To go with the hits, I definitely think the iPhone has a few misses.
- Can't sync over wireless - Please let this be untrue. I've been begging for wireless sync for years now. Now there is Wi-Fi and Bluetooth onboard and still no wireless sync?
- Phone contract - Ugg. I don't have a mobile phone now. This might make me get one, but it still would be nice to have this device for the iPod and communicator functionality without being locked into a contract. I'd prefer it to just be sold as a GSM phone that I can take to the carrier of my choice which might be no carrier at all.
- Can't buy songs from the iTunes store - Again, I want this to be untrue. Think of the thousands of songs a day that will be bought by people at the airport, waiting for the bus, or just hanging out with friends. The impulse buy is quite powerful. Here a track at the club that you love, buy it immediately so you don't forget.
- Development age - Maybe it's just me, but some of the included tech suggests that this has been in development for 2.5 years. EDGE but not 3G could be a deal-breaker for some. Also the 2 megapixel phone seems pretty basic. Again, I don't care that there is a phone at all, but some will complain about the camera. Hopefully the camera has better optics than most mobile phone cameras.
- Different Dock - The pictures of the iPhone in a dock look like it is a different dock than the iPod. What happened to the plastic inserts? It uses an iPod dock connector, but not the dock? That sucks. I hate docks all over my desk and without the ability to wirelessly sync, they force me to have a dock or a hanging cable. Both of those choices are crappy.
Lots are calling the price a miss. I actually called for a $499 price, but that was without a contract. If I'm thinking ahead, I think Apple had to go with that price point to leave room for a $399 100 GB iPod that has widescreen and multi-touch capabilities. If the phone were any cheaper, because of a subsidy from Cingular, people wouldn't be able to get past the mental block of an iPod that costs more than the iPhone with an iPod in it, completely disregarding the 2 year contract lock-in. I think the iPhone is actually going to bring revenue to all of the wireless carriers as folks pay a penalty to break their existing contracts to go with the iPhone.
I also really don't care if it has a removeable battery or not. Many people will, but it is nice to see a 5 hour talk time which is more than many Blackberries which state a 4 hour talk time.
Next up, the questions that I still have about the iPhone.
1 comment:
Now, on to the misses...
No sync over wireless - if true, this is one of the biggest blunders they could make. Take this sexy device and require me to tether it with a cable to do any communication? No way.
Phone contract - part of the burden of partnering with the new Ma Bell. I think you will be able to get this without one, because you can order it from the Apple store. However, if you live in my country of choice, it's going to be an overpriced PDA toy if you don't go with Cingular and their contract.
Development age - agreed, but probably unavoidable. The dock thing screams aging design though.
Buying songs from iTunes - I don't personally care, but you're right that Apple should. Huge lost revenue stream.
My complaint would be if OSX apps cannot be hooked in, and don't have a sweet API. I want a Skype client hacked onto that thing, to allow me to do VOIP over WiFi.
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