Preface: This post belongs to the Rants category, so it, by that very fact, will seem a whining session unto itself. Also, I have no plans to purchase a first generation iPhone, seriously. They’re awesome and desirable, but there are certain limitaions (disk capacity) that prevent it from replacing both my phone and iPod at the same time. There, now I’ve cleared the air.
There are two things that are truly pissing my of about the insane amount of articles about the iPhone:
1. So many articles are ripping on it because of how it works when likely less than 100 people in the entire world have used them. There are scores of journalists predicting its doom because of one thing or another, such as the difficulty of typing without tactile feedback, or the glass screen, or what-have-you. GEEZ, wait until it releases, or until real reviews come out. Speculation one (even positive) is worthless right now.
2. I’m really tired of folks whining about the lack of certain features. GPS – are you serious? What percentage of folks even have a dedicated GPS unit in their cars? And how much do those cost? People are already complaining about the iPhone’s price, and I can’t imagine they’d be any happier if it went up another couple hundie. And the number one “missing” feature is lack of so-called 3G data connectivity. This one is ridiculous, because 3G coverage is simply not widespread enough to make this a must-have. The iPhone DOES have WiFi, however, and whether in your house or near any of countless FREE Wifi hot spots (even in Farmville, VA!!!) you can use the internet without the need for an overpriced data plan. I’m willing to bet the growth of free WiFi will outstrip the growth of these high-speed cellular networks, and then we’ll have far less complaining about such a “missing feature.”
Argh. I think even I’m starting to get sick of the iPhone hype, and I’m a total Apple fan. It just seems to be bringing out the very worst in schlock pseudo-journalism.
