I originally thought the iphone backup backed up the entire phone, but this is not true. It does not back up your notes or contacts. iTunes assumes you are using some form of contact/address book management software. So if you add contacts into your iphone but, like me, use a web-based email system that is not google or yahoo, AND if you need to rebuild your address/contacts from a backup, then you are SOL. I went to the apple store and even the geniuses there were not sure and had to look it up.
Maybe here is an app waiting to be written: A FULL BACKUP system for the iphone.
Maybe here is an app waiting to be written: A FULL BACKUP system for the iphone.