Top 10 reasons to hate the iPhone 3G

Dan Warne
25 June 2008, 10:38 AM


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Is the iPhone 3G really deserving of the nickname Jesusphone?


Sure, the iPhone 3G is a groundbreaking phone. There's a lot to love about it… the amazingly easy-to-use touchscreen interface, amazing video playback, a big, bright, high contrast, high-resolution display that's the best of any smartphone on the market, and a web browser that's as good as any you'd use on a desktop computer. Not to mention Apple's new MobileMe service which will provide over the air syncing of your email, contacts, calendar, tasks and photos with your home or office computer — no plugging in required.

But there are a lot of big disappointments with the iPhone 3G too. Some of them are stubborn commercial decisions Apple has made; others look like oversights, and others are fundamental flaws in the design of the phone itself.

Think I don't know jack? Before you post an angry comment, read through the 10 points and then tell me what you think.

#1 No upgrade to the camera

The camera in the first-gen iPhone was only two megapixels with no flash. "Fair enough," I thought… "it's a first-gen product. They have to leave themselves room to move for the upgrade they'll surely put into the next-generation iPhone." No such luck. The camera in the iPhone 3G is exactly the same as the first-gen one. Still stuck at two megapixels. Still unable to cope in low-light and still no flash. Oh, and there's no video recording capability either, even though this has been found on phones for the last five years or so.

Scorecard
iPhone 3G: 2 megapixel camera, no flash, no video, no optical zoom
Other phones: up to 5 megapixel cameras, optical zoom, lens-based autofocus, flash.
Verdict: Smackdown by other phones.

#2 No Adobe Flash support

Undeniably, the iPhone has the best web browser of any phone on the market. But when you hit a web page with Adobe Flash in it, you'll just get an empty space with a 'missing plugin' icon. Apple says Flash would run too slowly on the iPhone, but in reality, it's probably more to do with Apple wanting to promote its competing web app development technology, Sproutcore.

Apple realises the 'mobile web' is at a tipping point… if it can get enough momentum behind developers coding sites specifically for the iPhone, it will help sales of the iPhone along in the long term. (That said, unlike Flash, Sproutcore is an open standard that theoretically works in any web browser that supports Javascript, so it could be widely supported by all handset makers if their phone web browsers got better.)

For a laugh, check out Steve Jobs demonstrating the web browser on the iPhone. When he views The New York Times, up pops the 'missing flash' icon.

Scorecard:
iPhone: no Adobe Flash support
Other smartphones: Flash Lite support, or full Flash support on Windows Mobile.(Admittedly Flash support on other phones isn't great either, but then, they're not running a full computer operating system like the iPhone is, where it would be trivially easy to port Flash across to run on it.)
Verdict: Other phones win by a narrow margin.

#3 No instant messaging

Despite the fact that the iPhone comes with unlimited data plans (in the US at least; Australian plans haven't yet been revealed) Apple has hobbled the iPhone's ability to do instant messaging.

Rather than sending instant messages over the internet to friends, the iPhone sends them by SMS. Since Apple has great instant messaging software for Mac called iChat, this is undoubtedly a concession to phone companies. SMS is widely considered to be the most expensive data service in the world, with each message only 165 characters long but charged by phone companies at around 20c per message. Multiplied out, that equates to 1.3 million dollars per gigabyte of SMSes. (By comparison, Aussie mobile network Three offers 1GB of high speed internet usage for $15.)

Oh yeah, and forget about chatting to someone who's sitting at a computer using the iPhone. Heaven forbid you might want to chat to someone using MSN/Windows Live Chat, Google Talk, AIM, ICQ, Facebook or any of the other popular chat protocols.

Hopefully, this ludicrous situation will be plugged by third-party application developers who will develop internet-based chat clients for iPhone. However, Apple has said that it will not allow applications to run in the background on the iPhone; instead, the developers must run an internet-based service, send a message to Apple servers, which will then send a message to the iPhone to alert the user to open the app. Yes, it may save battery life on the iPhone, but no, it's not exactly convenient.

On a Blackberry, the Blackberry Messenger just sits quietly in the background. If your phone is on, so is Blackberry Messenger. It's 100% reliable. It doesn't send messages using a stupid method like SMS. It uses the Blackberry's unlimited internet access. And yes, Blackberries do have good battery life.

Scorecard:
iPhone 3G: SMS is the only way to instant message people.
Other smartphones: A large variety of instant messaging software that can send messages using the internet capability of the phone.
Verdict: iPhone is shamed by other phones.

#4 Totally impractical for international travel

The iPhone downloads full emails, attachments and all, when you view them on the iPhone. If someone sends you an email with several megabytes of photos attached, that's how much data has to be downloaded by the iPhone. That's fine if you're in your home country and have an unlimited data plan. But go to another country and see how much it costs you — you can expect to pay up to $20 per megabyte. Your roaming charges will soon be running into hundreds of dollars.

Not to harp on about the Blackberry, but when you roam with one of them, it's quite cheap, because the Blackberry servers downscale images to perfectly fit the size of the Blackberry screen before sending them — a huge saving in data transfer charges, and messages are heavily compressed before transmission, etc. In fact, even heavy Blackberry users may be surprised to learn that they use less than 5MB of data per month.

Scorecard:
iPhone 3G: It's the data equivalent of the gas guzzling SUVs that GM suspended production of this week.
Other smartphones: Well, there are certainly other data guzzling phones. But Blackberry is a perfect example of a smartphone that's made for roaming.
Verdict: Blackberry wins

#5 Not compatible with Bluetooth car kits or headphones

Apple has Bluetooth wireless in the iPhone, but it only works with a handful of wireless headsets. Forget talking handsfree on Bluetooth car kits or using the iPhone with stereo Bluetooth headphones. You could expect those sorts of features from the world's leading music player, but not the iP… oh, wait.

Considering Apple wants the world to take the iPhone seriously for its phone capabilities, it's truly incredible that it has hobbled the Bluetooth audio capability so much. Could it be because it wants to make money from car equipment manufacturers who build an iPod dock connector into their car stereos?

Caveat: this comment is based on what we know about pre-release versions of the iPhone 2.0 software. It's possible Apple will have fixed this in the release version of the iPhone 3G. 

Scorecard:
iPhone 3G: only works with Apple's mono Bluetooth headset and a handful of other companies' similar units. No support for Bluetooth stereo or in-car Bluetooth handsfree.
Other smartphones: many support stereo Bluetooth for streaming to headphones or a stereo, and most models work with Bluetooth car handsfree units (though there are still compatibility glitches between brands, admittedly.)
Verdict: Other phones win

#6 No cut and paste

This one is truly hard to understand. Apple brings out one of the world's most advanced smartphones in terms of user interface, and somehow forgets to put in cut and paste... probably the only smartphone on the market that doesn't have it. The mind boggles. (Also something that Apple could conceivably fix by the time the iPhone 3G is released… here's hoping.)

Scorecard:
iPhone 3G: No cut and paste.
Other smartphones: Well, yeah, duh. They have cut and paste.
Verdict: Decisive victory for other phones.

#7 Non user-replaceable battery

It's a sad fact about rechargeable batteries: the first time you recharge them, their maximum capacity degrades. After a few hundred recharges, their capacity is down to something like half their original capacity. Normally, this is annoying, but manageable — you just swap the battery out for a new one, or get a second battery and swap between the two of them until the first battery is toast.

Not so with the iPhone. Its battery is sealed up tightly inside the nearly-impossible-to-pry-open casing (believe me, I've taken the back off an iPhone and that sucker is not meant to come apart… Apple must be replacing the casing of iPhones it services). Apple will then install the battery for you (in the US it costs $US85.95) and post it back to you. Oh, and you can pay them extra $US30 for the privilege of renting another phone from them to use in the meantime.

Not only is this massively inconvenient, it's a cunning attempt by Apple to get people to simply buy a new iPhone when the battery finally dies. People will be asking themselves… "do I pay $105.95 to get my old iPhone battery fixed, or do I pay $199.00 to buy the latest and greatest model of iPhone?" I know which one I'd pick, and I bet that's central to Apple's business plan.

Scorecard:
iPhone 3G: Battery sealed inside the case. Costs a hundred bucks and considerable inconvenience to get it replaced.
Other smartphones: Well, yeah, duh. You just unplug the battery and put a new one in.
Verdict: Crushing loss to Apple.

