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iPhone Competitor Talking Points Revealed

How do you view the competition's talking points?

  • Little to no valid arguments

    Votes: 52 32.1%

  • Some valid arguments

    Votes: 86 53.1%

  • Many valid arguments

    Votes: 21 13.0%

  • Undecided/Not sure

    Votes: 3 1.9%
  • Total voters
    162
Over the last few weeks, it seemed like every day or every other day apple has had an announcement to better the iphone...

So do you think we will see one tomorrow?

I'm wondering... Will ATT announce that they will be upgrading their wireless data network to increase performance?

I mean thats the LAST and ONLY downside to the iphone. If you took that away, it would be a no brainer.

And why wouldn't att upgrade thier network? They must be making a killing off of the iphone too? Maybe jobs said, ok you can offer the iphone but you better make sure your network is up to snuff by launch day!

Woudn't that be the coolest anouncement?
 
odaiwai said:
But all these phones come with crap plastic lenses!
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It really is about the optics. David Pogue did a nice tutorial a while back on the Megapixel myth. And with anything less than poster size, 2 MP is probably fine (We have a lot of 8x10 photos framed and hanging on our walls that we took with a 2MP camera).
 
Generally, telecom company management are the bottom-feeders of American industry. You ain't seen nothin yet...
 

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i4k20c said:
Untill apple fixes the last two points, i will not look at realistically getting the iphone.
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I think we geeks really don't get it most of the time. I remember when the iPod came out, the pundits didn't think it was anything different than other MP3 players on the market. Now "iPod" is synonymous with music player.

And when the iPod minis came out, message boards like this thought it would be a complete failure -- the dollars per megabyte was much higher for the mini than the regular iPod. Then the mini became the hotest seller on the market.

Everyone in the message boards were trying to guess who would win the next-gen console wars: PS3 or XBox 360. Then bam, the Wii is blowing everyone away in sales.

Where we techies see technical limitations, most of the world sees simplicity, elegance, and good price points.
 
dogtanian said:
Agreed, at least two of those issues need to be addressed for a UK/Europe launch, although I will say the camera aint half bad for good light situations. Flash would solve any low light problems of which it certainly has...
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Flash may be down the line a bit. It is a monstrous battery drain, and pictures taken with a standard phone/compact camera flash look just dreadful. Washed out and revolting. Also would require another "blemish" on the body. I would imagine that they're not even seriously working on it yet, until there's a very compact flash that gives non-corpsified renditions of normal humans. ;)
 
i4k20c said:
:( No removable battery is just being greedy on apple's part, sure it lasts 8 hrs, but i'm also sure in a matter of 6months-1year it will last half that if anything... on top of that i always have 2 spares, one kept in my car, and one in my briefcase. It's not realistic to think i can charge it anytime i want.
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Well, first off I think you're being unrealistic about the loss of capacity over time. I've never heard of a battery losing half it's capacity in 1 year, let alone 6 months. Second, there are many ways you could keep your battery charged besides just depending on swappable batteries. For instance, you can get a cigarette charger adaptor so that every time you're in a car you'll be recharging your battery, and you can get a couple of plug in AC outlet chargers to keep in all your regularly visited locations, and the iPod has accessories that add extra an extra battery pack that you can snap on when your battery is running low, so you can get a couple of these and toss them in your car and brief case like you would a replaceable battery, which will bulk up the phone when you have them plugged in, but they're just there to see you through until the next time you're near one of your many rechargers.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely think that not having a removable battery is a downer for some small percentage of people, but it's definitely not a deal breaker. You just need to compensate for the times when you've got a low battery in a different way then you're used to.

p.s. Do you really use 8 hours of actual talk time between charges?
 
Digital Skunk said:
The iPhone is nice... other competitor's phones suck... but the iPhone is lacking in some serious functionality and basic phone features.
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What do you mean by "serious functionality and basic phone features?" I currently have a RAZR, and had an LG vx6100 before that. (The phone before that was my first, and it didn't even have a color screen.) Compared to those, the iphone not only has the obvious advantages of email/web/ipod, but it does worlds better in terms of features as a pure phone.

I guess I've always had "basic" phones that were more or less only good for making calls (imagine! the horror!), but they've always been more than good enough at that. So from my perspective, the iphone, far from "lacking basic phone features," will be the most advanced phone (forget the other parts of it) that I've ever used.

