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3) you are banned, permanently.
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I had a chance to check out the iphone in person at the 2007 macworld presentation. While it has become a media sensation, the iphone is lacking in several key areas. Here is my list of 10 reasons why I won’t be buying apple’s iphone, at least in its current iteration.
1) It's too big.
It looks at least 3x as thick as my Razr. Even the video ipod is too large for my tastes, I use an 8gig nano. Apple is clearly years behind with cell phone trends. Thin is in!
2) It looks slippery.
A cell phone needs to be able to survive the rigors of everyday life! How many people will drop this shiny monstrosity? The ipods are notoriously slippery due to their glossy surface, and I do not see how this can possibly be pulled off safely with a phone. Phones are handled much more often than ipods, and apple’s touch screen means that carrying cases are not going to be able to completely incase the device. I predict a lot of returns several days after the phone’s release, due to drop-related damage.
3) They can track your every move.
The iphone's integrated GPS can be used to track your every move! Did you see the example of using Google maps in the demonstration video where the phone can pinpoint your location on a map? Clearly the iphone is transmitting location data to a central server which can be used to store and track your movements. Who wants to pay 500$ for a device that makes big brother's job even easier!
4) 5 hour battery life.
This is fine for a laptop, but for a phone it's pathetic. Most cell phones can last a couple of days without being recharged.
5) The stupid touch screen.
Touch screens are 1980's tech. There are already phones available which can accept voice input. Voice recombination input is far more intuitive than complicated finger-movement yoga.
6) OS X ON A PHONE???
Honestly, a phone is used to call people most of the time. Having a full fledged UNIX operating system is overkill to the nth degree. Honestly, would anyone want windows xp on a cell phone? Or Red Hat gnu-linux? Or SCO UNIXWARE? This is totally unnecessary. The inclusion of OS X also means that there is the added cost of having a full OS X license included in the cost of the phone (which is 129$ for a single use license). Granted, many people will still buy into it, probably the same crowd who think a 5 hour battery life on a phone is acceptable.
7) Can't upgrade it.
Nearly all new phones out these days can accept secure digital cards, but the apple phone can't. This is similar to the situation with apple's computers: none of them have card readers. Personally, I find card support to be essential on any system. Some claim the iphone is a PDA, not a phone, but nearly all windows based pda's can be upgraded with compact flash cards.
8) Cingular only.
This makes as much sense as selling computers that can only access the internet through AOL, Give me a break!
9) No external application support.
While the iphone is running an operating system which consumes over 500mb of flash memory storage, it apparently does not support third-party applications. This means that every windows based PDA in the last 5 years is a better option for those who want a full fledged portable computer.
10) Too expensive!
499$ for the 4 gig model, 599$ for the 8 gig model. WITH A 2 YEAR CIGULAR CONTRACT! Keep in mind that 8 gigs is a pathetic amount of space for a device which is supposed to support video playback. A 2 year contract is a HUGE commitment. Apple has tied their own noose with this one.
Overall, Apple's iphone seems to be both a monstrously bloated phone, and an extremely crippled PDA. This appears to be more of a technology demonstration / gimmick, similar to the 20th anniversary Mac or the g4 cube. It's pretty to look at, but barely functional. However, there is no doubt that it will be popular with the polo-wearing rich kids and early-adopters that have been sucked into Steve Jobs' reality distortion matrix. I won’t be one of them.
Professional Journalist