#8 No MMS

So you've snapped a nice photo on your iPhone and you want to send it to a friend? You'd better hope they have email on their phone, because that's the only way you're going to be able to send it to them with the iPhone. For some reason, despite its ridiculous decision to force all instant messaging through SMS, Apple has totally left out MMS (picture/video SMSes) from the iPhone.

Scorecard:
iPhone 3G: No MMS support. You will send your photos using the Apple-authorised method, by email.
Other smartphones: Well, yeah, duh. They have MMS.
Verdict: Own-goal by Apple.

#9 No turn-by-turn navigation

Despite building a GPS satellite navigation receiver into the iPhone, Apple has stopped short of offering voiced, turn-by-turn navigation into the device. Yes, you can plot directions from your current position to somewhere else, and you can watch yourself as a little dot on the map, but have you ever tried doing that in a car? I have … on my Blackberry. I nearly crashed.

If you're thinking I'm being a bit overly critical (isn't it a "nice to have" feature than a necessity?) compare Apple to Nokia, which has been offering voiced, 3D, turn-by-turn navigation on its phones for a couple of years now. Having a Nokia N78 saved my bacon recently when I realised I was totally lost and didn't have a street directory with me. I also had a Blackberry with me that has 2D map routing similar to what's on the Blackberry, and it sucked, because it was like reading a map constantly while driving.

Scorecard:
iPhone 3G: No voiced, 3D turn-by-turn navigation.
Other smartphones: OK, so it's not a standard feature on all phones. But Nokia, which has over 50% market share in Australia, has been shipping it with its phones for the last couple of years.
Verdict: Nokia wins.

#10 Stunning hypocrisy

At Apple's last presentation on the iPhone (March 6th 2008), Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller ridiculed market leader Blackberry for the complexity of its push email service, pointing out that your messages have to pass through a RIM messaging server and a network operations centre before they're sent out to your phone. Plus you have to pay extra for the service.

With the iPhone 3G, Apple introduces MobileMe, a service that … passes your email through an Apple messaging server before it is sent through to your phone. And it costs $AUD119 per year extra. Spot any similarity with the Blackberry business model?

It seems stunningly hypocritical for Apple's to criticise the technology of the market leader in the US smartphone space, then adopt the same technologies in its own product. On the other hand, I'm glad it has… but I'm flabbergasted at Apple's audacity in working on a service while at the very same moment criticising others for doing it.

Scorecard:
iPhone 3G: made by a company dominated by self-serving hypocrites.
Other smartphones: let's be honest... made by companies dominated by self-serving hypocrites.
Verdict: Apple is on even footing with other handset makers. Welcome to the industry!


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Wazza (New user):

The battery thing alone is enough to put me off this and any other i- product. I have no idea how long I'd need to be without my phone whilst getting a new battery - but seeing as I don't have a land line it would be pretty annoying. It would also be frustraing to have to revert back to my Nokia which will have been sitting in a drawer full of dust

If you're right about the Bluetooth thing then I have to say - what are thinking of? How can they have a product not compatible with Bluetooth car kits. If they're chasing the exec. market then they won't get anywhere with this kind of carry on

25 June 2008, 11:27 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Danny Gorog (APC staff):

Sealing the case gives Apple more flexibility wrt the design of the phone. Plus, they offer a pretty decent service and pricing on new batteries (http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/service/battery/) - hopefully something that will be reflected in Aus too. In terms of battery life, the specs look pretty competitive with everything else on the market too. I've never needed a spare battery with any of my phones - expect that's the same for most people. Also, what would you choose, a bigger phone and a replaceable battery or the opposite?

25 June 2008, 12:10 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Dan Warne (Regular user):

Personally I'd go for the slightly bigger phone with a replaceable battery, simply because I hate the thought of going without my phone for a week just to do something as simple as get a new battery.

25 June 2008, 12:59 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

EMS (New user):

Dan, you can charge it every night on the power adapter with the new iPhone, this means that the battery can be charged either using a wall outlet or via USB through your PC. I also believe that there are spare adaptors and a travel kit available from the Apple Store.

In a side note, you managed to find 3 more reasons than Brian Caulfield from News.com.au (his article was in the top 10 most viewed articles on news.com.au yesterday). http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,23908338-5014108,00.html

25 June 2008, 2:05 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Anonymousewiuu2945u389 (User):

Batteries can't be recharged forever. They degrade and eventually stop working, at which time you have to send the iProduct (whatever it may be) back to Apple for battery replacement (or get a new iProduct)

21 March 2010, 2:23 PM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Jayden (New user):

Dan if you've used the phone like half a year like I have - you would retract this entire article. It is awesome, and I've been installing countless free software titles (games, MMS apps, Camera enhancement apps, SMS apps etc etc) every week since November 2007. It is easily THE best phone ever made, and it's only Apple's FIRST ATTEMPT. It will only get better from here, and also force the market to lift their game.... and they'll have to.

26 June 2008, 11:02 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

djsflynn (APC staff):

Quoting Danny Gorog:
Also, what would you choose, a bigger phone and a replaceable battery or the opposite?

The slightly bigger phone with the replaceable battery. Every time.


25 June 2008, 2:13 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

McBanjo (New user):

Are you serious?

When have you ever needed to change the battery in your phone? Once?.......Never? It won't start degrading for at least 2 years, and by then there'll be the 2 new iPhone models. About the timeframe when most people replace their phones anyway.

If you want backup power, you can get those battery units that plug into the bottom. Plus the iPhone has 'the' best battery in a mobile phone. It lasts at least twice as long on battery than any other phone I've used. I've never had my iPhone come even close to running out of power. I don't even know what to expect in such a situation.

If you don't want the iPhone solely because you can't replace the battery. STAY AWAY FROM IT. I don't want you ruining its brilliant design with your pointless needs. :-)

25 June 2008, 3:03 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

David Neiger (APC staff):

What about the environmental impact?? Throw out a working phone together with the lithium, gold and other environmental nasties they put inside these things because the battery has died!!!

It's great showing all those black balloons on television to let you know how much carbon you are generating... how about some iPhone to let you know how much e-junk you generate.

26 June 2008, 12:33 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Anonymousewiuu2945u389 (User):

Quoting McBanjo:
It won't start degrading for at least 2 years, and by then there'll be the 2 new iPhone models. About the timeframe when most people replace their phones anyway


That's exactly what Apple are counting on - that people will go for the latest and greatest phone/laptop/media player/iPad rather than continue using the old one with a new battery. And it's a mindset that I honestly can't stand.

Quoting McBanjo:
I've never had my iPhone come even close to running out of power.


I've never had my laptop close to running out of power and it's battery life is only two hours. I just keep it plugged in to the wall most of the time when I'm using it.

In short, I am not going to buy an iPhone, or any other iProduct - not even free stuff like iTunes - unless I have to.

21 March 2010, 2:35 PM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

Hell, I'd take a DynaTAC for size! Wait..... The DynaTAC also didn't have a replacable battery..... i think we see similarities here.... very retro Apple.....

25 June 2008, 3:21 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Danny Gorog (APC staff):

I'm sure if this was the case everybody would complain that the phone was too big etc. Design is always about making choices, and on balance, in my opinion the iPhone gets it right.

25 June 2008, 9:02 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Anonymousewiuu2945u389 (User):

Quoting Danny Gorog:
what would you choose, a bigger phone and a replaceable battery or the opposite?


A bigger phone with a replaceable battery. Function over form and substance over style for me.

Although there's a saying that seems to have some relevance here: 'You are not your market, the sheep are your market.' Sorry to the people who bought an iPhone because they actually crunched the numbers and decided it was actually the best possible option

21 March 2010, 2:40 PM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

chantillybabe (New user):

You missed the point. The iPhone batteries should be easy to replace. My iPhone requires at least 1 re-charge a day and sometimes 2 re-charges a day.

I have an iPhone 3GS with IOS 5, so some of the comments don't apply.

However, I find that the iPhone 3GS does all the things my old LG used to do, minus touchscreen, and it's half the size. I used to carry it in the small coins pocket of my jeans (finally found a use for that pocket :) ) with my Bluetooth clipped to my ear. And yes, the battery was easy to replace. Plus, it didn't need re-charging every day.

