"Tom Delaney" wrote:
> "SMS" wrote:
>
>> And of course if you actually want to make calls outside the urban and
>> suburban areas, you'd better carry along a CDMA/AMPS phone. But no one
>> every claimed the iPhone's strong point was the phone functionality. I
>> was just down south of Carmel along California Highway 1. I was surprised
>> to have relatively good service all the way to Big Sur. The maps for
>> Verizon and AT&T show a stark difference in coverage, at least for
>> subscribers with the original America's Choice plan, which has more
>> roaming capability.
>
> All this is very true. However you're making too much of it all.
>
> 1. The next generation of iPhone will almost certainly be HSDPA. No one
> with half a brain buys the first version of a product like the iPhone, you
> always wait for the second version.
If no one bought anything there wouldn't be a second version of anything to
buy.
I have rarely regretted being an early adopter. While you are sitting there
on the sidelines I am actually using the device. And the iPhone is by far
the best early-adopter device I have ever owned. And when you finally come
around you will no doubt benefit from the findings that I and others have
already been through. When you come for help, be sure to preface your query
with "I know you all only have half a brain, but..." See how far that gets
you.
In addition, I get to see the device grow. Already my iPhone is doing 3x
more that when I got it. It's almost like a different device now.
Moreover, I needed a new phone as my Treo 650 was two years old and dieing.
I waited two weeks for the iPhone to see if any last-minute gotchas
appeared. It didn't happen. Indeed just the opposite: I saw overwhelming
positive feedback from actual owners. Yes there are some who didn't like
it--I wouldn't expect a 100% satisfaction rate with any new product. But by
far the naysayers are non-owners, not actual users.
> GPS will probably take a while.
>
> 2. While AT&T/Cingular has poor coverage in the areas you state, everyone
> signing up with AT&T/Cingular knows full well that they have poorer
> coverage than some other carriers.
And better than others. There is zero Verizon coverage in my city for
instance. No matter whom Apple chose as the carrier there would be people
complaining (like me, had they chosen Verizon).
Lots of people, including me, have actually switched to at&t solely due to
the iPhone.
A heck of a lot of people outside the US seem to be buying the iPhone now
too: I get a frequent of hacking questions from non-US iPhone owners (and,
believe it or not, teens--where the heck are they getting the money from?).
Turbo Sims are sold out (I know of one person who bought one for $500, just
to be able to use his iPhone!).
>
> 3. Edge is fast enough for e-mail, and web browsing, while slow, is still
> adequate. It's better than a dial-up modem, despite what the reviewers
> say.
I get 3-4 times the speed of dialup when using
EDGE. Of course I am only on
EDGE 10% of the time, if that.
>
> 4. The lack of a keyboard is only a problem for those that use the iPhone
> for serious e-mailing or text intensive applications, and since these
> users are probably buying a Blackberry or Treo or Ocean, rather than the
> iPhone,
Perhaps. But as for me I am now just as fast--or faster--at typing on my
iPhone than on my Treo. If you just type away and let auto-correct do its
thing you can get to amazing WPM speeds (faster than I would have imagined
possible on a touch-screen device). It took about a week, and a few
gotta-have-it-now emails to get up to speed.
This would likely not have been possible had Apple gone with a resistive
touch screen, such as that on Treos and many other devices. The capacitive
touch screen responds very quickly, and to the lightest touch. After using
my iPhone I find it harder to use the touch screen on my Treo (and my GPS).
As an added benefit the screen clarity is the best I've ever seen in a
mobile device.
> it's a self-correcting problem. These same users most likely have a need
> for a device with full PDA functionality, and would not buy an iPhone no
> matter what.
At least half of the 100 or so iPhone owners I have interacted with had a
history of smart/
PDA phones--including me.
>
> The subject of this thread is very misleading. The iPhone is "good" for
> certain things (web browsing), while the other devices mentioned are
> better in other ways. No one device is perfect for everyone. Apple wanted
> a device for the masses, not just for techies.
Well the techies are on to it: Perl, Python, Ruby, Apache, SSH and much more
are available for the iPhone right now. I use several of those myself. The
iPhone is a techies dream!
--
Mike