Report: Apple not giving iPhone customers what they want

[kas23]

I agree, people have every right to complain. And if you are going to complain about other people complaining, then you seem to be hypocitical. Ypur right, Apple never promised anything. But, one of the major reasons people love Apple is because they are a company that is constantly trying to improve their products, via both harware and firmware updates.

Most Apple products we buy come with a implicit notion that firmware WILL be upgraded. Think back to when Leopard came out and it was buggy. Did we expect Apple to improve upon that product with various updates - you bet! Almost everybody bought that product with the notion that it WOULD be updated and improved. This is what makes Apple, well, Apple.

So if you can't wrap your mind around people wanting improvement and updates for the iPhone 3g firmware, your sadly mistaken.

As an aside, my favorite arguement against MMS is that it is "ancient technology." Well, I got news, e-mail (which is what is used instead of MMS) was developed in the early 1970's. How's that for "ancient" technology.

http://www.nethistory.info/History of the Internet/email.html

 

[jason72780]

Dont get me wrong I want updates. Esp in regards to performance. But constantly complaining about features is what I'm talking about. I love leopard, but there's like 2 freeware windows programs I'd like to run that don't justify me installing windows. I'm not going to bombard apple with emails and petitions to get that feature added to leopard. If they do it, cool. But to expect them to because every other machine on the market does is rediculous. And in regards to copy/paste, it should have been in since day 1. Having a smartphone without it is a huge oversight.

 

[kas23]

Dont get me wrong I want updates. Esp in regards to performance. But constantly complaining about features is what I'm talking about. I love leopard, but there's like 2 freeware windows programs I'd like to run that don't justify me installing windows. I'm not going to bombard apple with emails and petitions to get that feature added to leopard. If they do it, cool. But to expect them to because every other machine on the market does is rediculous. And in regards to copy/paste, it should have been in since day 1. Having a smartphone without it is a huge oversight.

But the thing is, you CAN install a windows program on a Mac. It is very possible and even easy. If there were option/work-arounds to get certain features on the iPhone, no one would be complaining. It is the black and white philosophy of the iPhone that gets people upset.

 

[citrate]

There appear to be two types of people responding to this thread:

1.) People who have paid good money for a product and want the very best out of it, including basic features like other phones.

2.) Hardcore Apple followers who would be happy with a ball of s**t just as long as it carried the Apple logo. You know who you are!

I fall into the first category.

To everyone who falls into category 2:

How would you feel if the next iPhone is released without SMS support? Would you accept that you can just send emails instead, knowing that most other users don't use email on their phone?

 

[firewood]

Copy & Paste is a standard feature for all other smartphones because people DO use it! I used to use it regularly. How can I forward the address if a meeting which I've received in an SMS to a colleague without writing it on a piece of paper and typing it back in again? How can I then add it to a calender entry or contact? Don't forget that this phone is being marketted as good for business.

Apple need to get their priorities sorted out.

Apple did get their priorities sorted out. Most of the people here purchased iPhones instead of a competitor's phone with copy&paste. That says that the iPhone's other features are more important to customers in general.


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[scirica]

Nothing's perfect. You give up a few features that you don't use very often, for something much better, like the iPhone OS, apps, integration, etc. If you use MMS very often, then that's another story. but if you use it occasionally, just use email. Video recording, ehh I almost never use my cellphone's camera let alone the video recorder. But that's just me. How many times have you needed it? If you need it very often, bring a real video camera. Copy/Paste, umm.. what for? If you want to show some text in Safari for example, just zoom in and take a screenshot, add as attachment. You don't really need copy/paste on a phone.

I think it is possible to love the iPhone, yet expect more from it. SJ has been saying this is the best phone of all time, not the best iPod of all time.

As for copy/paste, I love your screen shot idea...NOT!!!...don't you realize that people really want to replace their BB's or Nokia's completely with their iPhones yet can because of some very basic functionality like cut/paste? It is not just for sending something to someone, it is for sharing information between iPhone applications, the phone etc.

Until Jobs catches up on the basic functionality, this will always remain in the very cool gadget category and not considered a fully functional communication tool. We shouldn't have to compromise.

 

[gilkisson]

Apple did get their priorities sorted out. Most of the people here purchased iPhones instead of a competitor's phone with copy&paste. That says that the iPhone's other features are more important to customers in general.


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I agree... but with a caveat. The iPhone is "better" than the other choices, yes. But is it complete? Not yet. CP and Push will help get it there. If nothing else, Steve should add them in, to clear up his inbox, if for no other reason..

 

[Vegan TJ]

Ok for people that are saying well you guys knew it didnt have mms copy paste...YES that is true...BUUUUUT that doesnt mean we cant want it right?

just because it doesnt have it originally doesnt mean we cant ask apple for it. and alot of people want thoes features and apple is just ignoring them....

originallly people wanted 3rd party applications.. and apple said NO..then they gave people what they wanted...

so who knows..

there is nothing wrong with wanting new features

 

[jediistar]

There appear to be two types of people responding to this thread:

1.) People who have paid good money for a product and want the very best out of it, including basic features like other phones.

