Why I am Waiting for iPhone 2.0

iPhoneThe iPhone is coming to the UK this weekend and I am shocked myself to tell you this, but I will NOT be in the queue to grab one.

Don’t get me wrong, it looks like a really cool gadget and some aspects of it are worth overlooking any flaws. The problem I have is for the last couple of years my trusty but crusty Pocket PC device has worked ponderously but reliably to keep me productive while away from my desk.

I have gotten used to retrieving emails at the top of mountains, skype chat on frozen lakes, and remote managing servers from the beach. This gadget has allowed me to blog on planes and on motorways, and catch up with documents in several continents Starbucks.

This is by no means a class-leading PDA/smartphone. By most comparisons the iPhone should blow it out of the water. But, alas, it does not.

Yes, I am an Apple-loving geek, and many of the iPhone features do have me lusting over the device, but after careful research I have found not one but ten deal-breakers:

  1. Modem – In a way I can understand the telecoms partners not wanting the iPhone to work as a modem, and perhaps it is true that battery life would be impacted, but you know I really need to be able to connect up my laptop and use the internet properly.
  2. 3G – I upgraded to a 3G capable device for a reason. It’s not a nice-to-have. From what I have read they have done wonders with the EDGE but it rarely reaches its potential. Just put 3G in the next one, OK Mr Jobs?
  3. GPS - My next smartphone is going to have GPS, especially one costing nearly £300 and requiring an 18 month contract. Having said that, it’s probably the least of my worries.
  4. App Support – I need certain 3rd-party apps to do my job, proper apps and not cobbled-together web interfaces (Skype, Remote Desktop, VNC). This machine is a little but powerful computer, it ought to be able to do this.
  5. Edit Word or PDF – Now if I can get a remote desktop connection this is not as much of an issue but I need one or the other. Either I need to be able to edit and create Word/PDF files or I need to be able to remote control a machine that can. You see while I am away I need to send reports or proposals with short notice. Remember this machine does not work as a modem. If it can’t edit documents either then I have lost work. OK, I could go into a cyber cafe … but that is not much of an upgrade when my current device has Word, works as a modem AND has remote desktop capability!
  6. Removable Storage - 8gb sounds like a lot until you work out that is all you ever get. It’s supposed to replace your PDA, phone and iPod, right? 8gb is not going to cut it. I am sure in the next version they could put in a card slot.
  7. Camera – The camera is lousy and you can not even MMS. When I am away I often send and receive pictures (did I mention that the camera is lousy?)
  8. Downloads – Is it really true that you can not download files from browser? Really?
  9. Bluetooth – Apparently Bluetooth is always on and always discoverable. But you can’t sync via Bluetooth. Have we gone back a few years? Most providers now have wised up to decent Bluetooth support. Please somebody tell me this isn’t true!
  10. No Java or Flash - The browser might be really cool for catching up on the news but if you are going to do actual work, such as connect to a corporate extranet or web application, at some point you are going to need Java and/or Flash. From what I read, iPhone does neither. It’s got to come soon, I can’t believe they are not working on it, but until it does I can’t do what I need to.

These might seem like the moans of a disappointed nerd, and they are, but each one is truly important, so if you just took a handful then I would have sufficient reason not to upgrade from my aging pocket PC.

I do really want an iPhone though, so here’s hoping version 2 comes soon!

Am I wrong, or do you agree with any of my points? Let me know in the comments …

Posted on November 6, 2007 by Chris Garrett 
Filed Under Productivity

Comments

12 Responses to “Why I am Waiting for iPhone 2.0”

  1. Andy Merrett on November 6th, 2007 1:58 pm

    I agree with a lot of those, though the way I personally work, I can live without most of them.

    A lot of my work revolves around just a few sites and functions, and I’m usually in an the urban jungle, so I could probably get around the EDGE network and hovering outside Cloud hotspots.

    I’ve never had a 3G phone so don’t know what I’m missing. The memory problem again wouldn’t bother me because I currently only have a 4GB iPod mini (old skool) and don’t really do loads of photos or movies on the go – I’m usually near my Mac to sideload stuff.

