Pogue's iPhone Frequently Asked Questions

[Lynxpoint]

Wait... time out...

"Meanwhile Jobs admits that he wants to control every cough and spit that ends up on the iPhone. This includes things like ringtones."

No custom ring tones?

Idiots! I HATE sound-branding. Steve wants you to do free advertising for the damn thing, just like Allchin at Microsoft made the Vista startup sound impossible to replace. Who the hell wants a factory default ringtone these days?

its all about the money:

"When presented with the concept of allowing iPhone owners to take a song from their iTunes music library and turn it into a ring tone, however, Jobs said it could be done but implied through a simple hand gesture that the move would cost Apple a fairly large sum of money."
from: http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/01/12/jobs.on.iphone.platform/

 

[WestonHarvey1]

I hate mine...

Nah, everyone does phones for kids, and phones for suits. This thing is for a whole different bunch of people, the ones who hate mobile phones.

I'm a suit, and I hate mobile phones. Thanks to no Exchange support, I guess I'll get to keep on hating them.

 

[3nm]

i.) the sf gate article discusses att privacy policy. i'm sure you have read it (it's about your data belongs to att/cingular). maybe you have addressed it, but i just kinda skipped your posts when you mentioned that att isn't cingular or vice versa. i apologize if you have already addressed cingular's privacy policy.

ii.) i'm sure you are also aware that cingular and verizon are not the only two carriers in the U.S.

I addressed this already. See my previous posts. There is A LOT more on Verizon.

i.) i don't understand, and can't agree with the logic behind a bigger corp = better for consumers.

ii.) how did cingular start? remember ma bell? what happened to the old att? will the new att be any different?

More over, Cingular has IMPROVED, with a 56% improvement in customer service since 1st quarter last year. Keep in mind, Cingular is a company that recently acquired AT&T and Voicestream, thus making it the largest mobile carrier in the U.S. C'mon guys, enough with the freakin' hate, Verizon isn't the only good company in the U.S. Read about the NUMEROUS lawsuits on Bluetooth OBEX crippling, misleading billing tactics and advertisin Verizon Wireless is dealing with. Given time, Cingular will prove itself better and more reliable than Verizon.

where it's goin isn't really that crucial. what's critical is that, when you are using such a personal device, where do these companies want you to go? kinda like one of those microshaft jokes, "where do we want you to go today?"

As Steve Jobs always says, "it's not where it's been, it's where it's going that is crucial".

back on the iphone - ditch cingular, add flash+GPS, apple can have my $800.

 

[impierced]

Nah, everyone does phones for kids, and phones for suits. This thing is for a whole different bunch of people, the ones who hate mobile phones.

While it's called an iPhone and that signifies it's to be put in the "phone" category - it's really more along the line of a PDA. I can't remember the last time I saw a kid with a Treo or Blackberry.

While I'm sure kids with money burning a hole in their pockets (or more correctly thier parent's pockets) will purchase the iPhone, I'm doubfult they'll be the majority of consumers purchasing it.

The bulk of people purchasing it - whether for leisure or work, will still want to use the device for both. Let's face it, the majority of businesses out there use Exchange for email.

Lack of Exchange connectivity for Apple (both on the workstation and now with the cell phone) is an issue and one that Apple has always been unwilling to address.

 

[Gurutech]

Consumbers buying 499 with 2yr contract ipod+phone+internet device?



considering that I can get 4 Gig ipod + Razor from better wireless service for 250?

well. I may pay extra 250 for PDA like capability. But if this crippled iphone story happened to be true in June, well.. lol
Apple must provide PDA like capabilities that other PDA+smartphones have already plus some extra (UI is enough for me in this case. but it needs to be 3rd Party application friendly)
Aiming consumer market with such price, regardless of how cheap it is compared to other smart phones, sounds way too optimistic.

Aiming consumer smartphone user market plus some of cooperate market, at least to me, may be more beneficial to Apple than aiming at small sector of consumer market in which people are willing to pay 499 for gadget toys.


plus, this phone must have user replaceable battery. This is not just a phone.
People will listen music, browse photos and internets, and etc.
They also will use this as phone.
Considering all that, bettery life is way crippled.

One device with half the battery life using two features
vs
two devices with its own battery

 

[Doctor Q]

Was it ever confirmed, or demonstrated, that the iPhone Mail.app display will change between portrait and landscape when you rotate the phone?

I find that a wide window is better than a tall window for reading text in emails, so I hope the answer is yes.

 

[SiliconAddict]

The iPhone is now officially dead to me without Outlook syncing. Yes someone will create a 3rd party conduit but that's just that much more on top of the device's already hefty price. Then non-Cingular version for 2 years, Gah Apple... Its a useless closed ecosystem.

 

[3nm]

most of the cool kids i know have PDA-like phones - lots of treos and SK III, some symbians, a few WinMobs and one blackberry.

but then, cool kids aren't the majority...

While it's called an iPhone and that signifies it's to be put in the "phone" category - it's really more along the line of a PDA. I can't remember the last time I saw a kid with a Treo or Blackberry.

