Antipresto: Deviant Magic

THERE’S NO REASON FOR ME TO “REVIEW” the iPhone; the device has been reviewed into infinitum and dissected by so-called “pro-feshy-ah-nalls” of the industry, and apparently (and not surprisingly) according to them, they know what they’re talking about It’s also probably their opinion that I don’t know what I’m talking about… but I do have an iPhone, I’ve had over two-dozen cell phones over eight years and I’ve purchased accessories for ‘em, totalling to up-n-’round the dollar amount required to feed ten million people a riceplate. Don’t ask me to write out that math because I won’t(and because it’s pointless in many other ways).

I’m actually using the second iPhone 8GB now, the first one ended up with a cracked screen. Easy trade… mad props, Apple. I’ve really never had a return go so quickly or easily in that store, and that’s probably a testament to the quality of the employee whom helped me.

So—this isn’t a “traditional” review of the device, I just want to share my feelings and perhaps I can convince fence-sitters to take the plunge into coolness or give some Mac users an excuse to get a new toy. I also got the Apple Bluetooth headset, third-party headphones and headset and three different carrying cases. I guess in some sense I’ll review those things, I’ll give you my dear reader, a comparison between stock-standard headphones and the v-moda vibe, as well as the Apple-brand bluetooth headset compared to the Nokia BH-800.

I thought with this website being an interesting take on tech-review and notes, I’d share what I know about the device now (as opposed to what I knew and thought when I first purchased it, without iTunes WiFi and before the iPod touch) and the few things I use with it.

First off, the iPhone is great. It’s not the “best phone ever” and it’s not anywhere near perfect, but it is a great phone. Every Mac user would do good by buying one; it’s hard to go wrong with a device so synchronized and quick. For me, gone are the days of complicated “Missing Sync” or “Hotsync” errors, random conversion issues, data-loss, overwrites and failed connections. I plugged the USB connector into the dock (although I wish it was FW800—I also wish that all PCs and notebooks, including Windows machines had Firewire 400/800 as well) and my iMac, dropped the iPhone in, and boom! It recognizes nigh instantly, and to my surprise, it auto-opens both iTunes and iPhoto 08, ready to transfer photos to my computer and sync with my new iMac (24 in).

Days before the phone first released at $499 and $599, people were flocking like idiot lemmings to Apple Stores (Walnut Creek had a line down the block) buy multiple iPhones, hoping to unload them on drooling, craving, Apple-cult gadget-addicts unable to hold-out. They bought multiple phones (for $599 and tax) only to find out that there was no shortage. All I can say about that is: “I told y’all so, when I wrote an article a month before the phone’s release. Stating that in order to sell ten million in the first year, people would have to be able to walk in to any AT&T Store or any Apple Store and buy the phone… heck, two even.” I also wanted to tell ‘em that Apple isn’t Sony, and they wouldn’t set a release date until they were sure that there was going to be an over-adequate supply; Apple wants to make as much money as fast as possible, and all participating companies want two-year activations!

We all got chumped; some more than others as is in the case of the 4GB buyers, finding out that the device at 8GB would be less than they’d spent not three months earlier. The 8GB users would get some money back, and many people had price protection options on their phones such that “full refunds” were given for the new difference. Essentially, all “release” users paid an extra $100 “we’re-cool-rental-fee” to use the device before the cost-drop and before everyone and everyone’s grandmother and little brother had the thing. The other people probably feeling stupid were the users who bought the phone to “hack it open,” using it for the WiFi, iTunes and camera features, ignoring the phone functionality. (I guess recently someone unlocked the device… of course, visual vmail doesn’t work without AT&T iPhone Plans) With the ‘touch’ released, anyone not needing/wanting the “phone” part can get 16GB (for less than the 8GB phone was), though there’s no camera.

Apple really knows how to make a lot of us forget and cease to care about those things. The promise (and delivery) of constant improvements and innovations to the device and the software (aside from some legal issues atm) keeps many of us sated… it’s not even that we’re not complaining, many of us are happy with the phone (and other Apple products).

With Leopard (OSX 10.5) releasing on Friday, Apple will have the technical platform and the buzz surrounding all elements of the company, whether or not innovations on the phone itself come before the end of the year isn’t important. With iTunes WiFi up and running (and wonderfully fast) the only thing left to do is add video to it. I would also like to see Bluetooth syncing abilities (and bt sharing ability, including “Contacts” and photo sending), Dictionary “widget,” and the ability to easily upload photos to Flickr, Picasa or some other photo-site, including Apple’s own.