Being the Mac whore that you are... I'm sure it will work out quite nicely for you. :b
Yeah, I just knew this MacWorld was going to be financially devastating.
Looks like I'll be dumping Verizon this June and signing up with Cingular. Verizon has excellent quality and fairly decent customer service and all... but... dang... how can you say no to THIS...
The specs over at Apple are AMAZING.
It kind of sucks that there's a six month delay before you can buy it, but something tells me it will be worth the wait.
Besides, it will give me time to save my pennies... all 50,000 of them... so I can actually afford the thing when it's released.
Jeff... Yes, it also expands my horizons from "Mac whore" to "Apple whore".
Diane... Well, 50,000 pennies is $500... but still, it's pricey. AND worth switching mobile carriers for!
James... Yeah, me too. I want it pretty bad, but will probably wait to read a review of it before I cash in and go for it.
It's so pretty! I got a Q a while back and although it's pretty good looking and functions well in general, the battery life bites big ones and a few other things are a bit weird, and I'm not sure I'd get it again.
Which is my long-winded way of saying, "yes, waiting for reviews is good".
Drooooooooool... I'm already on Cingular, so now I just have to find some sucker to take my current phone so that I can upgrade to this one... Bye-bye SLVR, hello iPhone! SEXY!!!
Posted by Atomic Bombshell on January 09, 2007 | Reply
As cool as I think the iPod is, that craze never sucked me in because I'm not into headphones. The iPhone, however... this is the combo tech I want.
$500? I wondered how much it was going to be. Yikes. But if it won't be out for 6 months, then maybe there's hope for me yet.
You do realise you dreamt the whole thing don't you?
Posted by MRKisThatKid on January 09, 2007 | Reply
Uh, not to curb your enthusiasm or anything, but is it really worth it to get Cingular? Do you think eventually other cell carriers will add that to their repertoires like with the Razr?
The only reason I ask is because uh...while in Seattle, anyone who called me got a message saying my phone was "non-working number" and yet, it should have never said that....go go, Gadget Cingular!
Hey, I may claim to be good at a lot of things--but math is not one of them.
And I agree with Hilly. It took me too long to find a provider with excellent customer service (a true rarity in this day and age!) to give it up for a spiffy new gadget.
Then again, I'm no MacWhore. ;)
This has to be a dream... it can't be real, can it? I mean, it's got like OS X, and Safari, and iTunes and iPhoto, and stuff? And it's a phone?
Of course it'll be ages before they launch it in the UK... in fact, neither it nor the Apple TV or new Airport Extreme are coming here any time soon :( . Oh well, on the plus side I have more time to save up for Leopard :)
Wow that thing is amazing. I want! I already have Cingular, and I need a new phone since my phone went SPLAT and I'm using my old 3 or 4 year old phone right now... but I don't think I can wait that long, or afford a $500 phone!
Oh, and Cingular isn't too bad around here. I get the feeling carriers might vary depending on where you live?
Posted by Shannon on January 09, 2007 | Reply
cingular- most dropped calls ever.
at least in seattle, hil is right.
Posted by ms. sizzle on January 09, 2007 | Reply
You said:
Looks like I'll be dumping Verizon this June and signing up with Cingular.
And that's exactly what [my] Dave3 said.
I love Verizon though and we're under contract for another year, I think. I'm glad we have to wait til June, because I don't want to have to switch phone services just yet, and of course, because I too need to save up.
Okay, having been in a wonderful love affair with my iBook for a year now, I must have the phone. The only thing that worries me, and this may be a little OCD - fingerprints all over the screen! I'm the person who practically sterilizes her boring old flip phone after everytime I use it! It is a thing of beauty though, so maybe it's just what I need to get over my psychological issues...
Posted by vicky on January 09, 2007 | Reply
Not even the coolest of all gadgets could get me to use Cingular again. Unless of course they came out with a gadget who could watch my kids while I go on a two week vacation to Figi.
Something like Robo-Maid...only not made by Microsuck...I'd come back from Figi and my kids would be addicted to p*rn and offering me penile implants.
Wow. What a let-down, eh...my phone has already been doing all that.
Now, can all you apple people PLEASE get out of my city and stop screwing up the traffic? Kthx.
