You don't really need an iPhone 3G

As an iPhone 3G owner since its launch, I've spent considerable time with Apple's latest entrant to the smartphone market. And although the first few weeks were stellar and I was absolutely delighted to have third-party apps and expand the scope of what this product could do, I've quickly realized that the iPhone 3G isn't best for everyone.

In fact, I honestly don't think anyone needs an iPhone 3G and would be better suited with a BlackBerry for smartphone needs. That said, the iPhone 3G is popular because people want it. And after a few weeks of using it, they realize quickly that they really didn't need it.

Let's face it -- do you really need to have an iPhone 3G? Any BlackBerry can check email, browse the Web, and let you download third-party apps. Granted, those apps may not be as "cool" as Apple's apps and RIM's devices don't have a touch-screen -- yet -- but we can't lose sight of the fact that the iPhone 3G does what practically every other smartphone on the market can do.

The only reason the iPhone 3G is popular today is because of its aesthetics. Sure, it has a lower price tag now and people are happy that they can load apps onto it, but it's a product that thrives because its design is unique and the manufacturer is Apple.

Just because that's true, it doesn't mean that it's a bad thing. The iPhone 3G is a fine device and it performs many of the tasks you would expect it to without a problem. But it's also a device with connectivity issues, design flaws, and buggy software, making it an extreme pain to use at times.

For instance, my iPhone 3G won't automatically check my email even though it's set to do so every 15 minutes. It'll try every now and then, but the only way to fix it is to turn the iPhone 3G off and try again. It works for a little while after that, only to succumb to the same problem after a little time has passed.

When it comes down to the real value of the iPhone 3G, we need to look at it objectively. Is it one of the world's most popular smartphones because it does something unique? Not really -- its touchscreen interface is neat, but its competitors have already released similarly functioning products.

It is one of the most popular smartphones because it has better business support and a price tag that most people are happy with? Nope, the BlackBerry has it beat on both fronts (on most devices).

Is it one of the most popular smartphones because of the hype surrounding it, press coverage, and Apple's unbelievable appeal to most consumers? You better believe it.

But just because that's true, it doesn't mean that those who bought the iPhone 3G were suckers that fell for Apple's plan for dominance. Instead, it means that Apple was able to capitalize on consumer desire instead of their need.

Doing that in the technology space is more difficult than some would think. Sure, it's an industry that's driven by impulse buys and the desire to have something cool, but it's also driven by the consumer's desire to have a product that they feel they need.

Do I need an TV? Yep. How about a computer? You bet. Should I have a printer to go along with that computer? Obviously. Oh and I might need a DVD player to go with that TV so I can watch my favorite movies.

But the iPhone is an entirely different case altogether. With countless choices in the space, there are a myriad reasons why we can justify buying any other device besides the iPhone 3G. Maybe it's too expensive or we don't like AT&T. Maybe it's not what we really need -- we only get four emails a day.

But then again, we may not need the iPhone 3G because it won't necessarily improve our lives in any tangible way, but we want that iPhone 3G because it's so dang "cool."

My hat goes off to Apple. Sure, it made the iPhone 3G more attractive by adding business capability and let third-parties sell apps for its product to entice more consumers its way. But more than anything, I applaud Apple for making people want a product, regardless of their need for it.

In this business, doing that isn't as easy as it seems.

Check out Don's Digital Home podcast, Twitter feed, and FriendFeed.

[vincenzof]

You can't discount the web browser and html E-mail, Don. That's why I have an iPhone right now and not an N95 or BlackBerry. Also, adding a call to a conference call, changing whether a call is Bluetooth or not (something the Blackberry as of this moment STILL can't do) and so on are things the iPhone has that other phones have, but just does better.

It's not about having the features, it's about doing them better than others, and that's why the iPhone is a great device. I've had more phones than anyone I know (benefit of working in the business) and for web browsing and e-mail that looks like the sender intended it to, nothing beats the iPhone.

[cporpheus]

I think you're looking at it too narrowly, Don. Does RIM have a music ecosystem behind it? How many people own iPods, and therefore can iTunes to manage their music on their iPhones? If a Blackberry and iPhone have the same feature set, wouldn't many people choose the iPhone because of the user interface? What if you live in the 3G coverage area?

It's far more complicated than feature sets, price and software glitches. In the end, a customer decides what is best for his/her situation and buys accordingly.

[WichitaWeather]

The biggest reason the iPhone has been successful is it is the first phone that has used internet browsing as its main marketing tool. I personally use a Blackberry because it's a better business related tool and I have an iPod Touch for my entertainment uses. I don't think Apple has done a good job of merging the business needs with the personal needs when it comes to the iPhone. If you like viewing mobile websites look for your local weather designed for a mobile phone. For example http://WichitaWeather.mobi, http://NewYorkCityWeather.mobi, LosAngelesWeather.mobi and more. Additional cities being added daily.

