A note of interest to committed readers to All About iPhone: I didn’t actually own a Mac until about four months ago. Not that owning a Mac is a prerequisite to owning an iPhone, but the two do go rather well together.
The thing I wanted to talk about here though was my enormous appreciation of Apple’s hardware. Until one owns a Mac or Macbook or iMac or iPhone, you can’t really understand the apparent fanaticism of Apple fans. Yet, once bought – at roughly twice the price of the equivalent spec PC (in the Mac’s case), the difference is obvious. It was like scales falling from my eyes when I handled my first (loaner) Macbook last spring. And then bought my own Mac Mini. And iPod Touch. Apple’s hardware is (more or less) uniformly excellent. With a capital ‘E’.
Mac Mini
Not that their software is shoddy. Oh no, Mac OS X is quite an achievement. As is iPhone OS ( a cut down OS X) in its own quirky little way. But, during compilation of my last Phones Show, it became apparent that, in my eyes at least, there’s something of a disconnect between the flagship excellence of Apple’s hardware and the flagship-wannabe patchiness of their software. But before branding me as a ‘heretic’, read on…
You see, I had two spots planned for The Phones Show 74. One was my six-monthly ‘Top 5 phones in the world’ feature. The iPhone has been in the top 5 since I started the feature. So, obviously, I rate it very highly (although not number 1 ever, it seems – shock, horror!).
Yet my other spot was ’10 things I hate about’ and it was the iPhone’s turn to be vented at. And, surprisingly, I found it really, really easy to find my ten things. In fact, I had to cut down the list from about 15 to fit the narrative. Here’s an edited-down version of my on-video list, for your interest (watch the show to see the more animated, verbose version!):
- No multitasking. Having most apps close down every single time you want to do something else makes for a slow and cumbersome experience overall
- Basic, non-focussing, non-flash camera
- No video recording in the camera. Did I mention the camera was basic?
- No Flash content is shown in the browser
- Poor battery life, and you can’t swap in another battery
- No Copy and paste. I had copy and paste on my Psion and Palm PDAs in the mid 1990s, for goodness sake
- Email doesn’t seem to be proper IMAP. When forwarding an email with an attachment, the iPhone downloads it. And then sends it out again
- No multimedia messages. And you can’t email photos at original size either, everything is automatically and silently resampled down to VGA
- You can’t forward text messages
- There’s no file system. So no local Office applications. No saving of attachments. No downloading files. Etc.
The interesting thing though is that, bar the camera specs (arguably just number 2 above) and possibly the battery life, almost all the above gripes can be fixed in software. So, although I hear all the iPhone fans around the world chanting about great the iPhone is and although I agree with almost all their reasons, it doesn’t mean that I’m blind to the bits that are Missing In Action.
Apple iPhone hardware
When Steve Jobs announced the iPhone and famously referred to it as ’5 years ahead of any other phone’, what he actually meant was ’5 years ahead of any other phone when we’ve finished writing all the bits you’ll need, but it might take a while….’ The danger is that the iPhone’s arguably substantial lead over the competition in terms of interface and simplicity and App Store is being gradually eroded as time goes by (multi-touch, capacitive screens, redesigned UIs, software markets, and so on)…
So yes, the iPhone’s hardware, like all things Apple, is designed and built to a high standard. And of course we all love the iPhone’s software. As far as it goes. It just doesn’t go far enough yet. I can see the enormous potential of what Apple has created and yet I find myself frustrated. I shouldn’t have been able to find so many thing that I ‘hated’ about it so easily. Not at this stage, motoring into 2009.
iPhone software. Love it. Hate it. [mmmmmmpphhhhh]
PS. In case you think I’m picking on Apple, bear in mind that I regularly take all the other manufacturers and their phones to task in The Phones Show. I almost invented a new spot, ’100 things I hate about…’ for some of the recent Windows Mobile-based offerings!
Eek, I’m commenting on my own post. Urk. Just wanted to mention that fellow Apple fans Boy Genius Report have also done a ’10 things to hate about the iPhone’ feature, also worth a read. Some overlap, but plenty of other new gripes
It’s at http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/01/20/the-top-10-things-we-hate-about-the-iphone/
Steve, you got to put up a show all about things Apple should do about the iPhone. Then ask in the end 2 things of the fans.
