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4 more days until the iPhone graces our telecommunications systems with it's presence. I, for one, have bought into the hype... I should be ashamed...but I reeeally like the features that it has. Plus, combining 8gb of ipod and smartphone is exactly what I need. I hate carrying around my Treo and my ipod at the same time. So that feature alone is worth it for me. Anyone else going to go snag one on the 29th? I'm wondering if people will camp out for this like they did for consoles...

I'm wondering if people will camp out for this like they did for consoles...

Wondering? hah! this is apple we are talking about here, of course people will be camping out for an iphone

Max wrote:4 more days until the iPhone graces our telecommunications systems with it's presence.

Resinence wrote:

I'm wondering if people will camp out for this like they did for consoles...

Wondering? hah! this is apple we are talking about here, of course people will be camping out for an iphone

So I can either A) Attempt to go get one and if they sell out..wait for the next shipment. B) Get it off craigslist/ebay and be charged even more for it.

Gah! I'm paranoid that this will turn into a Wii situation where the demand is high for such a long time that it's near impossible to get one for months on end. The apple store here is in a mall... I wonder if they'll curb the whole "camping on the property" thing.

Max wrote:B) Get it off craigslist/ebay and be charged even more for it.

Considering that it will be tied to a contract and that it includes features that require telecom support to operate, I doubt they are going to be available online. If they are, they are going to be crippled compared to legit phones because of a lack of such support.

Still going to sell like hotcakes and not be available for regular human beings though.

Netko wrote:

Max wrote:B) Get it off craigslist/ebay and be charged even more for it.

Considering that it will be tied to a contract and that it includes features that require telecom support to operate, I doubt they are going to be available online. If they are, they are going to be crippled compared to legit phones because of a lack of such support.

Still going to sell like hotcakes and not be available for regular human beings though.

Ok... I was under the impression you could walk into an Apple store, and purchase one without a contract. Then take it to your nearest AT&T store to get it set up. If that's the case, maybe it won't be so bad on Friday. If you have to join a contract to get one, that will cut out a lot of the people purchasing them to make a profit on ebay/CL....

I was listening to NPR this morning, and they were talking about the iPhone. The 'expert' they had on there seemed a little un-sure about the touch-screen keyboard. He said he was going to give Apple the benefit of the doubt because they've done a good job at making user-friendly stuff over the past few years. I hope it works out well for them.

Max wrote:

Netko wrote:

Max wrote:B) Get it off craigslist/ebay and be charged even more for it.

Considering that it will be tied to a contract and that it includes features that require telecom support to operate, I doubt they are going to be available online. If they are, they are going to be crippled compared to legit phones because of a lack of such support.

Still going to sell like hotcakes and not be available for regular human beings though.

Ok... I was under the impression you could walk into an Apple store, and purchase one without a contract. Then take it to your nearest AT&T store to get it set up. If that's the case, maybe it won't be so bad on Friday. If you have to join a contract to get one, that will cut out a lot of the people purchasing them to make a profit on ebay/CL....

Either that or they just charge you out the ass to buy one without a contract like every other cell phone retailer.

Count Dooku wrote:I was listening to NPR this morning, and they were talking about the iPhone. The 'expert' they had on there seemed a little un-sure about the touch-screen keyboard. He said he was going to give Apple the benefit of the doubt because they've done a good job at making user-friendly stuff over the past few years. I hope it works out well for them.

My main concern as well, especially in the light of the plan to rely on dictionary spelling correction for messages - if the screen and input system isn't good compared to traditional input (which the planned dependence somewhat points to), smaller languages are going to get reamed unless the included dictionaries are of orders of magnitude better quality then the ones on current mobile phones (which are utterly abysmal - more of a hinderence then aid).

You know, my only real question is how well YouTube performs over EDGE.

The concept of having the entirety of the VAST YouTube library available anytime I have a cell phone signal is absolutely a killer app for me. Enough to swing me over from, "Sweet! But I'm not spending $600 and switching to Cingular for it." to "OMGIMUSTHAVEIT".

Unfortunately, I still can't switch to Cingular for it. It would easily cost me over $2500 in the long run. I'm not spending $2500 for a phone; even a ridiculously awesome phone with YouTube.

Do you mind my asking why constant access to YouTube is worth $600?

I'm happy with my old phone, I won't look at one until they're almost free

InnocentBystander wrote:Do you mind my asking why constant access to YouTube is worth $600?

When added to the other features the phone has, it bumps it over.

The sheer amount of content on YouTube is incredible. I would load several MP4 movies on the iPhone, just under a gigabte of music, and then have near-infinite number of short videos, cartoons, podcasts, and movie clips available online.

I'm very likely going to get a Nokia N95 by the end of the year when it's time to make a new contract and be happy with a vastly superior phone, unless people manage to convince me that that honour belongs to Apple.

