Editorial: Counterpoint "Thanks Apple?"

I love my iphone and dont plan to go back to windows mobile any time soon. I can type faster on the iphone than my old treo. It takes about 3 weeks to get into the groove. The iphone always works, alarms always go off, and everything is as finger friendly as it gets. I never used to use a pen on my old wm devices (too lazy)

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

I'm not a big fan of President Reagan, but replace "Gorbachev" with "Jobs" in the quote above, and it pretty much sums up my experience with the iPhone 3G thus far. One of the first criticisms I heard about the original iPhone was "It's a computer with a phone attached." Well, that's what I wanted; and that's what I haven't got. So why am I having second thoughts about my new phone?

The hardware isn't the problem; it's excellent! One can question design choices: lack of a user replaceable battery (not very "green and requires vigilance when external power is not available), no external memory option (I'll have to really work to usefully fill 16GB), no keys or keyboard (I'm part of the no keys or keyboard crowd), no stereo Bluetooth (shown me a bluetooth headset that sonically outperforms my wired noise-canceling Sennheiser PCX 450s), etc. But if the design choices align with your own, one would be hard pressed to find a better device than the iPhone 3G.

My problem is with the "walled garden" that Apple, and to a lessor extent, AT&T, has built for the iPhone. It's a nice garden to be sure; the iPhone is extremely user friendly, but it's walled just the same. A consequence is the absence of obvious applications that the hardware is fully capable of supporting. The reason is simple, Apple sees services as an important source of revenue; any application that's threatens Apple's exclusivity or control will be turned away by Jobs at the gate.

Voice turn-by-turn navigation is an example. The iPhone 3G's hardware can certainly support it, there's a demand, and there's several navigation companies that could create it. So where's the software? Aside from the fact that AT&T would like to sell it's own navigation service for a monthly subscription, getting turn-by-turn navigation and pre-stored maps that such software would require onto the iPhone presents a problem for Apple. If Apple were to allow it, a company like Amazon.com could claim that an application that allows downloads from its online music store should be allowed into the Apple App store. After all, an application that plays stored copyrighted music is conceptually no different than navigation software that "plays" stored copyrighted maps.

From a person who's used Windows-enabled mobile phones ever since there's been Windows-enabled mobile phones: Apple, I thank you for shaking up a moribund corner of the market and doing it with excellent hardware. Unfortunately the hardware's potential will never be realized fully without unfettered access to the garden. Steve, tear down those walls!

I understand that JN, but that has not stopped any fanboys before, and I am just so surprised at the lull.

Regardless, as a consumer advocate, I think it needs to be about the consumers 1st. Fanboy perspectives typically only serve to confuse information and the fanboy's goals (whatever they may be at the time).

Anywho, I do believe that the Touch Pro will be a nice addition to WM family and the Android will be a nice addition to the mobile world in general. More competition the better.

The iPhone has had a few problems since launch but nothing serious at all compared with problems that I have experienced with Windows Mobile phones, take for example my alarm clock, it always goes off on the iPhone, with windows mobile it was a lottery whether it froze during the night or the sound just stopped working. I agree Windows Mobile is way more powerful and flexible than the iPhone but it doesn't work well enough and is too complicated and not a fun experience. As I have said many times recently, if Windows Mobile 7 is user friendly and reliable with the same features set it has now it will be the best mobile OS by a mile.

I am in complete agreement. I felt a little tug towards an Iphone 3G, but in the end I stick with WinMo, mostly for like others say, having it the way I want it. That and despite being on Edge for data, I like TMobile.

Phys....There's not much to say. :) It is what it is.

I am beside myself with how little rebutt is being offered by the iphans?! =O Odd, indeed.

"My iPhone 3G crashes and reboot daily."

How ironic!

I couldn't agree more. I have had 3 WM phones with WM5 and 6 on them over the past 2 years and they are far more stable than the iPhone 3G.
My iPhone 3G crashes and reboot daily. Apps spontaneously close when nothing seems to be going on. I could go days, even weeks without rebooting WM.

When people talk about how unstable WM is, I have no idea what they're referring to.

Apples reason for not allowing lower level or background apps is stability. Well it doesn't seem to have made any difference keeping them in the walled garden.

In fact I don't think it's even 3rd party apps. I can reboot the iPhone, use it without any 3rd party apps, and still have it crash on me.

Bill, great argument. I also think that WM gets a bad rap due to some of the applications that cause the phone to lock up.

While I love my iPhone 3G the 1st generation iPhone was a more stable device. The battery is still an issue but it has been on any 3G device I have owned.

I am also running the HP iPAQ 910 and it has been a solid performer.

Right now my choice is the iPhone. I like the interface and its ease of use. I think it is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale mobile environment.

However with that being said it has also raised the bar and given the competition something to push toward and I like what I am seeing as far as the other devices that are coming out.

I hope that MS takes lead and that WM 7 will be a blockbuster.

C'mon in, Jerry, the water's fine.

Hmmm....I may just post some commentary myself..... :)

Great point Jerry. I totally agree.. The iPhone has major flaws in my eyes BUT for me I am willing to deal with it for now. I do miss some of the advance Exchange support that Apple completely dropped the ball with. As we evolve here at Mobility Today we will be bringing on Michael Herald (Windows Mobile) and Alli Flowers (a newly converted WinMo user from Palm) and a few others to post some good commentary..

I think I'll be hanging out here for awhile. :)

I'll be honest, the only time I need to even do a soft reset is when I install and play with new shell-type apps (which btw, I can make my device look and feel any way I want). Hard reset? What's that?

As I posted on Facebook, I came soooo close to buying an iPhone yesterday. I didn't. Even with 2.0, I would still have to compromise on a few important functions that I thought would have been addressed by Apple now. Alas, it is what it is. The urge is somehow still there, but the Cruise (even with WM 6.0) is still does everything what I need it to do and does it the way "I" want it to do.