Walt Mossberg Reviews the iPhone

WSJdpatton writes "Walt Mossberg tested the iPhone for two weeks, in multiple usage scenarios, in cities across the US. His verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is on balance a beautiful and breakthrough hand-held computer. Its software especially sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry, and its clever finger-touch interface, which dispenses with a stylus and most buttons, works well, though the lack of physical buttons can be a hindrance." Digital Daily has a roundup of early iPhone reviews.

Other reviews

David Pogue, New York Times [nytimes.com]

- "so sleek and thin, it makes Treos and BlackBerrys look obese."
- After walking around with the iPhone unprotected for 2 weeks, no marks on it. Glass smudges are easily wiped off.
- 700 megabytes is occupied by the phone's software
- Making calls can be a 6 step process if phone is off.
- Web, Email is superior
- Battery Life Test: 5 hours video, 23 hours audio. Note: did not turn off Wi-Fi and other features as Apple suggests.
- Typing was OK. Difficult at first, but learned to "trust" the keyboard. "The BlackBerry won't be going away anytime soon."
- Cites AT&T network as iPhone's biggest downfall. Cites Consumer Reports survey which ranks AT&T network as last or second to last in 19 out of 20 major US cities.
- AT&T's EDGE cellular network: "excruciatingly slow"
- Slideshow of photos [nytimes.com] taken with iPhone
- Video Review [nytimes.com]

Steven Levy, Newsweek [msn.com]

- bottom line is that the iPhone is a significant leap
- The iPhone is the rare convergence device where things actually converge.
- e-mail looks more like you're working on a computer than a clunky phone
- YouTube videos work great on Wi-Fi, but can display in a lower quality when you're not at a hotspot and are using AT&T's EDGE network
- unless I did a lot of video watching or Web browsing, [the battery] could generally last the day
- I've been jamming it in my pocket with keyrings, coins and pens, and so far it's nearly as good as new.

Edward Baig, USA Today [usatoday.com]

- Apple's iPhone isn't perfect, but it's worthy of the hype
- The revelation is that it's also comfortable to hold and touch.
- I expected to miss the tactile feel that a physical keyboard provides. I didn't.
- You can hold a conference call with up to five people.
- No voice recognition or voice dialing
- halfway decent internal speakers for listening if you set the thing down
- iPod games are not compatible with iPhone
- our company tech department raised questions about the security settings Apple required with our Microsoft Exchange servers.
- Battery life didn't prove to be a big problem in my unscientific tests

Walt Mossberg, Wall Street Journal [wsj.com] (the submitted article's highlights):

- Our verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer. Its software, especially, sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry, and its clever finger-touch interface, which dispenses with a stylus and most buttons, works well, though it sometimes adds steps to common functions.
- largest, highest resolution screen of any smart phone they've seen, most internal memory
- Impressive battery life and thin
- Feels solid
- Regarding the touch keyboard: "After five days of use, Walt -- who did most of the testing for this review -- was able to type on it as quickly and accurately as he could on the Palm Treo he has used for years."
- Can't use T-Mobile SIM cards
- Wi-Fi capability doesn't fully make up for the lack of a fast cellular data capability
- Multitouch: "effective, practical and fun"
- No way to copy/paste text
- Microsoft's Exchange system support
- Voice call quality was good, but not great
- Can't record video
- No Adobe Flash support
- Songs can't be set as ringtones
- Apple says it plans to add fea

Re:Other reviews

Songs can't be set as ringtones

Praise Jesus!

Re:Other reviews

Presumably a 'ringtones' section will soon be appearing in the iTunes store.

Re:Other reviews

...and they will be $2.99, 30 seconds long, have terrible sound quality, and most of the money will go to AT&T. Cell phone ringtones are the biggest scam ever.

Re:Other reviews

I guess this is more your style. :)

http://www.milradio.com/Pictures/WW11/BC-611.jpg [milradio.com]

Re:Other reviews

You know what I would pay money for?

I have one of those phones. What I'd really like to know tho..AArggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Re:Other reviews

I have one of those phones. What I'd really like to know tho..AArggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Didn't you mean Castle AArggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Re:Other reviews

Maybe he died while posting.

Re:Other reviews

Oh, come on! Look, if he was dying, he wouldn't bother to type 'aaaaarrrggh'... He'd just say it!

Re:Other reviews

....... Perhaps he was dictating.

Re:Other reviews

But what I would pay money for

This is Slashdot. We know what you would pay money for.

But until you move out of your parents' basement, pr0n-to-pr0n networks and VLC will have to suffice.

Re:Other reviews

After walking around with the iPhone unprotected for 2 weeks, no marks on it

They were lucky to stay ALIVE, walking with it unprotected

Re:Other reviews

No voice dialing = deal-killer. How am I supposed to use it hands-free, especially in the car? Two-hand "multi-touch" while driving equals instant death.