2.) Hardcore Apple followers who would be happy with a ball of s**t just as long as it carried the Apple logo. You know who you are!

I fall into the first category.

To everyone who falls into category 2:

How would you feel if the next iPhone is released without SMS support? Would you accept that you can just send emails instead, knowing that most other users don't use email on their phone?

Thank you for being one of the most logical posters in this thread.

 

[lakaiordie]

too bad they just keep giving us things we never ask for.

 

[samiwas]

There appear to be two types of people responding to this thread:

1.) People who have paid good money for a product and want the very best out of it, including basic features like other phones.

2.) Hardcore Apple followers who would be happy with a ball of s**t just as long as it carried the Apple logo. You know who you are!

I fall into the first category.

You forgot that there is a third category of people...maybe they aren't posting on this thread and that's why you left them out.

3.) The people who bought the iPhone because it has all the features that they want to use, and don't necessarily care about the other features.

They do exist. And they aren't all Apple fanboys (or fanbois, for those of you who like to use that horrible version of the word).

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

You forgot that there is a third category of people...maybe they aren't posting on this thread and that's why you left them out.

3.) The people who bought the iPhone because it has all the features that they want to use, and don't necessarily care about the other features.

They do exist. And they aren't all Apple fanboys (or fanbois, for those of you who like to use that horrible version of the word).

This is where I'm sitting. I can't think of one good reason I'd need copy & paste (I don't need a smartphone for work), MMS would be cool but I've accepted the fact that it's not there and probably never will be, and personally I think the IM apps are trash so I'm completely satisfied with a phone without push.

One thing I will ask for a stability improvements. But I know those are coming so no need to complain.

 

[kas23]

You forgot that there is a third category of people...maybe they aren't posting on this thread and that's why you left them out.

3.) The people who bought the iPhone because it has all the features that they want to use, and don't necessarily care about the other features.

They do exist. And they aren't all Apple fanboys (or fanbois, for those of you who like to use that horrible version of the word).

No, these are just fanbOIS who have convinced themselves that they could never have it any better, just like a battered partner.

 

[detz]

This is also apparent on the developers side. Apple is now making it harder and more painful for developers to submit and sell their applications. The App store was not designed with the consumer in mind but rather a way for Apple to promote the apps that best boost their agenda. It's shocking really..

 

[bstpierre]

This is where I'm sitting. I can't think of one good reason I'd need copy & paste (I don't need a smartphone for work), MMS would be cool but I've accepted the fact that it's not there and probably never will be, and personally I think the IM apps are trash so I'm completely satisfied with a phone without push.

One thing I will ask for a stability improvements. But I know those are coming so no need to complain.

I wouldn't care about copy/paste if the Mail program had the same data management features that the desktop Mail program has. If I get a phone number in an email all I can do is call it (I guess I can do more with it after that) but on the desktop I can click the arrow next to it and add it to a contact. If I get an address in an email on the iPhone I think that is truly going nowhere. On the desktop I can click the arrow next to it and add it to a contact (or create a new one). A pervasive data manager would be great so I can take those things out of SMS as well. Short of that, copy/paste would be handy sometimes.

 

[kas23]

This is also apparent on the developers side. Apple is now making it harder and more painful for developers to submit and sell their applications. The App store was not designed with the consumer in mind but rather a way for Apple to promote the apps that best boost their agenda. It's shocking really..

That's sad actually.

 

[Aurial]

Apple did get their priorities sorted out. Most of the people here purchased iPhones instead of a competitor's phone with copy&paste. That says that the iPhone's other features are more important to customers in general.


.

But it's a mistake to assume that all iPhone buyers are previous smartphone users. Most would appear to have been feature phone users previously and as such probably had no need for copy/paste. Not a single smartphone user that I know has switched or even considered switching to the iPhone as there are simply far too many limitations. Copy/paste and MMS are just two, and not necessarily the major ones. The lack of any sort of multi-tasking, the closed OS, lack of any sort of file system access and the severe censorship of Apple, lack of support for the GPS hardware, poor camera, etc, etc all put people off.

When I speak about getting their priorities right I mean that they should start implimenting some proper smartphone features before worrying about things like Google Streetview, etc. I mean how is the iPhone better for business than any other phone? They all have exchange support so big deal. Can you attach a document to an email? Hell you can't even store a document on the phone. Can you attach anything other than a picture? When document editors come out how are you going to open a document from an email for editing? If you copy a document with the likes of AirSharing how are you going to access it since one app can't access anothers files? The iPhone is far far far too closed! This is what they should be looking at.

The difference between the iPhone and the likes of Nokia and RIM's new touch offerings is that they have a well established OS which will truely do everything. They have to adapt it into something thats finger friendly. Apple have something that's finger friendly but now they need to start adding features to catch up with the big players.

