

In five years time when people are desperate for a phone that just makes calls and has a screen that you can read in daylight, I'll make a killing

Posted by: Schido

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 20:25

Actually i saw these on sale here for only 39€ (without simlock)

http://www.techtree.com/India/Reviews/Motorola_MotoFone_F3/551-78358-614-2.html

Posted by: AndrewT

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 20:26

Although having a camera would be nice for those "Hey, look where I am" picture messages, I'm still happily using my trusty old Nokia 6310i. While I appreciate the gadgetry value of modern phones, I'm happier owning something that "just works" and not freaking out every time I drop the thing.

The most important feature on the 6310i that's missing for me is a speakerphone function. The 1110i has that, MMmm!

Obligatory picture of the 6310i.....

Posted by: gbeer

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 22:52

Some of us work in places where cell phones are permitted but cameras are not. So the camera equipped cell phone has to stay home.

Posted by: tanstaafl.

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 22:53

Quote:
In five years time when people are desperate for a phone that just makes calls and has a screen that you can read in daylight, I'll make a killing

Here is my next cell phone.

I'm serious. The only thing it does is make and receive phone calls. Funny thing... that's the only thing I want a telephone to do.

Of course, I am a true luddite at heart -- for instance the only thing I do with my empeg is play music with it.

Is this what the term Generation Gap is about? After all, I am about two generations older than most of the people here.

tanstaafl.

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: My iPhone review - 24/07/2007 23:51

It's far more expensive than my new phone, both in initial cost and in service. And I paid a good bit for the phone I chose over some of their free phones. And there's no contract. Sure, the phones can do more than just make phone calls, but you don't have to use those features at all. You can still just enter 7 digits and press send.

Posted by: Ezekiel

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 00:30

Here is my current cell phone.

Yeah baby.

-Zeke

Posted by: FireFox31

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 00:31

Cell phone cameras are worthless. But they sure are nice as instantly accessible VIDEO cameras. I've got the "VCR blinking 88:88" fear preventing me from learning how to use my DV cam. So, I just grab the Treo, shoot a video, and sync it to my computer!

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 00:39

The dual-band one as pictured or the GSM tri-band one?

Posted by: sein

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 07:07

I never thought much of having a camera in a phone, I used my Treocam pretty rarely when I did have it. Now I have an E61 without a camera I actually *do* miss it. The rare occasions where I would use it make me think its so convenient to have.

Instant photo evidence when I have had parking tickets and was technically parked legally (happens too often here)... photos of labels to note model numbers... photos of competitors pricing and promotions when I'm out... MMS messaging the odd photo of a product to a customer... its handy once a month or so.

Posted by: Dylan

Re: My iPhone review DELETED DELETED - 25/07/2007 10:56

Post deleted by Dylan

Posted by: Tim

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 11:40

Quote:
Some of us work in places where cell phones are permitted but cameras are not. So the camera equipped cell phone has to stay home.

Thats exactly what I was thinking about. The only thing that is preventing me from buying an iPhone (if they are in stock, no clue about that) is the fact that I wouldn't be able to take it to work, or almost any of the places I travel to for work. Why spend the money on it if you can't take it with you everywhere you go?

That is what prompted my question about the cameras in cell phones. It seems like almost every phone out there has a camera any more and there should be a market for some decent phones without a camera.

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 12:53

Quote:
if they are in stock, no clue about that

Quote:
"We have noticed decent inventories at stores and thin demand at best," CIBC analyst Ittai Kidron wrote in a note. "Among the stores we visited, most visitors were not looking at the device, and only a very small subset bought it."

Apparently both Apple's and AT&T's stocks slumped significantly based on this news.

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 14:39

Quote:
I think most of the slump was due to overblown expectations.

Agreed.

Quote:
So a one day dip (one that was barley 1%)

AAPL closed on June 23 at 143.75. They closed on June 24 at 134.42. That's a 6.5% "dip".

However, that's still higher than it's ever been, ignoring the peak of the past few weeks.

Posted by: burdell1

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 15:00

Now I just wish i could afford one.....

Posted by: drakino

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 15:16

Quote:
Can the iPhone accept the 12V input from a firewire charger? Lots of people have firewire chargers hanging around from older iPods and there are some people reporting problems. I would expect it to work as I'd be very surprised if Apple sold a charger with a physically compatible plug but is electrically incompatible in a destructive way.

From a disassembly of the iPhone dock, pins 19 and 20 are wired through, and that is the two pins that carry the 12v firewire power, along with pins 29 and 30 carrying the ground. 3 of the 4 data pins are not wired at all, with the 4th likely being connected simply to inform the user that firewire cannot be used for syncing. I'm not sure why Apple would wire up the power pins if the iPhone couldn't accept them, since the dock is iPhone specific.

If it does work, I'd be tempted to go with this solution, as the firewire port on Macs can still provide power even when the machine is asleep.

Posted by: canuckInOR

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 17:19

Quote:
Here is my next cell phone.
[...]
Of course, I am a true luddite at heart

Bah. True luddites don't carry cell phones at all!

Cell phone free, and loving it!

