Why I: am not buying an iPhone [yet]

iphone.jpgDon’t get me wrong, I want one, I’m just not buying one; not yet, anyway.  I love all things Apple, and generally speaking the only thing that stops me spending ridiculous amounts of cash in the Apple Store is the need to feed and clothe my wife and kids (personally I could starve and run around naked, but they don’t share that view :-) ).  However, when it comes to the iPhone, I wouldn’t buy one – even if someone gave me the cash for it.

They are cool, there’s no getting away from that, but that hardly separates them from any other Apple product.  That they take functionality in cell phones to a whole new level is hard to dispute.  And there is no denying that for perhaps most people, there would be no need to carry another gadget to achieve mobile multimedia and communication heaven.  But for me they take the whole form over function argument a step too far, and cool just doesn’t cut it far enough to make me even think about parting with cold hard cash.

In reality, it’s a bit of a non-issue: I’m tied into a contract on a T-Mobile Blackberry, and I don’t have a spare hundred plus quid to spend on a new phone, even if I wasn’t contractually crippled.  However, let’s assume I had the cash and I was in the market: what would I do?  Noting, that’s what. For now.  In fact, I wouldn’t do nothing at all – I’d wait; I wouldn’t tie myself to another phone or contract, but instead I’d wait for the iPhone to evolve into what it should be.

Version 2 of iPhone is an improvement for sure – 3G is the functionality version 1 should’ve had – but where are the video capabilities?  Where is the improved storage capacity?  Where is the decent camera?  Where is the choice on contracts and providers?  You see, I’m not especially a fan of O2, and I carry an 80 gig iPod with all but 10GB of its capacity used, I use my phone for pics and I want to be able to take video.

Here’s my take on what Apple did with the iPhone: they developed ground-breaking technology, couldn’t keep a lid on the leaks and had to go to market fast so they got there first.  As a consequence, what they took to market was light on features, but they knew that it was cool enough (and indeed feature-rich enough) for a big-bunch of eager consumers to buy one, thus establishing a presence in the market while they perfected it.  Version 2 needed to be an improvement – and so it was – but couldn’t be so much better than version 1 that Apple alienated all the version 1 early-adopters.  Now here’s my prediction – version 3 will be all that iPhone should be.

So, until iPhone grows up and gets iPod levels of storage, a proper camera and video, as a minimum – essentially until version 3 comes out, which based on Apple’s release schedules, should tie nicely with the end of my current cell phone contract – I can live with my Blackberry. 

When it does grow up, however…….




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Comments

5 Responses to “Why I: am not buying an iPhone [yet]”

  1. Liam on July 18th, 2008 9:24 am

    Great thoughts Andy, Im tied into the BB contract too. I am also very self aware in that I know I want one primarily because they are ‘supercool’ and I am one of the few people I know, that would know where to start getting all the best use out of one (technological pride, me?)

    Thanks again.

    PS. I struggle with simple maths wink…but appreciate that its easier than dealing with spam!

    PSS. 3+5 is 8 right because the machine is telling me I am wrong.

  2. Andy on July 18th, 2008 9:49 am

    @Liam – I’m with you – it’s feature-set will be one of teh most under-used on any phone, but there will always be those of us who want to be able to do something, either because we know we can, or because we think we should be able to – and it is those of us who are stiking with our Crackberries for now, I suspect smile

    As for 3+5, yep, it adds up to 8 in my world.  I also checked the settings, and it seems it adds up to 8 there, too, so that’s a weird one – let me know if it crops up again, would you?

  3. Jeff Noble on July 18th, 2008 3:01 pm

    First of all, I’ve been missing your blog because Bloglines for some reason wasn’t picking up all your new posts. Second, you’re going to be the cause of much minutes before the iMac catching up on back-posts and Andy-life.

    Third, very astute assessment of iPhone 3.0. I think you’ve nailed the whole thing more than many others who’ve tried.

    I love my iPhone 1.0 and am so glad it’s just a hard drive with glass. They can change it with every subsequent software update, and as long as they will do so, I’m good to go!

  4. Andy on July 18th, 2008 8:20 pm

    @Jeff – as much as I won’t buy one, I’m still jealous that you’ve got one smile

  5. Dave on August 5th, 2008 9:04 am

    In the meantime, why not get the latest ipop touch? they are a lot of fun, and you can still keep your blackbury too.

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