Apple iPhone

[Chanfan]

I've been eyeballing them, especially the efforts to crack the sim card restrictions, as I'm not a big fan of AT&T.

Still, the phone is perhaps the least interesting part for me. A usable web browser in my pocket is the most interesting aspect. Too pricey, tho', for something I don't really need.

I'll likely wait until a 2nd or 3rd generation, and hopefully a price drop. Most of my friends - even my Mac evangelist friend and my Mac IT guy friend are waiting. Two other Mac buddies are getting them, but neither are buying them - one is getting one for evaluation for work (another Mac IT guy), and one is an Apple Genius, getting his free Apple employee iPhone.

I will say I'm keen to get a chance to play with one.

 

[scotrace]

The Best Review I've Seen.

This one from Apple Insider is excellent. Best for me are the bits that explain why some features seem to be "missing," when there are good engineering reasons for them to be left out.

There are also some hard numbers to help get past "this thing is pricey." Compared to other high-end mobile phones, the iPhone is generally less expensive when comparing cost of the plan and all other factors.

I had also planned to wait for rev 2 or 3, but the reasons to wait are evaporating, except the major one, of course. I just don't have $600 lying around right now for a phone. Well... I do, but mamma would spank.

Still... I want to have this experience aboard a certain ship in November.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

My only wish for it....

Was that they leave the camera out.

I could never get one with the camera in, as I cannot carry camera devices inside work. Leaving a 500 dollar toy in the car...is different then leaving a cheaper camera cell phone in the car.


Alas...they wont make a 'defense contractor' friendly model....so never gonna get one.

 

[Chanfan]

This one from Apple Insider is excellent. Best for me are the bits that explain why some features seem to be "missing," when there are good engineering reasons for them to be left out.

A good review. This is my favorite so far, but be warned - it's the commentary from an online comic (largely about videogames), famous for things that would violate the standards of good taste here - and also tends to the sarcastic. The review is generally positive, but less serious, and more glib in tone.

My favorite bit:

My old phone, one based on Windows Mobile 5.0, had almost every feature the iPhone has - point by point. The differences between the products (like the differences between their desktop cousins) have to do with how functionality is exposed to the user. In this matter, you'll find that Apple's product is almost infuriatingly superior.

It does sum up why I prefer the iPod over contenders.

There are also some hard numbers to help get past "this thing is pricey." Compared to other high-end mobile phones, the iPhone is generally less expensive when comparing cost of the plan and all other factors.

An excellent point, and one I'd not seen made before. Alas, not a swaying one for me - my trouble is the iPhone isn't worth the price for me yet. That other phones either do less are are more expensive is worthy of review for those considering purchasing at the price point (a bit under 2K for the plan life). The price point is still too high for me - the iPhone pushes it temptingly close, and pehaps I'll give in if I find I have the disposable income - but for me, it just points out that other phones are even further away. This will, of course, vary by individual.

I should add that on the price point, I'm probably atypical, as I don't currently pay anything for cell phone service (work supplied). Also, my phone is very, very basic (B&W, can't do custom ring tones, etc.). I didn't have a cell before this, and don't consider paying, say, $150 to upgrade my phone worth it for what I'd get - so cell phone wise, I may just be a cheapskate or fuddy-duddy.

Seeing some reasoning behind the feature choices is good, and in some cases I can see and agree. Some of it seemed to drift near being an Apple apologist. I do think it's a good point that the device shouldn't try and overreach itself - it's one of the reasons I like the now-waning Palm-OS. Still:

"There's no way to "fix" the text entry "problem" without destroying the minimal Zen of the entire device, adding a stylus, a persistent menu bar, and ending up with something that looks a lot like the Palm OS, or even worse, WinCE. To anyone who wants that, there are many unsold PDAs sitting in Best Buy already.

Seems a bit snarky for a serious review, and I also don't happen to agree - I like UI's that present options. Keep it Zen like at the base level, but allow deeper function for those that seek it. Not having the overhead associated with cut and paste is valid, however.

I also worry about how seriously I can take the reviewers critical commentary when, finding a feature that he agrees they did miss, it's simply "a bit puzzling". But hey, it is a review from Apple Insider.

Then again, I do desire one - I'd just rather spend my limited free funds on, say, a hat from Art. Perhaps I'm just stretching for reasons why I shouldn't feel bad for not running out and getting one.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

My only wish for it....

Was that they leave the camera out.

I could never get one with the camera in, as I cannot carry camera devices inside work. Leaving a 500 dollar toy in the car...is different then leaving a cheaper camera cell phone in the car.


Alas...they wont make a 'defense contractor' friendly model....so never gonna get one.

Do you have the same issues with Flash and portable memory? Do they check keychains?

I think that is really fascinating, but a reality in the 21st C.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Do you have the same issues with Flash and portable memory? Do they check keychains?

I think that is really fascinating, but a reality in the 21st C.

Indeed. -technically- my ipod is not allowed.

But they also don't check nearly as much as they should.

I just make sure never to store any work things on personal possessions and vice versa.

