Is the new Apple iPhone all it’s cracked up to be?
Posted by Ellee on Jan 11, 2007 in updates | 14 comments
I thought how slick and beautiful the new Apple iPhone looked. But it seems all that glistens is not gold. Robert Scoble, Microsoft’s former top blogger has given it the thumbs down, and there are 123 comments to scroll through and help me make my mind up about whether I should buy one when it becomes available at the end of the year. Do you think it is all it is hyped up to be? Are you tempted to buy one?
However, the Apple TV does seem to be a hit.
iPods have a 62% market share amongst MP3 players – not for nothing. I’d love to have one and I know many more who’d like to have one (at least). Another winner from Apple.
John, Robert’s post makes it clear he is not very impressed with the iPhone. He says “the thing is not as good as it seems”. I scrolled down all 175 comments and found one from him that said he was going to buy it, but only because he is a gadget freek.
“Oh, I’ll buy one too. Why? Because I am a gadget freak and want to be the first one on the block to have one.”
It’s not a great endorsement, is it?
Btw, my sons have iPods and love them, no problem, but I was curious to know what people felt about the phone.
My family owns six iPods, only one of which has ever had a problem. That was a white shuffle that died a couple of months ago and then was revived when Apple issued a utility to fix it.
I even have an original iPod that doesn’t hold much of a charge anymore (but still some!) that I now use as an external hard drive.
If you’re going to claim that “iPods fail all the time”, you’re going to have to provide some statistics that show they fail more often than other products in the same category, otherwise it’s just blather.
Also, Ellee, despite posting that list of things wrong with the iPhone, Scoble has said that he’s going to buy one anyway. I don’t know that he would agree that he has give it a “thumbs down.”
I love the Apple designs too, they are so stylish. Tom, TVs is the next big thing for Apple, which has not aroused the same furore.
The whole point about the iPhone is that you won’t have to upgrade your phone every year. It will update itself. I can’t agree about the impracticality of Apple products. Ivens is a design genius. I wish they made other stuff too. Phones are a start – next cars?
I am looking to upgrade to a Blackberry. I use a Nokia phone for work purpose at the moment. But being on the road now need more “communication” i.e. internet, word etc etc
I replace my phone every 12months. My experience with these communication/entertainment products, that have a lot of “bells and whistles”, is that they are not that robust. I can be in a mine, or forest, or away camping and they can be fragile.
So, I am spending quite a bit of time researching what will suit me. The last one that was like the apple.. failed me within 4 weeks…. leaving me stranded on a street in Paris ( all my friends details and numbers and addresses were in it)…. it was never right and even the manufacturer admitted I had a dud…
I won’t buy it. It doesn’t suit me. No 3G, closed platform, too big, not rugged, expensive and no keyboard.
I don’t think it’s revolutionary, but I do feel there’s a market for this. Just because it doesn’t have 3G doesn’t rule it out. The music things are nice, and the photo browsing things too.
I have an ipod – it’s three years old and still going strong, with no problems at all. The battery still even has a good 5 hours of charge left on it!
I’m with cityunslicker on this one – if anything, I prefer to keep my music separate from my phone.
Besides, I always have my phone undated every two years – so, even if I did get one now, it would be obsolete within a year, or broken.
As with Stuart. Apple tend to make impractical works of art. Ipods break the whole time and I know nobody who owns after more than a couple of years that still works.
No doubt Nokia will have a superior copy out in no time.
Not tempted at all. Given all the problems with iPod reliability and build-quality there is no way I would risk something as important as my mobile. An MP3 player you can live with out if it breaks. A phone and you’re screwed. The touch screen is so ripe for things to go wrong.
I’d love one! If I didn’t already have an ipaq, I’d be the first in the queue.
Yes, from the slick looks I’m tempted to buy this one. But we will come to know about it’s true value once it’s out in the market.
My main problem with this phone is the touchscreen. Very impractical for a phone that doubles as a video.
I also hear that the battery cannot be swapped, which is not very practical if you are a heavy user and out on the road for a long period.
But I’m willing to give it a try. I won’t be rushing out to buy when it makes it over here. I will wait until someone has used it and given a thorough review, and then I will decide.