The Intrigue of the iPhone

This weekend I had the pleasure of checking out the Sex and the City movie.  Being a huge fan of the series it was just mandatory that I get gussied up in New York style and hustle myself to the local theater. 

The movie was fantastic!!  I enjoyed it so much and I'm sure thats what SATC fans were waiting for.  But this isn't much about the movie. 

I always have a knack for spotting phones in certain movies and tv shows.  In this movie which is all about fashion, NYC, love yada yada yada... I was intrigued to see that in the midst of it all (even past the Sprint cameos) was the iPhone, toted by my favorite character Samantha.

I won't give too much of the movie away, but there is a scene where Samantha hands her Apple gem to Carrie and her response was "I don't know to use that thing".  Could this be what turned me off about the device in the first place?

I've been accustomed to one operating system and UI for many years now.  It's not that I don't like change, I just don't like hype and hoopla... especially from people who are just reading what they see on the net and passing if off in conversation as if they know everything about the product. 

So what's been my take on the iPhone?  Basically in the past I've stated that eh, I hate it or eh, it's not all that... but I'm finding that the more I hear and see mention of it, the more intriguing it becomes.  So much that I'm actually interested in getting one.  OMG is that bad!!!!

Don't worry... I always try to be honest with my opinions on things.  But like I always say... you can't really judge something until you've seen how it works.  Maybe its for me, maybe it isn't.  I won't know until I check it out.

So in the midst of all of my Nokia commentary and news, I plan on introducing bits that are appealing to me about the iPhone.  Will it replace my admiration for Nokia?  I don't think so, but maybe views, opinions and comments can produce a device from somewhere that makes us all happy... wouldn't that be nice!!

image courtesy of Macenstein.com

Comments

[Tes]

I popped into the Apple store on Regent Street to see what the fuss was all about...I must admit, I love Safari and the way the menu looks and feels. Apart from that there was no compelling reason to abandon my N95. That, coupled with the lack of 3G and tactile input put me off. Then the price put the final nail in the coffin of that idea. They are now resolving the 3g issue and maybe GPS. I still don't like the input (tried to get to grips with it a second time while playing with an iPod Touch...no dice) and the fact Apple fans are getting all excited about 3rd party apps like Apple invented the concept is a little irksome.

One thing I should say for s60 fans to get prepared for...to be last on the developers list. Ive noticed this trend in the last few months...no matter the app, s60 is usually the last. It's either a Blackberry version, followed by a Win-Mo version or a Win-Mo version followed by a Blackberry one...now its iPhone web app, followed by either Win-Mo or Blackberry app. The BBC still hasn't gotten back to me why it felt my licence fee was best served providing video to a select few who had an iPhone or Nintendo Wii while MILLIONS owned an s60 phone of some description. It's all a popularity contest that has nothing to do with REAL popularity and everything to do with media generated hype.

[--]

The iPhone has the potential to be a great device, however I chose not to get one after going to play with one at my local O2 store because with just a few minutes playing with the keyboard I decided I could never use it...

Then a friend of mine upgraded to an iPhone and decided to sell his 8Gb iPod touch, I bought it for £80 a few months ago and now I can categorically say I'll be getting an iPhone as soon as it goes 3G.

The multi touch interface is brilliant and the battery life surprisingly good despite my heavy abuse of surfing via WiFi the battery can last a whole week without a charge if I use it to and from work for music and occasionally in the evenings.

The iPod Touch replaced my MacBook for sofa surfing, the laptop is now permanently on my desk and if I want to look something up while watching TV i just grab the iPod.
Obviously the phone will have a lower battery life, but as you can charge it by USB that is a non issue for me as if necessary I can charge it at work or any of my friends houses just by carrying a small cable.

I've been a Nokia user for nine years, and I didn't think I'd ever switch, but the iPod touch convinced me on Apple's interface and I can say with 95% certainty that my next mobile will be an iPhone.

[weave]

I have an N95 *and* an iphone. I love both devices. Each has its own advantages.

The mail app in the iphone beats the symbian mail app hands down. It loads messages very fast. My inbox often has thousands of emails in it. iphone will load 50 at a time (the latest). The mail app on my n95 crawls.

SMS is much better on the iphone. I quickly got used to the keyboard and find myself able to text and interact much easier on the iphone. I do almost all my texting from it now.

The browser is also easier to work with.

What it lacks is all the neat add-on packages you can throw at it like on my Nokia including voip and IM programs. That may change next month. Also, lack of MMS really sucks. The camera, of course, isn't as nice as the N95 and lack of video recording is also a drag. Also, inability to tether the iphone using other devices, like my Nokia 770 or my laptop, is also a drag.

One day maybe I'll find a single handset and service that makes me happy!

[James Burland]

I think you'll like the iPhone.

I have an N95 and an iPhone. I use the iPhone much more than the N95, the reasons are simply down to usage. I tend to use my phone much like my laptop. In order:

Music & audio books
Web browsing and feed reading
Texting
Video playback
Voice calling

... and for all these functions the iPhone is hard to beat.

The downside of using my iPhone more than my N95 is that I really need to take a dedicated video camera with me most of the time. The N95 is a true media capture powerhouse!

[zadosha]

The bottom line is that the iPhone has the potential to be just about everything to everybody. Maybe not in this iteration, but they are certainly on the right track.