 

[Twitch]

If I may ponder a moment I wonder how gullable we are as consumers? As each techno wonder hits the streets the marketing departments of these various manufacturers seem to be convincing us that this next thing is the thing we really need and not all the stuff they told we really needed before. The new and improved version is THE thing, not that tired junk we sold you on last year.

As it all as seemed to congeal into this latest device that allegedly does it all I wonder why people would bother. As TV screens and PC monitors grow larger and we get tons of cable/satellite channels for small prices I can't imagine why anyone would pay to see last Tuesday's sitcom episode on a 1 1/2" screen and pay for yet another internet access beyond their PC or notebook.

Much of our tech offers more than is often used. Devices have features that some don't even use. The thawout cycle on microwaves or the cruise control on a car you drive 99% of the time in the city are examples. Or are we eternally blabbing, texting and looking at email form the handheld device simply because we're rationalizing the investment we outlay each month for the service? IE., we pay beaucoup bucks so we better use the hell out of it to get our money's worth.

No one 10 years ago would have considered or foreseen themselves paying some extra $75 or so from their budgets to have "unlimited text and calls" and access their email to find the usual penis enlargement and mortgage ads that they get on their PC at home. Is there really anthing worth taking a poor quality picture of with a phone camera device that then costs to upload it to your web access? I wonder just how often it is really helpful or cost effective to look up Mussolini on the web or find the nearest taco stand if you get the munchies with the Wunderfone devices.

It isn't that techno devices aren't cool. They are. But for what end beyond pandering to our amusement? I'm not convinced that this latest Wunderkind device is justified simply because it combines several separate devices that have dubious rankings on any "need" list. The rationale that they will save time and money in ongoing business apply to a very small handful of owners.

I find it fascinating that modern marketing techiques have forced us to believe we really, really need/want so much "stuff." We putter around in huge 4-wd trucks that never go in the dirt or even carry a 2X4. We take pictures of a couch on sale with our camera phone and send it to our email. We buy jet-skis that see the water once or twice a year and end up languishing in the garage with our other toys that have lost their sheen.

We've all been swayed by marketing at one time or another but the Wunderfone really got me to looking around at all the cutesy crapola that is foisted off on us as useful and economical. It's scary.

 

[Leading Edge]

Two-sided response

Pro: R & D - The objective is to get the greatest number of people starry eyed enough to overpay for this "toy" in order to make the greatest profit in order to fund the next great "toy" coming out within six months or so.

Con: Sorry, I must apologize ahead of time and I will not take it amiss if a bartender deletes this because it is a grim & scary thought: with what's recently happened in London & Scotland, I cannot help but consider how much easier these "toys" make it for the terrorists-on-go.

 

[zeus36]

A co-worker has one and let me play with it for about 20 minutes. This is one cool device! As mentioned by someone before, I'm not really interested in the phone feature so much as the other functions. I'd get one just for the browser, calculator and calendar functions alone! The interface is amazing and it has some portrait and landscape software so you can turn the phone 90 degrees.

Manipulation of the images is also like nothing else I've seen, just use your thumb and finger to spread the images larger or pinch them to reduce the size.
I'll be saving up and hoping the prices will dip a bit.

 

[Diamondback]

Twitch raises a good point, with his description of things seldom used, but "gotta have the latest".

This is why my laptop goes everywhere with me--at 4 grand, an expensive hunka hardware, but it does it all in one single gadget. (We'll just pay no mind to the fact that it takes up my entire briefcase... )

 

[Feraud]

Has anyone purchased the iPhone? Any thoughts about how user friendly it is?
I was checking it out and have to say it looks very enticing..

 

[scotrace]

Do it Feraud

Go ahead. Cut loose some shekels....

 

[Feraud]

Go ahead. Cut loose some shekels....

Two obstacles.. finding those loose shekels and the Mrs.

 

[scotrace]

Our Mrs's are clearly in cahoots!

 

[Feraud]

I am going to do some serious hinting for Christmas. There is nothing like begging and pleading to enhance the holiday spirit.

When using the phone I noticed the keyboard is a bit cramped. My fingers frequently hit the wrong keys. Perhaps the next generation will feature the keyboard as a horizontal display rather than the current vertical one.

 

[Salv]

Forget the iPhone, check out the gorgeous new iMacs http://www.apple.com/imac/

 

[Feraud]

That iMac is nice!

 

[Bebop]

Forget the iPhone, check out the gorgeous new iMacs http://www.apple.com/imac/

I recently picked up one of these gorgeous iMacs with a 20" screen. It is a great machine. I did not like it for the first month or so but it has grown on me like no other machine ever has. The fact that instead of having a tower it has everything contained just below the screen makes me wonder why the clumsy pc tower still exists at all. I don't think I could ever go back to doing things the hard way (Windows).

 

[Salv]

These are brand new Bebop, just announced today, with an aluminium enclosure replacing the white plastic, and a new keyboard design.

 

[Bebop]

Well in that case, my iMac just became obsolete. I puchased mine, with the white plastic, about 4 months ago.