Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, iPhone
iPhone First Impressions
It was difficult, but I finally tore myself away from playing with my 8GB iPhone to put together a First Impressions post. I tried touching on a few things that we might not have discussed before, or at least things that I particularly appreciate that might not have made it into the keynote or video spotlights. Given the complexity and depth of such a ground-breaking device, you can be sure this won't be the only first post of its kind from me or the rest of our team, but for now, read on for some initial thoughts on one of Apple's most anticipated devices of all time.
- I just need to get it out of the way: Words cannot describe how incredibly wonderful this thing feels to touch and hold. It is an absolute marvel of engineering. Gorgeous in every way.
- It's light; surprisingly so. Not quite as light as I remember my Samsung BlackJack being (one of - if not the - slimmest and lightest smartphones on the market), but considering how bad the BlackJack and Windows Mobile in general sucked, it's honestly a non-issue.
- Amazingly, just about all facets of the phone's software work as advertised. Switching from the browser back to the Home screen is a snap; hitting the Home button the middle of a YouTube video is also a snap.
- However, YouTube videos take a bit longer than advertised on TV to buffer and begin playing, even over Wi-Fi. Not too worried about it.
- Google Maps is surprisingly responsive, even over EDGE (which wide reports are saying has received a significant speed boost in the last couple days. Hmm, wonder why).
- The magnifying glass effect is quick and very, very cool. However, it unfortunately seems to negate the possibility of selecting a block of text for deleting. This would have been handy in instances like blowing away a URL already in Safari to start typing a new one; the only workaround for this is tapping at the end of the URL and holding the delete key down and waiting for each character to be deleted in succession. Kind of annoying. Update: Thankfully, a commenter pointed out the big grey X sitting in Safari's address bar, allowing for a one click deletion of an entire URL. Much handier.
- The reader.mac.com app seems a little misleading - all it does is display a message on the iPhone instructing you to add a direct URL for a site's feed in Safari, in which case it will display that feed much like Safari RSS on a computer. It isn't a web-based app at all from what I can tell. Unless Apple has something more planned for reader.mac.com, I'm calling this another fumbled addition to the .Mac family (though, for the record: I'm a happy .Mac customer, I just increased my storage to 2GB and I fully plan to renew my account in October).
- Have I mentioned yet that this seems to be a device designed and engineered by angels? Because it is.
- Changing the ringer/phone volume or toggling the vibrate switch elicits a translucent Mac OS X-like volume feedback.
- Seeing translucency on a phone with this gorgeous of a display is nearly worth half the price in and of itself.
- The SMS app looks like iChat and almost sounds like iChat; it features a different sound for incoming SMSes, but the default iChat sound for sending SMS messages. My only question is: where is iChat!
- YouTube H.264 videos look as gorgeous on the iPhone as they do on the Apple TV (remember: Apple got YouTube to convert a portion of their catalog for the iPhone and Apple TV into H.264 from the original uploaded files; this isn't a conversion from original > Flash > H.264). Note to YouTube: drop Flash, switch to H.264 video for your entire catalog. Now.
- Snapping a picture on the camera features a virtual shutter that snaps shut and open again once the picture is done being snapped and saved. Kinda silly, but more entertaining than a 'saving' or 'please wait' message.
- The 160 dpi display is even more gorgeous than in the videos and up on stage in a keynote.
- According to John Gruber, the iPhone's UI is all done in Helvetica, which I am definitely a fan of. I also agree that Notes being done in some icky Comic Sans-y type is... weird.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Rob said 12:37AM on 6-30-2007
Here's a glowingly positive review... AT&T is blowing up the entire rollout. 5 hours now awaiting activation & I am already an existing AT&T/Cingular customer.
I'm sure the phone is absolutely wonderful, but Steve Jobs has to be loading up the machine gun and heading over to AT&T right now. This is a PR nighmare, and completely unacceptable for a $600 device touted as "revolutionary".
Not only that, but shortly following the email telling me that "AT&T is now processing your activation", my old AT&T Blackjack went to No Service. So lucky me, I have absolutely no cell phone service at all.
But I do have this lovely, yet revolutionary paperweight.
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touristique said 12:37AM on 6-30-2007
For deleting a web URL, you need only click the little (x) at the end of the line, rather than holding "backspace" -- much, MUCH, quicker, and not at all annoying.
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bill McClure said 2:01PM on 6-30-2007
its a phone that does everything my WINMO5 phone does. Get over it. And yes, i will buy one eventually, but come on, a phone that does what my 2 year old phone(tmobile mda) does.. come. on.
Nothing beats the hype machine. And i'm a 5 year apple fan. first mac was a 233ghz imac, so its not flame bait. its honesty. This is RIDICULOUS.
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Jason Martin said 12:45AM on 6-30-2007
David,
For the record, I believe YouTube had already announced that they were transitioning their entire catalogue to H.264, and the transition is expected to be completed in the Fall.
@Rob
Are you sure your problem is systemic? I've talked to numerous people tonight who quickly activated their iPhones with no problem, the most recent being about an hour ago. You are the first of a dozen or so iPhone users I've heard from who have had an activation problem. It may be a problem with your computer or an isolated incident, rather than a problem with AT&T.
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Billy K said 12:45AM on 6-30-2007
"I just need to get it out of the way: Words cannot describe how incredibly wonderful this thing feels to touch and hold. It is an absolute marvel of engineering. Gorgeous in every way."
