Are iPhone buyers fools??

[homeboy]

It seem like Steve Jobs is one of the biggest Hustler this decade. His ability to sell fantastic but yet very flawed products to the public is incredible. Before some of you start throwing boots at me I have and do own apple products myself.

What amazes me how thousands of people can que outside stores to buy a such an expensive phone which has big limitations like the following:

*bluetooth can't be used to transmit content to other devices.
*music files can't be used as ringtones or as a wake up signal for the alarm clock.
*MMS messages can't be received or sent at all.
*The camera can't be used for motion capturing.
*third party Java games can't be installed on it.
*there are at the moment only 10 000 youtube clip available for the iPhone.
*everytime you change SIM card the phone has to be reactivated. This is extremly stupid and annoying. Especially for people who have more than one *SIM card or those you frequently travel to different countries.
*email/internet passwords and usernames can't be saved.
*content such a pictures and music from the net cannot be saved on the phone.
*No memory card support to increase capacity.
*No Flash support.


Don't get me wrong it's a great product with a world class UI but at the same time it is a very weak products which lack features we take for granted. Therefor I'm surprised that some people can blindly buy a very expensive product without being critical.

[iMagic]

I hear you. There's so much the iPhone could have done. Shooting videos and beaming them up to YouTube. It's got a high-quality camera and a YouTube widget, what's stopping them? The bluetooth thing irks me most of all. It's got EDR for God's sake! And it's a music player so why would it not have A2DP? But let's not give up hope just yet. After all this is only the beginning.

[DylPod]

Nothing is perfect. Does every item you buy do everything you want in exactly the way you want? The iPhone has the best implementation of the capabilities that are most important to me. I hope it gets better over time but I knew exactly what I was buying.

[Willaim]

...but I can reply using my iPhone. (wow) My first time thumb typing.

Edit: Landscape keyboard, much easier.

[Mr. Fister]

Look at the price of the RAZR when it first came out $400 and only 5MB of Memory and its the best selling phone ever its all about being a status symbol.


Also What I need I don't have an iPod so thats $300 saved right there I need a PDA thats another $300

Why not buy 1 device thats does both


the people who bought $400 RAZR's are fools that phone did nothing but look sexy.

[Surf Monkey]

The debut rev of iPhone is obviously just the starting point. Personally, I'm planning on waiting until the second or third rev before I consider one. Right now the cost to feature ratio is not good.

[random person]

You guys, you're going to feel plenty foolish when you actually get to see, touch, and use one of these iPhones. Hype has nothing to do with it. It is a revolutionary device, unbelievably easy to use, and it will change the cellphone industry forever.

Don't be dissin this thing until you've used it. It is an amazing piece of technology-- it will blow you away!

[Surf Monkey]

You guys, you're going to feel plenty foolish when you actually get to see, touch, and use one of these iPhones.


Yeah, not really.

[JazzyMac]

It seem like Steve Jobs is one of the biggest Hustler this decade. His ability to sell fantastic but yet very flawed products to the public is incredible. Before some of you start throwing boots at me I have and do own apple products myself.

What amazes me how thousands of people can que outside stores to buy a such an expensive phone which has big limitations like the following:

*music files can't be used as ringtones or as a wake up signal for the alarm clock.

*everytime you change SIM card the phone has to be reactivated. This is extremly stupid and annoying. Especially for people who have more than one *SIM card or those you frequently travel to different countries.


I did not know that at all. That seems kind of weird to have iTunes as a feature but not be able to use clips of songs as ringtones. I'm sure that will change in time.

That SIM card thing is a huge dealbreaker for me. Of course I balked at pricing, worldwide use, and fanboy-ism, but I did not know that.

I'll stay in the background and just watch things unfold.

[deftdrummer1]

Apple skimped people on the things they have grown so used to on even the most basic of phones. Its really too bad, the developers should have put just a little bit more time into the OS. Then again, isn't it the Apple way to release a sub par product as v1.0 only to release an even better, higher capacity model one year down the road? Come on people look at the trends.

[jhollington]

Well, the point is that like the iPod itself, Apple wasn't trying to build this for the people who expect to have every possible feature on their phone.

In short, it's obviously not a device for the power user.

The average person who wants a phone that is relatively simple to use, with Internet e-mail capabilities and an iPod built in to one device will probably not find most of these features to be an issue.

As somebody pointed out, the original cut of the RAZR was far more basic and limited, yet it sold like hotcakes at an outrageous price point. Even today most of the Motorola phones are still anemic from a feature point of view in comparison to the competition -- all flash and no substance.

Most of the features listed are not going to be show-stoppers for the average person. Most average cell phone users don't even know what MMS is for example, and with a full e-mail client on board, it's almost redundant anyway (I've never sent an MMS from my Palm Treo, Blackberry or Nokia E62, for example).