Apple technology hasn't changed since Jobs was fired from Apple 25 years ago. Only their marketing has improved. Jobs' strength was making complex systems simple. Without Jobs, Apple almost died. When he hired back, he saw the next revolution as mobility and took old technology, combined it with phone tech, added major marketing, and voilà. But it's still 25 year old technology, same as their Macs, just better interfaces

24 October 2011, 9:52 AM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

chantillybabe (New user):

You missed the point. The iPhone batteries should be easy to replace. My iPhone requires at least 1 re-charge a day and sometimes 2 re-charges a day.

I have an iPhone 3GS with IOS 5, so some of the comments don't apply.

However, I find that the iPhone 3GS does all the things my old LG used to do, minus touchscreen, and it's half the size. I used to carry it in the small coins pocket of my jeans (finally found a use for that pocket :) ) with my Bluetooth clipped to my ear. And yes, the battery was easy to replace. Plus, it didn't need re-charging every day.

Apple technology hasn't changed since Jobs was fired from Apple 25 years ago. Only their marketing has improved. Jobs' strength was making complex systems simple. Without Jobs, Apple almost died. When he hired back, he saw the next revolution as mobility and took old technology, combined it with phone tech, added major marketing, and voilà. But it's still 25 year old technology, same as their Macs, just better interfaces

24 October 2011, 9:52 AM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

drew2025 (New user):

Hey do you realise that it is essentially a PHONE and COMMUNICATION device? If you want something that takes great photo's - buy a camera??? I have to say that some of your point's here are good and some just seem like you are trying to find reason to pick at this product?
I've been using Nokia's my whole life and if you want something to complain about try buying the N95. That little bugger has more bugs and faults than any other phone I've ever had.

And at the end of the day just remember that this is only the second generation of a product that was only released a little while ago. It's like a mini-upgrade rather than a full blown overhaul. And if you are really really annoyed by all these faults - don't buy it. The person who would have been behind you in the line once they start selling will be thankful.


25 June 2008, 12:48 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Dan Warne (Regular user):

Sure, and personally, I have a digital SLR for taking good photos. But you know what's been a huge driver of sales of mobile phones for the last decade or so... cameras built-in. People really want them for 'always-in-pocket' convenience. The fact is, the iPhone's camera is behind what the competition offers.

25 June 2008, 12:58 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

Couldn't agree more about the camera thing...

Plus I suspect Apple left the lower spec camera so that they could produce it at a lower price point. The whole thing is designed to flog off cheaply and increase market share.

25 June 2008, 1:01 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

McBanjo (New user):

I totally disagree. Putting a high mega-pixel camera in a phone would cost next to nothing. Plus, if they were intent, they could've just put it only in the 16GB model.

It is definitely Apple saving their cards for later. Can you seriously see Apple not making iPhones into the future? Hell no! They'll be selling way into the future. But they are going to have to release something new every year or two to drive sales and combat the saturation of the market. They haven't got much to improve though. What doesn't the iPhone have?

What's pathetic is there's this new iPhone 3G. What's new? A-GPS and 3G. THAT'S IT PEOPLE! A camera wouldn't have gone astray.

25 June 2008, 3:08 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

Please McB you must be on crack... I mean, saving cards? others are out there with 5 Mp.... Saving card would be at least 3.2mp....

25 June 2008, 3:23 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

McBanjo (New user):

3.2 MP, 5 MP. It makes no difference. They are saving their cards for later. If they're going to change it, they'd change it properly. If they only put in 3.2 MP think of the PR disaster, it's not what Apple does. They'd be trying to overtake the competition, not show how pathetic they are. Also, they'd be incurring many separate costs of implementing the new CCDs separately. I doubt the difference between the cost per unit is even accountable in product runs this large anyway.

25 June 2008, 3:41 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

Ever heard the theory that McDonalds could cut costs by reducing the amount of lettuce on each Big Mac? By way of Value Management, you could also do the same with hardware, by down-specifiying your internal hardware with those of lesser quality.
Here's another one. EEEPC was able to gain its success as it helped Intel to 'burn off' all the unwanted celerons at a cheaper price... Now, (just theorizing) if Apple managed to find some unwanted cameras from a manufacturer at a cheaper price, what are they able to do? Cut the price...
So just believe it. Steve can't just satisfy you and you alone! He has other investors to deal with too matey.

25 June 2008, 3:52 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Jonners (New user):

Is it me or is it only Apple that seems to be forgiven for releasing sub-spec'd or unreliable products because they are "first or second generation"? Is it because they got iPod so horribly wrong first and (less so) second time, but 3rd Gen onwards seemed to work? Should this excuse it?

The minute Microsoft releases a new software package and there's the slightest bug, the world turns on them. But this Beta Culture in terms of hardware seems to be okay for Apple.

Drew references the N95 and yet this empathy doesn't seem to extend to the Nokia? Admittedly not a perfect device at launch, but it was Nokia's true first multimedia computer - very much "Gen I" and still out-specs iPhone in a number of ways 18 months on. Nokia's Software Updater app regularly fixes bugs and adds new functionality, and the N95 8GB (essentially a Gen II N95) was a true leap forward.

Am neither a Mac nor Nokia (nor MSFT!) fanboy - just interests me how this tolerance for product development during lifecylce (not before launch) seems unique to the Big A.

26 June 2008, 5:12 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tsunami Australia (New user):

I agree with Drew2025, I had an N95 for just 24hrs before wanting to peg it. The wife stole it off me rather quickly. I end up with an iPhone some two days later. Whilst I've had a couple of teething issues with software corruption at the start, it goes well now.

I've found if I use it as a phone/comms device and email, the battery lasts for long enough, as an iPod, the battery lasts forever. But as soon as you play graphical games on it for a whilst the battery drains like mad. Gee, come to think of it, so did the batteries in the LG TU500 and Nokia 6120 I had before the iPhone.

This phone is definetely not for everyone, but since I rarely use MMS, the camera in the iPhone is not much worse than the N95, and video calling is too expensive in Aus, and I need to be able to regularly check/download email DIRECT from my exchange server for consistant updates, the iPhone works great for me. Even works well with the CK7W car kit from Nokia.

I do wish they had enabled tethering on the phone though.

18 November 2008, 12:56 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

Hmmm. I was keen to get one. Not so keen now.
Lack of IM and inability to run 3rd party apps in the background kills it for me.

The other mentioned things I could either work around, or wouldn't effect me at all. But restrict what I can do in software, and suddenly it's no better than a standard Symbian or WinMob based device.

25 June 2008, 12:56 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

McBanjo (New user):

Quoting Tin:
Lack of IM and inability to run 3rd party apps in the background kills it for me.

IM will be on the iPhone in one way or another. If you watched the Keynote, it looks like their push notification service was intended mostly for things like IM. It allows notifications, sounds and little numbers over icons to be pushed to the iPhone anytime.

I'm guessing you have little experience with Windows Mobile devices. They are a lot more functional and 3rd party apps run in the background. And it's the most ridiculous thing ever. First thing I did with my Pocket PC was install an add-on that actually 'closed' programs when I hit the 'X'.

The keynote showed it best when the rep was demonstrating M$'s fantastic solution: 'The Mobile Task Manager.' Cause I totally want to manage the apps running on my device to prevent instability.

25 June 2008, 3:55 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

I also have an app to kill tasks properly on my phone (actually 2 because the ROM i'm running came with a less functional one than I was used to).
But sometimes you do run multiple apps at once, and sometimes you're going to want to do that with 3rd party apps.

I often pop up the camera app on my phone while still running something else. Or switch between a web browser and a network diagnostic tool. I highly doubt Apple will be including a DNS Audit tool or a subnet calculator.

And as for IM... I use ICQ as my first preference. Then MSN. I highly doubt Apple will be aiming to get those included. They'll be aiming to push their own thing.

01 July 2008, 10:04 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

meski (New user):

I'm guessing you have little experience with Windows Mobile, if you installed an addon to actually close apps when you hit the X. If you hold the X down for 2 seconds it does actually close - and you don't need the addon taking up space!

09 July 2008, 6:18 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

The fact that there are multiple apps to do this suggests that it is either a new feature or it's an undocumented feature.
Either way, I like vBar because it also gives me a battery and storage graph, which also doubles as a menu listing all running apps.