 

[BaldiMac]

The lack of any sort of multi-tasking, the closed OS, lack of any sort of file system access and the severe censorship of Apple, lack of support for the GPS hardware, poor camera, etc, etc all put people off.

Do you really have to exaggerate this much to make your point?

The iPhone does support multi-tasking. For example, music can play in the background while you are doing something else. You can switch between applications and they remember there previous state, as long as they are coded that way. Yes, Apple does not support background processes at this point.

The iPhone OS is closed source. So?

Lack of file system access is actually a good point. Although I believe that Apple can avoid a straight up file browser, by developing APIs that will allow apps to interact with each other better.

Severe censorship? They have denied 6 or 7 apps. I'd hardly call it an epidemic. All but one for a defensible reason. The whole "duplicates functionality" reason sucks.

When I speak about getting their priorities right I mean that they should start implimenting some proper smartphone features before worrying about things like Google Streetview, etc. I mean how is the iPhone better for business than any other phone? They all have exchange support so big deal.

I don't think the iPhone is trying to be the best phone for enterprise at this point. I think they added enterprise support to take away an excuse for a consumer to use it.

Can you attach a document to an email? Hell you can't even store a document on the phone. Can you attach anything other than a picture? When document editors come out how are you going to open a document from an email for editing? If you copy a document with the likes of AirSharing how are you going to access it since one app can't access anothers files?

You are just repeating your point about lack of file system access over and over again here.

The iPhone is far far far too closed! This is what they should be looking at.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "closed" here. I'm guessing that you just mean that developers are too limited by the APIs that are available to them at this point. I'm sure that they will be extended in the future. Don't forget that the iPhone development environment has only been available for 4 months or so. Give Apple some time to stabilize the initial release, before you expect the ability to add any feature you can imagine.

The difference between the iPhone and the likes of Nokia and RIM's new touch offerings is that they have a well established OS which will truely do everything. They have to adapt it into something thats finger friendly. Apple have something that's finger friendly but now they need to start adding features to catch up with the big players.

Yep. Except for the part about Nokia and RIM's touch offering being able to "truly do everything." That's not true.

 

[firewood]

Severe censorship? They have denied 6 or 7 apps.

They've denied, or held up forever, a lot more than 6 or 7 apps, if you follow the developer complaints. But, they also accept way more apps, probably well over 90% of those submitted (and bug fixed, if necessary), which is hardly severe censorship.

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[Bryan Bowler]

If Apple wasn't giving users what they want, how do you explain over 6 million iPhones being sold in 90 days?

 

[BaldiMac]

They've denied, or held up forever, a lot more than 6 or 7 apps, if you follow the developer complaints. But, they also accept way more apps, probably well over 90% of those submitted (and bug fixed, if necessary), which is hardly severe censorship.

Maybe we are counting different things. I guess I wasn't specific enough. I meant applications that Apple has killed completely.

http://boredzo.org/killed-iphone-apps/

Eleven apps to date. One reinstated. Two due to third party copyright/trademark issues.

Eleven killed apps out of the 5,500 or so that have been released means almost 99.9% of apps are approved!

 

[Tosser]

Maybe we are counting different things. I guess I wasn't specific enough. I meant applications that Apple has killed completely.

http://boredzo.org/killed-iphone-apps/

Eleven apps to date. One reinstated. Two due to third party copyright/trademark issues.

Eleven killed apps out of the 5,500 or so that have been released means almost 99.9% of apps are approved!

And how big a percentage of those apps are calculators or games? 90?

 

[Aumz]

I bought the iPhone knowing these limitations and thinking the appstore would help a great deal to make these limitations no more.

I also assumed eventually apple would resolve them...now it seems they will not and I am tied into an 18 month contract with a basic phone that is way behind the rest of the phones on the market in terms of phone functions.

The appstore is 99% useless junk IMHO.

I can not wait for these next 17 months to finish so that I can get back to proper smartphones. I am glad of one thing before the iPhone I was considering switching from pc to mac but after this experience with apple no thanks i am happy to see my pc crash every week.

 

[Digital Skunk]

If Apple wasn't giving users what they want, how do you explain over 6 million iPhones being sold in 90 days?

Easy, most people are capitalistic idiots that would buy expensive things just because they are cool. Seriously, America is a country of consumers if for no other reason, just to have stuff.

The iPhone is "better" than the other choices, yes.

The iPhone is not better than the other choices once you put the service provider into the equation. Even if you hacked the phone and put it on T-Mobile, it just makes the phone an even worse decision.

 

[lakaiordie]

This is also apparent on the developers side. Apple is now making it harder and more painful for developers to submit and sell their applications. The App store was not designed with the consumer in mind but rather a way for Apple to promote the apps that best boost their agenda. It's shocking really..

+ make more money.