What I don't quite get is how Apple get to call this device a smartphone? Phone, sure. Smart? not so sure. Isn't a smartphone supposed to verge on being a mobile computer? A computer is by definition a device where the user gets to decide what it must do and what apps it should run. Contrast the iphone with the little 6120 Classic Nokia just launched; runs s60v3 fp1 same as their top of line devices, supports HSDPA (30 times the dl sped of edge?)! for heavens sake, can be used as a modem (hmmm ideal companion phone to the N800...) via bluetooth, camera, soon 8g microsdhc? Suddenly all the iphone offers is a snazzy touchscreen interface it seems to me - and even that seems to be getting some flak. The perfect phone AND fashion accessory - for my teenage sister maybe.

I really wanted an IPhone, but after thinking about it (and checking my bank account) I bought my N800 instead. So far, I think I made the right choice. I don't make a lot of phone calls, am usually near a wifi hotspot, and am not tethered to ITunes DRM. I still think the IPhone is going to help move Internet tablets to the next level. So much mainstream attention, and likely a high volume of sales should do for the tablet what the original IPod did for mp3 players. IPod is nowhere close to the best mp3/pvp on the market. Competitors have expanded the boundaries of what mp3 players were while Apple rested on its laurels. I'm thinking/hoping in a year we see not only IPhone2, but a ton of cheaper, evolved, competitive products.

I think Nokia has positioned themselves well to be at the head of that class.

You guys might enjoy some of the hysterical anti-Phone whining at the Seattle Times!

Brier Dudley, sock puppet of a firm based in Redmond, WA, has been shrieking about the iPhone each day this week. I especially liked his analysis of Mossberg and Pogue, where he blockquotes all their reservations about the iPhone and barely mentions their praises.

On the other hand, you might prefer the "analysis" of the iPhone he solicited from a Redmond-based firm (that could probably have him beheaded on a whim).

For myself, I prefer the steadfast pronouncements from the noted iPhone experts on this forum. So blather on!

Did any of you happen to develop Canola, by the way? That's the one app on my N800 that looks like it was designed for the N800. I'd seriously be curious about what that person has to say about what makes a good device.

I think this forum has actually been really fair to the IPhone, and for the most part optimistic about what it will do for the industry. It's going to be a nice device... but not perfect. There are definitely a few software things that Apple could (and probably will) do to make the IPhone a great device. Three off the top of my head...

1. Flash (even bad flash is better than no flash.) There's going to be a million teenagers buying this thing that will be pissed that their MySpace slideshows won't play.

2. Streaming/Downloading Audio from home. This for me would be the killer app. I don't need to buy music with the phone, but I'd like to be able to hop on any WiFi and get my audio from ITunes. It would make up for the relatively low storage from an MP3 player standpoint. I don't know if ORB works... but somehow I doubt it will.

3. Bluetooth Keyboard support.

I'm not concerned with how pretty it is. I do like the notion that it's easy to pick up and play with. My wife is scared of my N800, but I have a feeling she'd be right at home on an IPhone.

Read what he's got to say here.

Yes, this is the main item I want, and what finally made my N800 viable as a laptop replacement on pleasure trips. The main things I want/need on those trips are e-mail and web browsing. On-screen keyboards may be fine for a few words or a URL, but not for writing sentences and paragraphs.

(Is there confirmation yet that Bluetooth keyboards will not work on the iPhone? I suspect they may not, but I'm also sure that accessory makers are hounding Apple to enable such ASAP.)

Once that comes available -- and yeah, we probably need Flash and support for a couple other major Internet technologies to enable a broader range of sites -- then the iPhone really will have the potential to be the Walk-Around Web I lust for.

I do look forward to a couple software updates and a 20 GB iPhone 2 (which will comes in the the $600 price and bump the others down, and will have some of the features not yet available to iPhone 1.0). Hopefully by Christmas.

... so, this is basically a high end iPOD that happens to have a phone.

After watching Pogues vid

(LoL. Thanks Reb!)

It occurred to me that all the demos seem to show the same web page... a link is never clicked to show a page loading.

3 things can make or break this thing.


1. Page loading with AT&T's edge.

2. The WiFi connection app.

3. How the memory is managed. Will it slow down considerably after a days worth of cached web content or a boatload of email attachments?


We shall see I guess.