09 July 2008, 6:32 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

meski (New user):

It still sounds like standard features, the . I'm wondering if you are using Windows Mobile 5 or 6 now. I don't recall if they were included with 5. But we are talking about a new-release Apple product, so it seems fairer to compare features of Windows Mobile 6 rather than 5.

11 July 2008, 3:46 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

I use a hacked 6, but the device I have officially only has 2003SE.

What I don't get is why you declared I have little experience with WinMob because I didn't know of a trick that isn't obvious.
Even more curious is that since my complaint about not being able to control apps that are running was about the iPhone, why would the version of WinMob even factor in?

11 July 2008, 4:56 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

meski (New user):

Not obvious... It's an icon on the main panel of the screen, top right corner (where the x would be) I suppose that isn't obvious? Re versions of Windows, that is more a reply to McBanjo's "First thing I did with my pocket PC was install an add-on that actually closed programs when I hit the X"

I didn't read the instructions (much) - so it must have been obvious, or in the introduction.

14 July 2008, 11:24 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

WVM (New user):

Have you even used an iPhone? Points 2,3,6,and 9 will be solved by third party aps. As for the camera this is a phone, but there is also a third party app for it to. As for the battery, if you have a removeable battery it take up extra space (bulk)and if you hard pressed for battery time buy a Morphie ($99 US)

As for the phones rates that is up to the phone company not Apple/iphone.

Next time you right an article don't steel US articles and pass them off as yours. Think it thur yourself and you might just right something worthy to read.
Cheers

25 June 2008, 1:05 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Dan Warne (Regular user):

Quoting WVM:
Next time you right an article don't steel US articles and pass them off as yours. Think it thur yourself and you might just right something worthy to read.


Err... I'm sorry? I didn't read anyone else's article on this topic before writing this one, let alone "steel" (sic) it. Perhaps if someone else has made similar points, it's because they're obvious deficiencies in the iPhone.

As for your comment that points 2,3,6 and 9 will be solved by third party software:

1) Turn by turn navigation MIGHT be possible through a third party provider, but the Apple SDK specifically forbids access to the phone's GPS data

2) Hopefully instant messaging will be provided by third party app vendors. It all depends on how well Apple's alerts system works though, compared to an app running in the background.

3) Cut and paste being provided by a third party vendor? I doubt Apple would allow third parties to modify their core interface like that.

4) Apple has specifically said it won't allow developers to write plugins for its Safari Mobile browser, which means Flash won't be coming to the iPhone unless Apple changes its mind.

25 June 2008, 1:12 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Rick (New user):

Quoting Dan Warne:
4) Apple has specifically said it won't allow developers to write plugins for its Safari Mobile browser, which means Flash won't be coming to the iPhone unless Apple changes its mind.

I cant wait until there is firefox for the iphone :P




27 June 2008, 6:06 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

Quoting WVM:
Next time you WRITE an article don't STEAL US articles and pass them off as yours. Think it THROUGH yourself and you might just WRITE something worthy to read.
Cheers

Next time you make an attempt at criticizing others, please check for spelling errors, so others don't haef tu tri tu figar aout waht yu aer tring tu sae....



25 June 2008, 3:31 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tim Jucha (New user):

Of course they are not chasing the exec. market they are chasing the teen and early 20 market that have way to much money on their hands and nothing practical to spend it on. They also know that leaving out features like bluetooth give this market a reason to go out and spend their money on the latest accessory. Apple is clever...not stupid, although the only thing they are clever for is cashing in on stupid people

25 June 2008, 1:25 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Dan Warne (Regular user):

No, but it -has- Bluetooth. It's just that Apple has programmed in an artificial limitation so it only works with headsets.

Plus, they are very much chasing the exec market. If you watch Steve Jobs' latest keynote, it was all about what a perfect business phone the iPhone is, with its app platform and full ActiveSync Exchange support.

25 June 2008, 1:33 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Ed Dale (New user):

On the camera - Have you used the iphone camera? It takes great photos - granted not in the dark - but it takes a lovely photo in normal conditions

On Bluetooth - you just got this one plain wrong - I have an iphone now and it works with my car system much, much, much better than my blackberry - It does not have stereo bluetooth - Have you ever used Stereo bluetooth to listen to music on a phone - it drains battery life like a mofo!!



25 June 2008, 2:41 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

Quoting Ed Dale:
Have you ever used Stereo bluetooth to listen to music on a phone - it drains battery life like a mofo!!

Which is why you sync it in the Car, with the phone plugged into a charger....



25 June 2008, 4:00 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

yeahright (New user):

Who is the idiot who wrote this article? Does s/he even own an iphone? While i agree with some of the points, a lot of these items can be overcome with readily downloadable software. It must no longer be a prerequisite to actually use the equipment before bagging it these days.

25 June 2008, 2:56 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Dan Warne (Regular user):

Yes I do actually own an iPhone :) And am a Mac user and a fan of Apple. I'd just like to see the products be as good as they can be.

25 June 2008, 11:13 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

One major thing that Dan has left out is the provision of a memory card slot. Users will very soon be deleting emails, music and videos as they run out of space...on the other hand, MicroSD cards, with capacity reaching to 16GB, it would at least allow the consumers to believe that the phone would be more futureproof...

But then, I think the phone's lifespan would be 2 years at the very most... same lifetime as the contract, and you are forced to sign up to a new contract when you want a new phone....

25 June 2008, 3:43 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

McBanjo (New user):

"That's right. Because I like to go jogging FOR 3 WEEKS AT A TIME!!! And God forbid, IF I HEAR THE SAME SONG TWICE, I'M GONNA BREAK SOMETHING!!! I also like to drag behind me MY 500 LITRE BOTTLE OF GATORADE!!!"
- Arj Barker

If you need more than 16 GB at once, you need to reorganise your life. Life before iPod.

25 June 2008, 4:09 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

McB, Get off the bloody pipe! Do you even understand what Apple is trying to create here? It is a device which can do everything from listening to music, to taking phone calls, to browsing the internet to getting directions for navigation. If you are going to do one of those well (like the ipod) you'd better have good storage.

Pfft. 16gb may be enough for those who listen to only iPod jingles watch the apple commercials.

Plus, people who are going to buy these devices are likely to be those who don't want to carry an ipod as well as an iphone. So, 32gb of storage is more than reasonable.

25 June 2008, 9:01 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

Pfft. You do know people used to get by with a walkman and maybe 1 or 2 90 minute tapes, right?

I seem to get by just fine with my 1GB SD card. And that's using my current phone for pretty much everything the iPhone does. Just don't try to keep your entire CD and DVD collection on your mobile media device and you'll be set.

02 July 2008, 5:49 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

meski (New user):

Interesting point that you raise with the 1G SD cards. Many of the apps aren't all that scalable, so if you load eReader, then stuff it full of books, it takes ages to display the list. Likewise Microsoft Reader. Probably many of the other apps too. And 8G SDs are quite common now.

14 July 2008, 11:32 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Abl030 (New user):

This is just the perfect example of the apple fanboy philosophy,
"If you have a problem with an apple device, your doing it wrong. Change your lifestyle to fit the product, not the other way round."
Basically what your saying here is the iPod classic is totally useless and stupid? That every ipod since gen2 has just been a waste of time?
That anyone who fully utilities their storage space on the iPod, not because they jog for three weeks but because they would very much like to choose what to listen to when they start jogging, not when they are at their computer, is an idiot?
Well, maybe I should listen to this Steve, I must be doing it wrong.
Apple is not a religion, it is not a way of life. I will use my device how I want thank you very much, and because i feel like carrying around more than 16 gigs of music or movies at any one time does not mean I have to re-organise my life. Having more than 16 gigs of music that is completely tagged, is more a sign that maybe I'm a little to organised when it comes to my music. Not the other way round.

21 July 2008, 6:50 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Darryl (New user):

There is another solution...Fanboy or not, the choice to purchase any product is yours. If the Apple device in question doesn't work the way you want it to....Don't buy it...Duh!!!