While I'm sure kids with money burning a hole in their pockets (or more correctly thier parent's pockets) will purchase the iPhone, I'm doubfult they'll be the majority of consumers purchasing it.

The bulk of people purchasing it - whether for leisure or work, will still want to use the device for both. Let's face it, the majority of businesses out there use Exchange for email.

Lack of Exchange connectivity for Apple (both on the workstation and now with the cell phone) is an issue and one that Apple has always been unwilling to address.

 

[zac4mac]

Thank You to David Pogue

I'm pretty excited about this phone, have been since the announcement.
Looks like a RevC or D functional prototype to me though.
Five months to actual release, I hope Apple fixes a few egregious errors :

1) replaceable batteries is a must - I have two for my T-637
2) .doc, .xls and .jpg support are a must have
3) full sync with .mac over BT/USB, Outlook w/USB is close to a must have
4) Either open the platform to 3rd party developers, or set up a very proactive group to help with certifying 3rd party apps - so they still control the user experience

fingers crossed -

Z

 

[alec]

the real question is will this play very obscene pornography in very public places?

 

[Cinch]

The bulk of people purchasing it - whether for leisure or work, will still want to use the device for both. Let's face it, the majority of businesses out there use Exchange for email.

Lack of Exchange connectivity for Apple (both on the workstation and now with the cell phone) is an issue and one that Apple has always been unwilling to address.

I think we can get around this. Web Exchange version using Safari? It may not be practical though.

Cinch

 

[dethl]

As much as I love Apple and its products this is one I won't ever get. Had there been support for 3rd party apps (like Palm/etc..) I would be looking into ways to drop my Sprint account.

 

[Whistleway]

I've been a quiet but devoted mac user since the days of the Classic but looking at the front page today... all but one post about a freaking mobile phone.

That's it for me I'm afraid, Apple is all about expensive aspirational life style products now for people with too much money, no sense, and little interest in real innovation. I already have a phone. iTV is near useless outside of the US.

While we're at it, the computers are technically the same as current generation pcs now other than being hobbled by Apples proprietry interests, so while you guys get excited about each 0.2GHz speedbump in processor speed, the enthusiast pc community are already overclocking their Core2Duos well beyond 3GHZ in stock configuration.

There is increasingly less to choose between OSX and Linux save a few brushed metal dialogue boxes as an alternative to windows.

For the first time in 15 years I have zero interest in replacing my current mac (a 12" powerbook) when it dies.

great pos6 !!

 

[Nicky G]

This is a bad article

Japan far ahead of iPhone
Toronto Star

Cellphones there used for everything from buying milk to booking a train
January 12, 2007
Bruce Wallace
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
TOKYO–Tomoaki Kurita presides over racks of cellphones lined up outside his shop on a busy sidewalk in Harajuku, Tokyo's catwalk of youth street culture where people attracted by the riot of phone options can stop to flip open and fondle the latest models of what the Japanese call a "keitai."

This is a seriously misinformed article:

In the US for the last couple of years, it strikes me our cellphones have largely caught up with the ones in Europe and Japan. Sure, we still don't use phones for making purchases from vending machines or at the checkout line, but we do use GPS on them, surf the internet, email, etc. We also have 3G via Sprint (primarily, with EV-DO) and Cingular. 4G WiMax rolls out from Sprint in early '08.

The article is simply wrong in stating that iPhone is 2G. It is at least 2.5G with its EDGE support, and as it's probably able to take advantage of the latest EDGE implementations, it's really technically probably 2.75G. Now, I wish it was true 3G, but that is OBVIOUSLY coming, as will 4G and beyond.

All of these fancy cool high-tech things in some ways miss the whole point of the iPhone. This is in some ways a new paradigm for portable computing -- Multitouch is a much bigger deal than I think most people realize (read the patents).

No, the point of the iPhone is that the interface works like IT SHOULD. This is not a cellphone you will have to battle to do basic things, like merge calls into a conference, or check your voicemail in any darn order you want to. For the things that 95% of all cellphone users do with their phones, iPhone will rule.

I think it's also obvious that at some point, Apple will open up iPhone _or something similar_ to developers as a whole new mobile computing platform. But they want to make sure to do that on their own terms. They will probably say they won't do it right up until they say they're doing it.

What is the appeal of iPhone? On paper, not a whole lot. But geez, take a freaking look at it in action. I'm sure in person, under our fingers, it will be a million times cooler still. The thing looks like it came through a time portal from the year 2020, looks just like a future-PDA that some cool cyberpunk anime series like Ergo Proxy might feature (neat fact -- Ergo Proxy even shows a multitouch user interface in action). There is no freaking way I won't buy one of these as soon as they come out. Now I'm a geeky, fairly successful guy who straddles Gen X and Gen Y, probably totally the target market for iPhone. But I also work in business, and don't give a monkey's bottom that I won't be able to sync with Outlook or view .doc or .xls files. I use my laptop for that. The iPhone will be an outlet for my technolust, and to impress the clients.