I want a "jesus-phone", not a "meet jesus phone"!

Re:Other reviews

I think this is a feature. I HATE dealing with morons on cell phones while driving. Most people have enough trouble navigating a 4000lb piece of equipment without the extra interference of a damn cell phone. If you need to make a call pull over to the side of the road, complete your call, resume driving and pay attention to the road. BTW, I was almost sideswiped by an idiot on a cell phone today.

Re:Other reviews

How am I supposed to use it hands-free, especially in the car?

In the car? You're not. You're supposed to keep your concentration on the road and the traffic where it belongs.

All these idiots yapping on their cellphones while they're driving make driving a lot more hazardous for the few of us left who actually know what we're doing.

Is that cellphone call so important that someone's gonna die if you don't take it? No? Then shut the fuck up and drive, because if you don't someone may well die because of your idiotic phone call.

Re:Other reviews

So you never have the radio on? Or talk to a passenger in your car? Because the parents was specifically griping about the lack of hands-free features.

I know. I do whatever it takes to keep my concentration on driving. If I have to tell a passenger to shut up, that's what I do.

Handsfree is probably better than nothing, but it's still a major distraction. The person on the cellphone doesn't know when to shut up. The passenger in the car usually does.

And finally, when you're on an "important call" on your cellphone, it's likely more than idle chitchat. In other words, it takes away even more of your concentration than a typical conversation with a passenger would.

No, I stand by what I said before, handsfree or no.

Re:Other reviews

Amen and testify.

I actually see some omissions like dialing while driving and music as ringtones are Apple enforcing its taste and manners on the user. They think extremely deeply into the process of not only actually using the phone, but what the overall experience means to the user, and others around them. It's Apple's defining trait, actually, and it's shocking that very few in the technology industry really grok the human part of human interface.

I would put down money that both those omissions are 100% intentional, and good for Apple.

Someone needed to buck the norms of both the hardware and carrier aspects of mobile phones, and Apple's doing it in a big way. Maybe the thing won't take over the planet, but it'll certainly change the landscape for the better.

Side note: my current pet peeve is police officers surfing the web/emailing/whatever on dash-mounted laptops while driving. If you haven't seen one of these, be thankful. That soccer mom in the Caravan with 6 kids and a mobile to her ear won't look nearly as frightening once you experience THE LAW driving like they've just put away a quart of scotch.

--d

Re:Personal review

> Microsoft's Exchange system support

Doesn't he mean 'lack of...'?

> - Songs can't be set as ringtones

That might work for the US market, but it won't for some others (eg China).

> - Apple says it plans to add fea

Ah, great. I'm sold. My current phone has 'fea', but I had heard the iPhone didn't have it. So, I'm pleased it does, and now I'm definitely going to get one.

PLEASE! - GIVE IT A REST!

I'm as big an Apple Fanboy as any, but the daily iPhone woodies from the editors is even making ME puke. Please guys, lay off the Kool-Aide!

Re:PLEASE! - GIVE IT A REST!

I woke up this morning to the iPhone on Today. Its not just Slashdot... the entire country has drank the koolaid. I used to think I was a Apple Fanboi, but even I think the amount of attention a god damn phone has gotten is ridiculous. While I have no problem defending the thing against the numerous people who are making shit up on the fly to knock it (hi um a LOT of phones are not subsidized when they are released. The Q was 400 dollars on its release, and Treos are still 500 dollars WITH a plan from Verizon unless you buy it online.) at the same time I just want to scream....

ITS JUST A GOD DAMN CELL PHONE NOT A CURE FOR CANCER

I really feel ridiculous as a human being people are so enamored with teh shinyz. Especially 500 dollar ones when that money could be used for something so much more important.

A Total Shock! Mossberg likes an Apple Product!

Seriously, did anyone expect Mossberg to write anything else? He's been cheering Apple since before I can remember. I think he has the logo tatoo'd on his keaster!

face oil / greasy finger smears??

This is a serious question. I know my face tends to be a bit on the oily side and the littlest bit of grime on my fingers will leave a nice blotch on the screen.. I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone else mention this for the iphone. It's also a major PITA when I let people borrow my phone, then I have to wipe their face sludge off my phone. the Iphone looks like one giant magnet for grime.

I dunno about the rest of you...

But when I get my hands on that sweet, sweet iPhone, I'm going to literally cry with joy. Lately, I have been unable to sleep. All I can think of is holding it and putting it in my pocket. Truly, Wednesday is going to be the best day of my life. The only problem is I have to find some friends to call on it. It is odd that none of the reviews mentioned how well the device performs in basements, as that is my primary dwelling place.

Re:I dunno about the rest of you...