30 July 2008, 2:53 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

agami (New user):

You can have your fun with points 1-9 but point 10 has been misrepresented.
When Apple announced iPhone 2.0 enterprise integration at the March 08 SDK event (where the photo is from) they were referring to direct MS Exchange push-email support. No intermediary, no double handling. This method is unchanged and thus free of "Stunning hypocrisy".

MobileMe will give the rest of us non-enterprise users push-email functionality and the iPhone will talk directly to the MobileMe servers accessing information stored within. Again no double handling and no hypocrisy.

Whilst most current business users pay the additional monthly fee just to get RIM's Blackberry push-email, the MobileMe user is getting a lot more than just push-email for their annual $119.00.

25 June 2008, 4:18 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

Good point about the Hypocrisy... however in terms of value, that is just the service subscription. The real sting comes when the service provider charges you every bit of data you download.... most 'berry plans are about $70 dollars /month and will provide unlimited data... only downside is that it is GPRS....

25 June 2008, 9:10 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

dars (New user):

i have an iphone and love it... it might not have all of that stuff but cmon is that really y u buy a phone? i have an iphone and i love it BEST PHONE IVE EVER HAD

25 June 2008, 5:15 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Adelaidelad (New user):

I guess its all too late when youve bought it, put urself on a network and it doesnt work. Whats it all worth just a bit of hype, ill just stick to Nokia thanks.

25 June 2008, 8:30 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Adelaidelad (New user):

whats the point of it all, after forking out all that money and the phone is 3rd world.... i mean 3g and doesnt have basic functions a phone like nokia has had for the past 10 years. Its all hype .. ill just stick to the phone i got thanks

25 June 2008, 8:34 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

Well I'm actually genuinely happy that you like the iPhone. Now, many people who are going to purchase this phone would want to maximise the use, but this article is dealing with already existing features, that could have been further explored.... just delivered in a blunt and hard-to-swallow manner for Apple fans.

25 June 2008, 9:04 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

donaldc (New user):

The developer who writes app's to solve most of those problems stands to make a lot of money from the App Store!

25 June 2008, 9:52 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Go Ju 1 (New user):

Some interesting points - the most significant being the Bluetooth - but Apple sells every phone that it makes!

25 June 2008, 10:10 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

theregoesdave (New user):

Flash, IM and turn-by-turn directions are all on the way via 3rd party developers. Which phone has these that are beating the iPhone? You can IM on other phones, but iPhone and WinMo are the first two in line to get Flash plugins later this year.

Also I have to agree that the camera on the iPhone is pretty solid and how often do you change your battery anyways? If it already requires a trip to the store, is it so bad?

The lack of MMS is a little weak, but it won't matter as more people get email and IM on their phones anyway. And most of the people using the mobile web are PDA users and have email.

25 June 2008, 11:28 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Darryl (New user):

It's interesting that anyone writing an article describes the lack of features that they desire in the iPhone as deficiencies. IMO ones desires for features does not = definciency.
Is a Porche 911 deficient because it doesn't have a bed like a pickup truck?
It is reasonable to contemplate why Apple didn't include some of the features you desire. It would seem obvious that they could have easily added some of those features but, if I want and bed like the ones found on pickup trucks...a Porche 911 is not for me and it isn't deficient because it doesn't have a pickup bed.

26 June 2008, 2:30 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

agami (New user):

Wonderfully put. The contrast between a Porche 911 and pickup truck is a tad extreme but the point is maintained.

26 June 2008, 10:29 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

He11razor (New user):

Considering Apple markets the iPhone as a groundbreaking communications device, you'd figure it'd at least have functions such as chat, which even my crappy Samsung phone supports. A Porsche is marketed as a performance sports machine. You don't expect bells and whistles with it, just raw power, and that's what you get.

12 July 2008, 2:50 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Darryl (New user):

Actually, Apple Markets the iPhone as a cell phone, an iPod and internet accessing device. Being that it's a handheld computer makes the possibilities broader. I agree that there are alot of features that can be added and many that probably should have. All the bells and features mentioned here are not marketed by Apple. They are simply desired by the writer.

30 July 2008, 2:31 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Me In Oz (User):

It's really funny how many times McBanjo posts whenever there is an article criticising Apple/Mac. The white knight defending the virtues of the Apple maiden ... LOL

26 June 2008, 9:58 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Jared79 (New user):

Ok, I want to answer each of the points with a counter argument.

1.My current phone has a 3.2Megapixel camera. Hardly use it. Takes alright photos, but the only thing I would use it for was for the odd snap. Who cares if it only has 2 Mega pixels. Who cares if other phones have 5MP. None have optical zoom. So they all fail in some way.

2. I hate flash on websites anyway, it slows everything down and a lot of the time people make hard to use sites. I am happy that's it's not there.

3. At the special iPhone event in March, they previewed AIM for the iPhone. Aim is IM and the point of not running things in the background is actually a very good idea. No chance of slowing down or crashing due to to many apps running.

4. It's not Apples fault that it cost's more to run overseas. So I don't see how that is a disappointment??

5. From what I have read, the iPhone works well with alot of carkits. By the way, my current Sony Ericsson has trouble connecting to my in-built Sony Carkit. Bluetooth issues happen with a lot phones. Oh an my current phone also support Stereo Bluetooth music. But because it kills my battery AND sound the quality is terrible with them. Who would want to listen to music through bluetooth anyway.

6. The only thing i agree with you about. But we haven't seen the final phone yet. Who knows, it may be in there.

7. Never had to replace a battery in any of my phones before. So don't care that I can't with this one.

8. I am pretty sure we will get 3rd Party apps to do this. However, it's too expensive in Australia and I think I have used it twice. Think I would rather email it.

9. Well see. Google maps will be good enough for me (free map updates)

10. Actually it's not hypocrisy. You where comparing mobile me to blackberry. Apple wasn't. They where comparing Blackberry to MS exchange. Which doesn't go through an out of country server. Mobile is a complete service with Mail, contact, address, calendar and data storage. Since when did blackberry customers get 20GB of data space. This point is flawed, you say you a Mac user. But you obviously didn't do any research on this one.

So on all of these Apple may have failed on 2 points. But they can be fixed. Now think about all the good things about the iPhone, there are way more than those 2 bad things

26 June 2008, 5:21 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

OK, Call me lazy, but i couldn't be bothered with going through the rest of your opinions... But here's one thing I picked up...
Quoting Jared79:
Who cares if other phones have 5MP. None have optical zoom. So they all fail in some way.

Samsung G800 offers a 5MP camera with 3x optical zoom.... so..... yeah.... even though you probably won't buy it, let alone use it anyways.... but i'm sure there are those who just want to take an occasional happy snap with friends at a pub and publish it on facebook.... or ran into some interesting stuff and might take a video of it and upload it on youtube...

And i'm sure that you don't watch youtube, even though that's pretty much a Flash application... nevermind...


26 June 2008, 9:54 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

meski (New user):

"And i'm sure that you don't watch youtube, even though that's pretty much a Flash application... nevermind.."

On my desktop, yes, on my PDA, never. I've got the capability to watch video on it, just no desire to use the form factor it presents in.

15 July 2008, 9:40 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

meski (New user):

1 - sure. There's an argument that phones are better off without cameras, there's an increasing number of places that want to ban them, and the phone lens seems to be a magnet for dirt. More megapixels... I'm thinking it's more lens quality than megapixels.
2 - Flash. blah. its ok on a desktop, I pass on having it on PDA.
3 - No. Has to multitask. I'm not demanding RTOS level, but I want background tasks.
7 - I've only had to replace a battery in a device where I couldn't, easily. (nano iPod) This comes from the same stable, so I want to be able to replace.
10 - Syncing with Exchange just works. Many people don't want different, or more than that.

14 July 2008, 11:47 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Jayden (New user):

Whoever posted this is a tosser.

1. Use a compact camera - who uses their mobile for serious photos?!

2. Flash will come. This is definitely annoying, but hello - there is a YouTube app on the phone, and what are YouTube videos?? That's right... Flash Video. The market will force a software update in time.

3. Who uses Instant Messaging instead of SMS in Australia?? I've never needed to use instant messaging if I need to contact someone in a hurry.

4. International data roaming?? Use WiFi if you're that tight. Again - sofware upgradable, and I expect the email handling to be upgraded bigtime with the iPhone 2.0 software.