Posted by Kentucky Girl on January 09, 2007 | Reply
I just saw it in action on Nightline (waiting for Jimmy Kimmel and Shiny Toy Guns...ahem), and it looks AWESOME.
I'm sticking with my Sidekick though, as Cingular is evil incarnate. What a big bag of suck that they would choose one of the *worst* carriers, because I'd totally buy one of those!
Posted by francesdanger on January 09, 2007 | Reply
Too expensive - $500 and $600... are you kidding me???
Too low on memory - I think they said either 4 and 6 GB or was it 4 and 8? Too low. And that memory is shared by audio, video, downloaded files, additional widgets, ringtones, backgrounds, etc. And no mention of expansion memory slots.
Too low on battery life - this is assumed as I read nothing about battery life. But once you mix A/V playback, Web surfing, and phone use, you might get a day, if that. It dies, and you're dead in the water.
No thanks.
Funny, I was all gung ho on the last set of Apple announcements (the stuff that came at the same time as the new Shuffle), but you were down about it all. Now we're flip flopping. We're Apple Waffles. Heh.
You just got a Palm TX, so I guess it's natural that you would trash this revolutionary device! :-)
For me, the many limitations on "smartphone" devices have always been too restrictive. I've tried Palm Treos and Blackberry and the rest, and am always disappointed. The iPhone finally gives me exactly what I want in a phone, then adds in tons of other features that is just the icing on the cake.
As for your points...
Too expensive? Are YOU kidding ME?? My current "WorldPhone" doesn't do a FRACTION of what the iPhone does, and it cost me $499 with two year contract! The price isn't that more than "smart phone" devices which do far, far less... I find that amazing. I'll gladly pay the extra to surf the "real" web... to be able to watch movies... to have such amazing call and voicemail features. To not have to use a clutzy stylus. There's just too much to like for the high price tag.
Too low of memory? It's a phone! You can put a couple movies, some TV shows, a gig of music, and some photos on it and STILL have memory to burn! Since you sync it each night to charge it, you can constantly refresh your media, because iTunes can automatically remove watched/listened tracks and replace them with fresh. For the money, the memory is a bargain... especially when iTunes can monitor your content and keep it fresh with rules you specify. Hopefully Apple will be adding widescreen and multi-touch to their iPod line, because I'll gladly buy a new HD iPod for the extra storage so I can FINALLY watch video without having to do so on a dinky little screen.
Too low battery life? Well, yeah, if you are planning to watch movies all day! But to have a full day of phone use, plus be able to watch a movie on your lunch hour and listen to music for a couple hour commute is pretty amazing for the size. My 2-year old $500 phone is lucky to make it 8 hours with heavy call usage. Besides, the bottom interface accepts battery quick-charge units if I am on a long flight and want to watch more than 5 hours video. For most people, the battery is good enough to get through your average day (and why not keep it on the dock to be charging while at work?). MY problem is that it isn't removable... I'd imagine that you have to send it in when the battery goes bad, which sucks ass.
I'm disappointed that Apple is using EDGE instead of 3G more than anything else.
I am dying to get an iPhone. It's a dream come true on just about every level, and fulfills the promise of what "smartphone" manufacturers have been trying to do for a decade but, in my opinion, have failed to create. I only hope that Cingular service isn't as bad as some people have said...
What I think everyone has to keep in mind here is that it's a PHONE. It's NOT a new iPod, and it's not meant to compete with say the LG fliphone that I have. It's meant to compete with smartphones/blackberry, for people who need Internet, camera, video, music, photos, phone all in one -- but mainly, the phone is what's being marketed here.
If you want to carry about your 80G song/video library, then you stick with the iPod. But so far, iPhone appears to have the best Internet/email capabilities of all phones (and possibly of any small hand-held device) -- plus, tons more for the SAME PRICE as a Blackberry or a smartphone.
The point: You get more -- and better -- for the same price.
And yes, let's hope Cingular truly has raised the bar.
No phone is worth over $200 in my opinion. It's a phone. That's all there is to it. And I hate phones. I will grant you the voicemail features. That's pretty sweet. If it works. We'll see.