You would have more friends if you stopped calling it "my preciousssssss"

Knowledge wins out

So, it seems as though those people who have actually *used* it seem to *like* it. Unlike the majority of stories, posts, blogs, etc. etc. we've seen recently.

I've lost track of just how many uninformed iPhone-hater pieces I've seen over the last week. Of course, most of that is just blog-spam, and to get more clicks, you just say something controversial... As always, follow the money - then you can make a more-informed decision as to whether the opinion being espoused is worth anything.

Oh, and always ignore anything Dvorak or Enderle say...

Simon.

Re:Knowledge wins out

I don't think anyone expected the iPhone to be flawless. For example, I think most people would agree that a physical keyboard works better than the on-screen keyboard. But the on-screen keyboard has the advantage that it only takes up space when you actually need it, so the question isn't whether the on-screen keyboard is as good as a real keyboard, but whether it's a good trade-off.

So it's perfectly possible to like the phone while at the same time noting that the keyboard doesn't work as well as a physical keyboard.

Which obviously means that the iPhone isn't the perfect phone for everyone.

Passion wins out

"I'm not surprised people like it, actually I'd be more surprised if people didn't like it."

Actually, to me that's the hallmark of successful design: Invoke passion. Make something that some people love and that some people hate and you'll have a market.

Too many companies design by committee and focus groups to the point where the end result is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. Others seemingly design by comparison chart, cramming in feature after feature, and often for no more reason than to fill in the blanks.

The later approach also seems to be favored by commentators here on Slashdot. But by walking a mental checklist of missing features, they also miss what it does do. And by all accounts, does to the point of elegance.

Not an apple hater...but looks aren't enough

I started working on a "Mac" when it was called a Lisa. I subsequently owned many (actual) Macs and wrote software for the OS professionally (6.x, 7.x, 8.x). Okay, I'm now a Windows user (got tired of the fight...and frankly, XP is just fine)...so I am not a basher...nor am I a fan boy.

Me? I'm not buying it. Sure, the external looks are great...sexy even...as are the visual bells and whistles in the UI...but features? They just are not there for me. Not even close.

Visual voice mail is neat. I'm sure the iPod also has some other exclusive neat tricks in there...but I have a year-old Treo that does what the iPhone does and more...for $200. Start with the overlap:

  - Email
  - Web browser
  - MP3 player
  - Phone
  - Addresses
  - Videos
  - Camera
  - Google maps with integrated calling
  - SMS
  - MS Office compatibility (iPod?)

and a range of other similar functions. Don't bother critiquing the individual Treo apps, because unlike the iPod, I can replace them with other apps. For example, the new version of Opera Mini provides the same means to view an entire web page and zoom in. There are dozens of replacement apps for any one of the above functions.

Now let's look at some core features of the Treo that the iPod lacks:

  - Multiple carriers
  - High-speed 3G network
  - SD card slot...for essentially infinite on-the-go storage for MP3s et al.
  - Numerous hard buttons to immediately get to the phone, MP3 player, or another app...and they are all programmable
  - Can record video
  - Has a GLOBAL find function
  - CUT & PASTE (between apps)
  - IM
  - Tactile sensation on keyboard for typing...or for dialing

and perhaps the most important feature:

I CAN ADD APPLICATIONS TO IT :-) ...and I do...all the time. Games, JVMs, new browsers, whatever I want...from thousands of freeware and commercial titles.

Yes, Walt claims that he finds the onscreen keyboard to be acceptable...but any Treo user can dial on the screen or on the keypad...and almost everyone I know dials on the keypad when they aren't selecting an existing contact. The actual keyboard and 5-way nav key allow you to use the phone when you aren't staring right at the screen. Yes, we shouldn't dial while we are driving, but we do, and you can do it without looking while using a Treo.

Hey, the iPod raises the bar...by a large amount...and the screen is 50% larger than that of a Palm-based Treo (320x480 instead of 320x320)...but a $600 phone that is not expandable and is only offered by one carrier with a two-year lock-in? One to which you cannot add software (outside of...ahem...AJAX-based apps)? How about one that claims to be a smart phone killer yet lacks basic features like cut & paste and global find? Yes, it has wifi. Great. So do many phones.

No, this is a beauty competition. I applaud apple for getting into the market and raising the bar, but I just cannot see how someone thinks this unit is worth the expense compared to other competing devices. I suppose techno lust is powerful...and form often wins out over function. Me? I'll wait a year or two and see what the next versions can do...and how the competition responds.

Your mileage may vary.

$0.02

Re:Not an apple hater...but looks aren't enough

Start with the overlap:

Yes and all MP3 players play music. Yet there are differences in operation, that have made the iPod a great success while other models languish.