5. You have one good point in this article. 1 in 10 is pretty bad though.

6. And here's where your article exposes itself... "(Also something that Apple could conceivably fix by the time the iPhone 3G is released… here's hoping.)". This is the first iPhone Apple have EVER made. How many phones have Nokia produced? This one phone is more superior to ANY Nokia I have ever owned. These extremely minor faults will be updated... no doubt about it.

7. I have been using my iPhone in Australia since November 2007, and the battery still lasts for almost a week on standby. A good 3 days with normal use. And you are complaining about bad battery life? If it dies within a year - I would be VERY surprised. And besides - that's covered by warranty.

8. No MMS? Wake up to yourself - I've been using MMS on my iPhone since about January 2008. Ever heard of SwirlyMMS? No, didn't think so.

9. I drive with the turn by turn feature almost daily. It's on of the most frequently used apps on the phone by myself. It would be nice I suppose - but hey - never needed it so far.

10. I don't think you need MobileMe to use the Exchange service. I'm using all my emails for free using POP. Exchange support will only make this better.

Verdict: don't listen to this insanely negative article. If you've had an iPhone like I have for the past half a year, you'll realise there is no other phone on the market that even comes CLOSE to this thing. Not even remotely close... and I know - I've had a lot of phones for business and personal use over the years!

It is easily the best phone ever made. After playing with one for 5 minutes - you'll see what I mean...

26 June 2008, 10:48 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Me In Oz (User):

Quoting Jayden:
Verdict: don't listen to this insanely negative article. If you've had an iPhone like I have for the past half a year, you'll realise there is no other phone on the market that even comes CLOSE to this thing. Not even remotely close... and I know - I've had a lot of phones for business and personal use over the years!

It is easily the best phone ever made. After playing with one for 5 minutes - you'll see what I mean...


This all sounds like a justification for your choice of purchase, good or bad !
I ran into something very similar years ago when the Porsche 924 was released :)

27 June 2008, 10:47 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Rick (New user):

decryption over at mactalk has written this

http://forums.mactalk.com.au/47/51797-apcs-10-reasons-iphone-sucks-rebuttal.html

28 June 2008, 6:08 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

halhiker (New user):

Ten reasons to hate the Ferrari
1. Terrible gas mileage. When are they going to make a friggin' hybrid?
2. No room for luggage.
3. Won't carry enough groceries home from Costco.
4 That red color attracts cops.
5. Can only pick up one kid at a time from school.
6. Valets expect a good tip.
7. Hot women just won't leave me alone.
8. Never get to ride in the 3+ carpool lane.
9. Speed limit is only 70.
10. Doesn't come with an automatic.



30 June 2008, 11:09 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Wazza (New user):

Quoting halhiker:
1. Terrible gas mileage. When are they going to make a friggin' hybrid?

If I can afford my Ferrari (the 430 Scuderia is my Ferrari of choice at the moment) then I can afford the fuel

Quoting halhiker:
2. No room for luggage.

Being able to afford a Ferrari means I can afford a house in every city, therefore I have a ready kitted wardrobe which my house maids have ensured is stocked with the latest Versace suits and designer shoes

Quoting halhiker:
3. Won't carry enough groceries home from Costco.

My other car is a Hummer - plenty of room in here for groceries

Quoting halhiker:
4 That red color attracts cops.

Maybe, but I have one of those flippy James Bond number plates so they don't really have a chance at catching me

Quoting halhiker:
5. Can only pick up one kid at a time from school.

See my response to point 3

Quoting halhiker:
6. Valets expect a good tip.

Would you seriously let a valet park your Ferrari?

Quoting halhiker:
7. Hot women just won't leave me alone.

Been sitting here for over an hour trying to work out the problem with this one..........

Quoting halhiker:
8. Never get to ride in the 3+ carpool lane.

A valid point

Quoting halhiker:
9. Speed limit is only 70.

You mean the "suggested" speed limit is only 70?

Quoting halhiker:
10. Doesn't come with an automatic.

An automatic Ferrari though would be more blasphemous than an Apple running windows. It has the flappy paddle gearbox anyway.




01 July 2008, 4:24 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

Quoting Wazza:
Quoting halhiker:
10. Doesn't come with an automatic.

An automatic Ferrari though would be more blasphemous than an Apple running windows. It has the flappy paddle gearbox anyway.

Ferrari introduced a 3-Speed Automatic Transmission on the 400. So, yes, they make basphermous products. But is it any more blasphemous than Apple running Windows? Nope, they are equally ironic and equally pretentious.

But I will say this. If you have the cash to go buy the a Ferrari and not go for the Aston Martin, you have absolutely no class.

02 July 2008, 4:19 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Wazza (New user):

Quoting Hemma:
But I will say this. If you have the cash to go buy the a Ferrari and not go for the Aston Martin, you have absolutely no class

Depends on which Aston and which Ferrari you're talking. If it's the DB9 vs. the 430 Scuderia then it's a tough choice. Otherwise you're right, the Aston will win most times




02 July 2008, 6:25 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

aruneshsharma (New user):

I have a Nokia N95 8GB , and i think even my nokia may be a bit more chunkier , no touch screen , not as slim as the iPhone . But guess wat ? Its my little baby , offers almost everything iPhone offers and much much more. Would never leave Nokia for Apple , Coz guess who is the market leader?? Got it right ... NOKIA

01 July 2008, 12:28 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Go Ju 1 (New user):

Guess who is about to become the market leader?!!!
Nokia will soon be returning to the manufacture of rubber boots (Gummistiefel).

01 July 2008, 9:35 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hemma (New user):

Quoting Go Ju 1:
Nokia will soon be returning to the manufacture of rubber boots (Gummistiefel).

Yeah, and if you bet on that, you will end up on the streets begging for change and eating out of garbage bins (Basically broke). You reckon Nokia is not going to give them a run for their money? They have got the basic low end and the ultra high-end bases covered (Vertu).




02 July 2008, 4:26 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Go Ju 1 (New user):

Hey, Guess what? I bought my new iPhone today. And guess what else? The stores are now sold out. Who queues up to buy a Nokia? Maybe their gumboots are still worth pursuing hough?
Not long now before Apple becomes the market leader - within 18 months I would say.

11 July 2008, 9:02 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

Hmmmm... Nope. Can't see it happening. In 18 months time, Nokia and the likes will still be producing phones that retail for less than $100. That's the main market share there, so until Apple release a basic phone only device running OSX, they won't lead the mobile phone market.

They may, on the other hand, take a reasonable size of the PDA-phone hybrid market. But I still can't see them cracking the top position until they make a lot of changes.

11 July 2008, 10:11 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

kexy (New user):

First of all u are nothing but a retarded apple fanboy, I also have an iphone for ur info, but all i want is for people to see the facts here. Apple can never beat Nokia in the mobile phone market. the N95 alone outsells the iphone 1st and 2nd gen put together.

Ok lets deviate a little, i know everyone thinks apple is the leader of the digital music market, with the introduction of ipod... Stop!!! and think again ppl. The sales of nokia's digital music player devices is higher than the sales of the ipod + itouch + iphone, which makes it the largest manufacturer of digital music players worldwide.

So Nokia is leading on both markets mobile music & mobile phones. I think Nokia is totally out of the comparism here.

Apple are always second class in everything, copy cats, and that is where they are going to stay for the rest of their miserable life.

Here is the evidence people http://share.ovi.com/original.aspx?channelname=Conversations.public&media=Conversations.10047
!!!Pay attention to the second to last writeup!!!

12 July 2008, 9:37 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Go Ju 1 (New user):

1. The iPod dock interface seems to be very popular with car manufacturers and other companies like Bose and JBL, who manufacture audio equipment with the iPod interface. Is there also a plethora of audio equipment with Nokia interfaces - apart from a 3.5mm jack?

2. Does Nokia release a SDK and provide an Applications store? Can you see where they're going with this?

3. Windows Mobile OS is not in the same league as OSX.

4. iPhone is just a device - it's not perfect - there is no such thing as 'perfect' Of course it has issues. Apple have made mistakes in the past - they're not perfect either - but they are smart. Technology is always 'leap frogging'. But it's built on a sound and proven software platform - which is also not perfect but a long way ahead of MS-Windows, which is caught in a sequence trap.