Count Dooku wrote:I was listening to NPR this morning, and they were talking about the iPhone. The 'expert' they had on there seemed a little un-sure about the touch-screen keyboard. He said he was going to give Apple the benefit of the doubt because they've done a good job at making user-friendly stuff over the past few years. I hope it works out well for them.

I'm curious how they dealt with, if all the buttons are on that touchscreen (including I would assume your "Send" and "End" call buttons) people managing to trigger them if the phone is held up to your ear? That and the smuges that entails which probably won't look too nice.

Or are they assuming everyone will just have BlueTooth or whatever?

If anyone hasn't seen it yet, Apple has a guided tour video of the iPhone available and the available contracts. Activation will also be available through iTunes.

activation through itunes= no sim card?

iTunes might authenticate and activate the SIM card.

I'm excited to see how things go with the iPhone. I neither want nor can I afford it now, but I'm hoping to jump on in the next year or two. There's a lot of pressure on Apple, and I think for the most part they'll deliver. But it's a Rev A device. Once the bugs get worked out, they go 3G (apparently the hang up there is with AT&T's network, not anything on Apple's end), get about 4x the hard drive space on it...it's going to be quite nice. I love what they've done so far.

I have confidence that Apple will do well with this product. Not going to take over the cell phone market by any means, but they've already caused a stir, they'll take a bite out of the smart phone industry, and they'll push other companies to innovate an otherwise stagnant industry. In the end, everyone is going to benefit, I think.

Except people who refuse to use a cell phone. They can just go buy an iPod, I guess.

I like the archetype of the iPhone. It suggests a change in how the line between cell phones and personal computers is blurring steadily, which is heartening, technological-evolution-wise.

More specifically, there's no bloody way I'm paying that much for a phone or the service for it, even if I could afford it.

Agreed. I see probably another Nokia in my future before getting something iPhone-like. Hell, probably some new advanced Nokia seeing how they're going to respond sooner or later and considering their available tech - Intrnet tablets and the like - its probably going to be very good and I don't need the music capability tie-in that forces iTunes.

Mobius wrote:activation through itunes= no sim card?

Crap. I was hoping someone might hack it to be able to use a T-Mobile SIM card (minus Visual Voicemail, the only feature that really relies on Cingular).

More specifically, there's no bloody way I'm paying that much for a phone or the service for it, even if I could afford it.

Actually, the plans seem pretty cheap. $59 for unlimited data for internet + 450 daytime weekday hours + 5000 nighttime/weekend hours isn't bad at all, when data plans are usually $30-$40 on top of your normal plan.

The cost of switching is still too high for me though, since right now my parents pay for the family plan. Switching to another provider means going from paying nothing to paying monthly. Not gonna happen.








Oh yeah, and guys?

The first iPhone reviews are in. The embargo must have lifted or something.

Wallstreet Journal
New York Times
MSNBC/Newsweek
USA Today

Insert Username Here wrote:I'm excited to see how things go with the iPhone. I neither want nor can I afford it now, but I'm hoping to jump on in the next year or two. There's a lot of pressure on Apple, and I think for the most part they'll deliver. But it's a Rev A device. Once the bugs get worked out, they go 3G (apparently the hang up there is with AT&T's network, not anything on Apple's end), get about 4x the hard drive space on it...it's going to be quite nice. I love what they've done so far.

I have confidence that Apple will do well with this product. Not going to take over the cell phone market by any means, but they've already caused a stir, they'll take a bite out of the smart phone industry, and they'll push other companies to innovate an otherwise stagnant industry. In the end, everyone is going to benefit, I think.

Except people who refuse to use a cell phone. They can just go buy an iPod, I guess.

I really want to wait for a Rev B. I expect 3G to be in the second revision, and I'd hope for and would love to see stuff like video chatting (is 3G fast enough? WiFi at least should be. But I'm not counting on apple to implement it) or at the very least basic AIM.

But if someone hacks the iPhone to work with T-Mobile, I might not be able to hold off

I just saw this on Digg:

Link

Finally Confirmed: What the iPhone Doesn't Have

• Songs as Ringtones
• Games
• Any flash support
• Instant Messaging
• Picture messages (MMS)
• Video recording
• Voice recognition or voice dialing
• Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Streaming (A2DP)
• One-size-fits-all headset jack (May have to buy an adapter for certain headphones)

Stuff we already knew it didn't have
• 3G (EV-DO/HSDPA)
• GPS
• A real keyboard
• Removable battery
• Expandable Storage
• Direct iTunes Music Store Access (Over Wi-Fi or EDGE)

That's just shit.

90% of the things on that list are handset features that are simply taken for granted. Even the cheap chavphones have most of them.