[potterave]

I have to agree with the iTunes music connection. No other smartphone combines the leading music ecosystem in a smartphone. As the market matures, the differences in the needs of a smartphone for the consumer vs. the business professional will become more apparent. A large screen is not important for email or reading text but it's very important for watching videos, which is not very important for the business user. Convergence of media, telephone, PDA and gaming features in a single device demand compormise. Therefore, some makers will invest more heavily in business features instead of consumer ones. Social networking, multimedia and gaming features will be more attractive to the consumer. However, none of the other vendors have a competitor for iTunes. It's a single service to manage my device and its content as well as a store for music, video and games. With my Creative mp3 player, I had to deal with 2 Creative applications and Windows Media Player which was nontrivial to say the least.

[jazzmandan]

I've used a BB for a couple of years and apart from having a sore thumb it's really fair to say that BB is about as reliable as the current IPhone. In other words - it drops calls, it drops the bluetooth connection, it freezes often, it's interface is very slow. Most of the time the apps don't download. The media options are pathetic. It feels and looks cheap, the interface graphics are designed by a graffiti artist......

Don't forget the other joys - no integration between the apps and a menu system that will drive you insane. Try typing with one finger? What is it for a number ALT, NUM never seems to be consistent.

As an experiment I gave my 14 year old my BB with Google maps and told him to get us home. Took ME time to explain how it even launch the application, then after 15 minutes he gave up. My wife can't even figure out how to look up a contact and make a call. I have my 2 year old the iphone and he unlocked it and launched google maps (I wasn't asking him to do this, just drawn to the maps). He regularly chants MonkeyBall.

Both now have an iPhone and Touch respectively and these have replaced their computers as the primary email and browsing tool simple because it's just always there, no boot-up, no waits and it's faster to scroll around. I also have a top of the line Dell but the 15 minutes it takes to get that out of the bag and resume it from sleep mode means I use my iPhone 80% of the time.

It comes down to this
- As you say you CAN do all those things on the other devices but most people just don't, or at beast will be utterly fed up doing it.

Browsing on the BB - come on that's just a joke.

I've used a Palm since the 4th one arrived in England 10 years ago and I can honestly say it's amazing what they've achieved in a year. Don't forget BB & Nokia have had 10 years to perfect this stuff and still don't even bother.

[mikezmac]

The point was missed. The ease of use is as important as the functionality. I own both a blackberry and and iPhone. There is no comparison.
The iPhone's easy to use, good screen and features win on all accounts. I am very happy with only having to carry an iPhone and not an iPod/cell phone/PDA any more. With the new apps for iPhone it is a much better solution that I feel is needed and has enhanced my daily life's ability to stay in touch.
For me this article is not on track, however each person has different needs and preferences so for some this article will hit the mark, however for the volume of hype the iPhone has world wide there HAS to be some substance backing it or the hype would have ended after wave 1 of the iPhones, not increased as it has.

[amar_raavi]

Well, i have to agree with some of Don's observations. Yes. iPhone is user friendly and having attractive UI for doing the job. But doing the job is equally important. That's where the iPhone is failing. These are my observations especially with emails. Fetch email works most of the time. But it is pure luck for Exchange to work.

Definitely there is lot of room for improvement.

[rawhead909]

We don't really NEED anything. You're absolutely right. We don't NEED cars (at least, nothing that costs more than a Kia), or a house with more than 1 room, or... you get the drift.

[boychuk]

Don, the iPhone provides a new level of experience and functionality that many of us now need regardless of how currently buggy it is. It's functionality that currently doesn't exist anywhere else.

I can now read PDF documents on a mobile device?sorry RIM.
I can now accurately type much faster on a touch QWERTY than a button QWERTY?sorry RIM.
I can now use a mobile browser that renders a webpage as I'm familiar with when using a desktop?sorry RIM.
I can now tunnel in securely to our Intranet and internal network using Cisco IPsec without spending thousands on hardware to make it work?sorry RIM.
I never thought that now I can use a smart phone to help mount a picture or to make sure objects, walls and floors are level at a construction site or when inspecting a house?sorry RIM.

All this while allowing me to keep my iTunes library with me with the iPod and wirelessly control my music system at home. All this is what I need and want.

Blackberries have been around for ten years. Apple took 18 months to create a product based on a need of what people are wanting and what was lacking elsewhere.

How many other phones including smartphones can easily provide system updates to fix bugs and enhance functionality as the iPhone does?

Enough said.

[john55440]

Most people don't need any smartphone, a non-smartphone will suffice.

The only reason the iPhone 3G is popular today is because of its aesthetics.

