I wasn't able to open the iPhone folder and copy and paste to my desktop either so I explored other solutions.
Once I plugged my iPhone into the computer it appeared in my computer.
I right clicked the iPhone icon and there it was the magical menu item that everyone seems to want. "Import Pictures" Now I am using MS Vista Home Premium and that may the the difference between others who cannot import. But this worked for me and there were options as to where to store what to name copy/move(delete from device) etc. So Hopefully if you have photos/videos on your iPhone you can use this method.
Originally Posted by superman21
See my post above. There is no way to sync your photos from the phone to your computer like you do through iTunes. Your computer automatically detects the phone as a camera and lets you simply copy/cut-paste them right off the phone.