As for the memory, correct me if I'm wrong, but a smartphone or whatever it's called is meant to serve as a replacement to having multiple devices on your person at any one given time. This iPhone is meant to be used as a fully functional iPod in addition to its phone features. Why else would there be such an emphasis on its iTunes features on the Apple site. Plus, that's how it was demo'd. So don't think this is a supplementary device. It's a replacement device. So the low memory is a BIG detraction from its appeal. I like having 30GB of music on me at all times because I never know what I'll feel like. I'm too lazy to set up playlists because I get sick of them. So I don't want to bother with it. Plus a big chunk of this memory is shot on the OS and the apps that are already in there. If the track record that Apple has is any indication, then some of the 4-8 GB of storage will be used for that. So expect your phone to really have about 3-7 GB, if not less.
Battery life... 5 hours of talk time. That's it. Read it on TUAW. If you don't use the phone, obviously, it goes up. But, like I said, this is a universal device that is meant to replace your need to carry an iPod, phone, PDA, Web reader, etc. So the expectation is that you'll use it as an iPod when it's not being used as a phone. There goes the battery life.
I know nothing about what EDGE is. Never heard of it.
Göran... Hey, isn't Sweden still a part of Scandinavia?? You guys are the ones who have been building the mobile industry for decades! Nokia is just next door... they don't provide decent mobiles to their Swedish neighbors??
Kapgar... Well, if it were just a phone, I'd agree $200 is too much. But iPhone offers a heck of a lot more. The Google maps and internet alone are stellar for somebody who travels a lot... I'd pay $200 alone just so I wouldn't get lost when I'm on the road!
EDGE is a slow internet access technology. All the cool kids are using 3G which is much faster. But the processors for 3G are slow, and Apple needed the speed for their iCandy. :-D
I do not consider iPhone to be an iPod replacement. It is a phone which has iPod capabilities. If you must have 30gigs of music with you at all time, then you want an iPod, not a phone that plays music. I have four iPods. The ones that get the most use are my Mini (4 gigs) and my Shuffle (2 gigs) because they are small. That makes the iPhone a good fit for me.
However, I still want a massive storage iPod for video WITH a big screen. I've been waiting and waiting. Once Apple refreshes the iPod lineup for the big screen, I'll be buying that too. But such a device won't be carried with me at all times... just for when I travel. That's why the phone is so perfect for me... it already fits with how I use my phone and music player perfectly. The battery life is not an issue, because I won't be watching video or surfing the internet all day long. It's just nice to have when I need it or want to listen to some tunes. There's no way I'll ever be talking for 5 hours, watching video for 5 hours, or listening to music for 16 hours in a day. I don't mind charging up each evening (or having a power adapter in my car) to get all the features I love about the iPhone.
Then you are the exception. Most people view smartphones (which is what an iPhone is) as a replacement. Why keep your Palm if you have a Treo, know what I mean? That's how most people will approach it because that's how they're conditioned. And when you consider that the iPhone has memory comparable to the high-end Nanos, I guarantee this will be viewed as a replacement.
Maybe my mind will change once I've seen it live, but as for right now, it does nothing for me. And I'm just as much a Mac Whore (tm) as you are.
Oh, and just because I own a TX doesn't mean I can't geek about an iPhone. I can and I would if it gave me something to geek out about.
I don't really consider iPhone to be a "smartphone" in the first place, though it does compare to them favorably in many categories.
Seriously though, I don't think I am the exception... the iPod Nano is the best-selling iPod by far and, as you note, comes with only 4 or 8 gigs. So you are right, it WILL be seen as a replacement for Nanos and Shuffles... and that's what I am wanting in a phone. For large storage, video, and such... I am still holding out for a large-screen touch iPod.
you have no idea how happy I am that I'm not a gadget person. lol I'd be broke!
Posted by Dawn (webmiztris) on January 10, 2007 | Reply
Boys! Boys! My goodness!!
Okay, I can kind of see Kapgar's point of view on this one. The new iphone is pretty, indeed. But the only thing it can do that my regular LG can't is play movies and/or music. And really, am I going to listen to music on my PHONE? That's bizarre to me. Mainly I use my mp3 player for travel and the gym. Times when I'm likely not keeping my phone handy (it has to be off on a plane, anyway). And why would I want to watch movies on a teeny tiny phone screen when I can watch them on my laptop?