Posted by: Ezekiel

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 17:30

As-shown Verizon CDMA/Analog Dual Band. Analog's still useful in rural parts of NH and Vermont.

-Zeke

Posted by: Phoenix42

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 21:38

270k iPhones? Is this just in the US? So like one in every hundred Americans has an iPhone???
Yozzer!

Posted by: tonyc

Re: My iPhone review - 25/07/2007 22:33

Quote:
270k iPhones? Is this just in the US? So like one in every hundred Americans has an iPhone???
Yozzer!

Your math's a bit off. That would be a bit less than one in every thousand based on a US population of ~300 million.

Posted by: tanstaafl.

Re: My iPhone review - 26/07/2007 00:07

Quote:
Sure, the phones can do more than just make phone calls,

Just some of the features crammed into that phone that I don't want, and don't want to have to deal with in a complex menu structure:

Web browsing
Text messaging
Speaker Phone
TTY/TTD service
Superphonic ring tones
Games
Graphics
Voice Mail
Alerts
Subscriptions
Maps
Weather
Calculator

etc.

You're correct, I don't have to use those features if I don't want to, but nonetheless they are there and they will add complexity to the user interface.

I probably use my cell phone five or six times a year so I neither want nor need anything even remotely fancy.

tanstaafl.

Posted by: hybrid8

Re: My iPhone review - 26/07/2007 02:46

But by the end of September they'll no doubt be at over 1 million iPhones, bringing the ratio close to 1 in 300.

Posted by: gbeer

Re: My iPhone review - 26/07/2007 03:22

There are about 6000+ of em at my job site. edit: Workers than can't carry camera phones on the job.

Posted by: gbeer

Re: My iPhone review - 26/07/2007 03:32

Quote:
Here is my current cell phone.

Yeah baby.

-Zeke

I hope that's not serviced by ATT. I've been getting nasty letters from them for the last 6 months about the pending shutdown of that mode.

After looking over the current offerings at the local ATT store, I just had my number transferred to a Moto 139 provided by Tracfone. If they come up with a camera less flip that I like, I'll be all over it.

The 139 seems prone to button presses when in my pants pocket.

Posted by: gbeer

Re: My iPhone review - 26/07/2007 03:35

Quote:
Cell phone cameras are worthless. But they sure are nice as instantly accessible VIDEO cameras. I've got the "VCR blinking 88:88" fear preventing me from learning how to use my DV cam. So, I just grab the Treo, shoot a video, and sync it to my computer!

I don't doubt the value of them. It's just that for me, a cell phone w/camera, means not having a cell during my work day.

Posted by: loren

Re: My iPhone review - 26/07/2007 04:21

iResQ can take care of that pesky camera for you for the low low price of $100!

http://www.iresq.com/iphone/detail.php?prodID=P011036

Posted by: Ezekiel

Re: My iPhone review - 26/07/2007 11:06

Nope, Verizon. Strangely enough I have not heard anything from them about any pending shutoff of Analog service, although I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

-Zeke

Posted by: Tim

Re: My iPhone review - 26/07/2007 11:43

Quote:
There are about 6000+ of em at my job site. edit: Workers than can't carry camera phones on the job.

My site has 4,500+ people (as of 30 JUN), but my company has (stateside) over 132,000. There are another ~25,000 listed as 'other locations', but that includes international. I'm not sure if they have the same no camera rules at international sites.

That is one company, add to that the other companies in my industry (the other big two (financially) had a combined 260k+ at the end of last year) and the multitude of military and subcontractors that can't have cameras at work, and the number is not insignificant.

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: My iPhone review - 26/07/2007 12:30

Quote:
Just some of the features crammed into that phone that I don't want, and don't want to have to deal with in a complex menu structure:

If all you ever want to do is make phone calls, why would you ever even enter the menu?

Quote:
I probably use my cell phone five or six times a year

Assuming that's not an exaggeration, let's compare costs. Assuming each call is five minutes long, my plan could charge as little as $0 for the phone and $20 every three months for the minimum service. So $80 per year with, worst case, almost 300 minutes left over* that never expire. Jitterbug would charge you $147 for the phone, a $35 "set-up fee", $10 per month for service (plus an additional $3 per month if you want voicemail), and $0.35 per minute. That is $310.75 to $346.75 for the first year and $128.75 to $164.75 for each additional year. That doesn't count "surcharges, government taxes and assessments". Jitterbug passes those costs directly to you whereas my plan includes them. That is, I pay for minutes and that's it. Well, I do pay sales tax. From my standpoint, it looks like Jitterbug provides less service for twice the money.

In addition, when you order your Jitterbug phone, they'll program five numbers into it for you. If you want more numbers, you have to get an operator to do it for you. And, apparently, that service is not available everywhere. Which, I guess, means that if you're outside the service area, you cannot change your phone's contacts.

I totally understand the desire to simplify. It's just that I think Jitterbug's plan sucks, and I don't think it's simpler.

