I think, therefore iPhone??
July 3, 2007
by Sage Mandzik, Innovation and Media Arts Manager
So I, like many other dorks (I mean technology enthusiasts) was eagerly anticipating the release of the iPhone. I was resolved to wait a bit before purchasing one - I wanted to read the reviews, test one out at the store, wait for apps to be released, etc. However, Sunday morning I was at the Temescal Farmer’s Market and a lady is walking around “taking pictures” with this shiny little device. She was basically brandishing her new iPhone, waiting for someone to rush up and gush over it.
Later in the day I made my way to the Apple store in Emeryville. I was actually hoping to see a giant line, a big mob fighting over the remaining phones, maybe a knife fight or two. Instead I see a bunch of people hovering around the store models and a clear path to the register where 20 odd iPhones were sitting in their pretty little boxes. So after holding one, testing out the keyboard functionality, etc., I lost my resolve and am now the proud owner of a shiny new iPhone.
So how does it rate? Here’s my review - everything is on a scale of 1-5.
- Overall Functionality: 5, within 5 minutes of activation I had synced my mail, contacts, calendar, bookmarks, photos, music and podcasts. Easy to navigate, very intuitive.
- Touchscreen: 4, looks great, high resolution, the tap, double tap, two finger tap control system is easy and, again, very intuitive. The screen gets greasy pretty fast - I’m sure an “iGlove” is in the works from multiple creators.
- Phone: 2, the interface is great, but the connection has sounded pretty poor -according to the people on the other end. Its a bit better when I wear the ubiquitous white headphones (these feature a built in speaker) but I may have to spring for the $129 bluetooth headset for a cleaner conversation.
- Connection: 3, the phone searches and joins open wifi networks automatically, remembers wifi networks its been logged on to before, and switches to the AT&T Edge network when no wifi is available. I’ve only been truly “offline” when deep underground, such as in the Transbay Tube during my daily commute. However, the Edge network is not as fast or strong as I’d hoped.
Overall its the best new toy I’ve had in years - some things I hope are released in future versions: temperature gauge, gps, videocamera, BART EZ Rider capability, credit card functionality, and medical/environmental scanning (think Star Trek tricorder).
But by far, the best thing about it is being able to surf the web while spending time in the sun. 
Entry Filed under: Technology. .
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1.
guns | July 4, 2007 at 2:11 am
you dog! what do you think of the youtube functionality?
- g
2.
dina divsalar | July 4, 2007 at 2:42 am
Sage, I enjoyed reading your article!
3.
sid | July 4, 2007 at 11:58 am
sage, the future upgrades that you mentioned….are they going to be s/w upgrades that you can apply to ur current iPhone or do u have to buy the new model on the market for those?
any ideas?
4.
Lee Tillman | July 4, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Now I understand why I love my little Star Tac~and why it lives it’s life in the ‘off-mode’! : )
5.
Andy Kahn | July 5, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Hmm, great everything, except the phone? I don’t like phones anyway, maybe it would be perfect for me.
6.
sageone | July 5, 2007 at 8:28 pm
The YouTube function is pretty cool, when I played the “Evolution of Dance” for my 3-year old nephew on the phone he said “Its a TV!” - except not all of the videos that you can see on the YouTube site are available in the H264 codec (therefore not viewable on the iPhone, as it doesn’t support Flash - another downside I forgot to mention). One other cute thing, when you type in “iphone” on its little keyboard, it auto-corrects to “iPhone”. ahh Apple.
7.
matty | July 9, 2007 at 11:53 pm
we got one this weekend, too. i worry i will drop it.
8.
Alex | July 10, 2007 at 2:58 pm
For info on new “i-Phone” policy, check out these articles:
NEW RULES COULD ROCK WIRELESS WORLD
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070710/1a_bottomstrip10_dom.art.htm
iPHONE POLITICS… AND WEDNESDAY’S iPHONE HEARING IN CONGRESS
[SOURCE: Open Left, AUTHOR: Matt Stoller]
http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=46
9.
TearIzUp | September 29, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Stellar Post. My compliments to the author.
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10.
Cell Phone Researcher | November 27, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Does it cost more when you use the ATT&T internet service than wifi? i.e. do you get charged minutes when you use the AT&T wireless and not when you use the wifi?
11.
bavc | November 29, 2007 at 7:27 pm
As far as I know, all the data transfers are treated the same. It’s all part of the monthly service and you are only charged for the talk minutes. If you sign up, be sure to switch to electronic billing otherwise you get a bill that lists every data transfer (crazy).
; )