Why I'm still not buying an iPhone.
I own a Sidekick LX and I'm very happy with it although not universally so. The browser doesn't render some pages correctly, especially new Ajaxy Web 2.0 pages. It doesn't support 3G so browsing is slow, and earpiece sound quality is terrible. But even after Apple's 3G iPhone announcement today I'm still not getting an iPhone. Everyone seems to want to know what I think and whether I'm getting an iPhone yet so I'll post my answer here to save myself some time.
First, credit where credit is due. Apple's SDK looks very good. No third-party apps was not just a deal-killer but a stupid announcement nine months ago, and I'm glad that there's both a free SDK and a legitimate channel for people who would otherwise be hacking their phones to add third party apps anyway. The demoed apps were impressive and the feature allowing private groups authorizing specific apps to specific iPhones is also a lot cooler than most people realize.
Now the deal-killers. Caveat: These aren't deal-killers for everyone, but they are for me and my peculiar habits.
No mention of IM so far. AOL is apparently developing a third party IM client and I wouldn't be surprised if the Adium people release something on their own. This is a short term thing either way, but matrushkaka and I can use our vaporPhone to run vaporware until something is actually announced. (Meebo is also unsuitable for reasons that I can get into later.)
No cut and paste. There are ways to design a system to make the absence of cut and paste suck less and Apple has done this well, but at the end of the day not being able to do something so simple is frustrating as hell. I'd like to be able to copy a sentence from an email and paste it into a SMS message. Is that so difficult? I suspect that it acutally is; there's no buttons and no keyboard, and all the good gestures that I'd normally associate with selecting, copying, and pasting have already been assigned other meanings.
Biggest problem: the 3G iPhone is locked even tighter to AT&T, their two year contract, and their stupid hijinx. Unlimited 3G data costs extra and the unlimited mobile to mobile messaging doesn't include Google SMS, AIM Mobile, Facebook, Twitter, or other non-cellphone texts. (Another @ rozsavage debacle could bankrupt me.) There's no escaping the mothership either: unlike the last iPhone you won't be able to buy one online or activate it yourself, probably because of an AT&T subsidy, which makes me wonder whether you'll be able to buy a new iPhone at the same price without renewing your contract for another 2 years.
I'm not bothered by lacking a tactile keyboard; I'm bothered by all the limitations that follow deciding not to have a tactile keyboard. Losing half the screen when you enter input mode. The entire unnecessary concept of "input mode". Not hotkeys for switching between apps. No cut and paste (see above). Inability to send chorded keystrokes like "control-c". Modal everything.
My last take on the iPhone/iTouch was that it was a marginally good telephone/communication device but an extremely promising small-format computer. And that's basically the direction that Apple is continuing to take it. The 3G iPhone looks like it's an even better compact, general purpose computer but it hasn't actually gotten that much better as communicator. And unfortunately that's what I need - not a pocket Sega, not a physician's desk reference, not an eBay browser. A phone. Until this stuff gets sorted out, owning an iPod Touch as a compliment to my non-Apple phone is a great way to enjoy most of the iPhone magic without getting stuck with the AT&T contract. I remain hopeful that either the Google Phone or the new non-Java Sidekick will give me what I'm looking for.
First, credit where credit is due. Apple's SDK looks very good. No third-party apps was not just a deal-killer but a stupid announcement nine months ago, and I'm glad that there's both a free SDK and a legitimate channel for people who would otherwise be hacking their phones to add third party apps anyway. The demoed apps were impressive and the feature allowing private groups authorizing specific apps to specific iPhones is also a lot cooler than most people realize.
Now the deal-killers. Caveat: These aren't deal-killers for everyone, but they are for me and my peculiar habits.
No mention of IM so far. AOL is apparently developing a third party IM client and I wouldn't be surprised if the Adium people release something on their own. This is a short term thing either way, but matrushkaka and I can use our vaporPhone to run vaporware until something is actually announced. (Meebo is also unsuitable for reasons that I can get into later.)
No cut and paste. There are ways to design a system to make the absence of cut and paste suck less and Apple has done this well, but at the end of the day not being able to do something so simple is frustrating as hell. I'd like to be able to copy a sentence from an email and paste it into a SMS message. Is that so difficult? I suspect that it acutally is; there's no buttons and no keyboard, and all the good gestures that I'd normally associate with selecting, copying, and pasting have already been assigned other meanings.
Biggest problem: the 3G iPhone is locked even tighter to AT&T, their two year contract, and their stupid hijinx. Unlimited 3G data costs extra and the unlimited mobile to mobile messaging doesn't include Google SMS, AIM Mobile, Facebook, Twitter, or other non-cellphone texts. (Another @ rozsavage debacle could bankrupt me.) There's no escaping the mothership either: unlike the last iPhone you won't be able to buy one online or activate it yourself, probably because of an AT&T subsidy, which makes me wonder whether you'll be able to buy a new iPhone at the same price without renewing your contract for another 2 years.
I'm not bothered by lacking a tactile keyboard; I'm bothered by all the limitations that follow deciding not to have a tactile keyboard. Losing half the screen when you enter input mode. The entire unnecessary concept of "input mode". Not hotkeys for switching between apps. No cut and paste (see above). Inability to send chorded keystrokes like "control-c". Modal everything.
My last take on the iPhone/iTouch was that it was a marginally good telephone/communication device but an extremely promising small-format computer. And that's basically the direction that Apple is continuing to take it. The 3G iPhone looks like it's an even better compact, general purpose computer but it hasn't actually gotten that much better as communicator. And unfortunately that's what I need - not a pocket Sega, not a physician's desk reference, not an eBay browser. A phone. Until this stuff gets sorted out, owning an iPod Touch as a compliment to my non-Apple phone is a great way to enjoy most of the iPhone magic without getting stuck with the AT&T contract. I remain hopeful that either the Google Phone or the new non-Java Sidekick will give me what I'm looking for.