I can't take my hands off it.
"Have I mentioned yet that this seems to be a device designed and engineered by angels? Because it is."
I am absolutely in awe by this device... I mean, if this is gen 1...GEN 1!?!?!
It feels like a device that's been sharpened over a couple, three years. It's really indescribable. When AT&T gets their act together and Apple makes the tweaks they most certainly will...this is going to be unbeatable. Not that it already isn't.
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Dave Chartier said 12:47AM on 6-30-2007
I received the same errors during activation, and I also received the email. I figured what the heck and started dialing - and it worked. EDGE works, so does SMS - despite the error.
#1: I can't believe I didn't see that big grey X staring me in the face. Thank you.
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Billy K said 12:48AM on 6-30-2007
@3 Bill McClure -
One can't really "get it" until you play with it. Just as you said your comment wasn't flame bait, mine is not Apple Zealotry. I was skeptical, but took the plunge. It has far exceeded anything I could've imagined, even after seeing all the demo videos.
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touristique said 12:49AM on 6-30-2007
I have never had such a "wow" device in my hands. Everyone else who's touched it is in awe. I'm speechless. It really is THAT good. Words fail me, and it's so simply, yet so stunning.
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Billy K said 12:49AM on 6-30-2007
Sorry to keep posting - but is anyone else surprised at the COMPLETE lack of paperwork? No manual, no EULA, no nothing.
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Michael said 12:52AM on 6-30-2007
Bill: It is not that the feature set is anything new... its that the way in which the user interacts with the device is. I am not talking about the keyboard even. Its about being able to view and use the information in the device without labour. This is something that no other device has been able to achieve... yet when you think about it... its all rather simple in a very silly and stupid way.
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futuredead said 12:54AM on 6-30-2007
My iPhone is an iBrick.
I'm on hour number 5.
Tried to activate at 7:35pm EDT.
Still not able to use this thing!!
Has anyone else had a problem?
AT&T has said this is normal and I am a pre-existing AT&T customer!?!
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Rob said 12:56AM on 6-30-2007
@Jason
No, it's pretty widespread. Most people with the problem are waiting a minimum of 4 hours. Some even at 7 hours with AT&T telling them it could take 24 or more as they were caught off guard with the volume of activations.
Check here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1016873&tstart=0
Over on the AT&T support forums there are Windows users blaming Apple for the botched rollout. If anyone was thinking about switching, this is certainly not a good first impression of Apple products.
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malbert said 1:00AM on 6-30-2007
5 hours and counting...waiting for activation. That is after waiting 5 hours in line. I am not happy with at&t. I am an existing customer...no reason this activation should take this long.
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Dave Chartier said 12:58AM on 6-30-2007
The paperwork, EULA and other stuff is in the first thin black box between the iPhone's base and the rest of the accessories. Unfold it and there's even a Finger Tips pamphlet.
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Dave Chartier said 12:58AM on 6-30-2007
The paperwork, EULA and other stuff is in the first thin black box between the iPhone's base and the rest of the accessories. Unfold it and there's even a Finger Tips pamphlet.
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Chris said 1:02AM on 6-30-2007
I was completely disappointed with the touch keyboard. When a web page is loading, say you click the wrong link, and you want to enter in a new URL, expect lagging. I found the responsiveness completely lackluster... perhaps my fingers aren't designed well enough to use with the iPhone.
Lack of Flash, incredibly disappointing, it's not the whole internet as advertised.
Accelerometers have problems auto rotating depending on how the iPhone is oriented, perpendicular v. parallel to the ground.
Generally unintuitive, the two people I was with had to have an Apple rep explain how to do everything, it just didn't seem to come to people who weren't already familiar with the interface.
I'm so glad I didn't purchase one for myself.... not to mention data speeds were painfully slow.
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kevan Loy said 1:06AM on 6-30-2007
i don't know if it was just a coincidence or not but i had my old phone on when i tried activation. it finished with it, but it didn't get my number until i turned off the old phone. try that.
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Billy K said 1:07AM on 6-30-2007
I was just sitting here listening to the iPod, trying to determine if the sound is better/worse/same as various iPods, when I got a call. I looked at the screen, pressed the button and took a call. Earbuds with microphone worked perfectly. I asked my conversant several times, "are you sure you can hear me OK?" Yep. Then the call dropped (hope it was her service, not mine). I just clilcked the button and re-called.
I mean, I'm the guy who thoughtt here was no manual. I don't know how much more intuitive it gets.
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Leonard Nimrod said 1:11AM on 6-30-2007
You have a 100k people activating new phones at the same time. What did every one expect. I believe they say it can take up to 24 hours for activation.
I can't wait to see the numbers for the weekend or the week. Is a millions units in the first week possible? I think so, considering that all the online purchases count as sales too despite having a 2-4 week ship date.
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Frank said 1:14AM on 6-30-2007
i had to wait about 3 hrs for activation, and then i got an email saying my current at&t plan was not compatible with the iphone. i called at&t right away (it was 10pm when i called), and almost immediately got a rep on the phone (!), who was *very* helpful. as it turns out, my plan was SO old that they were right, it wasn't compatible with the current family plans, so i needed to pick a new family plan -- which turned out to be CHEAPER than my old plan as an existing customer (plus the new data plan). so, even though i had to wait 3 hours, KUDOS to at&t reps for working so hard and being so pleasant through this process.
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