I bought a 16gb iPhone yesterday knowing I can no longer write about mobile devices without experiencing and living with an iPhone too. It is enormously appealing from opening the box to making the first calls. This won’t be my only post on the iPhone, in fact it is more likely to be one of many. From its launch I’ve been interested in how this device may help us rethink the future of communications. Plenty has been written so I’ll try to write something different.
Many of you will know I have been a hard-core Nokia Smart Phone user for about six years and had unlimited (slow GPRS) internet connections over that time. I’ve been with T-Mobile. I’ve tried out lots of software on the Symbian platform. The big question is and will be… Is using an iPhone a comedown after using an N95 and N81? Today I really can’t answer that. I sense there are some apples-and-oranges differences.
What’s to Love about the iPhone? Where does the learning start?
The biggest difference between the iPhone and any other phone is “Getting Started”. For any new piece of software / hardware the initial setup is key. Before I made the first call from my iPhone; before I played with it, and before I got to show it to anyone else outside the box the iTunes management system and iPhoto were adding / synching my contacts, mail accounts, music, photos, calendar etc. With a little quick choosing I uploaded some 10gb of content including three feature length films. You cannot turn it on without going through this step.
This contrasts with all other phones which allow you to make a call before even adding contacts. Most still can’t easily from a PC or it requires extra software etc. By contrast most of us are familiar with using iTunes to manage our music. This shouldn’t be underestimated. It also presents an interesting opportunity for countries where one doesn’t have a music collection, or photo album or even a PC.
So… when I turned it on. It was already “my iPhone”. It was customised, and as ready as my PC to start communicating. I’d guess total time was about 1 hour out of the box. I then spent much longer playing with it.
This meant the whole experience was Apple controlled. My number was quickly moved from T-Mobile to AT&T. My accounts were linked created etc. I had minimal inputs. I didn’t have to give any of my data to some person to fill forms instore. The contracts were all done. There are huge efficiencies in this alone. It also worked flawlessly.
What’s to lament; where’s it fall short.
Just a few initial… notes on what it won’t do. Most users won’t even think about these things, they are trading up. In my case I’m trading down in some areas and will be using work-arounds to make it work.
1. Camera: 2mpx for a $500 phone with 16gb of space really sucks. It also lacks a flash (most mobile flashes are poor and don’t help much indoors) and more importantly auto-focus. I’d note I would have paid $200 more immediately to match the 5mpx camera on the N95. My phone is my camera. That sim will be coming out of the iphone often as I switch between devices.
2. Video: Poor camera and no video. Shame. The surprising thing is… this is the largest screen I have every had for taking a digital photo. It’s larger than the Nikon I have and on my last Sony Video recorder. (I think ATT doesn’t want them uploaded over EDGE)
3. Bluetooth: Is crippled. I got it to synch with my Motorola HS110 headset and also with the Sony Car Stereo in handsfree mode. However, there is no bluetooth streaming of audio! So I paired it with my Mac. It pairs fine. Guess what? No services are applicable. It’s locked down. I can’t use it to send or share files between the two. I can’t bluetooth a file to another person. I don’t do that often. It also means I can’t use my phone as an infrequent modem for my laptop. Again been doing it for years with various Nokia phones on the T-Mobile plan.
4. Headset - proprietary plug like. I can’t plug in my lovely Shure headset and have just ordered a $12 delivered adapter. Another piece of crap to carry around. Nokia’s N95 doesn’t suffer from this problem.
5. WiFi integration. I can print photos wireless-ly from my Nokias direct to my slick HP C7280. I could send via email a photo to Flickr, or if set up even my blog. On the N95 again it is built in and or I use Shozu. I’m not yet totally sure what / VPN connections etc I can set up on the iPhone.
6. WiFi – SIP stack: I’m out of luck. The Truphone app I use daily on my N95 (now I carry two phones) to call anywhere won’t work yet on the iPhone. More carrier politics!
7. Speed Dial. It has a “favorites” capability. So this is perhaps not really an issue. Double click the Home button and get favorites.
8. No Voice Dialing. Most of my Nokia smart phones have had “voice” dialing built in. Hold down the button and speak the name. Phone dials. Great for in the car. (There’s a solution in another post).
9. GPS: Actually I doubt I will really miss it. It’s too hit or miss in the Nokia and for the most part I use the Google app built for it. I think in this regard they will be very similar.
10. Radio. The Nokia has a good radio built in. I think it is a shame that the iTunes radio is not available. Why can’t these things work when in WiFi zones? Similarly, why should I download a rental movie to the Mac and then transfer.
So after that list, why do I still want to move forward with the iPhone? It’s easy. It’s elegant, and it is fast. It’s perfect for surfing and watching movie on planes. It’s a feel-good item.
These things really impress me.
1. Speed to navigate.
2. Speed to open an app and see the data.
3. Navigating photos and music (and again it is fast!!!).
4. Mail is better that the Gmail I use on the N95.
5. SMS threading is cool.
6. Managing the “icons” on the homepage. I have 20 choices at my finger tips. Again faster to access any one of them.
I’ve not mastered it and yet think I will.
1. Typing. The touchpad.
2. Don’t get predictive text if it exists. Would love the Nokia solution with the touchpad.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I looked very, very hard at the iPhone before finally going with the Viewty. The iPhone is gorgeous, ground-breaking etc but with no 3G, a poor camera and that dreadful headphone socket (I’ve got a nice pair of Shures too), it’s a poor substitute even for my current mobile/Nano combination. I can wait another year until Apple finally catch up with what people actually use their phones for…
And the cost! In the UK, you can get pretty much any phone on the market for the price plan the iPhone comes attached to at £269!
Michael, I generally agree with you. It may have well been better to wait. It’s obviously not quite the product I wanted; for most it is a massive step forward. It’s also gorgeous. I felt I had to test it to be up with the Apple iPhone SDK when released, general behavior etc. I was hooked after watching and then using my daughters iPod Touch. Cheers