Well the short answer is no.<\/p>\n
But since a few people I know are beginning to get tempted, I thought I’d lay out all my objections to Apple’s new wondrous piece of technology.<\/p>\n
Cost<\/strong><\/p>\n Most people in the UK who have large monthly spends are used to getting even the very newest phones free of charge with a new contract renewal. But that’s not the way the iPhone is going to work. You have to buy the phone for £269 and then take out an O2 contract for a minimum of £35 a month. If you’re already on O2, that might be fine, but it’s not a great prospect otherwise. Apple take a cut of every penny the consumer pays to O2, which explains the somewhat inflated prices. I will concede that the data element of those packages is pretty good.<\/p>\n Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Why is this device not 3G? Higher speed technologies might not be the standard in the US, but that’s really not the case in Europe and to release this product at a slower speed is just not acceptable. Yes there’s Edge, and I was tickled to find that my Orange phone got Edge wherever I was in Skye recently, whereas it’s pretty rare in London. But 3G is where it’s at.<\/p>\n It may well be the best iPod that Apple have ever made, but it only comes with 8GB of memory. That’s the same as you get on a iPod Nano. Given that the screen is going to encourage me to watch videos on it, there’s simply not going to be space for more than a handful of videos, a few albums, some photos and a few podcasts. I’ll have filled it.<\/p>\n For forty quid less, I can get twenty times the memory on an iPod Classic.<\/p>\n Practicality<\/strong><\/p>\n I’ll admit to not having actually played with an iPhone – the closest I’ve got so far is standing two deep back from someone playing with an iPod Touch in the Apple Store on Regent Street. But I’m not convinced by a non-tactile communication device. I’ve lived for nearly 18 months (and yes, I very much regret signing up for 18 months last time around) with an Orange M600, or HTC Prophet. It has a touch screen, and for some stuff like Google Maps it’s great. But for dialing people it’s rubbish, and texting is positively painful. You have to keep getting your stylus out to do anything worthwhile. Now while Apple’s touch technology is undoubtedly much more sophisticated, it you can stand up with your hand on your heart and tell me that texting is easier than with a keyboard, then I might begin to listen.<\/p>\n And while the screen looks lovely, you just know you’re going to have to put it in a fairly bulky case. The iPhone is a thing of beauty, but it’s going to get grubby finger marks all over that screen (you should have seen those iPod Touches in the Apple Store), and you simply couldn’t put it in any pocket without protection.<\/p>\n The Small Things<\/strong><\/p>\n The whole ringtone thing is a disgrace – you have to pay extra to turn your iTunes tracks into ringtones, when every other phone in the category these days lets you play whatever music you’ve put on your phone as a ringtone.<\/p>\n Why can’t I just install whatever programs I like on the phone? That’s the whole point of smartphones isn’t it? They’re small computers. I can install whatever I like on my M600. I don’t need a nanny looking over my shoulder deciding if I can be trusted with it. It’s all down to me.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n Maybe the second generation of iPhones will be better. Apple won’t be able to dictate pricing quite as rigidly, and there’ll be more competition to keep things keen. Flash memory will be cheaper so there’ll actually be a decent amount of disk space on the phone, and 3G will be included. There might even be the odd button on it. Perhaps then I’ll take another look at it.<\/p>\n Yes, the phone’s a thing of beauty, but that’s not enough.<\/p>\n