I've been in an Apple Store 3 times this week, spending long periods of time interacting with the iPhone. I want to love this phone so badly but...
It obviously was not ready for prime time. Apple over promised and under delivered. There are so many shortcomings with this product. Watch the next few weeks for all the other people speaking up about their disappointment.
First of all, for all those saying "this is a new product, don't expect it to be perfect... Apple will be providing software updates... etc" that is unacceptable. The device is $600 and you're paying a minimum of $60/month. Email communication should be very sophisticated and flexible on the iPhone -- besides making a phone call email is the next most important feature for people away from their home or office. Getting email 4 times an hour maximum is simply not frequent enough. There should be push email for sure ala blackberry. Here are some of the other shortcomings:
-- Safari crashes frequently. It crashed 3 times in one 15 minute session I had with the phone
-- Some apps you can rotate, some you can't. You end up guessing, and oh surprise it won't rotate the view. Sometimes there is long delay. One video I went to on Apple's website didn't play and I just got a black screen. Some consistency would be good there.
-- if you're browsing the web, calls go directly voicemail. why?
-- expensive headphones won't work without an adapter.
-- no realtime ichat
-- can't update any info on the phone through bluetooth connection with your main computer. Lame.
-- the so called third party apps can't be stored on the phone itself. You have to bookmark them and can only get them while online. Jobs calls them "Web 2.0 applications" but there is another name for them: "websites". That is all they are. HTML/Javascript/AJAX. Not very sophisticated. No Java, No Flash, No games.
-- maybe I missed it but I couldn't find out how to search the music library with keywords like we do with iTunes on the desktop. Sometimes still the fastest way to find a track.
On the good side:
--beautiful industrial design and user interface.
--multitouch very innovative. Although constantly pinching and stretching web pages in Safari to get them how I like them to appear was a constant amount of work. Get's tedious after a while. Still better than all other phones but not perfect either.
-- great iPod features.
And yes I'm a mac nut. I have an 8 core mac pro, a 17 inch macbook pro, 30 inch Cinema Display, 3 ipods, Final Cut Studio, Aperture, and just about every other Mac accessory. Apple makes fantastic products but the iPhone just needed more time. 12 months from now it will be great. But now it is a double instead of a home run. For those that love it -- awesome. For those that are disappointed -- you're not alone.
