10 things wrong with the iPhone, from someone who has never used one

Who is this clown writing the article and why the hell are any of us listening to him?

1.) The Nintendo DS has a touch screen, and it's been out for 2 years.
2.) All cellphones/camera/ipod have trouble viewed in daylight -- Duh!! Go stand under a tree.
3.) Dirt, Grease, text messaging on tiny screens, eyes hurting, and the probability of getting mugged -- are all problems that cell phone users all over the world face every single day. These facts are NOTHING NEW.


You're stupid -- shut up!

JeffDM,

The iPhone uses a capacative touch panel according to Apple's web site. (High technology section).

ThePete,

I can't speak for others but I certainly have no problem with pre-judging the iPhone or any other item as long as it's based on what's known. Price seems to be the biggest issue with you and that's certainly a known. I think lots of people will be driven away by price.

In my case, there's price and also the fact that I'm not sure I need these three devices in one package.

What I take exception to is the article being discussed right now. The alleged "serious problems" with the iPhone's touchscreen.

The article listed nothing that wouldn't apply to any other cell phone's screen. The idea that somehow the iPhone's touchscreen is especially fragile makes no sense since touchscreens are getting the shit beat out of them every day at ATM machines, grocery checkout counters, gas pumps, etc. If they weren't good at taking such punishment they wouldn't be used in these applications at all. Therefore, I can take what I know about touch screens, as you suggest, and have every reason to believe reliability will not be an issue.

Guys, I doubt that iPhone uses either resistive or capacitive sensing. I don't think resistive can accurately locate multiple touches, and I don't think capacitive can accurate location with a transparent surface.

lakiolen; the original nomad did predate iPod. It had a bigger hard drive, in physical size and capacity. I think it used a 3.5" hard drive and was connected using USB 1.1. It was actually shaped just like a portable CD player. I think Compaq actually made a player before that too.

J. Scott Anderson: I think you misinterpret the complaint. The issue is on-the-spot replacement, so if you have a dead battery, swap in a spare one and you can accept new calls without being tied to an outlet to recharge. I only use normal phones and don't need to swap batteries, but for a smart phone, I think swappable batteries is important because of how much power they use in normal operation.

Dave of Davao: iPhone isn't just a phone though, it's closer to a smart phone and a lot of people seem to complain of needing to charge them daily.

I am so tired of being told that I can't pre-judge something. I know (and understand why) pre-judging things has a bad reputation in our culture, but puhlease. We're not idiots. We can take what we know about cellphones, iPods, touch screens etc and apply them to what Apple is saying about the iPhone. Are we right? Who knows?

All I know is that if I buy the damn thing just to prove myself wrong I'm a real idiot and you guys should get some cash from Apple for guilting us "naysayers" in to buying before thinking.

I swear--across the media board it's impossible to be critical of anything without being accused of being a "hater" or a "XYZ basher." I'm not an "iPhone basher"--I'm actually a Mac guy and I own three iPods. However, when I look at the iPhone I see a thoroughly unimpressive feature set and a touchscreen which will be OK, but far from the perfection so many people are claiming. I also see a ridiculous price point (I have yet to spend more than $400 on anything handheld in my life, let alone from Apple) and a bunch of sadsack Apple fanboys who the most reasonable of are telling us thinkers out here to suspend judgement until we try the damn thing. Everyone else is simply writing off our concerns entirely as though said concerns are without merit.

Sorry, I don't need to try the damn thing to know I don't want to drop $600 on one phone that won't let me do everything I can do with my current two phones.

So, don't suggest that somehow our experience with previous devices won't apply to the iPhone. Apple is just like any other company--they've screwed up before and will do so again. In my mind it looks like the next time will be in about 11 days.

If, based on reviews, us "haters" are wrong after that, then the best of us will admit it. However, I'm still not dropping more than $400 on any single device, I don't care if it comes from Apple or fricken the Q branch of MI6.

In the meantime, I'll go right on prejudging things based on past experience and my own intelligence because, you know, I'm smart.

What a ridiculous list. Especially so because these were categorizes as "serious problems".

http://thesmallwave.blogspot.com/2007/06/red-ferrets-list-of-serious-problems.html

Well, the new glass screen may make this list just a bit shorter ;)

@J. Scott Anderson - From your link:
"Battery life depends on the cellular network, location, signal strength, feature configuration, usage, and many other factors." Battery tests are conducted using specific iPhone units; actual results may vary."

The key word in their testing is at the very end: Actual results may vary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li-ion

So, so tired reading comments about the battery not being replacable. Do you people ever do the least amount of research before spewing comments like that? Take a look at the source…Apple's iPhone technical page:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/technology/specs.html

Now find something else to complain about. Be sure to dream it up first. I'm sure reading won't be in your process.

You're being way to kind. What points is he right on? I don't see anything here that couldn't be applied to other types of portable electronic device. It's a stupid article, and ranks right up there with the worst of all the iPhone articles being used to generate page-hits.

I have a cell phone (yet!!) but my wife has had hers for three years and has never had need to remove or replace her battery. Now I know some teenage girls who may spend hours at a time talking on the phone but for most normal humans a non-replaceable battery should not be a problem.

Also, I have a Garmin GPS which has a touch screen and it's never been a problem. I can see the screen day or night in any conditions. I get sick of all the iPhone naysaying. Can't we just wait until the thing comes out to pick it apart?