Update: Today Apple announced improved functionality:
Battery life rating is up to 8 hours talk time, a whopping 10+ days of standby, 6 hours of internet use, 7 hours of video playback and 24 hours of audio playback. In addition, the original 3.5” plastic surface has changed to “optical-quality” glass.
Pretty awesome :)
Original post:
A few days ago, Forbes ran an article entitled Why You May Not Want an iPhone. I'm not overly worried about most of these, but I thought I'd address their concerns.
I currently use a Treo 700, which I synch with 2 Intel Macs. I use Apple Mail and iCal. I pretty much use all the features of the treo except the video and the MP3 player. I also have an 80G video iPod.
My thoughts regarding the iPhone concerns:
1) Lousy battery life. From what I’ve read the iPhone is rated at 5 hrs talk/music/movie/internet time. My Treo is rated at only 4, and I rarely run out of juice. Plus, I expect I’ll be synching the iPhone even more frequently because of the better iCal integration, so that’ll help keep it charged. Yes, I wish I could buy a spare battery and keep it charged, but I’m willing to live with it. Other battery issues are the same ones you’ll find on any smartphone.
2) AT&T's use of the slower EDGE network. I have Verizon right now. My understanding is EDGE is faster than my current network for data downloads, and a little slower for uploads. But other than sending the occasional phone photo, I don’t really upload, and the slowdown for a single photo is negligible. Slow browsing… well, it’s first-generation full browsing on the phone. I’ll live with it. Plus, you can swap to wi-fi, which is even faster. They use the silly example of having to spend $10/month for wifi at Starbucks… well, then don’t get your wifi at starbucks :)
3)
Lack of 3rd party apps. “But it’s not clear if Apple will let other people write software for
the iPhone, at least right away, and that could be a reason to stay
away.” As I understand it, they’re not
releasing an SDK right away, that
lightweight apps (like most widgets) can be built without one. In fact, here's a Cult of Mac article showing a couple of apps that are already ready to go. Heavy
duty apps? Maybe not right away, but supposedly later in the year. In
4) Potential incompatibility with MS Exchange servers. Not an issue for me. I assume this is an issue if you need to use a VPN client to get at your mail. Also, it seems we don’t really know yet whether this will be an issue or not.
5) Lack of a keyboard. I'm not at all worried. I got used to Graffiti on the old Pilots, and I got used to thumb-typing on my old Blackberry (in its first incarnation as a clamshell) and then on the Treos. I’ll get used to this too :)
6) Cost. (Didn’t the author say there were 5 reasons?): Yes, it’s pricey. So were both of my Treos. $90/month for all the services? I pay more than that now.
The only thing I’m not sure about is how much I’ll use the music features. I plan to get the extra memory (I’m remembering long ago debating with myself about whether or not to spend the extra $100 to get a 20MB drive vs a 10MB drive :), but I love having my entire music collection on my iPod. I’ll probably give movies a try while traveling, though, and maybe some podcasts.
So... will I get an iPhone? Yes. The only real question is whether or not I'll stand in line to get one on day one.
Julie - if you stand in line and get one, call me. I'll be standing in line, but two hours behind you on the west coast!
Posted by: Raven Zachary | June 14, 2007 at 05:49 PM