man smackie really hates the iphone
Now now, that's an unfair characterization of my stance on the iPhone.
First off, I hate at&t much more than I find the iPhone to be a sub-innovative phone. Their data network is ridiculously slow and has been behind the rest of the competition for some time.
I also am opposed to Apple's business practices surrounding the iPhone. A permanent exclusive contract with a carrier is horrible for an industry that already lags behind the rest of the developed world. I'm not saying they need a CDMA (Sprint/Verizon) and GSM (at&t/T-Mobile) version, but their GSM version should be available on more than one carrier for the sake of competition. As it is now, you're beholden to at&t and Apple, and that stifles innovation and competition. We've already seen this process repeated with other new devices on the market, and only the consumer suffers.
As for the phone itself, I'm opposed in much the same way I was opposed to the iPod when it first came out. It's hailed as this innovative device that will change the way we use XXX device, when in actuality, the marketing and buzz factor have far outpaced any innovations that are actually in the phone itself. While I can name a dozen things the iPhone is not capable of doing, I can't name a single thing that the iPhone can do that my WinMo phone can't do EXCEPT play Apple's proprietary songs and sync with Apple's proprietary music player (iTunes).
Not all is bad though - just the buzz surrounding it has made the smartphone market much more popular. I have had a smartphone for well over 5 years (first a BBerry, then a Palm and now my second WinMo phone) and I'm glad that it's reaching the masses. It's easy to use interface has also made manufacturers pressure software developers like Microsoft/RIM/Palm to make their UI more user friendly (or, in some cases they've done it themselves, like HTC amd Samsung) and that's a really good thing. The App store has moved MS/Google/Palm in that direction and I think that's a fabulous idea for getting these apps to the no-technical users. But by locking out the phone to apps only provided through the app store, the company has done a huge disservice to both developers and iPhone users.
So, for all of it's good traits, it hasn't done anything to force the industry to better serve it's customers and embrace new REAL innovations. I would go as far as to argue that it's done more to allow the consumer to be complacent with what we have here in the states, and that's a shame. I have high hopes for Google in this space as I think they will produce a product that will bring real innovation to a space where MS/Palm/RIM had gotten a little lazy.