The SIM card issue has to do with the phone being locked to AT&T, and this isn't a surprise. Buy any phone from AT&T (or just about any other North American GSM carrier) and you won't be able to use it overseas without getting it unlocked simply because it won't take anybody else's SIM card, pre-paid or not.

[deftdrummer1]

good points jhollington

[Trancein305]

Yeah your limited...but the ease of use & technology makes up for it.. plus its the gadget to have this year. if you own one you wont be hating.

[Mr. Fister]

Who even uses MMS at all I don't even know what it is?

Well yes I do but no one uses it


Text messages are all you need

and plus most people have email




at best MMS is for that special moment dad is away on busness and baby takes first steps mom takes quick pic and sends it off pops us instantly

but MMS use is fading compared to email use and SMS texting

[Surf Monkey]

...plus its the gadget to have this year.

That's the crux of the point.

if you own one you wont be hating.

No, not really. iPhone is missing some key features. I won't be touching it until the second rev at least.

[ExtremeSIMS]

Aye - just don't buy it yet, and allow we first adopters to keep hammering on Apple for changes. You win with a tuned iPhone with Rev B, and we win by getting to use one for the months until then. Everyone comes out ahead - well, everyone who did their research and knows what they are getting (or not getting).

[Surf Monkey]

Aye - just don't buy it yet, and allow we first adopters to keep hammering on Apple for changes. You win with a tuned iPhone with Rev B, and we win by getting to use one for the months until then. Everyone comes out ahead - well, everyone who did their research and knows what they are getting (or not getting).


Exactly. I agree 100%.

[925]

Either buy it, accept its strengths and weaknesses, and enjoy, or don't buy it. It is both phenomenal and limited. It is revolutionary, and yet all the features have been on some other phone. For me, I'll go with Rev 1, blow off a bit of steam, then get rev 2, cry some more, then get rev 3, and probably have a fairly good phone.

#1 iPhone irritation for me? I do not think it is possible to safely place a phone call from the iPhone while driving. Not via any mechanism. To any contact. You just can't do it.

[bigshot]

Apple skimped people on the things they have grown so used to on even the most basic of phones. Its really too bad, the developers should have put just a little bit more time into the OS.

You obviously don't have an iPhone. The OS is astounding. We are looking at the beginning of a whole new user interface for computers, replacing keyboards and mice. I can see a lot of the basic concepts behind the touch screen interface being used in a tablet style notebook computer. The amazing thing is that this new style OS is so easy to use and advanced even in this first outing.

See ya
Steve

[bigshot]

I do not think it is possible to safely place a phone call from the iPhone while driving. Not via any mechanism. To any contact. You just can't do it.

Leave the screen on your contacts favorites page and that will get you closer to being able to dial them without having to look down at the phone a lot.

See ya
Steve

[Sarlacc]

Or, ya know, dont talk on the phone while you drive. Just a thought.

[ifonline]

Or, ya know, dont talk on the phone while you drive. Just a thought.

WARNING... WARNING... Outside of the box thinking alert!

Slowly step back into the box, please. I don't want anyone to get hurt!

:p

[CEDARS1974]

If the people that were complaining owned one then I would actually pay attention. Bottom line is, every person who I know who got one or even people I let see mine get the biggest grin on their face you have ever seen. I am sick of people who simply can't afford this thing or maybe just aren't the kind of people who would spend $600 on a cell phone #####. No matter what they did with this phone it would always be missing something. Get over it. Nobody said buy an iphone or you can't get cellular service. There is not a company in the world who wants to cater to every little feature that every last person thinks it should have. They sold 500,000 of these things and would probably have sold more had they not run out. Bottom line is bottom line. When this thing ends up selling more units than any other phone in history than that makes it the greatest cell phone ever. Call me fanboy all you want. Everything I have ever bought from Apple has just plain ROCKED!!!!

[Surf Monkey]

I love how defensive people get in this thread. I guess it's important to justify to yourself why you spent all that money on a 1.0 product.

[CEDARS1974]

I love how defensive people get in this thread. I guess it's important to justify to yourself why you spent all that money on a 1.0 product.

And what does it take to justify your many whiney posts about a product you can't afford? I can't believe anyone would cry and make multiple posts about something they supposedly aren't interested in. Jeez let me see....maybe I will go over to a Ferrari forum and B*tch and moan. You seriously should get a life. I have no need to justify spending the money. First I have plenty of it and second, I would have paid twice as much for this well made well thought out product. :shake:

[Surf Monkey]

And what does it take to justify your many whiney posts about a product you can't afford?

"a product you can't afford"

Wrong, but nice try.

I can't believe anyone would cry and make multiple posts about something they supposedly aren't interested in.

A common and resoundingly debunked forum argument.

