I’m a sucker for good timing. I believe in it heavily. After all things happen for a reason, right? So when my mom told me I could expect to start paying for my own cell phone service in July, and the iPhone’s much ballyhooed arrival occuring at the same time, I wondered: Is fate telling me to get an iPhone?
To be honest, I haven’t really thought about it before this week, even though the marketing blitz has been on for months. Financially, the move would be bearable, if not ideal: The heavy initial cost for the unit could be absorbed by a sign-on bonus at work.
Like most folks though, I was more concerned with the recurring instead of the one-time. How much would the monthly data plan cost for all those goodies? And when the pricing (released yesterday) was in line with what I expect to pay with new service from Verizon, with loads of iPhone goodness thrown in essentially for free, I became sorely tempted to join those already in line at Apple Stores.
As some of you know, I’ve had a Palm Treo 650 for about 18 months now. While an acceptable PDA/phone (there’s nothing “smart” about these devices) It comfirms my thinking about technology devices: rare is the device that integrates features and does them all well. I initially was enthused to have a notepad, digital camera, camcorder, text messenger, calendar, contact list, e-mail, internet access, MP3 Player, AND phone all in one form factor. But the only things the treo 650 does really well are the text messenging and notepad. In other words, it’s the clunkiest, most expensive pen and paper in digital form.
I think we’ve forgotten: these things are supposed to be phones first and wunderdevices second. Maybe I’m a rare bird: I want my phone to be just a damn phone. Give me a cell phone that makes landline quality calls without dropping them, and I’ll give you lots of money a month. At the very least, give me a phone that is LOUD. Loud when it rings in my pocket, loud when I talk in the microphone, and loud when the other person talks. I always want to have to turn the volume down, not have to get pissed that it won’t turn up more.
Of course, I still want some of the things my treo has: that notepad sure comes in handy when I’m book browsing or window shopping. Sure, it’s nothing a pen and paper can’t handle, but as an example, having my bank account info stored in my phone means I don’t need to worry about running out of deposit slips when I have a check to deposit. And I’m not a heavy texter, but it has been a nice way to communicate when a phone call won’t work. And since I’ve got a wicked habit of texting like I’m on AIM, unlimited text messages, or a ridiculous number of them, is a must.
I am a tech adorer, but not an early adopter. I love the potential of gadgets, and purchase them when I can, but not frivolously. I don’t feel the need to do more than look up the occassional sports score when I’m out of computer reach. No YouTube videos, no New York Times Web reading: I’d much rather enjoy the view of the city from the train or read the actual newspaper. Yes, I understand that I could do those things on the iPhone better than I now can on my treo, but I don’t need them. Why create that need with purchasing an iPhone?
To be fair, a decade ago, the idea of carting around every album you own would have seemed unnecessary (not to mention absurd). The iPod built and delievered a commuting world where portable music is now ubiquitous. On the Boston Red Line there are just as many, if not more, people with iPods as there are without: white in-ear nubs the de facto rule, instead of an exception. Perhaps, just as the iPod, just as the original Palm Pilot, the iPhone is the first real integrator, the successful merge of the “full” internet (as the ads say), music, photos, and telephony into one device. Perhaps we are on the cusp of an always there, always on world where information is truly at one’s fingertips, a world where one can just as easily and quickly upload videos to YouTube, where the Gray Lady becomes an aggregator for instablog updates from around Manhattan and the world, provided by iPhoners. Perhaps we’re on the verge of a multimedia society where location-based information reaches a nexus Perhaps we’re just a million iPhones away from knowing exactly what’s on the next block over: a pizza parlor, heavy traffic, and a college buddy you haven’t seen in a few years. Perhaps.
Unfortunately, the biggest problem with the iPhone isn’t the fault of an Apple designer: it’s the fault of what passes for cell phone service in America. No company can lay claim to the “best” cell service: there’s a tremendous amount of dissatisfaction due to dropped calls or static. It’s a perpetual problem in the United States, apparent when things such as the 2003 North American Blackout occur: we focus on the ends, but not the pipe in between. For all impressive gizmos we can palm on our end, and all the whiz-bang gadgetry on their end, we kind of forget that the pipe in between is corroded and rotten. The first company to fix their pipe will have a huge competitive advantage, but if no company is working to fix the pipe, why should any of them bother? Particularly bad for the iPhone and Apple is their exclusive partner, the “new” AT&T, has little customer support and terrible reception. For me, at least, the wonders of the device will have to wait until I hear better feedback regarding AT&T. No gadget is worth any amount of additional frustration gained in using it. And since I need a phone now, and it will be at least two years before I look at new phone service, I can say that for Apple and the iPhone, this may be a classic case of poor timing.
