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January 10, 2007
The iPhone
Can we talk about the iPhone for a minute? It seems to be all the 'rage' or the 'buzz' or whatever and I must say the device is rather impressive. Multi-touch interface (remember?), the elegance of OSX, a more intuitive approach to calling & texting; it's all so appealing but, strangely, I don't really desire the device.
This is for a couple of reasons. The first, and most important reason, being that I don't need such a device. I'm never far from a computer, own an iPod that holds gobs of content and my crappy little cell phone works just fine. The only periods when my umbilical cord to the intertron is severed is when I am either driving or interacting with human beings.
I have to admit that I salivated over the rapid fire, minute by minute posts on Gizmodo during the announcement due to my fantasizing over the sheer possibilities the device afforded. Just this past New Years I got lost in the labyrinthine tangle of side streets in Quincy and could have taken full advantage of the Google Maps feature but, how often does that happen? Pressing my thumb on a friends forehead to call them? Definitely cool but, it's not like the up/down arrows and little green phone icon buttons on my current phone didn't already do the trick, albeit with a little less panache but, functional all the same.
Add these observations in with the lack of replaceable battery (solid state? Are you serious?) and Cingular exclusivity and the iPhone goes from being a 'must have' to a 'isn't that neat?' I still remember when the 1st Generation iPod came out (remember the click wheel?) and I thought, this thing is going to change the world, and it did but, not til after some much needed revisions. Spending $599 for 8 gigs of storage, 5 hour (non replaceable) battery life, no user-created widgets and a minimum 2-year contract with Cingular just isn't worth it. Give it 2 years and those things will be half as expensive, come in 4 different variations and will be available on every wireless provider.
Seacrest, out!
Posted by Jon at January 10, 2007 03:53 PM