Oh, and let's not forget this probable deal killer:

Quote:
Alaska coverage still pending

* My plan keeps track of money in my account, not minutes. I get charged $0.25 per minute for the first ten minutes a day and $0.10 for each minute after that. Assuming each five minute phone call is on a different day, each minute paid for is $0.25. That's a total of $6.25 removed from a total of $80 put in over the year, leaving $73.75, which, again, assuming the worst case of $0.25 for each minute, is 295 minutes. The best possible case would be if all the minutes were used on the same day. That would be $0.25 for the first ten minutes, or $2.50, which would leave 775 minutes at $0.10 a minute. Of course, that means you'd be talking over 13 hours that day.

Posted by: altman

Re: My iPhone review - 26/07/2007 23:58

The iPhone will take FW power. 8-30V like all other iPods with the dock connector. You'd need to find an old FW-30 pin dock cable though, they are a little thin on the ground these days....

Hugo

Posted by: gbeer

Re: My iPhone review - 28/07/2007 01:08

You guys should look at Tracfone.
Phones as low as $9.99, a year's service with 400 minuets to start $99.99.
All minuets include long distance charges. Add more minuets when needed. Unused minuets roll over when additional service time is purchased. All purchases of minuets include additional service time.

The only real drawbacks are that they don't have the really cool phones, not an issue for me, and that, failure to keep the service time up results in instant cancellation of service, loss of unused credits, loss of phone number. They do have a safety plan that will keep your service active if your prepaid airtime lapses, but it's cheaper to buy in advance.

For low usage callers, it's not the per minuet cost you should count, it's the cost per year.

Posted by: wfaulk

Re: My iPhone review - 28/07/2007 02:10

I looked at Tracfone. I could swear that they used to expire your minutes. It looks like they don't do that now, if they ever did. However, they do charge double for roaming minutes.

Actually, doing some research, a lot of reviews claim that Virgin Mobile's minutes expire, which is 100% untrue (well, unless you let your whole phone number expire), so it's possible I got that expiration information on Tracfone from a similar bogus review.

Posted by: burdell1

Re: My iPhone review - 20/09/2007 20:00

is there a way to change the font size on the iphone version of safari?

Posted by: loren

Re: My iPhone review - 21/09/2007 15:04

Not explicitly, but you can just zoom in as much as you want until you can read it.

Posted by: loren

Re: My iPhone review - 21/09/2007 15:11

And just to bring this topic back up...

The hacking and 3rd party scene for this thing has been amazing. New apps almost every day and some have a high degree of polish. The eBook reader is quite good, and they even have Frotz going strong. Voicenotes, mobileChat ichat clone, and lots of games. Good stuff.

Any of you non-US folks picked one up and unlocked it yet?

Posted by: robricc

Re: My iPhone review - 21/09/2007 15:23

Where's the best place to learn about the 3rd party software? When I was first looking around, I didn't see too many interesting things.

Posted by: jbauer

Re: My iPhone review - 21/09/2007 17:27

Quote:
(snip) Any of you non-US folks picked one up and unlocked it yet?

I had a bunch of NZ friends in town last week ( http://www.segwaytoday.net/SegwayToday/E...acks_5_-_0.html ) and they have been unlocking iPhones like mad with the free hacks.

BTW, installing this http://iphone.nullriver.com/beta/ is a piece of cake, and well worth the effort... I didn't need a carrier hack, just wanted the additional apps - this did the trick nicely.

- Jon

Posted by: robricc

Re: My iPhone review - 21/09/2007 18:11

Quote:
BTW, installing this http://iphone.nullriver.com/beta/ is a piece of cake...

It sure was! Thanks.

Posted by: gbeer

Re: My iPhone review - 22/09/2007 00:48

Quote:
I looked at Tracfone. I could swear that they used to expire your minutes. It looks like they don't do that now, if they ever did. However, they do charge double for roaming minutes.

Actually, doing some research, a lot of reviews claim that Virgin Mobile's minutes expire, which is 100% untrue (well, unless you let your whole phone number expire), so it's possible I got that expiration information on Tracfone from a similar bogus review.

Roaming 2 for 1 only applies for certain models of phones. Even if I had to pay that, I'd still stay with Tracfone. When I factor in the per month costs into the number of minuets I normally use, even paying 2 for 1, I come out with a lower annual cost.

By comparison ATT was costing me over $450/yr just to keep it active. Tracfone is only $99 and I don't have a monthly bill to keep up.

Posted by: burdell1

Re: My iPhone review - 24/09/2007 14:51

For the email application on the iPhone (specifically with Yahoo email), will a preview of the email (sender & subject) show up on the iphone when you receive it or will it show up as just another number on the email icon?

Posted by: robricc

Re: My iPhone review - 24/09/2007 15:55

The email program shows Sender, subject, and the first two lines of text as a preview. 5 previews fit on the screen at once.

I am using my iPhone with my gmail account, but I would assume yahoo looks the exact same way.

EDIT: Nevermind, I think you're talking about push email with a yahoo account. I don't have that so I obviously don't know.

Posted by: burdell1

Re: My iPhone review - 26/09/2007 13:48

Has anyone came up with an app that will sync tasks from Outlook to the iPhone? i don't own an iphone, but was thinking about buying one next year as a replacement for my ipaq.

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