The iPhone Launch: The Countdown Begins
Now just a few hours from the its retail launch, Apple’s iPhone continues to engender the kind of blatant material lust we haven’t seen since Gollum’s pursuit of the Ring in the Lord of the Rings movies (“We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious.”)
Since our own plan is to buy a number of iPhones immediately and work through the weekend performing a hands-on evaluation of the phone, in the interim we thought we’d recap what’s been already said by the four journalists who received evaluation units a few weeks ahead of the rest of us. (The policy of Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, requires us to purchase the products we review).
The reviews by all four of the reporters--Walt Mossberg from the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times’ David Pogue, Ed Baig from USA Today and Newsweek’s Steven Levy--were predominantly positive. But all acknowledged some drawbacks, most notably the comparatively slow AT&T EDGE network. Many of their assessments echo issues we raised in our earlier coverage.
Praise for the phone itself was generally effusive. Consensus high points for the phone were its sleek, stylish design, the innovative glass touch-screen, and a great web browser. The virtual keyboard took some getting used to, particularly for those used to QWERTY-style physical keys, but two reviewers noted that the predictive software, which guesses what you’re trying to type, and error-correction system help ease some of the learning-curve pain.
The phone’s easy-to-use software also garnered praise. All the reviewers liked the e-mail operations, as well as the unique “visual” voice mail that displays the names of the people who leave voice mail, so you can play them in the order you choose (instead of in the order they were received).
Not everyone thought the iPhone’s operations were ideal when the device was used as, well, a phone. One reviewer said making a call could take as many as six steps, due to the lack of conventional dedicated phone buttons.
As expected, AT&T’s EDGE network took the hardest, most sustained hits. One reviewer called the network “excruciatingly slow,” saying it took 55 seconds to load a newspaper’s home page (which was better than the two minutes it took for him to get Yahoo to appear). Almost every reviewer said that sluggishness makes the phone’s ability to tap into Wi-Fi hotspots was a godsend--at least when one was available. (For AT&T’s and Apple’s response, see a joint interview with Apple CEO Steve Jobs and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson in the Wall Street Journal.)
Among the other most common complaints: the lack of a memory-card slot, no voice dialing, no instant messaging, no support for Flash and Java, and the inability of the built-in 2-megapixel camera to take videos. Some didn’t like AT&T exclusivity, or the fact that it doesn’t accept the SIM cards that would allow it to work on another network.
While most praised its performance as an iPod--even though the renowned scroll wheel has been replaced by finger taps and flicks--a few said the 4GB or 8GB of memory may not be sufficient for those used to the 30GB, 40GB or even 80GB that come with standard-sized iPods.
Another consistent complaint was that the headphone jack on the phone is so deeply recessed that many conventional headphones can’t connect to the phone properly; you’ll have to buy an adapter or a newer headphone made specifically to fit the iPhone.
By the way, if you’re heading out to get a phone, AT&T stores are limiting sales to one per customer. Apple, however, is letting customers purchase two iPhones at a time.
For more information on cell phones, smart phones, and choosing a wireless service:
- Our latest cell phone Ratings report
- Our latest smart phone Ratings report
- Our online cell phone decision guide
--James K. Willcox
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