My Penance: Writing an iPhone Review That Someone Will Hate

In a previous post here--"My Sin: I Bought an iPhone"--I dramatized, just a bit, the experience of buying a mobile device that's been the "talk of the town" for over a year. I've intensely tested the iPhone for a few days now. This post is my penance.

It's interesting to observe how cell phone/mobile phone users write and react to consumer electronic reviews. Reading Engaget, one would think mobile warfare is imminent. Phonescoop reviewers seem more sedate, but you still read "the best phone I've ever bought" right next to "the worst phone created by God." The reviews are interesting to read if you realize how personal mobile devices have become to a lot of people. What pleases one person causes fury in another. I covered this human behavior in an eBay post called: "Choosing a Smartphone." Six of nine people liked it. This confirms the SW/SW/SW principle: "Some will, some won't, so what?"

Now that the iPhone is in the hands of a few million people--and Apple has released a few software updates to fix some bugs--it's now safe to step back and take a look at this evolutionary device. (My iPhone is resting comfortably next to my laptop as I write this; so unless Steve Jobs has inserted some C4, I think it's safe to write this review.)

I still believe my eBay blog post over a year ago about personal icons is valid. I wrote: "The icons became a statement of me. Whether it's the Apple iPhone or an expensive audio device or a WIFI mobile telephone--it doesn't matter. Consumers worldwide now lust after an increasing array of iconic symbols, symbols that give meaning and definition to one's self, symbols that rapidly change as we acquire more of them. Just as the Internet has rocketed information access to the masses, new objects, new icons appear on the market with increasing rapidity and variety. It's as if the cosmetics industry has taken over the definition of oneself. The icons spread, we buy them, and we let them define who we are. So...as you lust after the Apple iPhone and consider paying $1,500+ for a shimmering sliver of light, remember that you are buying the latest icon--something that defines you as a person and next year at MacWorld, Jobs will have something else for you, a new object you think you need....but only for the moment."

I'm going to try avoiding features of the iPhone--"Cover Flow," screen resolution and size and the "two finger squeeze"--that others have written about ad nauseam. Rather, I'm going to comment in bullet format what I like and don't like about the device--features and functions of value. If I skip your favorite "cool and awesome" iPhone feature, consider it a sin of omission.

Here we go...duck for cover:

• Screen Clarity. The iPhone has the best screen clarity for text and graphics I've ever seen on a mobile device. It's absolutely striking in all applications from Safari to email to maps. The iPhone should win an award if, for nothing else, Apple engineering on screen brightness, contrast, color and readability in portrait and landscape. Outstanding.
  
• Touch Screen Smear. All cell/mobile phone users create smears on their phones' screens--whether a flip or touch screen phone. I found the iPhone smear worse than other touch phones and very difficult to clean. Luckily, the iPhone's crisp display overcomes the smear, but other smartphones with large screens are less prone to dust and smears. (The Sony Ericsson P910 and Palm Treo's come to mind.)
  
• Phone Sound Quality--Earpiece and Speaker Phone. Superb with occasional hiss courtesy of AT&T Mobility. Sound distorts on the speaker phone as well when signal strength drops.
• Calling Features. The ringer off switch on the left side of the phone is too small and difficult to engage, but the large dialing pad is a welcome addition to touch phones. It's also interesting that Apple, the inventor of the iPod and iTunes, didn't include voice control for calling or opening applications. The HTC Touch, my model for an Android-enabled phone
  has both, plus a lot of Samsung and other phones offer voice dialing.
• Quick and Automatic Switching from AT&T's EDGE Network to Wi-Fi. I entered my home network information once, and the iPhone switched back-and-forth swiftly. (My home network is powered by a dedicated Speakeasy DSL line (1.3Mbps) connected to Apple's latest Airport Base Station. When away from my home network, the iPhone automatically alerted me to other Wi-Fi networks within range. While connected to Wi-Fi, I easily used one finger to navigate each screen quickly. The iPhone UI is best-of-breed touch screen technology that sets a new standard for competitors.
  
• GPS, after a few attempts, clearly showed roads, highways and traffic patterns with quick screen re-draw as I moved my finger in all directions. Since I have GPS in my Toyota Prius, I'd never use the feature while driving but might use it when lost in a big city. Unfortunately, downloading megabytes of data from AT&T's EDGE network would be frustrating. (Good news: Gizmodo just announced AT&T is working on "Fine Edge" to increase data download speeds.)
• Safari Browser. As Mac users know, Safari is light years ahead of any competing browser. The iPhone can hold 8 mini-screens in memory and they open and close rapidly with stunning resolution, far better than screen rendering on Nokia's N80. When returning to some of the minimized Safari browser windows, the mini-screens were blank with the webpage title at the top; however, as soon as I touched the screen, the correct page maximized correctly. Zooming in with Safari at first delivers slightly blurred text. A second or two later, it's crystal clear. (Again, I'm using my home network--not AT&T's.)
• Automatic Landscape Viewing Brilliant. I was able to view a readable Wall Street Journal page in Landscape with little text size adjustment.
  
• Lack of Flash Support. This issue was reported seven months ago. I was unable to retrieve my voice messages on GrandCentral because the website requires Flash. (Skyfire, a start-up company in Mountain View, California, just announced a free browser that automatically adjusts page formatting with video support for high-end smartphones. Availability is mid-2008.)
• Re-Arranging Icons and Creating Multiple Home Screens. Great time saver.
  