Jeez let me see....maybe I will go over to a Ferrari forum and B*tch and moan. You seriously should get a life.

Throwing personal insults now, are we?

I have no need to justify spending the money. First I have plenty of it and second, I would have paid twice as much for this well made well thought out product. :shake:

Defensive. Check.

[CEDARS1974]

Like I said anyone who has nothing better to do than troll a forum on a device he doesn't own or wish to own for weeks on end is just sad.

[Surf Monkey]

I did buy one. All the criticism I leveled towards it still stands. I bought it knowing that I'm basically part of the beta test program. No need to lie to myself.

[epi117]

I have two phones i can carry every day. my Sprint Mogul or the iphone i got this week.

With mogul i can surf great, fast, but limited to windows mobile pages or distorted html full page views. with iphone i can load any web page (slowly unless im on wifi, but i find myself leaving wifi off). to me its worth the slow download speeds.

Comparing price i paid $395.00 for the mogul with a two year plan , iphone $600.00 with two year plan. two hundred dollars is pocket change.

Im cancelling my sprint service today, the iphone is heads up the winner.

PS, this is the first apple product i have ever purchased.

[ExtremeSIMS]

PS, this is the first apple product i have ever purchased.

It'll be interesting to see if the "halo effect" kicks in for you.

[Pearson]

And here I thought that Playstation fanboyism was bad, iPhone owners are worse. Before you start in on me, yes I could've bought an iPhone, just didn't want to. Because first of all, I don't like AT&T, have them as a home phone service carrier and they try and screw me at every turn and second of all, I don't buy 1st Gen of any kind of product. No matter how good a product may be, I'm not an early adopter and I wait until 3rd Gen comes out. Also most of the reviews I've read have said that yes the iPhone is incredible and yes it is a must have, but they also go on to say wait until the 2nd Gen or even the 3rd Gen of the iPhone comes out. For one most of the bugs and kinks will be worked out of them and like the iPod that retailed for nearly the same price as the iPhone has will have come down in price as well. Maybe then will I consider buying an iPhone and giving AT&T an opportunity to make ammends to me for the horrible home phone service they have given me throughout the years. Lastly, I'll take my 07 YZF R1 over a Ferrari any day! :cool:

[Surf Monkey]

I don't buy 1st Gen of any kind of product. No matter how good a product may be, I'm not an early adopter and I wait until 3rd Gen comes out.


So, you bought a PS3 then?

[TheBigNewt]

I don't have an iPhone (Blackberry Pearl Tmob). From reading threads here I think they disabled several features that most smartphones have in order to eliminate filesharing (BT data transfers for instance, and MMS), or to make money (no custom ringtones). I foresee iTunes adding ringtones you may purchase to use on the phone very soon. They also want to sell adapters so you can use your own headphones. Question to iPhone owners: does the phone come with Apple headphones like the iPod does, or do you have to buy some to listen to music? They should have used a 3.5mm headphone port like the new Blackberry Curve. Typing on the touchscreen will never be as easy as with buttons, but nobody though it would be, and the huge iPhone screen is cool. And EDGE isn't that fast, so downloading web pages to the cool screen probably seems slow. The WiFi glitches happen with lots of phones, and the email problems are probably fixable and have to do with the server (not as good as the almost perfect Blackberry server, but nothing else is). Sounds like a pretty good phone overall to me, but everybody knew most of the problems far in advance.

[jhollington]

I don't have an iPhone (Blackberry Pearl Tmob). From reading threads here I think they disabled several features that most smartphones have in order to eliminate filesharing (BT data transfers for instance, and MMS), or to make money (no custom ringtones).
Well, to be fair, RIM had no realistic Bluetooth capabilities for the longest time, although that was specifically a security issue.

I think the lack of BT file transfers is not so much about preventing sharing of media content from iTunes, since that could easily be restricted in much the same way it is on the Motorola iTunes Phones. The Bluetooth technology should have at least provided support for address book, picture or calendar transfers, but the reality is that this is probably not a huge priority for most average cell phone users, many of whom barely know what Bluetooth is, beyond having a vague idea that it can be used to connect a headset.

On the other hand, while custom ringtones are something I personally couldn't possibly care less about, Apple's exclusion of this is definitely odd, since there are many normal cell phone users that would expect this, particularly from a device with such excellent media capabilities otherwise. A possible revenue stream from selling ringtones may very well be part of that strategy.

They also want to sell adapters so you can use your own headphones. Question to iPhone owners: does the phone come with Apple headphones like the iPod does, or do you have to buy some to listen to music? They should have used a 3.5mm headphone port like the new Blackberry Curve.
Yes, the iPhone comes with Apple headphones, similar to the iPod, but they also include a basic remote control and mic, so they can used on the phone side as well.