I can find directions, use the internet, text, and play all kinds of games with the measly $5.00 a month extra on my cell phone package. And my phone cost about $150 bucks. And I've had it over a year and it's in perfect condition. And it's a flip phone which I really love.
So, the iphone looks pretty and thus I deem it drool-worthy, but I totally see Kapgar's view on this one.
But I'm no MacWhore, so maybe I don't count. ;)
Most of the time mobile phones are frustrating pieces of crap. My current mobile has dozens of features that I have no idea how to use because the method of doing so is not intuitive and I don't have the time (or desire) to read the inch-thick manual to find out. Even if I did take the time, the payoff is so weak that I wouldn't bother. Sure my phone has email, but it's crap. Sure it has web access, but it's practically useless crap. Sure it has a phone, but the quality is crap and you can't transfer images to your computer without paying, which is worse than crap. Even basic functions, like an address book, are complete and total shit on today's mobile phones.
Yet mobile manufacturers never bother to address ANY of these problems. They just continue to churn out crap phone after crap phone.
Then along comes Apple.
They actually THINK about things. They don't try to take frustrating crap and improve upon it... they completely toss out the frustrating crap and start over from scratch. Then they usually come up with something totally brilliant, where every detail has been painstakingly attended to and fully realized.
Like iPhone.
I (obviously) haven't has a chance to play with one yet. But, from the look of the demos at Apple.com, I am willing to bet that you never have to open a f#@%ing manual to use any of its rather extensive feature set. The most difficult thing to learn is how to pinch the screen when you want a photo smaller, and spread two fingers on the screen to make a photo larger. This is not a phone. It's magic.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is the phone for me... the only scary part is switching to Cingular, because I have not always heard the best things about Cingular. My current carrier, Verizon, has been really good to me and has fairly decent customer care. I am also thrilled with their phone service, which has amazing reception and fantastic clarity wherever I go.
But the phones suck ass. They have ALWAYS sucked ass. If there is a cool phone, rest assured that Verizon will be the last to get it. If there is a nifty new feature, Verizon will be last to have it (Bluetooth was a niche feature on Verizon phones for over a year after it was pretty much standard on other carrier's phones). The reason for this is that most of the world uses a "GSM network" to handle their calls, whereas Verizon uses "CDMA." And since CDMA is not as widely used, phone manufacturers make new CDMA phones a low priority.
But the worst part of having a Verizon CDMA phone is that it doesn't work outside of the USA very often (the only country I've ever been able to roam with CDMA is China). This means you have to buy a very, very expensive CDMA/GSM "WorldPhone" if you travel. And the two models of WorldPhones that Verizon sells are crap. REALLY crap. Bulky, featureless crap. Not only that, but they are hugely expensive crap. I paid $399 for my Motorola WorldPhone (WITH CONTRACT!) and it doesn't even have Bluetooth (not that Verizon really allows you to use Bluetooth to its full advantage anyway).
So the appeal of having a GSM phone is pretty high.
The appeal of having an Apple GSM phone is irresistible.
I want this more than I've wanted just about any other gadget in the past... more than the original iPod even. I'm sick that way. :-)
I've been reading tons of comments since yesterday about the iPhone and I've discovered one thing: It all depends on what you want.
Personally, my BlackBerry suits me perfectly as I have no desire for tunes/ media on my phone. I don't have the use. OTHERS are absolutely creaming over this device because they like all of that media hoo-ha. Good for them. This phone is DAMN sexy.
VERY.
The absurd battery situation, Cingular service, price point and touch screen seem to be deal breakers for many, which are completely valid.
I am on Cingulars EDGE and it's alriiiiight, but seems ill suited for a snazzy Apple product. It's a worthy entry into the 'smartphone' market. For some :)
Posted by WanderingStar on January 10, 2007 | Reply
Heh heh. Apparently Verizon can't do math. They don't understand the difference between 0.002 cents and 0.002 dollars :)
overall i have to admit its a pretty cool gadget. but i think its "confused". (and so am i.)
it doesn't seem to be a "business phone" - doesn't sync with outlook, doesn't open any MS docs, yahoo email?! which serious biz person uses yahoo email?!!!
so its a multi-media phone? with a 2MP cam only? (that's forgivable for now but come june, or 2008 for asia, every other phone will have a 3.2MP or more.) and no 3G (aka no slingbox mobile)? no downloading of itunes? no applications to download (apparently apple wants complete control of the look and feel)?
am i missing something here?
btw, anyone knows what steve jobs mean when he say they "patented" multi-touch? hasn't multi-touch been around for a while? what exactly did they patent? hmm...