But of the things you mention, very few are problems with the iPhone many people cannot realistically get 3G, but in many places they get get WiFi. I don't need to be able to record video with it (heck, I didn't even really want a camera!). And saying an SD card slot offers "essentially infinite storage" means you have to buy 8GB worth of SD storage to get the inifinte amount of storage to come close to the iPhone, much less the issue of managing cards. I'll bet your "global find" doesn't tell you which of the swapped out cards something is on...

As for the keyboard, all the doubters say they would miss it. Yet all of the reviewers say they do not, even those that started with doubts. So what are we to think might be more correct?

To go along with your admission of being a happy Apple fan, let me say that I was a rabid Palm fan. I convinced many people to buy Palm pilots. I even recently bought a Palm Zier for someone, because it was perfect for what they wanted to do - and indeed they are delighted with it.

But years ago, ater my Palm V gave up the good fight and stopped listening to the stylus, I waited for a phone/PDA from Palm and got... the treo. I don't know what forces drive men to crave tiny keyboards, but they do not find a hold of me. It is not that I have large hands, I can thread needles with great dexterity and have excellent finger accuracy. I hated the space the keyboards took, and across many devices (not just the Treo) I hated typing on said small keyboards... and so i waited for Palm, who I still consider to once have been a company of innovators as great as Apple has ever been, to deliver to me a "real" phone PDA that was worthy of the legacy.

Apple has delivered the phone I have waited for so long for Palm to build.

Over time, we will see expandability (in applications anyway), growth of features, and a browser that makes actually using AJAX based applications thinkable instead of madness. One thing common to the Apple experience is that feature sets and usability improve with time - it was true of the iPod and there's no reason to think it will be any less so for the iPhone.

How do I think it's worth the expense? Because I have used he other devices, even the Treo, and the iPhone appears to suck about $1000 less than those, never mind $600.

No SIM?

Seems like SIM cannot be changed. Now what is the use of terminating cingular contract? Just end up carrying a 600$ music player that cannot make phone calls? From the article - "But the iPhone has a major drawback: the cellphone network it uses. It only works with AT&T (formerly Cingular), won't come in models that use Verizon or Sprint and can't use the digital cards (called SIM cards) that would allow it to run on T-Mobile's network. So, the phone can be a poor choice unless you are in areas where AT&T's coverage is good. It does work overseas, but only via an AT&T roaming plan."

In other words

More of the same. The more I hear about the iPhone, the more I realize it's completely useless for my purposes. No real expandability, no real messaging applications, no real improvement from even phones such as the sidekick. Add a lack of ability to serve as a data modem and being tied to a crappy provider, and I would have to say no thanks.

Excellent

More of the same. The more I hear about the iPhone, the more I realize it's completely useless for my purposes

Yes everyone, listen to him! It is useless.

I hate standing in long lines.

You may awaken Saturday with your urges resumed.

All the reviews come down to this:

The Apple iPhone will likely work far better in Europe, where 3G cellular coverage with higher-speed data transfer dramatically improves the usefulness of the device. Here in the USA, the iPhone's functionality will work if you're near a WiFi hotspot, which makes accessing the Internet reasonably tolerable.

I'm hoping future version of the iPhone will include support for the Verizon and Sprint networks with its vastly faster EVDO wireless data network.

Okay, so wait for 2.0

Sorry, I'm as mac fan boy as mac fan boys come, but I NEVER buy a first generation Apple product. This comes from experience with the first gen iPod (my best friend got one and had the battery issues) and personal experience with the first gen snow white iBooks. (I wanted to wait, but an upcoming trip abroad forced my hand at the time).

While Apple may have gotten things mostly right, they'll refine things and any problems will be well documented by the time the second gen rolls around.

While my old flip phone may not be super sexy, it will work until Apple gets all the bugs hammered out. Maybe by Christmas or this time next year I'll have one, but until then.

Re:Okay, so wait for 2.0

Not just macs. I usually avoid most 1st gen electronic products. But that's just me. I'm risk adverse. That's why I'm still in this basement.

GPS and e911

I've gotta say, it looks nice. I'd love one. I don't care enough to switch yet, but it looks REALLY nice. I'm glad to hear that Apple did pretty well with it (as I'd hope).

That said, everyone keeps saying it lacks GPS (which is unfortunate). But I thought that part of the e911 rules that went into effect a few years ago was that all phones had to have a GPS receiver to tell the operator where the caller was. Is the location only from automatic signal strength triangulation? If they have GPS for e911, why don't more phones make it available to the user (if I'm wrong about the GPS being there, the answer to that one is obvious).

Can't wait to play with one some day though. And I really can't wait to see how other phone makers and carriers respond.