 

[Sam0r]

Jesus christ, its just one let down after another with this thing.

I honestly can't see why ANYONE would want to buy this, other than for its looks.

No flash or java? Come on, my current phone has flash java, and its not even a smartphone.

With all these lack of simple features I really cant see it selling, especially with the stupidly high price tag.

Apple are seriously going down hill with this thing, and the AppleTV.

Thats my OPINION by the way, incase any of you forget.

 

[stcanard]

You know, I had this feeling this thread felt really, really familiar.

Then it hit me:

iPod Shuffle Announcement

Oh, no, wait a minute, maybe I'm thinking of

The Macintel announcement

 

[amphi]

Nah, everyone does phones for kids, and phones for suits. This thing is for a whole different bunch of people, the ones who hate mobile phones.

... and speaking as one of that demographic exactly what does the iPhone offer?

Granted it's vapour ware at the moment, but I'll keep the ipod and the junky candybar that gets perfectly good reception and withstands daily abuse and is almost free to replace if I lose it (again).

It's a beautiful bit of engineering/industrial design but it is not ipod revolutionary (which was really the iPod and iTunes - not just the iPod).

 

[barnaby]

With steve pushing the itunes integration for mac or windows so hard, i find it difficult to believe that it doesnt support the most popular email package that would be synced with this kind of device.. plus no java/flash? what "complete" browser doesnt have these? i think this story is bs personally

We've gone overnight from WAP browsers to a fully functional browser and we're complaining that it doesn't support Java and Flash? Do I have that right?
A browser on a phone is for convenience (look up a companies number or address). It's not going to replace browsing on a computer.

 

[amphi]

You know, I had this feeling this thread felt really, really familiar.

Then it hit me:

iPod Shuffle Announcement

Oh, no, wait a minute, maybe I'm thinking of

The Macintel announcement

.... but even those who couldn't see the point could see the function.

The problem with the iPhone is what exactly is the new function? It does look awfully like design refinement which is why the cube comparisons might be apt.

 

[swingerofbirch]

Let me start by saying I feel y'all's pain. I feel it too.

However, lest we not forget that when the original iMac was introduced the specs on it included a 33.6k modem. After much clamoring and by its final release, Apple included a 56k modem.

My point is this, if we keep complaining, Apple may change the shipping specs. The thing is still 5-6 months off.

 

[EagerDragon]

What you're forgetting is that these devices cost very little to produce. That's why they make kids work 18 hour days in China to make them.

Your figures don't stack up because of that.

The original argument is what it costs you to have that fucntionality with you.

Cost me nothing to get that, I already have an iPod 20 gig and I have a smartphone. To temp me to switch it has to come down in price some.

There is a difference between "I want it" and "I need it".

 

[nFace]

For European (Q4 2007) and especially for Asian (early 2008) customers iPhone is DOA. Think about it... GSM/EDGE phone as a modern smart phone If you have ever downloaded mail attachments or any files with GSM/EDGE you know what I'm saying. Thats just painfully slow. Browsing web pages isn't pleasurable either. Modern smart phone needs to be at least 3G or better yet 3.5G. Old GSM/EDGE just won't cut it in real use.

In Q1 2007 Nokia will be releasing N95 which is 3.5G smart phone that is far ahead of iPhone regarding the features and specs By the time iPhone arrives to Europe Nokia, SonyEricsson, Samsung, Moto etc. have released even better phones.

Anyway, I have to say I love iPhone's big screen and that lovely graphics chip and especially the design but thats far as it goes. iPod / phone combo would be great but I rather wait for that real wide screen video iPod that I can actually use without being afraid of running out of battery all the time.

 

[BillyShears]

iPhone not vaporware

... Granted it's vapour ware at the moment ...

Vaporware: "Vaporware is software or hardware which is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge, either with or without a protracted development cycle. The term implies unwarranted optimism, or sometimes even deception; that is, it may imply that the announcer knows that product development is in too early a stage to support responsible statements about its completion date, feature set, or even feasibility."

There's no reason to suspect it won't come out as/when promised. It's been pre-announced, but that does not make it vaporware.

I see this mistake a lot with regard to iPhone.

 

[manu chao]

The problem with the iPhone is what exactly is the new function? It does look awfully like design refinement which is why the cube comparisons might be apt.

The iPhone is a widescreen iPod with phone capabilities and Internet access. As such it is a successor to the top-level iPod (in price, functionality and status, unfortunately not in storage capacity). Its main fault is its high price, followed by the storage capacity.

The original iPod did cost $400 and had only 5 GB memory. It sold well enough and technology progressed fast enough that Apple was able to first offer 5 GB, than 10 GB, than 20 GB and currently 30 GB at a price point of $300, which helped its sales for sure.

The iPhone might follow that model, or it might suffer from its high pricing like the original iPod photos did.

 

[iJawn108]

LG iPhone anyone?

Even the the wallpaper looks aqua like. :/