Aye
The next week is going to be iPhone daft. Friday 29th at 6pm geeks will go bonkers, the world will change and a new love affair with mobile technology will begin.
Do I want one? Oh yes.
But.
The iPhone is a convergence, a single device that does a lot of stuff. It brings your camera, iPod, phone, diary, etc, etc into one single unit.
I haven’t had a great experience with convergence devices. In theory my N80 covers all the bases. It plays music, diary, 3Mp camera. It’s not a bad phone at all but as soon as you start you use the additional features then you feel it’s all a little compromised. The camera’s not as good as my Canon, the data entry for my diary is a nightmare, playing music is hellish, the radio needs a dongle to work.
So I go back to carrying my objects. The iPod, my N80, my Canon are all used as the best of breed tools. I’ve never seen a convergence device that’s been even just acceptable on all levels. The balance between convenience of having every that I like to use in one gadget, being happy with the experience using one gadget and then getting results that I am happy with has been impossible for me to get with any convergence device.
Will the iPhone change that? It’ll be interested to see how people find the phone after the gloss and gleem of using a fancy pants touch screen was worn off a little. It looks great, it does beautiful visual effects. But is it a great camera, phone, music player, video device, PDA? Or will I be still be packing the best of kit to get good results?
I can’t wait to find out.
He/She who dies with the best toys win! *wink*
Well… those pros and cons you’ve listed i must say i agree with. Gadgets can be fun, but when quality suffers, fuggedabadit! Question is quality vs convenience. If this new iPhone is the shizit, meaning more than mediocre quality in all its included devices, than how totally exciting is that! Very, actually. I’m looking forward to hearing what people have to say about their experience with it, and if it is really all that and a bag of chips. I really DO need quality, and don’t find it so bad having separate devices to get the quality i want. Makes me appreciate them more. Yet convenience has it’s place too, and i confess, i’m a gadget geek. Again, quality vs convenience. We shall see…
All very valid points, to be sure. My current phone also has a camera (which I don’t use much, but try and get a phone without a camera these days) as well as internet capability, texting and MP3 player. I use the camera only to make wallpapers for my phone and I never use any of the other features because they are too inconvenient/complicated/unsatisfying to make me even bother. The iPhone’s greatest lure right now is the promise that you can have all these things in one handy package and not only will they be easy to use, but the look/sound/performance will be dazzling. Can Apple fulfill that promise on June 29th.? I don’t know, but I’m very interested to see how close they come to it.
As I don’t have the money to get one I’ll have to rely on what others have to say, so I’ll look forward to your review of the iPhone. The ads make it look fantastic - but then ads always do, that’s their purpose. I figure, if it does what they claim, as well as they claim, my son will get one and I can have an up close and personal look at his
I’d love to hear more about this from folks that get them…but I won’t be among them. Look to carrying all your gadgets, BMG…from what I hear, there will be an updated version around Christmas. Plus, first generation bugs, plus in the U.S. you have to lock into a 2 year contract with AT&T. Plus, it’s just cost-prohibitive. Me, I’ll stick with gadgets. That way, if one dies, I still have the others and won’t have to replace everything.
Well Stewart did you get your iPhone and if you did is it worth the hype they’ve thrown after it?
rb
the iPhone’s not been dated for release here yet. Rumor has it that an announcement will be made Monday…. We’ll see…
Sometimes you wince at the news.
Thinking of all y’all right now, you know…
Any word yet on the iPhone Stewart? I consider you very technologically savvy and would value your opinion if you’ve purchased one. Thanks.
rb