Really? It has nothing to do with the fact that the iPhone's screen is at least double the size of any currently available BlackBerry, or that the browser can browse real web sites without completely mangling them? The iPhone's vastly superior music capabilities have zero to do with its popularity? Watching video on a 3.5" screen wouldn't convince someone to buy the device over a BlackBerry with a 2.65" screen?

You really ought to stay away from demonstrably false generalizations like the one above. The idea that the iPhone is *only* popular due to aesthetics is silly and ridiculous.

[WichitaWeather]

@above....lol. if you think people enjoy waiting an average of 23 seconds for a page to load on the iphone 3g you are insane. Those are stats directly from Apples presentation. When you do finally get a page to load up (if it doesn't involve flash or other plugins) then you have to zoom in and scroll around to search for the information you are actually looking for. Viewing the traditional web on an iphone is absolutely horrible. Mobile versions of sites must be developed to truly be successful on the mobile web. Currently less than 1% of .com sites are formatted to provide a mobile experience for viewers. While .mobi sites tell people that the site was designed for mobile viewing.

[jazzmandan]

We had WAP 5 years ago it was crap then an attempt was made at the mobile web, that's not really that great either. They've had plenty of time but the devices have been so horrible it didn't create much inspiration.

[aluren]

have you ever tried surfing the web on a blackberry? it is 100 times worst than on the iphone. i have the iphone 3g, and coming from the blackberry curve, i have to say that your comments are ridiculous. 23 seconds to load a website isn't the problem. navigating the website is, and you can count on spending at least 2-3 minutes trying to navigate with the blackberry browser.

[sandnnw]

Interesting story, but a bit short-sided about "need." Careful, remember who supports YOUR salary...all of us folks who don't "need" an iPhone. As a consumer who patiently waited for iPhone 2.0, yes, in a sense, your are right, I didn't "need" the iPhone, but, what are my options? Walk out of the house carrying my CD/record/tape/DVD collection, Franklin-Covey planner/calendar/address book, a hard-back medical dictionary, hard-back drug formulary (with weekly updates taped to the book), dozens of newspapers/magazines that I read daily, dozens of games, oh, and wait, I might as well bring along that macbook that I don't really need as well. Hmmm...and don't forget that "free" cellphone that Sprint gave me. Trouble is, I can't find any book-bag to hold all of this "stuff" I like to take with me on a daily basis. Ah, I forgot, I already have a Palm! But, I guess I really don't need that either? Give me a break.

[WichitaWeather]

@aluren. Yes, I have surfed the web on a blackberry. I have no issues whatsoever. The problem is you try to view traditional .com sites. Sites that are designed for mobile viewing show up great on a blackberry or an iphone. For example, Zagat.mobi. The site was designed for mobile, loads on an iphone or the blackberry in a matter of seconds and looks great on both. If you enjoy taking 23 seconds on average to bring up a page, zooming in to even be able to search for what you are looking for and then scrolling around all over to actually find something then go for it. It's all a matter of what you want and if you are happy then you have no complaints.

[amats123]

A brilliant move on apple's part is that the one thing that makes the iphone valuable is not the phone at all...it's the ipod. I was a die hard Palm user forever and one day bought an ipod touch .. I found that I was taking the ipod everywhere and decided it had more value than the phone. The phone on the iphone - basically "works".

It is shocking, but for all of the technology that they pack into it, why is it missing the basics? 3rd party apps will probably catch up in the next year - cannot wait-. It is so irritating not to be able to sync notes, no cut and paste, no bluetooth for your tunes, no video recording (shocking) and no...I cannot type as accurately nor as fast on a virtual keyboard. Still, it is more convenient than carrying two or three devices and I think the ipod touch is as perfect as an ipod can get...so...might as well add the phone.

Oh man, I've gone to the dark side.

Let's go 3rd party apps!

[aztec92154]

CHALLENGE: Show me ONE device that can do ALL of the following things way BETTER than the iPhone and I will switch:

10 features I NEED in another phone to switch away from my iPhone:

1) A better web browsing experience (with multi-touch and tabbed browsing)
2) A better music experience (web store, better pricing, song availability)
3) A better version of Pandora with album art, ect (because I use this instead of sat. radio)
4) A better Google Maps with GPS with free traffic updates
5) A better Email client with support for Yahoo, AOL, ect.
5) A better YouTube experience
6) A better portable movie watching experience (wide screen, movie content with options to buy / rent)
7) A better design, that is nicer, thinner, and looks well made (fits in my pocket).
8) A better user experience, and ease of use (Calling, MP3 Player, Internet Browser, Voicemail, setup and everyday use)
9) A better active development community which can easily sell me their applications, utilities and games.
10) Costs significantly less than the iPhone, and has lower cost monthly plan cost than iPhone.