iPhone thoughts…….from a Treo700P user.
Do I have an iPhone? No. Do I want one? Maybe. I only say maybe because I still have time left on my Sprint contract with my Treo700P and I am not COMPLETELY sold on a Gen.1 iPhone. I would not have paid $600 for it anyway. I MIGHT pay $400 for it. It’s a very sexy device and seems to do what it’s supposed to in a very clean and elegant way, which tends to be Apples MO, so I am not surprised. There is one very large and very possible deal breaker however. The iPhone is completely directionally challenged because it does not have GPS. In my opinion, the iPhone would be a 5 star phone if it had GPS. Heck, my Treo700P would stand to live a few more years if it had GPS. I use Google maps on my Treo more than I use it for a phone. In fact, I despise my Treo in phone terms. I lose calls on it all the time. I put it away and break out my 3.5 year old IDEN Nextel i730, and IT works every time. Pretty sad actually. I truly believe that there will be that all-in-one device that simply makes the rest look like retarded cousins and I think Apple has done very well with their first delivery into the cellphone market. I have yet to see that matchless wireless device though. The iPhone is certainly one of the top dogs right now and I see their market share only increasing from here. I also believe that Apple will be delivering a GPS and iPhone swirl sooner than later. So here’s what will need to happen to make the iPhone kill the rest.
- Add GPS!
- Open iPhone to ALL carriers, or at least most carriers. I really don’t want to go from EVDO to Edge
- Open the software platform to 3rd party developers. Even if Apple manages what can be loaded via iTunes. Some choice is better than no choice. It’s kinda like when a chef refuses to have salt on the table of his restaurant, we don’t all have the same taste buds dude! (Enough of the iHacks already, I want native support and no risk of an iBrick)
I think the killer phone lies in balance between ease of use and flexibility. I know everyone already knows this, but I am pretty sure that the current selection of mobile devices does not reflect this balance. I have plenty of flexibility on my Treo, within its feature base, but the Treo OS is quite elderly and the device is quite overweight. Now I know they just released the Palm Centro, but that phone offers no more than my Treo. It IS smaller and it IS $99 bucks, which makes it a great entry level smartphone for those interested in trying out the smartphone world. But for all intents and purposes though, it’s still a Treo, just smaller.
Whether or not I get an iPhone all depends on what becomes available in the next year or so. I do love that the price dropped $200 bucks though.
So a note on that:
I found an article today that brought the news we were all waiting for. Someone sued Apple for the price drop!
If you live in the USA, you knew it was going to happen. I’m not sure it will go anywhere, but it does bring up the question to those of you that ARE iPhone owners. Are you ticked or do you accept the fact that there is a premium price to be paid for early adoptions? I personally think you should feel a little bit of both. If the price dropped in six months, the early adopter rule should stand, but since it was only two months, I think I would have had my feelings hurt. At least a little bit. I think Apple did the right thing to offer a rebate, but it should have been cash back, not iCash.
So what’s to come? Will I ever get my slim, high quality, QWERTY, large display, GPS with Google maps, email, internet, EVDO, 5 star phone? I really hope so. Until then, I will continue rocking the 700P and wishing I had GPS.
-Kamen