Re:GPS and e911

E911 has dependencies on the technology used. For GSM operators (like ATT) there are two scenarios. 1. 2G Handsets do not need GPS (or in actuality A-GPS or assisted GPS) since a network based solution can use triangulation using cell signal strength to get an accurate enough position to meet FCC rules for E911. 2. Cell-based triangulation does not work on the 3G (UMTS/WCDMA) network, so the requirement to handset makers is that you need to include a GPS chip for A-GPS (GPS position data is assisted with some network signaling from the cell tower). Unfortunately due to cost / economies of scale you do not see A-GPS in all 3G/UMTS phones yet. The network operators work around this with a temporary 'hack' where you do a handover from 3G to 2G for emergency calls. Within the next year or so you should see just about all 3G phones in US with A-GPS. GPS for location-based services (and not just E911) is another matter and is a function of the device feature set & price point.

Sorry not interested.

I'm waiting for the brick-sized, brown MS Phune.

Because i love being modded down...

The lack of g3 compatability seems to be a big hindrance to a phone that prides itself as not giving you "not the mobile internet, but the real internet". gprs is what, 56k speeds minus the 300ms pings?

I've unlocked my treo 750 phone to take full advantage of cingular's 386kbit/s g3 and occasionally get a speed of around 800kbps download.

While i suppose that the iphone was designed to color co-ordinate with a starbucks cup as you sit and browse the interweb in the coffee shop hotspot, i'll be using my treo with a clunky interface to access the mobile internet (i.e. the list of simple websites designed for gprs and below and the one that i would set the 60.0kbit/s iphone to download if i was away from a hotspot.)

Once again, apple resorts to its age old design technique: stunningly beautifuly, brilliantly intuitive, but about as useful as a 6 year old pc for what 90% of people do 90% of the time.

Re:Because i love being modded down...

90% of the US doesn't even have a real 3G network in place yet. My connectivity on 3G with my Windows Mobile device (both on T-Mobile and Cingular) has been no better than GPRS, and I live in the SF Bay Area and travel to other "big name" cities all the time.

While traveling around the world, I definitely love my 3G-capable device. In the US, I hardly see the point. Just something for the spec-sheet geeks to bitch about. Why support something that most people don't have access to, and even those that do can't get up to speed?

90% of the people 90% of the time can't get 3G access speeds, even assuming 100% of cell phone users had data plans, which of course they don't. I think you need to re-assess what "people do 90% of the time."

I'm not going to buy an iPhone, and for all the reasons not to, this is pretty much the most lame.

What I've gleaned...

From all I've gleaned from being at WWDC, reading the reviews, and sorting through the punditry, the most common negative themes seem to be these:

-The AT&T EDGE network sucks
-The iPhone ignores some key smartphone features (vid capture, SMS/MMS, etc.)
-The price
-No Flash support for browser
-No SDK for third-party developers (boo/hiss!)

Some of the surprises were:

-The battery life is close to the advertised numbers (well, more than expected anyways)
-The virtual keypad is actually useable but it takes a little getting used to "using the Force"
-The multi-touch thing works as advertised
-the Safari web browser lives up to the hype
-The WiFi is actually pretty good
-The iPod part kicks ass (except if you want to use it with 3rd party headphones or in your car's iPod dock)

My own opinion as a "Mac Professional" and Smartphone addict:

-If you want one, wait for rev 2--as you should with all Apple products
-If you don't want an iPhone but like some of the technology, your preferred phone will be getting updates, too
-It will be nice to merge two more devices that go with me everywhere--my smartphone and my iPod.
-The price is a bit high, but I think the market will bear it for now and the price will go down by Q4
-The missing features people are bitching about will come--some of them anyways
-An SDK will appear after Leopard is launched
-The entire market will benefit by the iPhone--and the tech will get cheaper

Re:What I've gleaned...

What is the whole "except if you want to use it with 3rd party headphones or in your car's iPod dock" all about?

It's got a standard 3.5mm minijack headphone port and a standard (for iPod) 30-pin dock connector.

Re:What I've gleaned...

It's got a standard 3.5mm minijack headphone port and a standard (for iPod) 30-pin dock connector.

The minijack headphone port is extremely recessed. So you'll need an adapter for most headphones. The software running on the iPhone isn't the same as the software for the iPod and DOESN'T support stuff like the Alpine in-dash iPod controller.

Firefox and TFA?

Using firefox 2.0.0.4, whenever I follow the article link it crashes, same with workmate sitting next to me.

Anyone else seeing this?

EDGE Might Suck But...

The iPhone compensates by being one of the few smart phones that can also use Wi-Fi wireless networks. When you have access to Wi-Fi, the iPhone flies on the Web. Not only that, but the iPhone automatically switches from EDGE to known Wi-Fi networks when it finds them, and pops up a list of new Wi-Fi networks it encounters as you move.

So you can just set it to "linksys" and you won't even need EDGE.

The iPhone is great but....