1.Forward it to any iPhone owner they know
2. Post it as feedback in the Apple iPhone feedback page.
Make sure all have chosen the same subject and same categories. If several thousand people giving the same feedback about the iphone is now a wake up call for apple I don’t know what it.
Here is another idea. If you make that video, find someone to package it as an iPhone APP and put it up on the Store. In the description ask people to download it, watch it, delete it and rate it 5 stars every time they thing about one of the features it proposes to Apple to include. I imagine it will be number one in No Time. Embarrassed, Apple will have to issue an update so people can stop watching that app.
Sound like I have been thinking about that too. You becha!
I just think about the hate/love you emit at your iPhone every day, and I though to give you an friend’s advice
thank god for jailbreak
He doesn’t have an iPhone, he has an iTouch. I think from now on you should make your articles about that device, kind of ironic moaning about text messages and camera when you don’t even have the hardware to use them
Iain: I have access to iPhones as well. I’m just saying that I choose to use the Touch day to day because for phone and camera use my N95 8GB is superior. Take away those two functions from iPhone use and you’re left with a Touch – so I saved myself a truck load of money and went with the cheaper option.
Within the All About iPhone team we have numerous iPhones as well, and Matt only lives down the road from me, so it’s not as if I’m making stuff up from hearsay. Please give me *some* credit.
Despite all of its flaws – the list is endless – I STILL can’t find a phone I prefer to the iPhone. As of today (25th) I’m due an upgrade on my T-Mobile account. My last upgrade was a Nokia N95 a whole year-and-a-half ago (how time flies!) and spec wise the N95 still holds up today, and I still love it….so what can I get?
People lament the iPhone’s camera, but do you know it REALLY isn’t that bad, much better in fact than the cameras on HTC devices like the T-Mobile G1 and the Touch HD DESPITE the fact that these devices are higher megapixel and autofocus. Slate me if you will but I believe that the camera on the iPhone is great for snapping and uploading photos to the numerous social networking applications available to the iPhone – nothing to large, looks fine on a computer screen. If for any reason I need great quality snaps or I’m at an important social event then I’ll take my N95 or my digicam.
As it stands my choices for upgrade are….
A Blackberry Curve
Another G1
A Touch HD
An N96
I know all but the Blackberrys very well as I’m a seasoned Symbian and Windows Mobile user and forum contributer, but the problem is this:
All of these phones LACK features I want, and much as the iPhone is deficient in many ways so are other phones on the market….
I want Beejive (which keeps me logged into msn all day and uses NO battery when I’m not actually viewing the app)
Facebook app with Facebook Chat
Applications easily browsable and downloadable on the phone itself
A comprehensive selection of photo editing apps that take advantage of multitouch
Text messaging that is easy, enjoyable and FAST
Podcasts downloadable over the air
A fully featured, user friendly mp3 player and 3.5mm stereo jack
BBC iplayer and YouTube player/downloader
Fast, friendly and fun browser
I’m sure there are other features I use, but on the spur of the moment these are the things that come to mind as my favourite iPhone features. All of them are lacking in some form or other on the handsets on offer to me.
And on a further note, for those not familiar with jailbreaking – this is essential for me as a T-Mobile customer, and offers me FULL mms, cut and paste (with either hclipboard or Clippy), video recording, SMS forwarding (with either MYsms or irealsms) and (soon) full Bluetooth capability (via SweetTooth).
Once you take jailbreaking into the equation a large chunk of the iPhone’s failing are overcome.
indeed…an is agree about the camera, with decent light it can make good photos, it’s far from being an awfull camera, I personaly don’t mind it being only 2mp, but I do miss the great autofocus, macro lens and led flash from my old p1i
jailbreak is eliminating all the other limitations, but there is other thing I miss that can’t be solved that way: video call camera
Good point about jailbroken iPhone being less limited, but I’m staying on the right side of Apple’s ‘law’ here (unlike Matt!!). The vast majority of iPhones out there have firmware ‘as Apple intended’ and my article was aimed for them and at Apple, of course!