5. The Apple concept is more than a phone or a device. It's a paradigm for information access and processing and they've thought it out carefully. We're about to see a revolution and Apple have the infrastructure and the savvy to pull it off.

6. Apple are not copiers, by the way, they are innovators.

7. This forum is amusing - it brightens up an otherwise dull day!

13 July 2008, 10:51 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

1. Why do people obsess over proprietary connectors? Give me a standard 3.5mm line level connection any day. No vendor lock-in that way.

2. SDK - Yes. See Nokia website. Hosting - No. But if you write a program, I'm sure you can Google for sites that host mobile apps.
BTW, Nokia don't charge people to code for their devices. In fact I had the old Epoc (9210) SDK mailed to me on CD for free a few years back.

3. OSX is not in the same category as Windows Mobile... iPhone OS is based on OSX, but isn't OSX.

6. Please... Mac OS copied from Xerox. iPhone copied from every other PDA phone.

7. Yes... Yes it is... :-)

14 July 2008, 12:05 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Go Ju 1 (New user):

Dock is proprietary but that was not the point even though the dock provides for more than sound. Apple SDK is available free too. As the device becomes more powerful OSX will grow. Apple was the only company (at the time) to see the value of GUI and they BOUGHT it from Xerox labs. MS then copied Apple - hence the law suits...

14 July 2008, 12:45 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

iPhone SDK is free, yes... But you have to pay the membership fee before you can make a device-usable version of the project. Which means the SDK is in effect not free.

And Apple might have paid for Xerox's unloved invention, but you said Apple innovated. Buying something isn't innovative. And it's not just the GUI they copied. They've copied things through their entire business life. Go research their history, and their products.... It's very different to what most people see.

14 July 2008, 4:40 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Bill51 (New user):

Unfortunately I have to admit I agree with Telstra about the Iphone 3g. And you just know that I hate Telstra with a passion. The Iphone for all its fancy new "touch screen" doesn't have text recognition, Something I use all the time for text mesaging with my old O2. The GPS is not as good as most good pda's. I think the oft used phrase, ipod with a phone is probably accurate. Its not a work phone. So I guess I will be getting HTC Touch Diamond or Samsung i900

07 July 2008, 3:34 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

ZeePink (New user):

Not to mention Apple is the biggest monopoly and big bully in the world right now. Why buy iphone, when there are 5 other cooler phones out there that can do all that and more.

07 July 2008, 4:08 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

bramachari (New user):

I don't exactly HATE the iPhone, but I certainly resent it being foisted at me like it was, as some say, the "Jesus Phone." All your ten reasons were strong, but I think the strongest point is about the non-replaceable battery, and issue I've resented about the iPod from day #1.

At home, I cook with cast iron. (A couple of my pans are twice as old as I am.) While I wouldn't demand that any company make a gadget that's still usable 100 years from now, this industry has become like a legal, open-air market of drug pushers, but they push planned-obsolescent crap all the time now, like the non-upgradeable iPhone. I'm no Greenie, but all this stuff winds up in a land fill somewhere, or worse, in the ocean.

It's time we demand phone-gadgets with more expandability and a lifespan longer that 18 months.

12 July 2008, 2:12 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

bramachari (New user):

I don't exactly HATE the iPhone, but I certainly resent it being foisted at me like it was, as some say, the "Jesus Phone." All your ten reasons were strong, but I think the strongest point is about the non-replaceable battery, and issue I've resented about the iPod from day #1.

At home, I cook with cast iron. (A couple of my pans are twice as old as I am.) While I wouldn't demand that any company make a gadget that's still usable 100 years from now, this industry has become like a legal, open-air market of drug pushers, but they push planned-obsolescent crap all the time now, like the non-upgradeable iPhone. I'm no Greenie, but all this stuff winds up in a land fill somewhere, or worse, in the ocean.

It's time we demand phone-gadgets with more expandability and a lifespan longer that 18 months.

12 July 2008, 2:16 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

trevor999 (New user):

Rogers Communications opened sales for the iPhone 3G here in Canada today, a guy in Halifax was the first owner in Canada. Queues around the block, people camped out overnight. I think the most apt discription was "a bunch of twitchy crack addicts lined up to get their fix".
Any one interested might want to check: http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/07/10/tech-iphoneindex.html?ref=rss
or
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=a20f480c-8417-46bd-aa57-b2dd03442395

Personally, I think anyone who spends five bills on a mobile phone is certifiably insane. Get a Blackberry Pearl. Considering a great majority people don't use (or don't know how to use) most of the features on their basic phones, buying a iPhone seems to come down to a status symbol. If you think your personal status depends on a mobile phone then I think you should consider spending the $4-500 on counselling...

12 July 2008, 3:42 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

chantillybabe (New user):

Actually, I think I was among the first in Canada to own/use an iPhone 3G and I paid $300 for it. This was long before Rogers even thought about 3G networks and Apple thought about Canada (at the time, Apple was saying they wouldn't sell the iPhone in Canada). I didn't sign with Rogers, I just took the chip out and put it into the iPhone

01 October 2008, 10:59 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

NikkiBpossie (New user):

#8. I have the BlackBerry Curve in the US and it DOES have turn by turn voice nav. Its $5 extra per month but absolutely worth it. Must be a different deal in Australia I guess.

I have the 1st gen iPhone. The MMS thing and also the IM thing were complete deal breakers for me. Ridiculously annoying that I paid $599 USD for a phone that couldnt do what my last 5 phones could. It now sits in a drawer only to be used when my wifi goes down and Im not sure if its my PC or the router.I check the eifi on the phone. Otherwise its basically a brick.

12 July 2008, 9:56 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

gregm164 (New user):

yeah i agree with this! check out my review http://gregsblog123.bebo.com

15 July 2008, 4:20 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Hackers (New user):

And here's 10 reasons to hate iPhone owners :)

http://www.total-geek.com/component/content/article/9-general-news/70-10-things-i-hate-about-iphone-users

18 July 2008, 3:20 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tiger Beer (New user):

I had a great laugh at this - thanks!

29 July 2008, 11:58 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

dan.palmer (New user):

Um, just to mention, the iPhone has instant messaging services from many providers and the programs don't have to run in the background so therefore the phone is better than others on that respect.

I live in the UK and the iPhone contract for me offers calls and texts abroad for the same price when I pay £7.50 a month extra, and I could do that for only the month that I am on holiday.

Cut and Paste is coming in the next update, they did not have time to get it in before the launch.

And the 3G iPhone or rather the 2.0 software update DOES include MMS capabilities. And even if it didn't, surely it is the downfall of other phones that they don't support the better standard: email, that is more widely used.

As for the turn-by-turn navigation, the iPhone does track exactly where you are in real time, but Apple has left the SatNav down to the experts. TomTom and Garmin are both making programs for the iPhone that will provide turn-by-turn navigation. Apple did not do this because of time constraints and lack of expertise in the GPS field.

I should mention that the iPhone has one thing that other phones don't have, an easy way to get programs straight on to the phone through the 3G network with all installation, set-up and updates taken care of through one portal: the App Store. This means that each app is individually checked to make sure that it is not malicious, not a scam, works well and conforms to Apple's brilliant standards in build quality.

I should mention, I am not trying to sound like an Apple fanboy, I am simply defending them from people who insist on making up lies about their products simply because they do not like Apple. I believe that Apple's products deserve the same chance as others and should have lies made up about them to dissuade others from buying them.

27 July 2008, 9:24 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

MickyRodger (New user):

test

06 August 2008, 5:28 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

sweet (New user):

I own a black Nokia N95 8GB and a white 16GB 3G iPhone. Why? Because Australia is a great country for $0 up-front new mobiles! The best affordable strategy to own great mobile phones, without any up front cost.
Love both of them. I can live with just one of them, or any other mobile phones in the market, because primarily it is just for communication.
1.Camera - hardly use.
2.Internet/Email - have enough of it during office hours.
3.Battery - never need to change one in all my previous mobile phones.
4. Voice dial - don't want to look like an idiot, talking to my mobile.
5. MMS - never used it since it was invented, got picasa to share all my photos.
The more function a phone have, the more anti-social I become, as I will be looking at my phone all the time. It's only good when I am waiting at the airport for my next flight.