I just don't have the disposable income to be a Apple product tester. I do want a device that allows me to combine all the little device in my pocket to one little device. Also, iPhone would also allow me to leave my laptop at home more often. I sure hope it survives a couple of generations till I can afford to buy one.

Impetus for a linux phone...

Having watched Mr. Mossberg's video and read his article, I can't help but think of the recent speedy development of Moonlight and how this speed of development doesn't seem to happen on phones. In the US, I fear the phone companies have held too much power over the phones and features we use.

Despite it's Visual Voicemail, media, and enhanced web browsing capabilities, I won't have an iPhone for the foreseeable future as I don't do AT&T. I do hope, however, that the iPhone's new hotness casts a dark shadow on other phone makers who have neither the manpower or focus to develop such features themselves. So, listen you laggard phone makers, you. Build a linux-based CDMA*/GSM phone with a palm-style keyboard and let the community develop some free software for you.

A CDMA-capable Linux phone is something for which I might pay $500. Especially if I could dock it to my monitor, mouse, and keyboard. Oh yeah, Beryl and Synaptic might be nice too.

* I mention CDMA because Trolltech's Greenphone got me a little excited until I learned that it only does GSM so it won't work with my provider.

Useless as an actual phone

I don't want the oil on my ear to smudge onto the screen.
I don't want to have to fumble to answer a call.
I want to be able to push buttons by feel and memory of said feel.

I'll keep my flip phone thank you. That being said, this thing is neat for every other function, just not as a phone.

iPhone or EVDO?

Which would you rather have? Personally I'd side with EVDO. It looks like almost all reviews are calling the iPhone a step forward, but besides subjective cool-looking-ness, and hype, nothing about it is a single step forward (i.e. not done before, but correct me if I'm wrong). However its data network is a step back from the cutting edge, and to me thats the most important part of a gadget phone.

That being said it does look like a lot of the things that it does, which have all been done before, seem to be done well, perhaps better than before (which yes I guess that is something never done before, or a step forward at least). Still if it had EVDO, it could be the best phone available today, if it had something better then it could be close to its hype.

For the love of god

Why can't the iphone stories stop. I barely cared before but jesus tapdancing christ i'm sick of it.

Mod me down for all of it, how much press does a single friggan appliance need.

thank you, Apple!

No, I don't want an iPhone: I think it's underpowered and overpriced. But the release of the iPhone will hopefully cause other manufacturers to make thinner phones with nicer screens and better user interfaces.

WHERE'S THE CLICKWHEEL?

It's the defining characteristic of the iPod, and Apple says the iPhone is "our best iPod yet." So where did that clickwheel go? Good column on this here [popularmechanics.com]

NOT suitable for visually impaired people

This product is just one in a long series, in a trend to completely overlook the needs of blind users. I have been in the market for MP3 players which could be used by blind people, and the general trend is, the newer the device, the less the chances it can be used. The iPhone continues this trend, and I fear the day when other manufacturers pick up on the novelty.

Just a little addition to my rant: I noticed that even simple changes to the firmware, that would make the interface more suited for blind people, like returning to the initial state of the menus, if no interaction for a minute (or such), is being dropped in newer models, even thought it costs nothing to implement. It's almost as if manufacturers have a requirement to make their electronic gadgets less usable by the blind.

Re:NOT suitable for visually impaired people

My father is visually impaired and I'm sympathetic to the perspective you raise. However, the only physical button on the front of the iPhone does exactly what you suggest -- returns you to the main screen, and without waiting some random number of seconds. The iPhone interface isn't optimized for the visually impaired, but the interface reference point is established in a method superior to what you suggest.

The higher pixel density of the screen should make the screen somewhat more accessible to those with certain low-vision issues, as compared with other screen based phones. However, phones with physical keypads are probably superior in general for that group. There are interesting technologies in Mac OS X for accessibility. As with other features, those that make sense in a phone-like device will probably migrate to the iPhone as the device matures. Some will take the form of software updates to existing models, others may require new hardware revisions, a voice recognition chip for example.

Two major issues:

The screen only works with skin contact. How am I supposed to use this thing in the winter?

From the article:

The iPhone's most controversial feature, the omission of a physical keyboard in favor of a virtual keyboard on the screen, turned out in our tests to be a nonissue, despite our deep initial skepticism. After five days of use, Walt -- who did most of the testing for this review -- was able to type on it as quickly and accurately as he could on the Palm Treo he has used for years. This was partly because of smart software that corrects typing errors on the fly.

So basically it's at least as annoying as using T9 for me, where I constantly have to keep changing between the Finnish, Swedish, and English dictionaries?

I still want one, though... ;)

off-topic: camera

The iPhone has a 2 megapixel camera, and I've noticed some of the other advanced phones have 2 megapixel cameras. Does anyone know of any more basic phones w/ high-res cameras?

eBooks?

