Why I may or may not upgrade to the iPhone 4G

First of all, I found myself not all that excited about the new iPhone 4G. Not as excited as I was when the Palm Treo came out in 2003 and the iPhone 3G in 2007. In the last 12 months, Android has come up fast and iPhone isn't the only game in town any more as it was back in 2007. After having spent good chunk of time with the Droid, Incredible and the EVO, I think consumers do have some solid non-iPhone options.

I'm getting itchy to upgrade my iPhone 3G soon so I'm waiting for some long term usage reviews to come out on the iPhone 4G and keeping my eyes on what new Android devices will be released.

So what would make me move to the iPhone 4G?

- Battery life: I'm very curious to see how much longer the batter will last. This has been a long time gripe for me with the iPhone as well as Androids especially after getting 3 to 4 days on a Blackberry. (And please don't get me started by telling me that I shouldn't expect longer battery life since I am carrying a mobile computer not just a phone)

- Reception: Will the new antenna scheme in the 4G actually improve the AT&T reception at my house? I hope so. I really don't want to pay AT&T for their ripoff microcell box if I decide to stay with them.

What I really don't care much about in the 4G:

- Improved screen resolution: I always thought that 3G has a very nice display. I'll take the higher resolution but it was never on my want list.

- Facetime: I appreciate the better camera on the back but I think we are still few years away from video conferencing on mobile. I'm sure some will use it but definitely not on my high priority list.

What I was hoping for in the 4G but didn't get:

- Multiple Carrier choices. No duh here. Verizon would be nice even though I'm not a big fan of CDMA but I could use a different carrier.

- AT&T offering their Microcell ripoff box for free or at least give the box away.

- Removable battery. Even with improved battery life, this would be a nice addition. HTC can do it on their phones that have similar form factor as the iPhone so I know it's possible.

- Tethering: For obvious reasons

- Less control from Apple: They are just being a-holes now especially with the whole Flash thing.

Dell isn't what it used to be

Last 4 desktops I've owned, I ordered from Dell. The process has always been smooth and in the early days, they exceeded expectations. But I get a sense their customer service is not what it used to be.

I found out that the desktop that I configured, ordered and paid for over 2 weeks ago has been mysteriously cancelled. I spoke to 4 different reps who gave me different reasons which make no sense. I still have not gotten a resolution to my issue. I'm sure I got routed to India couple of times then to different sales departments. I was promised a call back and never got one.

Guess times are tough at Dell as well but they are pretty close to losing me as a loyal customer.

Can't pull the trigger on a Kindle yet

I've been thinking of getting a Kindle but at $259 and $489, I can't really pull the trigger. They say $259 6" version holds 1,500 books and the $489 10" version holds 3,500 books. In fact, they tout that I could "carry my library"

The truth is I really don't need to carry my entire library and definitely not 1,500 books and probably not even 10 books. If I've got the reading bug, I may have 2 or 3 books max I'm jumping back and forth between.

I could see someone that does a lot research needing the storage but I think most folks would do fine with a device that would store 25 books and priced at around $99. Now if Amazon can get the public libraries connected so I could load borrowed books on the device, I'd say they got me as a customer.

Unfricking Believable!!!

Why The FCC Wants To Smash Open The iPhone

Why The FCC Wants To Smash Open The iPhone

"But dumb pipes are what we need. They are good for consumers and good for competition because they allow any application and any device, within reason, to flower on the wireless Internet."

And open devices. Hope Apple gets their hand slapped hard.

Posted using ShareThis

reBlog from marketing.fm: Marketing.fm – Eric Friedman

I found this fascinating quote today:

I am not sure there is any particular strategy for current employees to do things differently but below are my thoughts on what Condé or other publishers should do TODAY without any delay. This could apply to almost any print conglomerate right now going through a dip, and the right team can turn things around.marketing.fm, Marketing.fm – Eric Friedman, Jul 2009

You should read the whole article.

I'm skipping over Blue Ray

I'm in no hurry to buying movies in Blue Ray. This would mean I would have to buy a new player and upgrade my projector to 1080P. I am already watching movies from Netflix and renting movies from Amazon via Tivo. Movies on physical medium will go the way of music CDs in the next few years. Blue Ray is an incremental improvement and there's probably a lot of folks who are also reluctant to convert.

Update 12/05/09: Well, unless they are giving one away. I just bought a 54" Panasonic Plasma and they are giving Blue-Ray players away with purchase. I'm still doing Tivo, Amazon, and Netflix and may add some Blue Ray discs to the collection.

