After nearly six months, since it’s January announcement, the iPhone release had FINALLY come on Friday, June 29th — and there had been so much hype about it that people in Manhattan began camping out in front of the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue on the previous Monday.
Does the iPhone live up to the hype? Well, now that, at the time of writing this, I’ve spent a full 24-hours with it, I can tell you it absolutely does.
And getting it was only the beginning of the fun. Luckily, I live in Chicago where the line in front of the Michigan Avenue Apple Store began forming only Thursday afternoon. Did I camp out overnight to get my spot in line? No. But I did get there at about 10:30 a.m. The Apple Store closed at 2 p.m. for a four-hour prep, then re-opened for the release at 6 p.m. By that time, the line had grown to encircle the entire city block. My friend, Amy, commented the only way she would stand in line for that long is if Apple were selling an iMan.
When the iPhone was announced, I was a little dismayed at the price tag — $499 for the 4 GB memory model and $599 for the 8 GB memory model, but when I considered it was a smart-phone with an iPod (and unlike any previous iPod), and it also allowed me to view full Web pages (not the WAP pages with limited functionality found on most cell phones), I had to admit the price really was reasonable.
In terms of user experience, the first thing most buyers will love is not waiting in line at the cell phone store waiting for a salesperson to activate your new iPhone. You just buy it in the box and go! You activate the iPhone directly from your home Mac or PC using the latest version of iTunes (available as a free download from www.apple.com/itunes).
iTunes walks you step-by-step through registering your phone, choosing a rate plan (ranging from $59.99 to $99.99, including unlimited Web/e-mail and 200 SMS text messages), and then activates your phone with AT&T. When you’ve finished activating your phone, iTunes syncs all of your contacts, calendar events, Web browser bookmarks, favorite photos, songs, TV shows and movies. It even automatically sets up all of your e-mail accounts on the iPhone. A few minutes later, and voila! It’s like having a Mac in your pocket!
After activating and syncing my iPhone for the first time, I immediately watched videos on YouTube, checked my e-mail, surfed the Web, looked at photos, sent text messages, flipped through my music, and used the Google Maps feature to find the location and phone number for a restaurant to make dinner reservations. Three hours later I finally remembered I promised a friend he would be the first person I called on my iPhone. He answered, and said, “It took you long enough!!” I had to explain that I momentarily forgot the iPhone was actually a phone.
And what a phone! The multi-touch display makes placing a call as easy as touching a name on the screen. Navigating through the phone features is a breeze as well. I had my last cell phone for 3 years, and I still couldn’t tell you how to make a 3-way call or turn on call forwarding without referring to a manual. But the iPhone’s multi-touch interface makes all of these features easy to use. For instance, to make a 3-way call while talking to a friend, simply touch the “add a call” button on the screen and select the name of the person you want to add from your contact list. Easy!
Visual Voicemail is another enhancement, allowing you to see voicemails you’ve received on the display like you would view e-mail in your e-mail program. Listen to your messages in any order — easily using your finger to back up and repeat part of a message or fast-forward at any time.
Text messaging has become the preferred method of communication for many people — including myself. iPhone doesn’t have a physical keyboard for sending text and email. Instead, the keyboard appears on the touch-screen automatically whenever you need it, leaving more room for the display when you don’t. I was concerned about whether this would make it difficult to type quickly, but in the single day I’ve had the iPhone, I’ve gone from one-finger pecking to zipping along with two thumbs. The intelligent keyboard predicts what you’re going to type, correcting typing errors as you go.
Although the iPhone itself is fantastic, its data network is less than stellar. The iPhone uses AT&T’s Edge Network for its Internet/E-mail functions. AT&T’s Edge Network has the largest coast-to-coast coverage area in the nation (which is why the network was chosen), therefore more people will have access to these features than with any other network.
Yet, while the coverage area is the largest, the network is also the slowest, typically running just slightly faster than a 56k dial-up modem. This is adequate for checking e-mail, but you will notice the drag when viewing Web sites on the iPhone’s Safari browser. The good news? If you’re used to DSL or cable Internet speeds, you’ll be grateful the iPhone can also access the Internet via WiFi, allowing you to cruise the Internet at high-speed if you’re near a WiFi hotspot.
Program the password in (on password protected networks) — and the iPhone connects automatically to your wireless at-home or at-work Internet; it will also ask you if you want to join networks should it detect others in the area.
Slow AT&T network aside, the iPhone lives up to it’s hype, combining the best phone functionality of any phone to date, the best iPod ever made, with Internet functionality like Web browsing and full HTML e-mail. All of it is behind a revolutionary multi-touch display interface never before seen on any phone.
The Mac revolutionized personal computers. The iPod revolutionized the way we listen to music. And while I doubt Apple will be announcing an iMan any time soon, the iPhone delivers on its promise to revolutionize the way we use our cellular phones.
See the iPhone for yourself in person at any Apple or AT&T retail store, or for a guided tour of iPhone’s features including rate plans, visit www.apple.com/iphone. Gotta go make a call, check email, watch YouTube…