The iphone is more fiction than reality - Page 5

hutchensgd · 07-14-2007, 09:17 AM

Yes indeed. Everybody I have shown mine to has been envious too.

Originally Posted by bigviking

If the way you compare one phone to the next is by coming up with a checklist of features, and comparing them, it's easy to convince yourself that many other phones are better than the iPhone.

But, this completely ignores the much more important fact that everything the iPhone does it does so well that it makes the other phones look like a joke. Web browsing, email reading, and basic phone features of the iPhone are all so much better than everything else out there that I don't mind the few things that it can't yet do. This is the first phone that I actually want to browse the web on, and read my email on. So although it doesn't have 3G, it's actually much better than my Nokia e61i that did (at least for me). The truth is that the Nokia felt very CPU limited, so even with 3G the rendering was very slow.

I have had spent time with several iPhone critics, and after a five minute demo every one of them has wanted to ditch their phone and buy an iPhone.

I am confident that I could be just as effective on most people that are holding off from buying it because they are waiting for something like 3G, builtin GPS, or exchange integration.

crane98 · 07-14-2007, 09:21 AM

It just depends on what you prefer, function or looks. On my old phone, it was much simpler to send texts, find contacts etc...but it doesn't look nearly as cool. On my old phone if I wanted to call a person named Paul, I'm there in a second after hitting 2 buttons.

One the iphone, I have to hit the home screen button, unlock it, hit the phone button, hit contacts, then scroll through and find him. It's a lot more work.

justahsquirrel · 07-14-2007, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by crane98

It just depends on what you prefer, function or looks. On my old phone, it was much simpler to send texts, find contacts etc...but it doesn't look nearly as cool. On my old phone if I wanted to call a person named Paul, I'm there in a second after hitting 2 buttons.

One the iphone, I have to hit the home screen button, unlock it, hit the phone button, hit contacts, then scroll through and find him. It's a lot more work.

I have to make it my mission and come out and yell b***h. WTF? I have never seen a phone come under so much fire. I dont see other phone with this much coverage. People get a life and for those of you who have an iPhone enjoy

hutchensgd · 07-14-2007, 10:27 AM

In some ways Apple can only blame themselves for all of the criticism. They clearly overhyped it. Now I love mine, but it is clear that there was way more hype for this phone than any other either. Right?

Originally Posted by justahsquirrel

I have to make it my mission and come out and yell *****. WTF damn. I have never seen a phone come under so much fire. I dont see other phone with this much coverage. People get a life and for those of you who have an iPhone enjoy

joe · 07-14-2007, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by hutchensgd

In some ways Apple can only blame themselves for all of the criticism. They clearly overhyped it. Now I love mine, but it is clear that there was way more hype for this phone than any other either. Right?

I don't think so. It is an amazing product that only existed in our dreams before Apple produced it. What was hyped that wasn't true, inaccurate, or overblown? I think some people got especially excited about the pending product and had a slight letdown when they got it, but that's pretty typical when you get too excited about something. It's bound to let you down in some way.

cdodkin · 07-14-2007, 12:17 PM

The interesting thing about this post for me, is that it fits a pattern of deliberate attempts to negatively influence iPhone adopters, by posting the same 'issues' repeatedly, on multiple iPhone forums.

This can be categorized as 'AstroTurfing' - and is a guerilla marketing strategy being deployed to discredit people and products.

Astroturfing is a term for formal PR campaigns in politics and advertising that seek to create the impression of being spontaneous, grassroots behavior. Hence the reference to AstroTurf (artificial grass) is a metaphor to indicate fake grassroots support.

The goal of such a campaign is to disguise the agenda of a client as an independent public reaction to some political entity—a politician, political group, product, service or event.

Astroturfers attempt to orchestrate the actions of apparently diverse and geographically distributed individuals, by both overt ("outreach," "awareness," etc.) and covert (disinformation) means.

Astroturfing may be undertaken by anything from an individual pushing their own personal agenda through to highly organized professional groups with financial backing from large corporations, non-profits, or activist organizations.

I'd like everyone to be aware that such efforts are, it would appear, underway in reference to the iPhone.

And that we should all be cautious when attributing any value or credibility to posts of this nature.

Kabeyun · 07-14-2007, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by hutchensgd

In some ways Apple can only blame themselves for all of the criticism. They clearly overhyped it. Now I love mine, but it is clear that there was way more hype for this phone than any other either. Right?

