Iphone is great but very fragile

[terryc]

flaxattack - I agree totally, my old mobile(as we call them in the UK) has stopped doing text but I have never done them anyway, as you say, call/answer just like normal phones.
All that other stuff is just gimmickry although I think the most useful addition is a camera..sometimes you just want to capture the moment(for legal reasons sometimes!!)

[keith_h]

As far as being locked into a provider, be patient. It won't take long for the hackers to unlock the SIM card. They've already cracked the iPhone activation server code to let the iPod functions work without phone service.  
 
Keith

[lbpesq]

When I want to take a picture, I have a camera.  When I want to use the computer I have a computer.  When I want to listen to music I have a stereo in my home, office, car, and portable.  When I want to play a game I have an Xbox (actually, my kid does), not to mention those old things that came in cardboard boxes and had strange words like monopoly printed on them.  When I want to make a phone call I use a phone.  By far, the most important feature that I look for in a phone is that it enables you to talk to other people (I just don't get texting.  Other than sending notes in High School class, what's the point?  I can say it a lot faster and easier than I can type it.).  With a cell phone, the battery is what lets all the magic happen.  I don't want a telephone device on which the battery will be so exhausted from photography, music, web surfing, TV watching, etc., that it will interfere with my ability to talk to people.  Technology for technology's sake may very well be the bane of mankind!  (Do I really sound this old? - AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!)
 
Bill, tgo
 
(Message edited by lbpesq on July 06, 2007)

[keith_h]

Well I don't even have a cell or an Xbox. I rather like going on vacation and not being bothered by the things I left behind. We still have lots of those games in cardboard boxes also. Call me a Luddite but I rather read from printed paper than a computer screen. Yes I still read the newspaper and those things called books though not as often as I would like. :-)  
 
And Bill I hear you on the texting. From what I see with my daughters they take longer to say How's it going? than it does to call, arrange a meeting place and hang up. Not to mention the generation of kids not learning how to spell due to the acronyms, emoticons and half completed sentances.    
 
Keith

[bsee]

In reality, the UI and the large music library are the only things a little bit unique to the iPhone.  There are plenty of phones out there with browsing, cameras and messaging.  Those phones are related to prior telephones built solid to survive the rigors of a cell phone's life.  
 
The iPhone is an apparently more fragile descendant of a music playing device with a history of living its life in a padded case.  Convenient?  I carry a 60 GB iPod that is about 75-80% full and represents about 60% of my total library.  What am I going to do with an 8 GB iPhone, leave 80% of my music off of it?  Admittedly, I don't play it all continuously, but it's nice to have a song when it comes up in conversation.
 
Maybe the next version will be a bit more high speed, but don't you think the other cell phones will be providing faster access then as well?  
 
As far as multi-function devices goes, I have had a business use for text messaging as it works well in automated alert systems.  I don't mind the idea of a low quality camera, but, as Bill says, I have a real camera if I want to actually take pictures.  The camera has even been a problem as some places I go have a no cameras rule and would want to hold the phone while I'm inside.  I have a phone with no camera as a result.  
 
Give me a solidly built, bluetooth-enabled phone with the ability to receive text and long battery life.  Camera and text sending are optional.

[Bradley Young]

Afraid that I'm keeping my crackberry until:
 
1) They allow other providers
2) They open up the platform to application developers
3) I figure out a solution to the poor keyboard. Bluetooth stowaway?
4) GPS.
5) No camera-- I have a defense contractor as a customer.  Apparently there is a company that will remove it, for a fee.
 
And I'd prefer much more storage.
 
Although I will admit that multimedia email and web browsing seems to be much better on the iphone than the current blackberry versions of same.
 
I don't travel as much as I used to, but all in one devices are very attractive to road warriors (less stuff to pack around!).
 
Maybe all you grumpy old dudes (bah! in my day we had rotary phones, and we liked it!) should look at the Jitterbug.  
 
Bradley

[kmh364]

Toys are great, but $400-$600 for a glorified phone? 8GB is useless as an iPod for me...60-80GB isn't enough. Camera? Digital cameras are cheap, better than any phone, and easier to use than any phone. PDA/email/web? Don't need one, at least for personal use. If I need one for business, my company will have to get me a Blackberry or laptop or equivalent on THEIR dime, not mine. Not durable? AT least my Aluminum RAZR routinely survives drops and a 50mph slide from a motorcycle. $125/mo for service to use the thing? I have Cingular (nee' ATT Wireless) and it's only mrginally better than the much-cheaper T-Mobile service it replaced.  
 
Having said all that, I would like a 6th Gen. iPod with a bigger HDD, touch screen, brighter/wider/better screen, and longer battery life. Oh yeah, a real line out would be nice also (digital and/or analogue)...something that bypasses the crap-tastic cheapo headphone IC... it'd sound better on my Headroom Total Bithead headphone amp and Shure SE-530 IEM's. Let's see if Apple can do it!

[wideload]

I'm waiting for a cocbolo case and ebony lams to reinforce the fundamental reason I called the person in the first place... But please, all you Alembicians get an iPhone. My portfolio loves you!
Larry

[tom_z]

Gosh - Some of you folks sound a little bit like bass players on other sites talking about owning an Alembic - just substitute iPhone features for things like exotic woods, LEDs, custom electronics, etc.
 
Jorge - I hope you were able to get your phone to a repair facility of some kind.

[Bradley Young]

Larry,
 
Maybe you should look here.  They've already announced a mahogany cover for the iphone.
 
Tom, I'm with you-- this whole discussion smacks of Jaco only needed 4 strings.  Or, alternately, how could you spend that much money on a bass guitar?
 
I'm really happy that Apple released the iphone, since it will drive the industry, and I think we're really close to having my ideal all-in-one (email, decent keyboard, GPS, wifi, great web browser, bluetooth, big screen, oh, and did I mention reasonably sized?)
 
If they had figured out how to put a real keyboard (a slider would be great!) on the iphone, I think the deal would be done, as far as I'm concerned.

[bsee]

Brad, the number one feature has to be reliable.  That means functional software and a reasonably sturdy build.  
 
I do agree that I am happy for them to drive the industry, though.  That's a good point.  We went from two or three GPS manufacturers to half a dozen in the past year or so.  Hopefully that will continue to mainstream GPS with the rest of those functions.

[lbpesq]

Let me know when it can make a pizza. hehehehe
 
Bill, tgo

[wideload]

Make a pizza do what? Please, this is a family forum!!!

[Bradley Young]

Bob,
 
I would agree that reliability is of great concern.
 
From what I've seen, the iphone scores big points in the functionality department, and the UI is nice.
 
A three foot drop could kill just about any phone, but I'll admit that my blackberries have survived similar abuse (to concrete!) with nary a hiccup.  Although the $80 battery (with three days downtime) seems a bit steep every 3-400 charges.
 
If I got an iphone, I would want a clear (hard) plastic case-- this adds to the bulk somewhat, but offers a much greater level of protection.

[cozmik_cowboy]

I guess a keyboard on my phone would be nice, but I don't think they could fit a full 88 keys.
 
Peter