Sorry but the iPhone is not a computer, it's a phone

"This is as much a computer as a phone," says Matt Murphy, who heads Kleiner-Perkins' iFund, a $100 million initiative that seeds iPhone apps. "You don't expect a computer to last for 24 hours on one charge." -- From Wired (http://tinyurl.com/4zr4pr)

What an idiotic thing to say to defend Apple. So we are supposed to put up crappy battery life because what's in my pocket is a computer not a phone?

iPhone is just what the name says. A phone with lots of nifty features. If it's supposed to be a computer then Apple should have called it an iComputer.

Life after the iPhone 2.1 update

I am happy to report that I've been happier with my iPhone after the 2.1 update. It's not perfect but behaving much better. But I stick with my earlier comments that the iPhone 3G sofware was not ready for launch. After experiencing the changes after the 2.1 update, this is the state that the iPhone should have gone out.

1. Sync is much faster now. Used to take +1 hour at times, now it's only few minutes.
2. Apps remember their position. Great.
3. Not sure why they had to change the icons 3G and Edge. Silly.
4. So far less dropped calls but still getting some especially when I have 3G turned on. Just yesterday, I went from full 5 bars to "no service" while on the phone in DC. Sure, AT&T should take some blame but it's the Apple iPhone that I was talking into so I look to them to eliminate the dropped call problem.
5. Still no copy/cut & paste. Unbelievable
6. Need a global search feature for information stored on the iPhone. At the very least a way to search for Mail.
7. Safari still crashes from time to time
8. Still need a quick way to turn off GPS, WiFi, and 3G. Sort of like the airplane mode but leave the phone functional
9. Camera is still slow to respond
10. Where's the video and MMS?
    

Kudos to Johnny at the Apple Store!

I'm back home with a new iPhone and in the process of restoring it with my data, apps and songs. Have my fingers crossed.

I'm not sure if my issues will be resolved but I give a customer service kudos to Johnny at the Genius Bar at the Fairfax Apple Store (He actually works mainly at the Tysons Corner location).

Johnny was sympathetic with my problems especially after I asked him to read my blog post regarding all the issues I've been having. Plus I think he saw how frustrated I was.

It's guys like Johnny that will make me come back and give the iPhone another chance.

Thanks Johnny! You should get a raise!

Should I exchange or return my iPhone?

I'm actually sitting on a Mac in the Apple Store contemplating what to do with my iPhone. On my way home, I had a reboot and 5 dropped calls ironically while calling the Apple Store. I just about had it with this device. I felt like throwing it out the window.

Maybe I just have a lemon and I should exchange it. But I'm spending more time bitching about this device than any other device I ever owned.

I'll write back on what happens.

Update: I took my MacBook in to the store in case I had to backup my iPhone. Of course it takes forever. It was about 75% done and 20 min into it, when my wife sent me an SMS and the sync stopped. I had to start over again. Instead, I canceled out of the 2nd attempt and left the store with a replacement phone.

iPhone is unstable and lack features. Why?

My friend Steve had a Samsung music player. I had a Sony music player. We both agreed that they are both horrible products compared to the iPod. The device interface was horrible and their desktop software was buggy and looked like some programmer who took C++ 101 put it together. I went through 2 Sony players and both crashed using their own software.

My comment which Steve shared was "It's not like there isn't a successful product (like an iPod) already in the market that they can just look at to see what they have to build to. How can they release something of so poor quality and expect to compete?" Do they think that because they are successful CE companies that anything they can produce can out-compete Apple, a computer company?

So now we fast -forward to 2008 and I wonder if Apple is making the same mistake. Because Apple has been so successful with the iPod, did they simply think they can build a better phone than Nokia and Blackberry?

Don't get me wrong. I think the iPhone is a very nice, feature rich device. It is innovative in design and in how they combined the iPod, the phone and a full featured browser.

But after experiencing all the bugs and all the missing features, did Apple seriously analyse what makes Blackberry a Crackberry? And why Nokia has #1 market position in the world? These guys set the bar and why couldn't Apple match and then go beyond to truly make a world-class device? I just wonder if Apple just rushed the 3G to market before it was really ready.

Recent security flaws (including the one I reported to Apple),
3G issues,
no cut and paste,
MobileMe's launch issues and weak feature set,
No real Push (how can a company like Apple make such a claim and have to retract it?)
3rd party app issues,
sub-par battery life,
inability to tether (I still don't understand this one),
inability to unlock for international travel,
and prob dozens of common features found on Blackberry and Nokia.

I really want to like my iPhone and hope they will release some big fixes soon. But if I was to do a iPhone vs Blackberry comparison, Blackberry comes to the top when it comes getting the rock solid device to market. iPhone is starting resemble the PC in Apple's PC vs. Mac commercials.