I think I disagree. They set a goal of 10 million units sold in the first 18 months. Fall short, and they'll be criticized that they didn't hype it enough.

The iPhone is revolutionary for what it can become on the platform they've presented, not necessarily for what it is now (imo).

-K

bigviking · 07-14-2007, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by Kabeyun

I think I disagree. They set a goal of 10 million units sold in the first 18 months. Fall short, and they'll be criticized that they didn't hype it enough.

The iPhone is revolutionary for what it can become on the platform they've presented, not necessarily for what it is now (imo).

-K

I think it's revolutionary right now. The web browsing and mail reading make every other phone look sick. True, it will only get better over time but that shouldn't tarnish its image right now in any way.

el31415 · 07-18-2007, 08:01 PM

" is more fiction than reality .."

I totally agree with you
If it was not a gift it will have been back to the store within the 1st week
for all the reason you listed and also it's not worth the premium pricing

$ 640.00 for a F@ckin phone + ipod

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~ May Peace be Upon You ~
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jimwarden · 07-18-2007, 08:35 PM

It is a phone, ipod, and internet device. That is what I saw Steve Jobs talk about, and that is what I wanted and got with my iPhone.

POINT - 1. It does not have the basic "cut and paste" that most PDAs have. The iphone is actually a regression in that respect. (Mantra, This is not a computer)
COUNTERPOINT - I would love for it to have cut and paste, but I never heard anyone say that it would have it, so not fiction to me.

POINT - 2. It will not do streaming video. Mantra; It is not a computer
COUNTERPOINT - I didn't hear anyone say in advance that it would do streaming video. I don't really need it to play anything that I can't get from iTunes.

POINT - 3. The iPod features will not play back through any bluetooth features, nor will it play back through your car stereo using the normal "monster cable" to select an fm station. Mantra; It is not a computer
COUNTERPOINT - I believe you make a point that the bluetooth should have been at least as robust as most cellphones on the market today, and iPod should have been backward compatible with FM transmitters already purchased by Apple iPod owners.

POINT - 4. No arrow keys to maneuver your way on text. All that is offered is a backwards moving delete key, or you can try stabbing the iphone screen in order to reposition the cursor. Mantra; It is not a computer
COUNTERPOINT - There is a limit to how robust the text editor can be on the iPhone, but let's hope additional functionality will be added either through Apple or a third party app.

POINT - 5. Blue tooth head set use to work both ways with my Treo 650, with the iphone, it only works with out going calls not incoming. I have the Plantronics 510. Mantra; It is not a computer.
COUNTERPOINT - Covered in COUNTERPOINT 3 above.

POINT - 6. The iphone is mostly a slave unit of the laptop computer. Most of the syncing is one way with the real work being done at the computer end, not at the iphone end. Example, one can not create a group in the iphone address book (contacts), it has to be done at the computer end. Mantra; It is not a computer.
COUNTERPOINT - I think this was by design to save iPhone resources (battery life), and to keep it tied to iTunes for obvious marketing reasons.

POINT - 7. There is no sync with the home computer of the iphone widget notes. No, it does not sync with sticky notes. It sort of hangs out there in "Job's Limbo land." Mantra; It is not a computer
COUNTERPOINT - I speculate that they wanted to keep this first iPhone as simple as possible, to be sure that the apps it had worked well. Maybe because they had a limited amount of time and human resources to work with with Leopard still in the works.

POINT - 8. The iphone will not stand up to a normal daily usage without having to recharge its batteries at least once during the day. At the rate of power usage it consumes, the battery will not last long, in-spite of the Apple's mantra of it lasting longer than anything on the market. It is interesting to note that when the iphone was released, Apple also released a formal statement where they would charge you $75.00 to replace the iphone battery, and rent you an iphone for $29.00. Talk about lack of confidence in your own product. How much of a no brainer would it have been to put a door on the back of your iphone and have the user change their own battery. Mantra; It is not a computer. (Was Job's serious that he has 250 patents on this device.)
COUNTERPOINT - OK, I agree that battery life is a real issue, and I would also love for Apple to break from their policy of no access to batteries.

Surely we can air our feelings about the iPhone without attacking the poster. It would be nice though if the poster could state whether they actually owned an iPhone or not.