Apple iPhone
Okay, come on, you knew I was going to get one!
I picked up an iPhone a few weeks ago and I have to say, it does have its shortcomings, and they could be considered significant: A 2 megapixel camera with no other features, settings or flash. Mono Bluetooth audio on a device that’s designed to play music. Edge and no 3G on a device that’s designed to browse the Internet. No expandable memory. No detachable battery. No multimedia/photo messaging. No front-side camera for video calls. No GPS. No Radio. No 3rd party applications (for the moment).
That’s a lot of very old technology for a device that’s supposed to be so technologically advanced. These issues are compounded by the fact that the iPhone’s direct competitors do have all of the very latest technologies in these areas and are sold at a fraction of the price, sometimes even given away free with a new contract. Such as the Nokia N95 with it’s 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus, flash, great camera settings, stereo Bluetooth, and 3G. To add to this, the sound quality of voice calls isn’t brilliant, and there is a big difference between the sound quality on the iPhone and the Sony Ericsson phones I’ve owned.
Suffice to say; I am very disappointed with the iPhone’s shortcomings. Partly because I really like having a decent camera on my phone, and given all the hoo-haa Apple made about displaying photos on the iPhone, I would have thought the device’s built-in camera would have been more substantial/advanced, etc. But I’m also disappointed largely because Apple is usually so good at knowing what a new device needs in order excel in the modern market place, and in knowing what the public wants.
However, even with all these shortcomings, I have to tell everyone that the iPhone is absolutely stunning and it does all the typical mobile phone functions far better than any other device on the market. And the extra features that no other mobile phone has are all excellent as well. Three weeks in and I honestly can’t imagine living without this incredible device. I genuinely didn’t expect to be quite this impressed as I am, given that I’d read everything about it six months ago and was starting to feel a little bored with all the adverts, articles and press on it.
Even basic everyday functions, such as being able to walk down the street while listening to my music with the iPhone’s heaphones and knowing that I’ll be alerted to any calls, texts or emails is brilliant – and being able to answer calls without getting it out of my pocket … okay, maybe I’m getting excited over nothing – but this thing is awesome!
The iPhone shows an infinite amount of promise and I can imagine some absolutely incredible improvements and applications available on future generations, but I really do miss that great camera on my three-year-old Sony Ericsson phone.
As a side note, I also bought a family pack of Leopard for myself, my girlfriend and my flatmates and upgraded, and I love it as well! Definitely worth upgrading, especially if you’re working on OSX every day.
December 14th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
At first I was surprised that you expressed any disappointment about the iPhone at all, but then – having read the entire post – I realise that you were very good to express fair disappointment, accompanied with the zeal we’ve come to expect from your love of Apple gadgets.
I have to admit, even I want an iPhone, even though in all honesty I really don’t NEED one. Having said that, the way Apple products work together make them indispensable. But the short-comings you mentioned were the very reason I stayed away from getting the iPhone and opted for the newer Sony Ericsson model, instead. Having said that, even I have gripes about my new phone: it’s camera might be brilliant, but the dialing buttons are so very uncomfortable – I honestly wonder if the designer thought that people who would buy the K850i would just use the phone as a camera and never dial numbers at all…
But a design flaw is nothing in comparison to – as you said so yourself – old technology being used in such a ‘revolutionary’ product.
As I read your post, I came to realise that with the iPhone, Apple were trying something new, so I have hope that by the end of next year, when I’ll be able to get an iPhone, we’ll be looking at something that matches better the expectations we’ve come to have of mobile phones.
December 14th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Hi Chorna,
Knowing how much you like to take pictures with your camera, you made a good choice in going with the 5 megapixel K850i. The 2 megapixel camera on the iPhone really is pretty terrible (I was going to say ‘not brilliant’, but that just doesn’t cut it) and most of the pictures I post on my blog came from the camera on my Sony Ericsson K750i, which really wasn’t a bad camera at all (for blog photos at least) especially with it’s three-picture panorama function (take three pictures side by side to make up a panorama).
You can see that Apple have put a fantastic amount of work into the iPhone, but there are some simple things missing that could improve it a lot.