Posted by *cotton on January 12, 2007 | Reply
That's funny... I think this is the first phone in a long time to come along that's NOT confusing! :-)
IT'S A PHONE!
First and foremost IT'S A PHONE! It has amazing phone functionality and does everything you could want from a phone and more. The voicemail system alone is light-years ahead of the crap voicemail that's on current phones. It just happens to have other functionality that makes it a killer phone. The fact that Apple decided what those other functions will be upsets people which I just don't get. If something doesn't do what I want, I buy something else! If I want a scanner on my printer, I find a model printer that has a scanner on it... I don't go freaking out because one manufacturer decides their product isn't going to have a scanner built-in.
Oh well. There's always going to be people that wish a product did more than it does. If Apple tried to appease everybody, the phone would never be released (or weigh 10 pounds if they found a way to do actually do it).
You are right though... it's NOT a business appliance... thank heavens. I've always found the MS Office functionality to be lame, at best, on smartphones. Who wants to try an edit an Excel spreadsheet on a PHONE? That's what your laptop is for. People who want to edit Office documents on a phone will end up with a Microsoft phone anyway, why should Apple bother to try and fulfill this niche market? Outlook is pretty huge though in the Windows world, and it wouldn't surprise me if Apple has something to work with it at some point.
BTW, iPhone can collect email from ANY email account that has POP or IMAP access (which is just about all of them). The Yahoo account just allows for push-messaging like a Blackberry has (except it's free!).
Cameras on phones are a joke because the lens has to be so small. Does the pixel count on a crappy quality photo really matter? If I want to take pictures, I'll use my pocket camera, because that's what it's built for. Occasionally it's fun (or handy) to email a photo, but the lens is the true limiting factor here... not the pixels.
The EDGE decision over 3G does bother me... but the power consumption and slow Qualcomm 3G chips made this technology the wrong choice for first-gen iPhones. Steve has said that once 3G is more widespread and the tech gets better, they plan to have iPhone support it. Also, since the phone is a closed system, you couldn't watch Sling Media on it anyway unless Apple were to add it (doubtful).
Buying music on iPhone would be handy... it wouldn't surprise me if Apple adds this functionality at a later date. I probably won't use it, however, because I am quite happy managing my music collection on my computer and using the iPhone like an iPod for playback.
The one point that we can agree on is applications... it would be nice if you could download 3rd party apps to provide features you really want (I, for one, would love to have my Delicious Library data accessible on my iPhone). But, I kind of sympathize with Apple on this point. Third party apps could screw up the phone, and why should Apple have to support that? If they actually DO sell 10 million phones in 2008 as planned, then they should have it be as closed as possible so that support issues are held to a minimum.
I've never seen multi-touch gestures on any device. It's very cool though, and I can see why Apple wants to patent it. Pinch the screen to make something smaller? Genius!
In the end, I think "what you are missing" is that you have a choice here. Accept the iPhone for what it is. If it does what you want, and it does what you need, then buy it. If you need functionality that it doesn't have, then buy something else. :-)
Personally, I am thrilled with the choices Apple made. I'd rather be able to watch an occasional movie than edit a spreadsheet... and I think most people are going to agree.
With THAT being said... there is NO EXCUSE for not having a user-replaceable battery. Batteries wear out after a year or so, and having to send your iPhone to Apple when it needs replacing sucks ass. This is not a functionality issue... it's just plain common sense! Stupid, but I guess Jonathan Ivy didn't want any seams marring up his beautiful piece of phone art. Can't blame him for that. :-)
I love comments! However, all comments are moderated, and won't appear until approved. Are you an abusive troll with nothing to contribute? Don't bother. Selling something? Don't bother. Spam linking? Don't bother.
PLEASE NOTE: My comment-spam protection requires JavaScript... if you have it turned off or are using a mobile device without JavaScript, commenting won't work. Sorry.
Entries Feed Comments Feed
Blogography Bits
|
|
Visit my Flickr Page Subscribe to my Mobile Feed
