Victor Grazi wrote "no-keyboard is a show stopper - not worth further investigation"
Victor, I thought the same thing. But surprisingly Apple has done an excellent job with the virtual keyboard. I have finger nails on my thumbs that tend to assist me with the Treo 755p's tiny and closely fitted QWERTY board. I was able to slide my thumbs across the virtual keys with ease. The screen shows a magnified view of the selected key. I caught on quickly. Apple is trying to appeal to the masses of youths that love their music and music videos first. The biggest hurdle is the price. The general public looks at the price and says no way. Some can justify emotionally because they squeal, "it's a ipod and video player too" - but they already have an ipod. Price and the exclusive agreement with AT&T are the two biggest issues. The non-removal battery is an issue that many will tolerate as they do with the millions of other phones that don't. The iPhone 2.0 will no doubt have a removable battery (remember the Treo 600 had the same non-removal battery start). I think the biggest missing item is omission of the Instant messenger (one that uses the big 5 - AOL, Chatter, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo). The crowd that they are appealing to would forgive them for slow web browsing on the go, if they could communicate with their buddies while in the back seat (after being dragged off the computer to get out the house) of the car. The above facts aside, the Apple iPhone is a great addition to the feature phone group. It is not a Smartphone; I don't believe Apple has ever use the term "Smartphone" to describe their phone. The are calling it a "revolutionary" phone. The media and the techies are falsely calling it a Smartphone. They should not do this as it guides them down a road that would end in a bad experience. This is a revolutionary phone because it does some things not yet seen on a phone. The flicking through of the contacts, pictures or listings are revolutionary. The pinching to zoom in and un-pinching to zoom out is revolutionary. The keyboard's ability to magnify and widen the touch area as it predicts your next letter is revolutionary. The size of the display is revolutionary for a mobile phone. The screen is so crisp (when the movie or video is converted correctly) that is like having a high definition TV in the Palm of your hand. Aside from the revolutionary areas, the phone is simplicity and integration to seal the deal. It doesn't have the kitchen sink that Smartphones have, but what it does pack is good. It has a 2 megapixel camera, Wifi, Bluetooth to name a few. The web is viewed that way it should be done, or yeah and the double tap to zoom is revolutionary too. Google should put this to use in its Google Maps application on all platforms. If you want to view site in a mobile fashion any way, the use the Google Reader and you can have your cake and still eat the cupcakes. The device is not for me, but I would get my wife one in a heart beat. She would not use a Smartphone's feature (that is why my old Treo 650 just sits there without anyone to use it). The simple applications that the iPhone offers are what she would use without much urging. The keyboard that the techies call crazy and useless is a welcome addition for her and many others. They no longer have to tap tap tap on a numeric pad to type a single letter. They can send their SMS message quickly and be on their way. The other thing is, it brings real e-mail to the mobile phone. Even my Treo 755p doesn't do this well. It only does as well as it does do because I have Chatteremail, which Palm has now purchased to finally make the right move for mobile e-mail. Apple's e-mail application is a great addition to the mobile phone, as it display pictures in right in the mail itself, instead of as an attachment that you have to fire up an additional application to view. Now I am typing this review on my Treo 755p; I would not attempt this on the iPhone. I am not the audience for the iPhone. I would want to do some editing of Word documents, the iPhone does not allow this. I wouldn't type a Word document nearly as long as this e-mail that I am typing this review it; however, I would want to be able to edit a document to send to others. Let's say I get an e-mail for a job offer, I would want to be able to edit my resume and e-mail it to the HR personnel. I predict that iPhone 2.0 will allow this, DataViz made come to the rescue. Where are the games? You would think it would at least have Solitaire or something like Bejeweled. More importantly, Apple should have developed a revolutionary game that is entertaining yet a tool to provide training, utilizing the keyboard, pinching and flicking techniques. The bottom line about the iPhone is this: it changes our expectations of what a phone can or can not do. It forces us to think differently about everything that we knew previously. The mobile landscape is forever changed, thanks to the iPhone. iPhone is NOT a Smartphone, but what it does do is bring smart ideas and features to the mobile landscape. iPhone will do well in the marketplace. It will inspire others including Palm to do more than product evolutionary products, they now need to produce revolutionary phones. Thanks, I'll see you on the web! Carl W. Brooks http://www.Palmloyal.com Palm Podcasts, Daily News, Software, Hardware, Mobile e-mail Services and More!