10 August 2008, 1:53 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

pinnkles (New user):

i think you ppl hav to much time on your hands !!! no matter wat we bring out in tchnology these days there are ppl like you that are always ganna find som thing to whinge about and y its not up to ur scratch !! i have an iphone and it dose just fine i think that ur forgetting wat we wont out of a mobile phone !!!

12 August 2008, 2:32 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

josh.m.w32151 (New user):

u guys need to quit complaining about its flaws and think about what it actually does better than all of the other mobile phones. u see, i happen to own an iPhone 3G, and it happens to be the best phone that i have ever had. sure it doesent have some features that other phones have. But the thing is that apple porposly designed the iPhone so that almost everything that it has missing on it at the time can be fixed via free software upgrades. so they may not have these things now but they will soon. All im saying is dont bitch about the iPhone when im sure you havent even tryed one out yet. these ten things are no reason to hate it. sure it has its downsides, but what mobile phone doesent?
Like i said, i have one and trust me... this phone is the best i have ever had.

29 October 2008, 7:56 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

meski (New user):

Not everything can be fixed with software upgrades. Lack of a memory slot? User-replaceable battery? Purposeful design my a*se. They got it wrong in the name of marketing. I've recently changed HTCs to the Diamond, and I ding them for not having a memory card slot too. 4G looks like a lot now, but SD cards increase in size and decrease in price. You might mock me for wanting that much memory, I refer you to Bill Gates "640K ought to be enough for anybody."
Well, now I've got a phone that uses more than that :)

29 October 2008, 10:04 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

josh.m.w32151 (New user):

look. i have the 16 gigabite iphone and i have yet to fill it up with nmemory. and if you look at my other comment, youll see that i said ALMOST everything can be solved with a software upgrade, not everything. and like i said i have a 16 gig iphone and trust me, thats plenty of room. and i dont know where you heard that the iphone 3g has only 4 gigs of memory, that was the first iphone not the 3g one. oh yeag and by the way i even typed this on my iphone....could you do that with most other cell phones? not many.

31 October 2008, 7:48 AM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

yraen (New user):

#1 Yeh camera fails. Don't buy it for that. Jailbroken phones can record 15fps video.
#2 Flash lite is available for the iphone just jailbreak it.
#3 IM, Skpye, MSN, AIM, and many others inc VoIP calls using Fring. Jailbreak.
#4 Not sure where your figures come from? Just turn off automatic downloads in your settings for email. Only grab your emails when you're back at the hotel on Wifi.
#5 Can get some nice bluetooth headsets for it now.
#6 Cut and paste exists in jail broken apps.
#7 Yup not replaceable battery sucks.
#8 MMS via SwirlyMMS or similair available on App Store for $8 dollars.
#9 Turn by Turn available on Jailbroken phones
#10 Yes MobileMe sucks.

NOTE Jailbreaking is not illegal, Quickpwn takes three clicks to jailbreak your phone on mac or windows.

Jailbreaking lets you use free open source applications.


28 November 2008, 10:56 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

hizman (New user):

Thanks for the great review! I've been appreciating Apple for quite a while. Their computers were the first windowing systems I've used back in early 90s. But the hypocrisy (thanks, for the right word) in their campaigns for the lasts few years and all the loud talks by "Mac-oriented" friends are becoming obsessive and sick.

06 January 2009, 3:10 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Sidney (New user):

i love how people will go to extremes to defend this phone. yes it is ground breaking, but other buldings are going up.

HTC Touch HD kills the iphone!

22 January 2009, 1:51 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

chess (New user):

I could dispute 90% of your bitching. Its amazing, my iPhone has turn-by-turn directions, it works great with my car's stereo bluetooth, and I use my AIM for IM'ing all the time, not to mention the "Cut and Paste" feature highlighted in the 3.0 upgrade. Need I continue

30 July 2009, 11:30 AM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

pcm (New user):

I agree with all of the above ten reasons but my reasons for hating my iphone are enormously simpler. You see there are good products and bad products but there are very few products that basically insult their users. I think not providing the folder functionality to organize things in this day and age simply indicates that Apple has no respect for their users. Three months of owning iPhone, I already hate it. Don't buy it folks.

10 September 2009, 4:29 PM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

magz (New user):

the news iphone does offer mms and video and as i know several people with iphones completely compatible with bluetooth headsets, simply asking someone when buying a bluetooth headset...is this compatible with the iphone? not too hard and i ask with my own phone either way, oh and there is turn by turn navigation available also and you can cut and paste...there are a few down falls id say with any phone, but a couple of the ones mentioned in this are not true.

03 October 2009, 5:08 PM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

1) Try some punctuation and formatting every now and then. Makes reading your thoughts easier.

2) The article you're commenting on is 3 months old and written prior to the release of some updates to the iPhone OS. Of course it's now wrong on a few features added since it was written.

03 October 2009, 11:14 PM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

1) Try some punctuation and formatting every now and then. Makes reading your thoughts easier.

2) The article you're commenting on is 3 months old and written prior to the release of some updates to the iPhone OS. Of course it's now wrong on a few features added since it was written.

03 October 2009, 11:26 PM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

KJB246 (New user):

Isn't it good that Apple have taken in some of these points you have made and actually fixed them!
I'm not 100% tech savvy but they have upgraded the camera (3.15 mp I know not much but still), copy and paste, zoom on camera, internet thethering and bluetooth handsfree capabilities.
I agree that yes there are some issues with the battery such as when playing games it drains so quick, buy a Mophie Juice Pack. Problem Solved.
Poor Microsoft, I know they get attacked for the tiniest glitches or bugs with their software but do you see Apple making billions of ads and marketing their new software worldwide?
I remember when windows 7 was released in Aus it had its own one hour segment on 3 tv shows! With Apple they barely advertised Snow Leopard unless you receive their newsletters.
Microsoft advertise and get so much attention, so when they have faults it gets the same widespread attention but purely negative.
Same said for Nokia, I was a Nokia user but my battery kept dying in all of them, or the casing would crack. Small problems that involved my phone being replaced by the same phone with the same problems.
As for 5mp cameras.. anyone use the LG Viewty with the 5mp camera?
It was crap.. The picture quality I got from using the iPhone 3G's camera was better quality especially to print. But Sony Ericson's have their camera's down pat their 2mp cam craps on LG's 5mp.


25 December 2009, 11:45 AM (3 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

JohnnyS (New user):

I have had my iPhone 3Gs for just a couple of months. I read about the ballooning charges so I turned things off. However, on a recent trip overseas, I needed email and IE access. Next, I get a bill for nearly $800, about $500 for data. After lengthy phone calls and a sleepless night, I found a sympathetic person on the other end and got a refund. With the refund came a warning NOT TO USE international roaming. Now, how can somebody use a device that is touted for all its features and then you are not supposed to use them unless you want to go bust? I cannot see any way to control the cost of using the iPhone - maybe somebody can point me in the right direction other than turning it off or throwing it into the gutter....

29 May 2010, 1:43 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Marble (New user):

I have been using iPhones since they first came out and I WAS a devoted. Yes it does have some awesome applications but I just went 8 days without a phone because I had to replace the battery. Actually I didn't really go without a phone as I had an old one laying around, but it took Apple 8 days to replace it. I lost 2 days trying to charge it; the first waiting patiently the second buying a new cable and waiting patiently. Then I lost half a day on the phone with their after sales service. Finally my options were:
Option 1. UPS guy comes tomorrow or the day after, takes your iPhone and thre to five working days later, you receive the new one. It was a Monday so we could be well into mid next week before I have the new one or Friday of this week BEST case scenario.
Option 2. Pay 30 Euros for the UPS guy to give me one tomorrow or the day after.
Option 3. Go to Apple Store and maybe change it that same day. Only they don't have a spot available until Sunday, 7 days from now.
Option 2 sounded like the best option but I wasn't going to pay for them to change my expensive, brand new iPhone. It's the principle not the money. They should send a new phone right away, even if its not an iPhone, just so one doesn't go without a phone for a week!!
Anyway, I am very frustrated at their service and when I need to replace it, I will get a BlackBerry for sure.
Oh and the worst part was I LOST ALL MY INFORMATION, at least the one I hadn't uploaded yet :S

14 June 2010, 11:10 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

darr3n (New user):

HTC EVO ___________________________

20 January 2012, 2:55 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

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