Reasons Not to Own an Apple iPhone

Oct 10
08:06

2008

David Chan

David Chan

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Smartphones, PDA Phones, and the Apple iPhone

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I know that some of you are undecided about whether you will order an iPhone or not. In this post,Reasons Not to Own an Apple iPhone Articles I will state some reasons why you shouldn’t own one.

You may already have identified the high price, ($199-$299) as a good reason against doing so. Or, you may be on another carrier’s plan and don’t want to pay the um, substantial penalty for early withdrawal just to sign a two-year with iPhone’s exclusive carrier AT&T Mobility. But after buying one... I’ve identified more reasons not to own an Apple iPhone. Apple has done a great job telling the entire world how good it is to own an iPhone. Oh, they are even more good on concealing the iPhone flaws. If you think that the Apple iPhone is a must have item of this year or next... think again! Better ask... does the Apple iPhone really live up to the hype?It is crystal clear that the new Apple iPhone is a groundbreaking phone... With its unbelievably easy-to-use touchscreen interface... amazing video playback... big, bright, high contrast, high-resolution display and a web browser that is as good as if you are using your laptop or any computer. Definitely! There's a lot to love and brag about the iPhone!

But as I've said... I've identified more big disappointments with the new Apple iPhone too. Some of them are stubborn commercial decisions Apple has made; others look like oversights, and others are fundamental flaws in the design of the phone itself. Now, are you ready for a dose of tech-flavored conscience? Here are more reasons not to own an iPhone.

Internet access. Although the Apple iPhone is labeled as having the most amazing Internet capabilities, there are many shortcomings to its browser. Web browsing is relatively slow! The Internet supposed to give reliable and fast research results... but how can someone do a“quick” probe on the Internet when the browser's search capabilities are severely lacking. This really makes finding what you want on the Internet difficult and time consuming.

Non user-replaceable battery. It's a sad fact about rechargeable batteries, the first time you recharge them, their maximum capacity degrades. After a few hundred recharges, their capacity is down to something like half their original capacity. Normally, this is annoying, but manageable — you just swap the battery out for a new one, or get a second battery and swap the two until the first battery is toast. Not so with the iPhone. Its battery is sealed up tightly inside the nearly-impossible-to-pry-open casing. Apple decided that soldering the battery to the unit was preferable than offering a proprietary battery or any standard cell phone battery. Busted battery means buying a new Apple iPhone and that means more money for the Apple company. Apple made no effort to make this common knowledge, which is why many users did not realize this as a disadvantage.

No cut and paste. This one is truly hard to understand. Apple brings out one of the world's most advanced smartphones in terms of user interface, and somehow forgets to put in cut and paste... probably the only smartphone that doesn't have it.

Memory. You only have the choice to purchase an 8 GB or 16 GB iPhone. This is really a mind boggling situation... how can Apple brag about the iPhone that it has a 3.5-inch screen where you can watch movies and also has great external speakers but you cannot load it up with all your favorite movie clips and sound? When you use up all of your available space on the iPhone, your options are to delete or transfer old content to another device like your PC or Mac. Pretty obvious... iPhone's limited storage capacity is part of the Apple's marketing strategy. Urging people to buy a separate MP3 player, such as... what else.. the iPod.

And my last reason and of course not the least... the service provider. You are limited to AT&T's cell phone service packages for the iPhone if you wish to use it. These packages are expensive as they all include data and Internet. AT&T has no incentive to change their iPhone service pricing because they have exclusive rights to provide service to the iPhones. This has led to a great number of hacked iPhones on the market that can be used on other networks. As long as Apple and AT&T's agreement stays exclusive... hackers will always be around.

You definitely noticed that the iPhone's advertising is geared toward teens and young adults, come on... does a teenager really need a $300 phone?

I also have come to realize that the new iPhone is not a feature leader. The touch screen and interface are impressive achievements, but when it comes to features, the iPhone isn't a leader. What's missing? Again, support for additional flash memory; stereo Bluetooth support; video recording; and the fundamental and a must have ability of any PDA phones - to cut and paste text. Also, Its 2-megapixel camera doesn't even have a flash!

Granted there's more going for the new Apple iPhone than just the phone itself. But given the reasons not to own an iPhone in this article, I still can't see why people would rush out to buy an iPhone. If you already own a smartphone and happy with its features and applications just ignore the hype, skip the long lines, and enjoy the day!

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