Microsoft-Watch's Take on the iPhone

It's interesting how people say they never liked their cellphone... until they got an iPhone. It's exactly the same for people who never liked their computer until they got a Mac.

i, too, never really liked my cell phone until i got my iphone. the biggest draw for me is syncing with my mac and having the internet in my pocket. if the iPod features weren't there, I'd still buy it (though for not as much).

Wish I had one.

Reading everybody's joy with their iPhone is a burn. I travel 70% of the time to Europe and Asia and I have three other SIM cards that I use in addition to my AT&T card that I use in the U.S.. The iPhone is useless to me unless I can use my other SIM cards and it bugs me that every other phone can be unlocked except this one. This is the one thing Apple has done wrong with the iPhone. I am sure there are many others like me who need to use different SIM cards.

I have a Samsung UpStage, and it's the first cell phone I've liked. Of course, it's only my second cell phone. But it's verrrry thin (thinner than the iPhone), it's got a nice big screen on one side, and it's insanely light. I don't need a $600 iPhone when I can get something lighter that has everything I need for $80.

(And yes, I am trying to reassure myself.)

Macrumors said:

Wilcox writes "I never really liked my cell phone before now. But I love my iPhone. It's a real joy to use; using the features makes me laugh. All technology products should be this useful and fun."

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And the Halo effect ramps up yet again.

I've only had the pleasure of using an iPhone for a few moments, but it looks like a great device. I've wanted to buy one, of course, but I just recently purchased a Blackberry Pearl and I can't justify the expense.

Also, for what it's worth, I love the Pearl. With the exception of the touch screen and the ability to play YouTube videos , the Pearl does everything the iPhone can do in a trim, stylish package and with an intuitive interface.

That said, two years from now, I will be in line for an iPhone.

Peel said:

And the Halo effect ramps up yet again.

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Yeah 'cause now Apple will be able to sell all these iPhone users......oh wait, does Apple still do computers?

kingofkolt said:

I have a Samsung UpStage, and it's the first cell phone I've liked. Of course, it's only my second cell phone. But it's verrrry thin (thinner than the iPhone), it's got a nice big screen on one side, and it's insanely light. I don't need a $600 iPhone when I can get something lighter that has everything I need for $80.

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It seems like an interesting concept for a phone. Although, I'll consider Samsung again when Apple starts taking them seriously. Perhaps I might consider getting an unlocked blackjack if I can use it on T-Mobile, since I still own a license for missing sync. I couldn't possibly purchase a phone that did not work with iSync or some other manifestation of Sync Services in OS X.

Peel said:

And the Halo effect ramps up yet again.

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Exactly! I'm thinking that the iPhone may finally bring the halo effect we've reading about for so long. The iPod is a great device, but it's the iPhone that really gives people a taste of the Mac. If I didn't already use a Mac I would think that my reaction to the phone would be, "They can do this with a phone? What are their computers like?"

mpw said:

Yeah 'cause now Apple will be able to sell all these iPhone users......oh wait, does Apple still do computers?

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Wow, you're right!

The Mac computer sales part of Apple's business is in SOOO much trouble along with that losing iPod division.

They've obviously lost their way.

BKF said:

Exactly! I'm thinking that the iPhone may finally bring the halo effect we've reading about for so long....

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You've been reading about the Halo effect for so long before it has been very real for so long.

You're not "finally" going to see anything except more of what has already been happening for years now.

MacQuest said:

...They've obviously lost their way...

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IMO there's little inspiring that's come out on the PC front from Apple in quite a while, hardware in particular. I'm not saying their not making money, just they're not as inspired as they seemed to be.

mkrishnan said:

...I couldn't possibly purchase a phone that did not work with iSync or some other manifestation of Sync Services in OS X.

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No iPhone for you then, seeing as it doesn't sync through iSync or the OS and relies on iTunes.

This is the kind of uninspired thinking that has taken the shine off Apple for me lately. Surely I should be able to use the iPhone with all the features in AddressBook if I can with a SE or Nokia why did Apple cripple their own product?

mkrishnan you might want to stock up on obsolete handsets, 'cause I suspect iSync won't be seeing many competitors to the iPhone added to it's support device list.

mpw said:

mkrishnan you might want to stock up on obsolete handsets, 'cause I suspect iSync won't be seeing many competitors to the iPhone added to it's support device list.