    I’m sure there’s some hack to allow the iPhone to be used as a modem, and so long as it’s not used all the time (if the iPhone is still tethered to O2) then it may not be discoverable (from what I can tell that’s one of the few fair use issues left in O2′s revamped data plan T&Cs)

    Camera – again I’ve got a VGA cam anyway, so it’s not a huge problem. No MMS is a minor annoyance. I wonder if you can use web services to upload images to a server?

    Not downloading files might kill publishing on blogs where I need to include an image. I hope that’s not true, too. It might just be music that’s not downloadable. Not sure.

    I can live without Word and PDF editing, but that’s just how I work and I can see that it’d be v important to others. I believe there are some 3rd party web services which can aid in that, but that’s not ideal (and again relies on the web connection)

    The general problem is that, when iPhone 2.0 comes out, we’ll all be waiting for iPhone 3.0!

  2. Tony on November 6th, 2007 5:11 pm

    It does look really cool though. I have heard from a lot of people that it’s almost like a status symbol and conversation point when you have one.

    I am locked in with Verizon and would probably go with a Treo or more of a pocket pc for the same reasons you stated.

  3. Richard Morton on November 6th, 2007 6:22 pm

    The new iPhone is seriously disappointing and lacklustre which is surprising considering Apple’s track record. It’s also very expensive. As far as using it for writing anything I would be very reticent even if the other problems were fixed. Tests have shown that a touch screen is always outperformed by a phone keyboard, which is always outperformed by a full ascii phone keyboard, which is always out performed by a Psion series 5 – why can’t someone produce a device with a keyboard like that had.

  4. Rick Galan on November 6th, 2007 7:39 pm

    You have to remember that the iPhone is an iPod with some extra features. It’s meant to be a toy, not a productivity device. Otherwise there would have been a little more love given to that ridiculous keyboard.
    It’s a sweet toy, but a toy nonetheless.

  5. Chris Garrett on November 6th, 2007 9:15 pm

    @Andy – I think you are bang on right about iPod 3, but I have shown I do hold on to old (well, two year old) tech :)

    @Tony – It does seem to be verging on “bling”, it’s entered enough mainstream that my parents know what it is :)

    @Richard – My XDA Exec has a proper qwerty keyboard but this does mean it is not a sexy design which is what Apple was going for I think :)

    @Rick – It has the potential to be more than a toy though, after all there is a pretty powerful computer in that there funked up iPod :)

  6. ella on November 7th, 2007 9:46 am

    Love this post and agree wholeheartedly.
    While I’m a fan of many of Apple’s innovations, I’m not a cult follower of any technology. Use the tool that fits. If IE actually became a good browser tomorrow, I might actually start using it.
    When Apple comes out with a decent smartphone to match all the design innovations they worked so hard on, then I’ll consider it as well.
    The iPhone has set a new standard in usability design. For this, they deserve recognition. Now function my follow and they have a long way to go in meeting real world business needs.
    Ciao,
    Ella

  7. Chris Garrett on November 7th, 2007 11:40 am

    Ella, you put it so well :) Yep, once they match the features to the design they will be almost perfect :)

  8. Jay Garrett’s Gadget News » Blog Archive » iPhone Rules Confusion for Business on November 7th, 2007 1:05 pm

    [...] It turns out that Chris is also wating for version 2 – read here “Why I’m Waiting For Version 2″. [...]

  9. Richard on November 12th, 2007 7:42 pm

    More and more application is available on iPhone now. I am using a remote desktop application(http://www.gooer.com) on my iPhone, it let me can remote access my PC in office from my iPhone.

  10. iPhone 3GS First Impressions : Codswallop on June 19th, 2009 5:34 pm

    [...] while ago I broke all the geek rules on this blog by declaring Why I am Waiting for iPhone iPhoneThe iPhone is coming to the UK this weekend and I am shocked myself to tell you this, but I [...]

  11. iPhone 3GS First Impressions « widaca on June 19th, 2009 11:15 pm

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  12. Linda Myers on October 12th, 2009 6:58 pm

    I remember when I write a sample essay about iphone. A new innovation in phone technology.

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