Why I'm not getting an iPhone next week
Apple will begin selling the iPhone on Friday, but I'm not buying one.
It isn't that I don't like Apple hardware. I'm typing this on a MacBook Pro I bought last November. I have a stack of older PowerBooks (literally), a couple of iPods (one dead, alas), and a Power Mac G5.
It isn't that I don't like to buy new toys. I just counted: I carry around ten battery-powered devices every day, four of which are less than six months old.
But I don't need a new phone, especially not a $499 or $599 phone, unless it can do more for me than one of these other gizmos. The iPhone is being sold as a convergence device-- that is, one device that performs the function of several-- but even with the embarassing number of devices I carry around, the iPhone would only replace one of them.
I've been using a Palm Treo 650 for three years, and although it has always had some minor issues, it has all my data on it and it works fine.
I bought a Cingular 8525 (an HTC product) when I got the new MacBook Pro, because I needed a wireless Internet solution to replace the PC Card HSDPA adapter I'd used with my older PowerBook. I hoped the 8525 would be good enough to replace the Treo as my main phone, but it isn't. Microsoft's Windows Mobile software has come a long way since the earliest days of Windows CE, but it just isn't as easy to use as Palm OS. Nevertheless, I still carry it around because it makes a decent wireless Internet adapter for my MacBook Pro-- that is, when the Bluetooth link isn't cutting out for no apparent reason.
The iPhone looks pretty good, but without voice-memo recording and 3G support (HSDPA on GSM networks, EV-DO on CDMA networks) it can't replace my current phones. Without a lot more storage capacity, it can't replace my iPod. Without native applications from third-party developers, it might not have all the software I want (but I'll re-evaluate this issue once all the details are known). Without a high-resolution screen, it can't even take over the functions of the Sony Reader I also carry around. Basically, I'd be paying a lot of money just to replace the Treo, and the replacement might not be as useful overall.
So I'll wait. I'm betting Apple will have a 3G iPhone by the end of the year. I bet it'll have more storage, and I bet Apple will relent on third-party software development. I'm hoping it'll have a high-res screen, too. Then we'll talk.
(If CNET gives bonuses for linking to CNET product reviews, I could get rich doing this.)
Peter N. Glaskowsky is a computer architect in Silicon Valley and a technology analyst for the Envisioneering Group. He has designed chip- and board-level products in the defense and computer industries, managed design teams, and served as editor in chief of the industry newsletter "Microprocessor Report." He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. 
But anyway, thanks for being reasonable. I know I'll find it ironic when I, of all people, start taking flak for being insufficiently supportive of Apple. I know it'll happen some day, but I'm glad this isn't the day. :-)
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Well, I could just stop by tomorrow to see what the line is like...
- iPhone vs iPod
- by Piyush Sethia June 28, 2007 10:29 PM PDT
- Peter, though you have raised a few very valid points about the iPhone, I feel that the upgrades with regard to storage you mentioned are unlikely in the near future, because that would make the iPod useless.. I say this, because, if the memory on the iPhone is upgraded, then the iPod will become redundant, and why would people pay to buy it, when all of its functionality (plus some more, like a phone) would come with the iPhone..
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- Good points
- by Peter N. Glaskowsky June 29, 2007 10:46 AM PDT
- But I'm not expecting an iPhone with a hard disk, since that would make it too large and fragile. A 16GB iPhone, or an 8GB model with an SDHC-card slot, would hold a more useful selection of movies and music. Video storage will be especially important if Apple adopts a high-res screen for future iPhones.
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(5 Comments)However, a high resolution screen and a 3G support look likely in the near future.
Without a hard disk, the iPhone can't compete directly with the high end of the iPod line. I expect Apple to replace the video iPods with new units that look more like iPhones, anyway. Those would be good products to debut a high-res screen, maybe in the range of 800x480. The Nokia N800 has an LCD that would be quite reasonable in this application.