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Well, I hope that isn't true....

But for what it's worth: I said iSync or Sync Services for a reason. Sync Services is the component of Tiger that iTunes uses to get info from your iCal and Address Book. It's the same component that iSync uses, and it's the same component that Missing Sync uses. I think it's even the same thing Entourage uses. The application on the front end changed, but that's it... technologically, it's pretty much the same.

But what is it about Address Book that doesn't work in iPhone? It's always been true that Sync Services sort of "did its best" -- not every phone supported everything. The match was particularly close on some products (i.e. Symbian), but it was always a sort of best fit.

What features of addressbook can't you use with an iPhone? I've found it infintely easier to use my iphone through iTunes to update my addressbook whenever I sync it. Are you actually complaining about a problem that you've experienced or one you perceive exists?

Fiallo1984 said:

What features of addressbook can't you use with an iPhone?... ...one you perceive exists?

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In AddressBook I can pair with my SE/Nokia via BlueTooth and then click on a contacts mobile number to get a list of options like dial or send SMS. If I send and SMS I can type this in a window rather than take my phone outta my pocket.

While paired an incoming text to my SE results in a pop-up window on my Mac's screen where I can view the text and then save it to the 'Notes:' field of the contact in AddressBook.

I've been told the iPhone can't do this, can it?

mpw said:

Yeah 'cause now Apple will be able to sell all these iPhone users......oh wait, does Apple still do computers?

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judging by the home page they don't

mpw said:

No iPhone for you then, seeing as it doesn't sync through iSync or the OS and relies on iTunes.

This is the kind of uninspired thinking that has taken the shine off Apple for me lately. Surely I should be able to use the iPhone with all the features in AddressBook if I can with a SE or Nokia why did Apple cripple their own product?

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Errr, when the sync errors (due to a bad "Sync with Exchange" setting in address book), it was iSync that threw the error. Ever heard of a shared library?

What features are you talking about? I'm not sure you're making any sense.

mpw said:

I've been told the iPhone can't do this, can it?

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I think this is actually an issue not related to iSync and Sync Services. This is actually related to bluetooth profiles... a phone needs a certain BT profile to be able to do this function, if I remember correctly. I don't think my RAZR does it either... But you're right that Apple has no excuse for supporting so few profiles in the iPhone BT stack...

mainstreetmark said:

...I'm not sure you're making any sense...

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Maybe I'm not, I haven't tried the issues I'm talking about with an iPhone, just going by what I've read in these forums.

mainstreetmark said:

Errr, when the sync errors (due to a bad "Sync with Exchange" setting in address book), it was iSync that threw the error. Ever heard of a shared library?...

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*eerie silence* Nope you've lost me. People on these forums have said they haven't been able to get iSync to sync their iPhones. Are you saying they're wrong and you do use iSync?

mainstreetmark said:

...What features are you talking about...

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See my above post about the SMS from a Mac via the iPhone by BlueTooth.

Are these usable? Do you have an iPhone to try this on because I seem to be getting conflicting reports now as to whether this can be done??

BKF said:

Exactly! I'm thinking that the iPhone may finally bring the halo effect we've reading about for so long. The iPod is a great device, but it's the iPhone that really gives people a taste of the Mac. If I didn't already use a Mac I would think that my reaction to the phone would be, "They can do this with a phone? What are their computers like?"

Click to expand...

The "HALO" effect can work in more ways than one. I use both Mac and PC. Over the last couple of years, a series of events have brought me screaming back to using my Mac as my MAIN computer again. I'm still in dire need of a NEW Mac (waiting for Leopard and new iMacs), but iPhone apps like "Telekinesis", which only work on Tiger have forced me to UPGRADE my OS version from Panther, and I'm in full "transition mode". I'm gladly delegating my PC to second-class status in anticipation of making a full transition back to Mac. The rub... my PC is a 3 Gig + Dell, and my Mac is a PowerPC 400 mHz G4 Tower.

