Letters to the Editor
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Two words
Wee ner
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Missing the poing
As a phone, it's "middling". Uh, isn't it called the iPhone for a reason?
By definition, if it sucks as a phone, it sucks. Period.
I'm looking for a phone that has real buttons, a readable display, and reliable service. The Jitterbug is very close, and if they improve their service plans, I'll be on it like green on grass.
In the meantime, I have to make do with a phone that has a display I can't read, a menu I can't easily navigate, and a host of features I don't want in a telephone.
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So the net stinks... So what?
It isn't perfect.
You don't have to go to Fifth Avenue, singing (and dancing) to the words "I want an iPhone" (Pogue of the NY Times did, to the tune of "My Way," and it's funny).
But if you want to spend three days making a video to the words, "I'm gonna tell you nerds about the iPhone / I had to get a loan!" (to the tune of "Wash that Man Right Outa my Hair"), it'll sure be a bit on You-Tube.
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If the iPhone changed your life...
then you must be a loser. Imagine being able to access your email ALL the time - then you can delete viagra and stock tips 24/7. Imagine accessing the web ALL the time - no more 411 calls - no more maps in the car - no more...
Such inconveniences!
How did people make it this far without such grand technology!
Farhad, this is your most embarrassing column by far...
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"more than $2000 total"
is not worth the $600 plus two years of AT&T service (that is, more than $2000 total)
Do you have to pay the $1400 for AT&T service up front? No. It's month-to-month, like other service plans.
Are other service plans free? No.
Apple's plans start at $60/month, which includes unlimited data. I'm paying T-Mobile $50/month for phone service with no data. Apple's plan sounds fine to me.
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Once Again Farhad Gets Away With The Lie
How much does a PocketPC cost?
Anyone?
Now how much does an iPhone cost?
So let's stop with the bull crap about it's a $600 cell phone!!!
Is it fair to dismiss my PocketPC as "just a cell phone?"
Seems the game Farhad is playing is to pretend that the iPhone is just a cell phone that also plays MP3's and is essentially no different that any other cell phone.
Farhad is no different than the Apple-ahters who claim:
"I got a pre-paid cell phone from Virgin for $30 bucks -- so paying $600 for Apple's cell phone is ridiculous!"
Ok -- now how much would you pay for a MOBILE COMPUTER?
Again how much are PocketPC's with features similar to (minus the breakthrough touch screen technology, of course) the iPhone?
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why do you bother writting letters about a column you don't even like?
wowee, if you guys find his column so boring/irrelevant/self-indulgent, why bother reading it?
and especially why bother posting your even more boring/irrelevant/self-indulgent letters about how you find it so boring/irrelevant/self-indulgent?
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Edge does suck and phone browsers suck too
If nothing else, a fairly normal web browser with something approaching browser speeds would be a godsend. For one thing a large number of sites have special low tech sub sites dedicated to to phone use today. Problem is they're rarely updated or even functioning. So if we just had 3G that ran at a rock solid 500KB or higher we could use the same websites as a computer. Keep in mind that in some countries Megabit speeds or higher is the norm for phones. OK unlocked GSM is fine but it runs a LOT slower than CDMA. And EVDO-rev. A is barely workable. Barely.
But the thing that pisses me off more than anything else is all the bullshit monthly add ons that phone companies want to charge. All of freebie web apps like AIM, Google maps and such are charged monthly by my carrier which is unacceptable. So a phone which is really a computer that can dump your desktop apps into would be great.
But iPhone can't fix what's wrong with phones. No phone can. It's the godawful carriers who should all DIAF that are the problem.
BTW - has anyone seen that phone that can piggyback on a WiFi hotspot? I would LOVE something like that if the bandwidth works.
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Why Does Everyone Hat Farhad?
I'm agnostic towards the man. A good amount of the time I don't agree with him, but he hardly rankles me. Like him though, I'm staying away from the iPhone til the next generation. $600 is alot to spend, and I for one rather wait til the product is a little more mature.
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The iPhone isn't close to being first...
When I see supposed tech journalists writing stuff like, "One day we'll all have iPhones, or things that aim to do what this first one does, and your life will be better for it," I just cringe. The iPhone isn't first. I've used a Treo 700p for over a year that has a touch screen, a web browser, email and more while running on Sprint's EVDO (3G) network. For 2.5 years before that, I used a Treo 600. Throw in the more recent Blackberries, Windows Mobile devices and other smarthphones, and there have been millions of uses walking around with the internet in their pocket for years.
The iPhone has captured the public imagination, and it is a phenomenal device. But really, me & many of my friends consider surfing the web in the grocery store, checking movie showtimes and searching for nearby businesses to be old hat. iPhone is not first, and to act as if it is is to do a disservice to your readers, many of whom may not know better. But you should know better.
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WTF?
I resisted buying an iPhone, not because I didn't think I would like having one, but because I didn't want to deal with the usual Ver 1.0 bugs. But the people I know that did buy one absolutely love them, so I now have one on order. Then I saw Mr. Manjoo's headline, "Why I returned my iPhone", and thought perhaps I should see if his reasoning might influence me to cancel the order and wait for a next generation iPhone as I originally planned. I hesitated to even read his article as I had given up on his column as most of his writing strikes me as more romance novel material than tech based, but I read it anyway. I won't make that mistake again, all the man has to say is ridiculous touchy-feely stuff with no substantive technical reasons given for his returning the phone. In fact he admits he never intended to keep it. What a fraud.
I still appreciate Salon but I do find myself only reading two or three articles anymore. Back in the dark days when Bush's popularity was soaring, Salon was one of the very few places one could find anything of real substance and fearlessness. I suppose the crap columns are what pays the bills so the real writers and investigative journalists on Salon can get paid.