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In the cold, hard light of day
Friday, January 12, 2007
Much like the proverbial beer goggle effect, gadget freaks everywhere are wondering exactly how attractive that iPhone is going to be after the initial intoxication wears off. The Apple iPhone is undeniably sexy, but it comes with some pretty significant baggage.
The first of which would have to be that oh so exclusive deal with Cingular. Requiring a two-year contract for US subscribers is pretty short sighted, especially when the service provider Apple wants us to jump into bed with rates dead last or second to last in performance, according to Consumer Reports. Why not allow people to choose their own provider?
Another big issue is the closed OS. That's right, as in no-third-party apps closed. I'm sure they'll release additional software and widgets for the phone, but I'm equally sure we'll be paying a premium for them. And having to wait an interminably long time before Apple decides there's enough interest to warrant the release of new features.
No G3. I think that says it all.
A 2 megapixel camera seems a little hinky for such a high-tech device. A mere quibble to be sure, but it's a little hard to swallow when phones that cost a quarter of Apple phone can manage to come up with a higher quality camera.
The high price. Yes that's a whole lotta innovation going on, but there's also a barrel of negatives to contend with. Stick us with a sky high price tag and open the phone up to any provider or drop it and lock us into one--don't do both.
You can't use WiFi to synch with iTunes or another phone. They claim the reasoning behind that one has to do with the faster transmission speeds that come with a hardwired connection and also the convenience of recharging your phone at the same time. Again, nice sentiments, but let users choose.
A five hour battery might work ok for an MP3 player, but a communication/internet device? I predict that sporting a spare iPhone battery in each of your back pockets will be the new fashion statement in 2007.
Then there's the whole unsavory iName controversy. No matter what angle you view it from, Apple keeps looking like the bad guy here. Especially when you take a look at their defense...
No voip on the iPhone. Unhunh. That's the whole of their argument. See, Cisco's iPhone is a voip internet phone and Apple's iPhone is a cellular phone that, sure, is capable of voip but they're not including any actual voip clients, nor are they letting people roll their own solutions. The best you can hope for is using a web based version of your voip softphone.
Suddenly, I'm not so sure I'll be lining up for that first batch of iPhones. Call me stubborn, but I hate being painted into a corner.