Oddly, in many ways, the Mac still outperforms the PC in the amount of apps I can run, and general performance boost. I just got giddy selecting and drag-and-dropping a text clipping from my browser window to my desktop again. Being able to drag the loose clipping back into my document anytime, beats the multiple clipboard madness of Microsoft Office any day of the week!

I'm expecting using iCal / Address book to sync with my iPhone will be a much much simpler experience for me than Outlook has been. I absolutely hated Outlook sucking up all my system resources like a stuck pig, and Apple's Address book is a whole heck of a much more attractive program to use over Outlook contacts, in my book. Sigh. Home coming. Gotta love it.

~ CB

Cleverboy said:

The "HALO" effect can work in more ways than one. I use both Mac and PC. Over the last couple of years, a series of events have brought me screaming back to using my Mac as my MAIN computer again. I'm still in dire need of a NEW Mac (waiting for Leopard and new iMacs), but iPhone apps like "Telekinesis", which only work on Tiger have forced me to UPGRADE my OS version from Panther, and I'm in full "transition mode". I'm gladly delegating my PC to second-class status in anticipation of making a full transition back to Mac. The rub... my PC is a 3 Gig + Dell, and my Mac is a PowerPC 400 mHz G4 Tower.

Oddly, in many ways, the Mac still outperforms the PC in the amount of apps I can run, and general performance boost. I just got giddy selecting and drag-and-dropping a text clipping from my browser window to my desktop again. Being able to drag the loose clipping back into my document anytime, beats the multiple clipboard madness of Microsoft Office any day of the week!

I'm expecting using iCal / Address book to sync with my iPhone will be a much much simpler experience for me than Outlook has been. I absolutely hated Outlook sucking up all my system resources like a stuck pig, and Apple's Address book is a whole heck of a much more attractive program to use over Outlook contacts, in my book. Sigh. Home coming. Gotta love it.

~ CB

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Say "Hallo" to the Halo effect, mate!

Finally, someone gets it!!!

It's great to see an article that finally gets it right. All the iPhone bashing hasn't stopped the sales. The PC Fan boys can't stop it.

It's quite simply the best designed, most elegant, best working piece of technology to come out in the last 20 years. I love mine for all the reasons mentioned in this article.

It was like a breath of fresh air.

Nope you can't use the BT connection to send SMS messages through the phone which I believe is related to the AT&T-mandated policy that the iPhone not be used as a modem in order to allow for the cheaper data plan. This and what follows is all based on hearsay and my observations which could mean absolutely nothing. As previously reported, the iPhone can't be tethered to a computer via BT and used as a modem. The rationale I've heard is that the iPhone's unlimited data plan is $20 compared to the $45 pricetag of unlimited data for Blackberrys and other smartphones on AT&T. Thus the additional $25/month essentially subsidizes the use of BB's as mobile modems explaining why AT&T has no limits for the BT services of these smartphones. So my guess is that in order to prevent people from tethering their iPhones to their computers, Apple has severally limited the BT services of the iPhone, including sending text messages via a BT connection from a paired laptop.

That said, I've never needed or used this service because I find it easier to send SMS messages through an IM client. Best of all, this method doesn't use up my text messages. It's rather simple: send the desired text message to "+1**********" where the stars represent the 10-digit telephone number you'd like to text.

Fortunately for me, none of the qualms about tethering or the 3G vs Edge debate have been remotely problematic for me because I'm around open WiFi networks all day.

From the article:

"I run the batter done to zero, as I would with an iPod, before recharging it in the hope of extending the battery life. We'll see how the battery performs in six months and if I'm still singing its praises."

OOOPS! He's got that backwards. With modern batteries, you're better off using the top of the charge than fully draining (except for the occasional calibration). No need to change his habits.

EDIT: Wow. The user reviews below the article are pretty positive to say the least! Tell us how you really feel

Wilcox Article said:

Before reading any further, Microsofties and their partners should take out paper and a pen. Apple has done so much right with the iPhone—based on my experience, anyway— that they should take notes.

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Eh... MS takes too many notes from Apple.

I am curious, however, when the iPhone imitaters (alleged "killers") will start making an appearance...

-Clive