My (demo) iPhone - Final Update

The fun is coming to an end; two free weeks with my demo iPhone are nearly over. Long story short, this will be the final update.


iPhone | Pro

The Package: Nice controls, the minimalistic approach to design, an Apple standard, really shines on the iPhone. Buttons are well placed and obvious in their intent. I really like the vibrate / ring switch - reminiscent of Treo - it sure makes it quick to ensure your phone is set to "stun" for meetings & movies. The external speaker works surprisingly well for phone calls or playing your fav music.

User Interface: Amazing! Apple has done this right from the start. The multi-touch interface works darn near flawlessly, is highly accurate and is just plain fun to use. The iPhone UI makes for a very intuitive experience.

Applications: seem tightly integrated and well thought out. Word & Excel files really pop. The wide selection of 3rd party apps is really a great bonus, although you need to watch out as some of the stuff (especially the free stuff) I got from the app library was a bit flakey (guess that's a con, oh well)

Web: it may be Safari, but it's the best web experience I've ever had on a phone / PDA

Large Screen: bright & beautiful with the ability to see lots of icons

Accelerometer: an amazing piece of technology, on the fly re-orientation of applications and the ability to do a host of amazing things (like cool game play)

WIFI: every PDA should have WIFI

MS Exchange: For business people, this is where the iPhone really stands out. With the touch interface it really made reading mail on the phone fun, loved the way you delete a message by dragging you finger through an email - akin crossing the email off a list. Tight integration for reading / viewing docs - like word / excel / powerpoint.

I could keep going, but I think that covers the key items on my "pro" list


iPhone | Con

No Copy / Paste: while I don't use this feature often, it's still a huge convenience. I'm really surprised Apple didn't add this from the get go.

iTunes: having to tether a PDA phone is really a pain, especially if you're on the road. Also found that free apps require you to enter you Apple ID, what gives? They're free!

No Remote Management: again, this only plays in the corporate world, but unless I missed something (always possible) without the ability to update / fix / kill a phone remotely this is a problem for corporate IT departments.

No Lock Down / Security Levels: users can install / uninstall apps at will - again, this one only plays to the corporate world, but it's an issue.

Lack of 3G Coverage: not an Apple issue, an AT&T issue. Seems that AT&T just doesn't have the 3G coverage of say - Verizon.

Network: again, this is an AT&T issue, but it does affect the iPhone. I got more bars in more places with my Verizon phone than I did with the iPhone.

Battery Life / No Way to Change the Battery: I understand that the 2.1 update will help battery life, believe me, it's needed as I was unable to make it through the day without needing to recharge. You can manage your battery life by turning off WIFI and 3G.

No Turn-by-Turn GPS: seems like the GPS services have gotten better, but they're still behind the GPS offerings from other carriers.

I'm sure there are more pros / cons to add to this list, but that about covers it for my 2 week demo experience with the iPhone. Most of this stuff is identical to every other iPhone review you can find on the 'net. The only difference is that it's coming from an independent user seeking enlightenment on using the iPhone in the Corporate world.

My honest opinion on the iPhone: wait one more generation, especially if you're a corporate user or are thinking of deploying the iPhone in a corporate environment. There's stuff that needs to be addressed, but I don't doubt it'll be a much better phone in its next life.

If you're in to gadgets - go for it - you'll love the iPhone.

This has been fun and I thank AT&T for the demo iPhone.