On July 11th, Apple will unleash the next generation of iPhone to the unwashed masses. Based on anecdotal evidence and non-scientific (lazy) research, it seems as though many of the geeks that have v1.0 will make the upgrade to v2.0.
I can say with certainty that I’ll never buy an iPhone as long as Apple limits the carrier to AT&T. An iPod Touch seems much more likely to occupy a spot on my “future acquisitions” list. What about you? Will you get the new iPhone when it’s released? If you have an iPhone 1.0, will you upgrade to 2.0?
I’m curious to know your thoughts on the subject.
-Krishna
P.S. I’ve posted some new art – cast your Buzzcomix vote if you’d like to see it.
Have a great (and safe!) 4th of July holiday weekend, American readers!
I also would never buy a product that limits who the carrier is. To me it is like buying a car and they say I can only fuel it a Shell.
I like the Nokia mobile phones better.
First off, having a phone w/o a removable battery is just bad. 50% of non user-caused issues with phones can be fixed by replacing the battery.
Second, Verizon Wireless has had their 3G network out since 2005. 2005 people. AT&T is laughable at this point.
Third, the iPhone STILL can’t send picture messages.
Fourth, Apple does not have enough experience in the cellular industry to be considered a valuable or trusted product.
Fifth and finally, the plans that AT&T has for the iPhone, w/ the unlimited everything the phone does, is $10 more expensive than the Verizon Wireless premium plan, but the VZW plan ALSO includes unlimited navigator, with turn-by-turn directions that locate where you are. iPhone is still just maps. And the new LG Dare is everything you could want from the iPhone and more.
My reasons for not getting a cell phone are mostly nontechnical.
1) I don’t want to spend over $200 on something I can easily drop in the toilet (because that WILL happen).
2) There really isn’t a compelling reason to be an early adopter of ANY technology these days. Just a year ago an iPhone cost twice as much and was twice as slow. What will the iPhone be like a year from now?
3) I don’t really care. There seems to be a big push to turn cell phones into portable Internet devices. When I saw the Incredible Hulk, I saw more trailers for “the next iPhone killer” than I saw for movies. But really, I don’t need the Internet on my cell phone, or at least I don’t need it badly enough to shell out hundreds of dollars up front and pay $30 extra or more on my cell phone bill. The whole thing seems like a ploy for cellular companies to squeeze more money out of their customers (and yes, I do feel old and curmudgeonly saying that).
I have an iPhone, and I’ll get an iPhone 3G next week. Whiners who complain about one aspect or another of the phone are right on small points, but hugely wrong on the “big picture” point, IMO. I can make a list of the things I’d like to be changed about the iPhone (some of which aren’t going to change with the new model), but even with those minor flaws, it’s the best and most useful single piece of technology I’ve ever owned. For me, it’s become an indispensable part of my life. Every other phone I had before that was tolerable and useful, but never something that integrated well into my life.
I can see the advantage of being able to swap out batteries, but being able to put batteries into any other phone doesn’t negate the iPhone advantages. I’ve never cared for AT&T (or Cingular or BellSouth Mobility before that), but having to use them doesn’t change the fact that iPhone is still far and away the best device I own. The iPhone needs to add some form of copy and paste.
I could go on. There are other flaws. But even with its flaws, it’s so far superior to its competitors that it’s absolutely worth dealing with the flaws.
hack the iphone to work for your carrier… come on now, seriously all.
SPRINT:
http://www.google.com/search?q=hack+iphone+for+sprint&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
TMOBILE:
http://www.google.com/search?q=hack+iphone+t-mobile&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
I haven’t found a cell carrier yet that I thot was great. Not wanting to deal with AT&T was a big reason I waited on getting on iPhone. When I finally got one though, I was and still am very pleased with it. I use it every day, and it is very helpful to me in my job where I have to drive around a lot to new places.
Since I hate talking on the phone, I almost always have rollover minutes, which gives me the freedom to make long calls when I talk to family l/d. Having unlimited data is much more useful since I use my iPhone to do a lot of web surfing–kills time when I’m waiting. The maps work great for me, and I never liked the spoken turn by turn directions (having a voice talk to me is more distracting than looking at directions).
All in all,the iPhone is far more versatile and useful than I expected. I just wish 3G had come out earlier–hopefully the software update will be enuf to improve the EDGE performance since I don’t plan on buying a 3G phone for at least another year.