Actually, I remember a lot of complaints about that, how for the price Apple was going cheap on the camera. I think part of the problem was the paltry storage at the time (4 gb). The decision to use Edge for data instead of 3G was also controversial, especially for a data-driven phone. And there were so many other pain points (lack of copy/paste, limited messaging functions, etc...) that given the high price and single carrier, it's amazing it took off as quickly as it did. IMO, that was one time when Apple rushed something to market half-baked. Sure the original iPhone was revolutionary and somewhat functional, but it wouldn't be until the next year that it became a really great device. And now I can't imagine the world without it.
Funny how people's memories get blurred over time.
I stood in line, in the rain (Pacific Northwest) for 4 hours to get my iPhone (on launch day). I bought it for two main reasons: the w2ay Contacts integrated with the phone and the full screen dial pad (I have large hands and none of the competing handsets had keys large enough for me).
I didn't;t fillet grasp the underlying power the "Internet Communication Devices" offered because none of my previous handsets were worth a **** accessing the internet, hence my use of that feature was very light (non-existent?).
Same thing with sending emails. "You" became "U" because typing "you" up till the iPhone required pecking out letters on a keyboard suitable only for people with very slender fingers (not me) or tapping a numeric keyboard EIGHT times.
Internet speed to slow? Yeah, I guess it was, but only the latest (less than 10%) most expensive handsets were 3G capable, and 3G was not universally deployed by carriers (far from it). By the time Apple shipped the iPhone 3G (which I upgraded to) deployment was no longer an issue. Besides Qualcomm's 3G modems were absolute battery hogs.
Remember that Apple went GSM because it was the primary format worldwide and Verizon wanted control over how the iPhone functioned (features and interface). Not going CDMA was smart for a multitude of reasons, not least of which was that voice and data could not be used simultaneously on CDMA, which would have negated much of the iPhone's superior functionality.
I could go on, but suffice it to say that the initial iPhone WAS better than competing products because features on competing products were difficult to access and use without an engineering degree. Is it better if you can't use it?
Oh, and in response to the complainer about 4mg memory not being enough, Apple offered a 4mg and 8mg model. Not having used data with my previous handsets (including Motorola's RAZR) I didn't know how much I'd need - so bought the 8mg model. Never needed the extra memory until the App Store opened, by which time I had an iPhone 3G and ATT had upgraded its network to 3G.
I'll be getting in line for the iPhone X provided it is 5G ready. Otherwise I'll wait for Fall 2018 to upgrade.
