Amongst a lot of hype, the iPhone was launched yesterday at Macworld. Since this product has probably been the most followed, analysed and discussed in the history of consumer devices, the hype was very understandable. At first the iPhone definitely looked to be a revolutionary device, however, on a deeper analysis, the iPhone definitely seemed lacklustre to me. How ? Read on...
1) Lack of 3G. If the iPhone is launched in June 2007, the lack of 3G definitely makes it outdated right at its launch, and not "5 years ahead of its time" as mentioned by His Steveness. Afterall, even the cheapest Windows based smartphone has GPRS and EDGE.
2) No user replaceable bateries. What do you do after listening to a few hours of music and watching a few videos on a plane ? Your iPhone batteries would be dead and you would be bound to the nearest wall charger as soon as the plane reaches the terminal. What happens if the battery dies prematurely ? You cannot go to the nearest Apple Store and buy a replacement battery. I do not understand how a smartphone cannot have a user-replaceable batteries.
3) No third party software. A smartphone is more of a platform for developers so that its processing power can be utilised to the fullest with the add-on software. If Apple sticks to this specification even after the launch, the iPhone would definitely be very limited in its capabilities.
4) The exorbitant price ! The device costs $599 USD PLUS a 2 year contract from Cingular. How much does that cost you ? Math 101 anyone ? Also, how are the rest of the users on different networks supposed to get hold of the iPhone ? How about Canadian users ?
Mind you, the iPhone definitely sets a very high standard of Industrial design and superb engineering, but it does not justify its pricepoint as compared to its featureset. There are more industry analysts like Scoble and Paul Kedrosky talking about the iPhone on similar lines and it would be interesting to hear something from the Mac fanboys.