Maybe your experience is different. If so, I'd be very curious to know exactly what "basic phone features" (so no talk about EDGE or anything like that) the iphone lacks that you so desperately need.

Random Ping said:
I think we geeks really don't get it most of the time. I remember when the iPod came out, the pundits didn't think it was anything different than other MP3 players on the market. Now "iPod" is synonymous with music player.

And when the iPod minis came out, message boards like this thought it would be a complete failure -- the dollars per megabyte was much higher for the mini than the regular iPod. Then the mini became the hotest seller on the market.

Everyone in the message boards were trying to guess who would win the next-gen console wars: PS3 or XBox 360. Then bam, the Wii is blowing everyone away in sales.

Where we techies see technical limitations, most of the world sees simplicity, elegance, and good price points.
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That post should be stickied. Bravo.
 
Digital Skunk said:
What is with the "This phone wasn't made for you" argument that is popping up here and there.

I understand that the phone will have some features that many will find useful and others that some will find a nuisance but to give that argument is about as weightless as Sprint and Verizon's arguments. No product caters to everyone, except water however. So of course the iPhone isn't for everyone... but that is no excuse for its limitations.
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What you consider limitations, other people may not. If you like the phone, buy it. If you don't like the phone, don't buy it.
 
The lack of IM doesn't worry me too much. Perhaps you can use the various sites such as meebo that allow web IMs until someone developes a dedicated IM app for the phone. I don't expect that to take too long.
 
I've said it before, this is really just all GREAT publicity for the iPhone. Other people "trashing it" is making people curious, enough maybe to go to a store to at least look at it --> more likely to buy it
 
Llywen said:
Oh come on...FiOS is an awesome service, just because you had one bad experience doesn't mean the entire company is worthless. I've had two bad experiences Apple's phone support...but I still love their products :)
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Oh don't get me wrong, FiOS IS awesome. Verizon sucks tho. We couldn't even get Verizon to get a DSL line in our office properly for well over a MONTH, and we are mearly a few blocks away from a central office. We called Covad and had DSL installed, provisioned and working within days. :)

I've never had to call Apple personally (I'm a Systems Engineer), but if I ever have to, I'll keep it in mind. :)
 
Verizon Spews Bs Too

I went into my local Verizon store to talk about options on my contract that expires 7/13/07 (Great timing) I said I was considering dropping them and getting an iPhone. Verizon:

1. Handed me a printed page off than internet article (from Business week I think) listing the reasons why to not buy an iPhone.

2. Told me point blank it only works with Macintosh computers.

3. Said I had to buy all music and videos from Apple and couldn't load my own.

I corrected them (I doubt if they will change their story). One girl said they had over 30 people a day in to drop their plans so they could go to AT&T for iPhones.
 
bytethese said:
Both Sprint and Verizon suck more than a Home Improvment vamped up vacuum cleaner.

I was with Sprint from 1998 until last year. They screwed with me SO bad. I dropped more calls than a centerfielder using a seanet to catch flyballs. They also lost all my contacts on my then $350 Samsung A800 and no way to recover. That's when I walked right down the block and transferred to Cingular and got my SLVR. I was then able to sync my contacts via bluetooth with my Mac, update my phone, etc. I think I only dropped 3 calls since last year. Hell, when I called customer service with Cingular, it was a pleasant experience, as was the past 3X I called this week with iPhone questions. Sprint/Verizon? Couldn't bothered with me when I called. One of the WORST was when I had FiOS installed in my apt. Not only did Verizon just not show up the first appointment, but when they finally did, they were clueless with an 8hr visit. I've heard horror stories about their wireless customer service as well.

So it's no suprise to me that Sprint/Verizon are scared so bad their pants weigh 10lbs more each day...
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Dennis Miller...is that you?
 
Tampa Tom said:
I went into my local Verizon store to talk about options on my contract that expires 7/13/07 (Great timing) I said I was considering dropping them and getting an iPhone. Verizon:

1. Handed me a printed page off than internet article (from Business week I think) listing the reasons why to not buy an iPhone.

2. Told me point blank it only works with Macintosh computers.

3. Said I had to buy all music and videos from Apple and couldn't load my own.

I corrected them (I doubt if they will change their story). One girl said they had over 30 people a day in to drop their plans so they could go to AT&T for iPhones.
Click to expand...