• (Data Plan Cost and EDGE Comment). I believe that Apple obtained an agreement with AT&T on the $20 unlimited data plan and 200 text messages because both knew most iPhone users would surf the web using Wi-Fi rather than EDGE. (The status screen on my iPhone shows only 3MB of EDGE data downloading, while my Wi-Fi downloading during the three days test must be several hundred megabytes.) AT&T's other data plans for BlackBerry's and Smartphone/PDA's cost $30 to $50 using either EDGE or 3G.
• Suggestion for Apple and AT&T. In Safari preferences, allow users to turn off picture and graphics downloading. HTC already does this on their Touch device, and Microsoft Office 2007 automatically blocks picture downloads in email for security reasons. Downloading text only on AT&T's EDGE network would significantly improve performance. (Taking this step would also address the industry's increasing concern about mobile viruses and spyware.)
  
• Text Data Entry. While the iPhone's QWERTY keypad is the largest I've seen, using one finger to enter text takes time to learn despite help from the confirming larger alpha-numeric circles that appear when pressing a letter or number. Frequently, three or four letters with accent marks appeared while pressing a button. Moving my finger to the proper button didn't change to the correct letter.
• Fonts Change Size. When switching from portrait to landscape, Safari increased font size. Upon returning to portrait, the original font size displayed.
  
• Word Completion Needs improvement. After typing "N," then "O," the iPhone suggested "NOI" rather than "NOW," which I intended. Other manufacturers, especially Sony Ericsson, deliver greater accuracy when using T9 text entry.
  
• Pressing Space Bar Twice for Period. Good feature, used by BlackBerry users for years.
• Large Positioning Circle for Editing. Excellent idea and reduces eye strain and errors.
• Using Two Thumbs to Enter Text. No way. This works on a BlackBerry due to the full QWERTY keypad with the BB's weight shifted to its top. The iPhone's weight is evenly distributed, lacks a rubberized back like other smartphones--making it easier to hold the phone--and switches to other screens and applications on its own. Will cover that in a second.
• "M" key is to the left of the back key. Several times, I erased entire words when my finger was too close.
  
• iPhone Movement Causes Problems. The phone's movement sensitivity is set too high. In multiple cases, moving the phone slightly or laying it down on a table caused other applications to open. For example, when I laid the phone down, Safari or the Favorites screen opened. Several Web pages minimized on their own.
• Finger Slide AND Home Button? One thing mobile manufacturers attempt doing is eliminating excessive steps in menus and such. Why does the iPhone require a finger slide from left to right plus pressing the home button to awaken? The home button is recessed so swiping one's finger across the base of the phone is not going to cause problems. "Simple strokes for simple folks."
  
• Construction. The iPhone's exterior metal casing is too smooth, causing the iPhone to shift in your hand and possible drop it. HTC, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and other manufacturers provide a better grip. Plus the bottom black base beneath the connection port easily scratches. Change the color, Apple, or make it rubber for easier handling and stability.
• Camera Quality O.K. No zoom and no streaming video, but the indoor pics are better than I expected without camera controls. The plant above and eagle to the right are untouched iPhone shots.
• Multiple Email Account Navigation. While scrolling through and viewing emails in full HTML is fantastic, unlike a BlackBerry, you have to press multiple buttons to access the inbox of each email account--a hassle that also plagues Sony Ericsson and Nokia phones. Like a BlackBerry or, for that matter, Apple Mail or Outlook, there should be ONE inbox showing all your emails. Kudos to Apple for allowing one or more preview lines in email settings.
• Email Download Size Limit and No Push. Perhaps AT&T got in the way on this one. Standard setting options are auto-check, Show (number of most recent messages), Preview, Minimum Font Size, Show To/Cc Label, Ask Before Deleting, Always Bcc Myself, Signature and Default Account. Not bad. Let's add, as with other email clients, "download headers only," "download entire message" or "only download XX kb." And, since Yahoo has now teamed with Apple on push email (it works), why not POP3 and Imap accounts as well. And, if Apple wants to get the business market--Microsoft ActiveSync on Exchange servers.
• MMS Messages to AT&T Website? I ran a few MMS messages from T-Mobile to the iPhone and received an email to retrieve the message on an AT&T website. No, Apple, let's do it the normal way.
  
• No Calendar Weekly View. There's monthly, daily and list views but not weekly. Almost every phone on Earth offers a weekly calendar view. Let's get it on the product spec sheet, Apple programmers.
• Limited Bluetooth Profiles. I gather Apple feels, like Verizon for many years, that crippled bluetooth is kosher. Sorry, hands-free is not enough and running all synchronization of pictures, songs and such through iTunes creates a "sync monopoly." My two Macs with bluetooth can't directly exchange pictures with the iPhone. Back to the drawing boards.
• Quit Using the Word "Easy." My last request. Tell your marcom people that their salaries get docked $10 every time they write "easy" in a user guide. Read my post about the Apple website.
  

Well, folks, that's it. All in all, Apple set the bar significantly higher for the mobile phone industry. Let's hope the industry, including Apple, responds with easy-to-use (oops), sophisticated communication devices and applications. The U.K., Europe and especially Asia already dominate mobile technology. I believe there's hope for the United States as well.