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Why the iPhone Sucks
By Oliver Rist | March 25, 2007, 11:51 pm
I’m not sorry. Stat after stat is coming out on this thing along with enough marketing to choke even a Microsoft exec and it all adds up…to a third-rate phone. $600 for a media player with 8GB of storage?! I know they have creative smokes in Cupertino, but geez! Honestly, Apple is making such a big deal out of the multimedia capabilities of these things, that the phone part is really secondary.
Okay, it’s a smartphone–but with none of the features that make the other smartphones popular with business road warrior types. And, frankly, those are the only people who really want smart phones anyway. Everyone else just wants a phone and SMS. The music/video downloading and Internet access are, frankly, bullshit features that cell plan companies and phone makers are saying we want in order to make us want them.
Ever actually use the Internet on a smartphone? I’ve got a Q with EvDo–currently the fastest of the wireless data plans in the north east. It works. That’s about all I can say for it. Not as fast as my cable connection. And whether its Windows Mobile or Verizon or a combination, the rendering is slow enough to be annoying. So when do I use it? Check for directions. Check for a movie time. Maybe settle one of those all-important bar arguments. Is that worth what I’m paying? Not really.
And music? Everyone and their syphilitic Aunt is offering music on a cell phone. Lemmesee, what aren’t they offering? That’s right–battery life to match. I’ve got the long life battery on my Q with a 2GB smart card in there. Sure, I can listen to music with some over-priced Verizon Bluetooth headphones…for about an hour. After that, the battery takes a dump and I’m out of tunes AND out of conversation. What do these guys think I’m going to do? Run around with pockets full of batteries? See, that’s why you still see most people running around with MP3 players that rock for 3 hours plus as well as their smartphones. And why you’ll continue to see that even after the iPhone comes out.
So what does that make the iPhone? Mediocre, that’s what. And $600 worth of mediocre isn’t going to hack it. What’s it need to make the NOTN Cool List?
- A reasonable price. $600 for a consumer phone is cracked.
- A new battery technology. Hey, if you’re going to offer these features, take care of the effing details!
- Realistic storage. Movies are between 1GB and 4GB. So 8GB as a total is butt nuts.
- WiFi–maybe with Skype support. Hey, you’re pushing the swappable SIM card thing, why not go whole hog? And the way they’re pushing the iPhone’s Internet capability, WiFi seemed obvious.
Topics: Gadgets |
8 Responses to “Why the iPhone Sucks”
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March 26th, 2007 at 11:43 am
“Is that worth what I’m paying? Not really.”
Some people I know use these phones to browse the net from their laptop by using the phone’s EvDo connection via bluethooth… By doing this, they effectively bypass our corporate web filter and can download porn all day.. haha..
March 26th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
[…] of the North blogger Oliver Rist, in his post on why the iPhone sucks, says “Apple is making such a big deal out of the multimedia capabilities of these things, […]
March 26th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m still getting one.
March 26th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Well, we all know YOU’d get one, Paul. You’re a gadget slave–witness that Nokia tablet jobbie that you just HAD to have, never used and just recently sold on eBay to another sucker.
And Kiltak — I’d like to have used my Q as a modem, but they specifically prevent that. Supposed to be a fix out there for it, but I haven’t bothered to look for it yet. How’s your wife, BTW?
March 27th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Ahah, getting bigger and grumpier
According to the doc, she’ll explode any minute now.. then the 2 months nightmare begins 
June 21st, 2007 at 4:46 pm
[…] lot of people think the Apple iPhone is an overrated, mediocre product. Even Gizmodo says the iPhone sucks. Many […]
July 2nd, 2007 at 1:49 pm
It is a cool product. But after playing it for one day, I think it is not only overrated, it is overpriced.
I don’t think it worth me to keep for 14 days. Too many sellers on ebay, so I returned it to the APPLE store with $50.00 penalty.
July 24th, 2007 at 1:55 am
HILARIOUS article on the overpriced iphone: http://www.nationalsquib.com/html/iphone.html