You must be joking. My contract with Verizon expired today, and I nobody saying all the stuff you are mentioning even though I said I would get the iPhone.
 
odaiwai said:
But all these phones come with crap plastic lenses! You get more Megapixels, you just get to see the limitations of your camera optics bigger!

Samsung has a 10MP (or something ludicruous) cameraphone. I can see specks of dirt on my 6MP DSLR with a 50mm/F1.4 lens. A higher resolution plastic lens with my fingerprint on it is going to give me a good picture? I don't think so.
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Agreed, For a camera phone, I'd take a 2MP with decent optics over a 3mp with a crappy one. Provided they both had a flash. But I'd take the k800i's camera over the iPhones one simply because it had a flash. Now that may seem silly to you, but thinking about it, the times I use my camera the most (and incidently the times most people i know use their camera phones) are in fairly poor light conditions. Indoors, evening, at restaurants/bars/pubs/clubs etc.

And there is of course also the point of perceived superiority. Most people don't really know anything about cameras. They look at the numbers. Oh it's got 3MP vs 2MP. the 3 must be better.

And given how widespread 3MP+ cameras are now (in the UK at least), the iPhone is going to start of with a perceived inferiority. And when selling to non-fans perception is more important than fact.
 
If you're not in the U.S. right now, or for the next year - Don't Effing worry about the iPhone.
Y'all WILL get one soon but it will be different(better).

Just called AT&T to make sure my bill was paid and assess my upgrade options.

She said I can't keep my old plan, made with the old AT&T Wireless, even if I add unlimited data, bummer; GSM, 650/unlimited $39.99.
When I didn't get the answer I expected, I asked to go up a level and got someone in a call centre in Canada. She explained my options and gave me this month free. Guess I'll try the entry plan and see if the limited nite/weekend will be an issue. Still, an extra 20 bucks a month but I'm jazzed that's all.

I'm betting I'll be ready for rev2 in less than 2 years...

Z
 
I don't get why everyones getting so bent out of shape about the friggin' camera! Personally, I HATE cameras in cell phones, they are annoying and useless. That's what digital cameras are for. Hello!
 
Lepton said:
Their best talking point would be that the iPhone has no voice dialing or even speed dial. "This will be very dangerous trying to make a call while driving a car!" I'm surprised they don't pound on this one.
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Studies have shown that even the use of handsfree phones while driving significantly increases the risk of getting in an accident. As a result, some jurisdictions are considering banning ANY cell phone use while driving, handsfree or not.

For safety's sake, if you need to make a call, please pull over to the side of the road first.
 
zedLondon said:
Agreed, For a camera phone, I'd take a 2MP with decent optics over a 3mp with a crappy one. Provided they both had a flash. But I'd take the k800i's camera over the iPhones one simply because it had a flash. Now that may seem silly to you, but thinking about it, the times I use my camera the most (and incidently the times most people i know use their camera phones) are in fairly poor light conditions. Indoors, evening, at restaurants/bars/pubs/clubs etc.

And there is of course also the point of perceived superiority. Most people don't really know anything about cameras. They look at the numbers. Oh it's got 3MP vs 2MP. the 3 must be better.

And given how widespread 3MP+ cameras are now (in the UK at least), the iPhone is going to start of with a perceived inferiority. And when selling to non-fans perception is more important than fact.
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To be fair, the K800/K790 camera is not that great in low light either. I own one and have been using it fairly intensively over the past 7 months and while the flash is nice to have and beats out the crappy LED flashes that other phones have, it's not the best flash. The optics in the k800 in low light cause photos to be very grainy and the thing with the flash is, it's just not strong enough to provide enough light for the camera.

I'm going through the same debate you are over whether or not the flash is worth it. My initial impression is that yes it is but when I think about it, the flash is just too weak to provide good low light shots that aren't grainy, blurry, etc. I find myself just turning the flash off now because it screws up a lot of my pictures e.g. grainyness, only illuminates the forefront of the scene causing everything past the flash to be dark and unviewable

Granted the iPhone will have these problems too but hey, I can't fool myself into thinking that I'll get a clean low light shot. As long as they can both take outdoor shots well (and judging by review shots the iPhone can), then that negates the camera aspect for me.

I'll need to check out the k850i definitely though... :)
 
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