How do you read eBooks on it? "Over the web" is not an option: in fact that'll probably make you hit their "limited unlimited" limit and get your account cancelled, either for excessively long connections or excessively idle connections.

Openmoko is better

I've been looking for a new all in one mobile phone and to be honest the iPhone doesn't cut it for me and neither does the Nokia N95 (although it comes close). Then I stumbled across the soon to be released Openmoko [openmoko.org] Linux based and open mobile phone. Although the first released model (second model should have WiFi) lacks Wifi it will have bluetooth and a lcd screen that blows the one offered by the iPhone out of the water. The phone will be completely (well as much as it can be) open source so all the FOSS games and applications can be ported over if need be and anyone can develop applications without having to jump through a complex licensing scheme. If your patient wait till 2008 for the GTA02 model that should blow your socks off.

Not for me...

I absolutely abhor touching a screen and leaving finger prints on any of the computers I work on.

In a day of use this iPhone thing's screen will look like an oil slick driving me nuts. Hence I would never ever get one.

Seems like a typical Apple product

Not the most features, but the ones that are there are well done. Apple is not going after the people that love smart phones, so for most of the Slashdot crowd it is probably a dud, they are going after the people that could do with many of the features of smart phones but hate the ones that already exist.

So, this is all about bringing the features of smart phones to the people that previously would never buy a smart phone due to their clunky nature. By all accounts it is going to be a storming success.

Personally I like the feature set of the iPhone, except the lack of 3G, and I could never justify the cost of it. Do I want it? Hell yes, but I'm going to have to wait for a while. This is obviously part of the Apple plan:
1. Release a sexy phone that lots of people want
2. Make it initially very expensive, so that it becomes a luxury status item.
3. Wait until it is firmly established as THE status item, then start slowly release new versions at cheaper prices making loads of people buy it because they still view it as a status symbol even though everyone can now afford to buy one.

Exactly the same plan as with the iPod.

The best smartphone...

... IMHO is the Nokia E61 which isn't available in the USA. (They can be had on eBay or purchased abroad).

Features: WiFi, VOIP, bigger keyboard than all Blackberry's and Treos. Having WiFi access on your phone for browsing and email is awesome.

Negatives: No touchscreen -- which as an ex-Treo user I thought would be a big deal. It's not. The interface is great, and completely tweakable with a zillion settings.

Runs great on T-Mobile.

how does youtube work if no flash?

everyone (reveiwers, commercials, etc) keep mentioning that you can watch youtube videos, but flash is not on the iphone. um, youtube videos are flash movies!
is the youtube widget on the iphone a standalone flash player that doesnt integrate with safari?

Sling and PDANet

No Sling comments? I figured slashdot would be full of Sling users. The lack of SlingPlayer support is a deal killer. For someone that loves TV the Sling (with my TIVO) is the best application on my phone. The second deal killer is being unable to tether with PDANet. Sometimes I need internet access away from Home and Work.

Overrated?

Most electronics companies seem to develop the same old products until Apple comes along and produces a competing product with an elegant design and a streamlined interface. It's not so much that they innovate but that they take the most important features and make easy to use.

That said, if the US market had access to the kinds of phones available in Asia and Europe the impact the iPhone has made would be significantly smaller. There are some great-looking phones in the rest of the world with all kinds of functionality.

And design-wise, I bought a lower-end NEC phone a year and a half ago that has all the same design cues as this iPhone. Black face, metallic bevel, etc. My phone isn't touch screen and it has individual buttons, but the basic styling is similar. My point is that while the iPhone certainly looks very nice, it isn't the pinnacle of design. Again, I've seen phones overseas that are visually more impressive.

I think one of the biggest hindrances to progress in the US mobile phone market has been the service carriers. Verizon, AT&T/Cingular, Sprint and all the others have done nothing but screw the American public in numerous ways.

The good thing about the iPhone is that it should stimulate the mobile phone market and it reminds people of the limitations of the American mobile phone network.

Handheld COMPUTER?

A computer, by common definition since 1980s means something you can install programs, there is some payware or free SDK open to development .

I am speaking about these:
http://www.symbian.com/developer/index.html [symbian.com]
http://trolltech.no/developer [trolltech.no]
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/embedded/default. aspx [microsoft.com]
http://www.java.net/ [java.net]

You know, Symbian, Linux, WinCE handheld devices are "handheld computers". Lets say, the mail client doesn't fit your needs? Go to sourceforge or handango and get a better client for your needs and install. You need a specific function such as GPS? You buy add on device, install its software and you got it.

A $60 J2ME (Java) supporting regular phone is more close to computer than iPhone is.

I may have lost my little remaining trust/respect to Apple centric media after iPhone. That is a big deal since I use Macs whenever possible. I won't be checking Apple hating gray beard sites either. We don't deserve this kind of media...

