Entry 454, on 2007-01-11 at 16:24:05 (Rating 1, Computers)
What's the coolest gadget of the year? - I know the year's not very old yet, but this is likely to be the coolest in 12 months time as well. Its the iPhone, of course! Everyone has been commenting about this new gadget, and I think most of the opinions I've seen are fair: the phone itself is superb, although it has some deficiencies.
We all know what's good about the iPhone: beautiful design, compact size, great user interface, brilliant screen, multi-function flexibility, etc. But there are some problems and deficiencies, too.
For me the biggest technical problem is the fact that it isn't a third generation phone. My current Sony phone, which I have had for 6 months, is 3G, so changing to an iPhone would be a backward step from that perspective (although it would be a forward step from most others, even though this is one of Sony's best phones).
Bundling the phone with one provider is also a problem, I would have preferred more flexibility there, although it won't be an issue if or when we ever get the phone here in New Zealand. Another issue is the battery, which isn't user replaceable. On the other hand, neither is my iPod's officially, and I've already replaced that myself.
The final (and maybe biggest) problem is the delay before the device is available. About 6 months in the US, and about 1 year here. I want one now! Of course, there will be a new model by the time its available here, which might correct some of the criticism above. Maybe I'll just have to wait a year before I switch to a beautiful new iPhone!
Comment 1 (296) by SBFL on 2007-01-11 at 19:59:23:
You might want to wait until iPhone2 to iron out the ommisions and pitfalls. I think it also lacks WiFi sync with PC, and you can't buy iTunes songs on the device itself.
More bad news for Apple: Cisco to Apple Inc: iPhone is ours
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/01/10/cisco.iphone.reut/index.html
Comment 2 (297) by OJB on 2007-01-11 at 22:35:52:
There will always be deficiencies in any gadget, and there will always be a better model coming in the future. As I said, the phone won't be available here for many months anyway.
The fact that Cisco already owns the iPhone name has been known for a while now. Maybe Apple will change the name before the phone is actually released. They must have known this would happen. By the way, what do you mean by "more" bad news?
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