I’m not sure I ENTIRELY agree with this…
If you consider Cydia (the jailbroken App Store alternative) to be software patched onto Apple’s OS then jailbreaking is no different to patching and modding The Windows mobile OS to improve its functionality.
How many people use Windows Mobile or Symbian devices without adding at least SOME kind of software to make the OS more enjoyable/functional?
I’ve just counted off the top of my head and of the five men and three women I know with iPhones (in the age range 18-25) ALL have jailbroken devices. Four of the people in question are O2 contract customers (one of them only jailbroke last week because she wanted the Hello Kitty theme).
If could be that my friends are all mavericks, but they seem quite typical to me. I’m not aware of many numbers or percentages; one I DO know however is that before Christmas the Cydia application DTunes (an iTunes alternative) hit the ONE MILLION DOWNLOADS landmark. This is a good illustration that the number of iPhone jailbreakers is a lot bigger than Apple would like.
My personal iPhone experienced is not hampered by a lack of cut n paste, mms or video recording. I’m not too bothered by lack of Flash Video playback in the browser, I don’t really need Bluetooth and I think the camera is ok. If other people choose not to jailbreak their iPhones then this is their choice, but the option IS there, it’s very easy to do, and it’s simple to undo in the event of a warranty return.
If the next iPhone has an auto-focusing lens, video capture comparable to a decent Nokia and another 50% battery life my (geek) like would be complete!
Similar to Steve I carry the iPhone and N95 8GB, but in my case it’s the iPhone that takes to top spot.
What is still amazing to me is that every time I think about purchasing a Netbook, I find I my MacBook/iPhone combo is a way better solution than any Netbook. If fact just the iPhone on its own is more useful than 80% of the cheaper Netbooks.
I’ve just finished my Bachelor Thesis and it’s about the iPhone and the choices Apple has made concerning the interface. The iPhone consequently a) maximises the amount of content that’s shown, b) minimises administrative clutter and c) groups similar information in a horizontal structure. c) is very important here. There’s no file system because with limited screen space, a user is better off when he can view information in a horizontal plane, instead of tunneling like he’d do on a computer.
The iPhone is not a personal computer, so don’t treat it as one. Windows Mobile and Symbian stick to the computer paradigm (multi-tasking, hierarchal file structure, iPhone doesn’t.
I’m not saying the iPhone is perfect, but I like the fact that Apple has the guts to make a CHOICE. Microsoft always seems to add to what’s already there, so they add grab-and-drag but keep a scroll bar. Nokia screwed up in the 5800 by having you select-then-confirm, a paradigm that is a total misfit on a system that doesn’t work with a mouse or keyboard..
Apple chose a paradigm where you don’t use a folder structure. The change if they add it is much bigger than just adding a program, it’s changing the foundation of the device.
Also: Copy and paste. How would you implement it interface-wise?
My friend has sold her MacBook since, as a casual browser, she found herself using only her iPhone for browsing. For posting on sites like this the iPhone is gloriously user-friendly. The same kind of postings on a windows mobile device with Opera 9.5 – even with a hardware keyboard – are much less simple to complete. I know this from experience.
Apart from the great integration with my Mac and good email and browsing experience there are two other reasons why I wouldn’t, currently, consider any other phone. The first is there is a great genealogy app for iPhone (that syncs with MacFamilyTree on Mac). I’ve waited and waited for someone to do this for symbian or UIQ. The second (in restricted beta at the moment) is Papers (see Mac version) which is “your personal library of science”. I often go onto PubMed and search and download an abstract or full pdf of an article.
Verbal: Very interesting… but I disagree slightly. The iPhone IS a personal computer, perhaps even the most personal computer. However, as you pointed out, it should not be compared too vigourously to any current desktop computer.
Copy and Paste? I’d go for a temporal button, in others words, place your finger in the middle of the text, wait 2 seconds for the pop up menu to ask you if you want to copy the word, sentence or paragraph. Paste would be this process in reverse.