I'm using the iphone exclusively right now, but I do miss S60. S60 feels like home! That said, for what I use a phone for, it's the best thing going. I'm not really a creator. I'm a consumer. It's not currently set up for creating content. I do think, however, that Apple will be looking to change that in the near future. Apple products are preferred by the creative folks out there, so it stands to reason that once they figure out how to make money at it, they will change the focus of the iphone. Or at least make multiple models.

Here's to hoping that when Nokia releases their touch series of phones that they are at least on par with Apple's devices.

[Mr. Gunn]

The mail app in the iphone beats the symbian mail app hands down. It loads messages very fast.
yeah, but what about attachments?

SMS is much better on the iphone.
Despite the lack of multi-recipient SMS? Really?

So, what we're all wanting to know, Darlin', is how much they're paying you.

[Andrew]

Also a long-time Nokia fan, I'm now being tempted by Apple's update to the iPhone next week. It'll be hard to resist a 3G iPhone, if it has GPS and forward-facing camera for video calling (an old feature which never took off, that Apple could really bring into the spotlight and do well on this device).

And since it'll be open to 3rd party apps going forward, those neat add-ons will not only be plentiful, but they'll be extra interesting given the updated specs, the sweet iPhone SDK, and the hordes of anxious developers looking to build innovative multi-touch apps.

I might actually have to buy a digital camera.... my Nokia/SE has always been my camera!

[Mr. Gunn]

Maybe your emails load faster, but what about attachments?
I just don't believe that bit about SMS being better. SMS on the iphone sucks, because they want everyone to use email. The keyboard doesn't give you any feedback, so you have to look at it to send a message, and it's not really any faster than T9, especially for symbols, which take like 5 keystrokes on the iphone. Not to mention that, but every tried to send a multi-recipient SMS on that thing?

And what's the point of having all that storage space if you have to "sync" with some program instead of just dragging and dropping from the desktop?

I personally think one of their agents finally got to Darla.

[radical24]

Yeah a purrfuct device would be nice, but then what would happen to continued invention, the ongoing competition to outdo other makers? When it first came out I really wanted to get an iPhone, the more I get to play with it and be around it, I am left with complete satisfaction of owning N95-3, N82 and N73 along with some other phones. For me iPhone is a toy, nice looking one but nonetheless a toy of sorts. I can't take it seriously since in a highly competitive market it has two things it does well in my opinion, first very cool touch screen that gets irritaing to use after a while and a great broswer. The 'lock down' on the device and the irritating dictatorship over who gets to do what and how is not my type of a thing. I result to s60 because it can provide a world of opportunity, endless configurations and constant challenge to making better more useful apps for users. To me that is evolution, this is s60. I know I probably sound like a nut, well I am a sort of a nut for nokia. I think you should play with it and let us know how you like it all that iPhone can do and all that it can't. If we are talking just about the fashion statement then there is no bigger then the iPhone. best, radical

[JonnyBruha]

I can't believe you haven't even had the chance to play with the iPhone yet. Definitely worth a spin.

Like several posters, I have both the N95-4 and a 16gb iPhone right now, trying to use the iPhone exclusively (failing). Call quality, volume, and reception are just as bad as my first iPhone, and as cool as the virtual keyboard is, it's not "learning me" as it's supposed to. Well, if it is, it's not doing it fast enough.

You're still correct. "It's not all that".

[Counsel]

I want a Nokia N9x (the N95 with the touch screen), but I have an iPhone. I upgraded because my Palm Treo 650 died (wish it hadn't).

I went first to an AT&T Tilt (HTC Tytn II). Video performance was dismal (even scrolling through options on the phone was slow).

Then to an iPhone. My thought is that the iPhone is great for what it does (phone, video, music, SMS, and e-mail--just not Yahoo IMAP since you can't tell it to just check the inbox). The iPhone is NOT a smartphone--rather, it is a thin client-phone (think network computer).

I work in areas without a GSM signal, and I have, in those areas without cellular coverage, a nice iPod. No onboard apps, no real easy way to retain on-board data.

If you want a non-smart phone that plays great video and music, has great SMS (no real MMS), good e-mail, and a good browser, the iPhone is a good option. If you want one device to be it, the iPhone will likely disappoint once the "newness" wears off.

Of course, that is just my two cents...

[Darla]

@Mr. Gunn

Darla has not been bought!!! If that were the case wouldn't you think that a free iphone would be part of the contract!!
I just want to be better informed and more objective on the devices that I'm not familiar with. That does not mean that I don't still bleed Nokia. :)

[Jim Kerr]

I also have both an N95 and an iPhone. My iPhone is hacked open so it has IM, video, and the other things we can expect in July. The iPhone email app is WAY better thm the N95 (although the seven.com addon is very nice for the N95). The browser is WAY better as well. So if you use your phone as an Internet device, there's really no comparison. The iPhone wins easily.

The biggest issue is the UI. The iPhone UI is easy to navigate and robust. The N95 one is a pain. My biggest pet peeve is the lack of a keyboard on the N95. I jus hate having to type a key four times to write a single letter.

I read a review that said the iPhone is for consuming media while the N95 is for producing it and that is a perfect summary--excluding text, of course. :)