The question is whether it's more fun to write about Apple's new iPhone 3G itself or about the woes surrounding it.
The iPhone is a very clever way to put a cell phone, music player, handheld computer, electronic organizer, digital camera, game console, and various other things into one compact unit. Its touch-screen design is a brilliant innovation that is influencing the design of other computers, and its interface is a model of easy navigation.
The 3G model is so-named because it now can access AT&T's highest speed wireless data network, one of the main changes from the original. The other big change is the ability to install third-party software applications. Add-on software is old news — Palm users have been benefiting from that for years, for example — but the "App Store" integrated into iTunes does for applications what iTunes previous did for music and video: it makes the process easy.
Apple has been advertising the iPhone 3G as half the price of the original. While not a lie — the price of the phone was cut in half via AT&T subsidies — it is misleading. The price of the necessary wireless service plan has been increased so that over the two-year life of your AT&T contract you will pay more for the 3G iPhone than you would have for the original.
But, let's be honest here, an iPhone is basically a toy for grown-ups. From that perspective, the iPhone is definitely a success. Which is a good thing for Apple given all of the things that have gone wrong with the iPhone 3G launch.
There were shortages of phones and difficulty activating them. The much-touted "MobileMe" data synchronization service has proven unreliable and flaky. Now, there is a mounting chorus of user complaints that iPhones drop calls and fall out of 3G mode with alarming frequency.
Count me among those experiencing this. The number of dropped calls I have experienced has been excessive and have happened while I was in a fixed location, not just while on the move — meaning it's more likely Apple's problem than AT&T's. It has been widely reported that the cause is a troublesome chip used on the phone and that Apple is trying to avoid a recall by designing a software fix.
Battery life is also a problem, which to be fair, Apple warned about because of 3G power demands. Better energy saving features, though, should have been part of the package.
I do side with Apple against critics who complain that the iPhone lacks removable batteries. There are physical limits at play here — you can have a sleek shape or you can have removable batteries, but not both. Plus, there are accessories to deal with the problem. Accessory makers are rolling out external battery packs for the iPhone that are no more inconvenient than lugging around a spare battery.
I have a bigger beef in that the iPhone has scrambled the accessory market in general. Devices such as car chargers or speaker systems that work with iPods do not necessarily work with iPhones. Let me rephrase that. Almost nothing does.
Part of this is unavoidable in that interference from the cellular signal requires special shielding that would not have been incorporated into an iPod-only unit. But that still doesn't make me thrilled to find that the charging stands and speakers I have won't work with the iPhone.
Again, accessory makers are retooling their designs. But for the moment, there are few options for such simple jobs as charging an iPhone in the car or providing a hookup to a vehicle's audio input jack. So when you buy, make sure to look for the black "Works with iPhone" label that certifies a device passed Apple's compatibility tests.
Moreover, the iPhone is, in my judgment, an absolute menace when used while driving. Here the touch-screen technology that makes the iPhone unique turns into a dangerous flaw.
Cell phones, from garden-variety handsets that the phone company gives away with a contract on up to other smartphones, have speed dialing that lets you make a call with a single button press. An iPhone requires a minimum of three and potentially five actions to make a call from its "favorites" list — and all of those actions require you to look at the phone instead of the road. By which time you have plowed into the back of the car ahead of you if it has put on the brakes.
That I put this warning at the bottom of the article instead of the top reflects the fact that you shouldn't be focusing on your phone while driving anyway. However, we all do it, and this problem needs to be addressed. And no doubt in our litigious society it will be addressed once some lawyer sees the possibility of a successful lawsuit.
For now, though, when asked for comment, Apple chose its standard approach to dealing with criticism. It declined to provide a response.
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Al Gordon is a Massachusetts-based writer who specializes in technology and consumer electronics. You can read more at www.algordon.com/techblog.html and e-mail him at eagle@algordon.com.
