Five Things to Hate About the iPhone

Posted by Michael Koby

January 26, 2007 |

For last week’s list we focus on some of the cooler aspects of Apple’s recently announced iPhone. This week we will look at the bad side to the iPhone.

5) Cingular Only - For at least a year or two after launch, the iPhone will be a Cingular only device. So if you are on T-Mobile or another GSM provider, you are out of luck for a while. While it is normal to make a particular device exclusive, you would think that Apple would want this to be available to as many people as possible.

4) All-in-One Device - I realize that this was also in my list of reason to like the iPhone, but it is proven fact that most all-in-one devices usually do not perform even one function well. This is one of those “wait and see” points.

3) Touchscreen Typing - Touchscreen typing can lead to a mess of typos. People like to be able to feel button presses when they type. It is a brain thing, but a lot of people really do not like touchscreen typing.

2) No 3G - Cell phone companies are working around the clock to bring us 3G (Third Generation) data technology. Allowing us to eventually get speeds similar to our cable/DSL lines over our cellular phones. Cingular just recently launched their 3G network in 160 markets. But sadly, you will not be using the iPhone on that network. The iPhone is an EDGE (2G) device so expect speeds around 15kb/s.

1) Price - At $499 ($599 for the 8GB) with a two year Cingular contract, the iPhone is pricey. While smartphones are becoming more realisticlly priced, expect to pay the “Apple tax” on this little beauty. While I think that they might actually be able to have 1 million of these babies sold by 2008, I think that it is going to be close and that is just because of the price.

So I have officially covered both sides of the issue with the iPhone. There are reasons to both love and hate the device. I still hold that the device is slick and I can not wait to play with one.

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