I'm a huge iPhone supporter, but...

There are several things about all this that are seriously bothering me.

First of all, the $175 cancellation fee. AFAIK, cancellation fees have been mainly justified by the fact that phones are subsidized by the carrier. This is not the case with the iPhone, so how can they justify a cancellation fee at all, let alone a $175 fee?

Second of all, there is the question of tethering. The only information I've seen on this subject (which is not official) indicates that tethering will NOT be allowed. This is practically a deal-breaker for me.

Third of all, I'd also like to know what the deal is with credit check v. deposit. I'm sick to death of every company in the world thinking they have a right to intrude into my credit history/privacy/what have you. There's no information from Apple or AT&T about this subject. Also, what's the deal with the "pre-approved credit" number?

Other than these three big issues, every other drawback I've seen is something that isn't important to me, or is something that I believe that Apple will fix in the future. It's times like these that I hate Apple's closed mouth about their product details. I know I won't be standing in line this weekend. I'll wait until the real details surface.

Cut, Copy, Paste

Of all the cons that people have mentioned, the only one that really makes me sad is the iPhone's lack of copy and paste. It seems like highlighting text should be pretty straightforward and at least they could have some sort of pop up options menu if you hold your finger on some text for more than 2 seconds or something.

AT&T

Why in God's name did Apple worry so much about having an exclusive carrier for this product? How is this going to sell in Europe?

iPhone Screensaver

a funny poke at all the iPhone hype: Steve Jobs Personal iPhone Screensaver [huckstr.com]

Re:Break, Please.

Hah! Oh, man, that's rich.

Seriously, though, you may want to stay away from the internet for the next week or so. It'll be better that way.

Which reviews are you reading?

Doesn't quite seem to match... [slashdot.org]

"After walking around with the iPhone unprotected for 2 weeks, no marks on it. Glass smudges are easily wiped off."

"I've been jamming it in my pocket with keyrings, coins and pens, and so far it's nearly as good as new."

"I expected to miss the tactile feel that a physical keyboard provides. I didn't."

"Typing was OK. Difficult at first, but learned to "trust" the keyboard."

"After five days of use, Walt -- who did most of the testing for this review -- was able to type on it as quickly and accurately as he could on the Palm Treo he has used for years."

"bottom line is that the iPhone is a significant leap"

"The iPhone is the rare convergence device where things actually converge."

"Multitouch: 'effective, practical and fun'"

"Feels solid"

"Apple's iPhone isn't perfect, but it's worthy of the hype"

"The revelation is that it's also comfortable to hold and touch."

"Our verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer."

Where?

Seems like so I'm seeing a lot of 'scratches easily', and 'lack of tactile feedback kills it'.

Where?

Re:really clean fingers?

Lots of us use touch screen interfaces every day without shedding tears. Why would this be different?

Re:really clean fingers?

Why is the parent modded insightful?

Like your ear and face are any less greasy. Take out your cell right now and tell me it doesn't have ear crud on it or a face print. Do it! Now wipe your finger across it and tell me it got WORSE. Morons.

Re:Problems

even worse: no native IM app (you can probably do it through a website, though) and all the service plans are limited to 200 text messages per month (before extra fees kick in).

Supporting data???

Are you spouting from a point of knowledge or just wild extrapolation from other devices you've seen?

The iphone has a glass front which should make it far more scratch resistant than a regular plastic touch screen.

The haptic touch screens need extra mechanics (weight, battery power,cost...). Like everything in engineering you need to make trade offs. The iphone touch screen is different from a regular touch screen. It has to be to support multi-touch. This difference should make it far better than a regular touch screen and easier to use.

Re:really clean fingers?

I don't expect to have this dirty-finger problem.

You see, I live in Minnesota, so I wear gloves 10 months out of the year!

(On a serious note, can you use these things with gloves on? Inquiring minds want to know.)

Re:really clean fingers?

(On a serious note, can you use these things with gloves on? Inquiring minds want to know.)

No. It uses capacitance. You'll need really thin gloves or special gloves with electronics embedded in them.

Re:Break, Please.

No. Quit asking!

Re:Break, Please.

only if you give me a pony......and a cookie .... but the pony must be pink with sparkles!

Re:Another gadget

And what hardware do you propose to use these software innovations on?

Fingers?

The iPhone is so hot, my finger is not the appendage I plan on operating it with.

Re:Slashdot censorship!

re:"I am never going to buy an iPhone. Why? Because Slashdot spammed it at me for the last three months. There is such a thing as over saturation in advertising."

Comedy GOLD!

I had no idea Slashdot editors held such sway over your life. The richeness of this comedy mine is SO deep it hurts! It must be as deep as your basement!