The iPhone does use a 3.5mm headphone jack identical to any other audio device, but the problem is that they've recessed it into the casing for some very odd reason, rather than making is flush. This unfortunately prevents most 3.5mm headphones from fitting due to the size of the plug, rather than the connector itself. That having been said, there are some headphones that will still fit.

[My2Cents]

I don't buy 1st Gen of any kind of product. No matter how good a product may be, I'm not an early adopter and I wait until 3rd Gen comes out. Also most of the reviews I've read have said that yes the iPhone is incredible and yes it is a must have, but they also go on to say wait until the 2nd Gen or even the 3rd Gen of the iPhone comes out.

I go by your rule. Do not buy the first version of any product. I am NOT an early adopter. However, I made an exception for the iphone (every rule has an exception). So, yes, I bought one. No, I am not an apple fanboy/girl. In fact, I've owned and used nothing but Microsoft or Linux products for years and frowned upon the apple hype for years (and still do). I didn't own an ipod until 5th gen, and that was only when the ever so small, lightweight nano came into the mix.

I'd been looking for a slick-looking and functional smartphone/PDA for two years and found nothing that I liked out there. So I didn't buy one. Instead, I used my work blackberry and though I became a power user, I loathed it's bulk and how it generally cramped my style (yep, I sound like a snob now). :p

When iphone came along, I found that it had many of the functions I wanted, and a few bells and whistles to boot, with a clean aesthetic,and easy to use UI (easy for me anyway).

For me, it all came down to personal preference and how I am willing to spend my hard earned money. Could I have waited for next gen? Certainly, I have the patience. Did I want to? Nah. So I didn't. I bought one. It works for me, works well and I am enjoying it.

Looking at the trends, as someone said earlier, it's likely that the next iteration will be packed with more features and possibly even cased in slimmer hardware. That's cool. But I'm content with what I got. I have a product that I prefer over the others and I know and understand its strengths as well as its limitations. In spite of its flaws, it works for my lifestyle and I am getting a kick out of it every time I use it.

If the device was selling for $250, I think its limitations would be a non-issue for the masses. For now, the device is finding its market. Foolish or otherwise.

Again, personal preference. If you are happy with RZR, Treo, blackberry, or whatever. That's cool. I can't bash the other devices because they work for tons of people out there.

The only question that I look to with any real interest is, if iphone will be as pervasive as the ipod has become?

[studogvetmed]

I did buy one. All the criticism I leveled towards it still stands. I bought it knowing that I'm basically part of the beta test program. No need to lie to myself.

So you did buy one? I thought you were going to wait for Rev 2? What sent you over out of curiosity?

[Surf Monkey]

So you did buy one? I thought you were going to wait for Rev 2? What sent you over out of curiosity?


A number of factors, chief among them the fact that my ATT contract ran out this month. If I had gotten some other smart phone I'd have been locked in for two years and would have paid about $10 more per month for an unlimited data connection (assuming I got another Blackberry). That coupled with the fact that the vast majority of issues with iPhone seem to be things that can be addressed by software updates and that iPhone itself is FAR more durable than I expected it to be in the first rev. If there had been even the hint of scratching or screen breakage in the first 48 hours I would have never done it but this thing really is built like a tank. iPod should have this quality of construction long ago. That's the long and the short of it. I still think it has a way to go but I'm very pleased that there seem to be little if any issues with the actual hardware.

[Pearson]

So, you bought a PS3 then?

Not yet, but I will eventually get a PS3, just waiting on a few titles to come out that I want for it. Not to mention I am still playing some great titles that has come out for my PS2 and some titles for my 360. I want everyone to know that I don't think that anyone who purchased an iPhone is a fool, just saying that I am waiting it out for the time being. I have owned an Apple computer since the Apple IIc and have owned an iPod since the 3rd generation.

[marksman]

Funny thing is for years I have been sitting there looking at all the suckers putting out money for all these "smartphones" and these devices with too small screens, too small keyboards, and horrible interfaces.

Finally a device comes along that I think is worthwhile and usable and actually worth some money. And I was right. Good things come to those who wait. I feel bad for all those who have been wasting their time with these sub-standard devices for years and now feel like they have to defend their monetary and time investment to people who probably don't care.

[Surf Monkey]

I feel bad for all those who have been wasting their time with these sub-standard devices for years and now feel like they have to defend their monetary and time investment to people who probably don't care.


That's kind of a tough thing to say. After all, there are things that the smart phones do better than iPhone. There are things that practically every smart phone does that iPhone doesn't do at all. Sure, iPhone has the basics right. The interface is excellent. But it's going to need some serious refinement before anyone could seriously suggest that all other smart phones are "sub-standard" in comparison.

Wait for two or three firmware/software updates though and iPhone 1.0 might actually begin to live up to its potential. In a way, until Apple starts updating it (or fails to update it), the jury is still out.