Well folks, the time has arrived, and I am officially a card-carrying member of the iPhone club. In fact,I am blogging right now from the WordPress application on the iPhone. Has it changed my life? Not really. Am I finding it extremely useful? You better believe it. More to come!
This morning marked the release of the new Apple iPhone 3G, which includes 3G wireless speed, an integrated GPS, and the new version 2.0 software release that allows users to add applications to their device. Apple and AT&T stores opened at 8:00am local time across the country. Just minutes ago, the last locations to open on the west coast began admitting customers into their stores.
However, those last people being admitted to the stores are being greeted with an unpleasant surprise: AT&T’s activation servers have been unable to stay operational to complete the process. Gizmodo has reported that the official word is:
“We have had reports that customers attempting to download new iTunes 7.7 software to their new iPhone may get an error message saying “page not found.” We have reported this issue to Apple. While Apple works to resolve this issue, we are asking customers to sync their newly activated phone later at home.” via Gizmodo
Some people have waited more than 30 minutes to have their phones activated, only to be sent home to try the activation process from iTunes on their home computers (TUAW), which was the way the process went for the first iPhone. The first customers on the east coast were able to get their phones activated in the stores, but those who have been sent home are still having problems because of the server issues.
Leo Laporte has been broadcasting the whole event with footage from around the country, which you can access at http://twitlive.tv. I am so glad that I didn’t try to get in line only to have these issues! It still is one exciting day 
I’m not going to do the full run-down here of all the junk news we have been receiving about the July 11 release of the iPhone. What I am going to do is simply say that owning an iPhone is not just a mobile device choice; it is a financial obligation. I signed up for AT&T in March to prepare for this iPhone release. I didn’t want to be stuck in an AT&T or Apple store on launch day waiting for a credit check or having some problem with my plan - I wanted to get in, get it, get out. So, it was quite surprising when I discovered that existing AT&T customers (which is now me) have to pay $200 *more* than new customers for the phone because of upgrade ineligibility. Tack on the extra $10 per month in 3G data and at least $5 to make up for the lack of included texts, and I am preparing to spend an extra $560 for the iPhone over a 2 year contract. Is this amount calculated above my current plan? NO…above the cost to run the current 2.5G iPhone. I was excited about the first-generation iPhone, even with the price premium, but this is starting to get a bit pricey. Let’s see what happens…
Yesterday, at the World Wide Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, Apple announced the next generation of the iPhone: iPhone 3G. CEO Steve Jobs began by talking about the phone’s new Enterprise support, then continued to talk about the development platform, and concluded with some new features of the 2.0 software release - and the new hardware, of course. You can watch the keynote speech from the link above, but if you’re like me and don’t care about 45 minutes of product demos, skip right to the last 25% to hear the big news.
The big news (for me) is the new iPhone hardware. I’ve wanted the iPhone for more than a year, but held off until this release to take advantage of the new features. Now, I’ve been reading the rumor blogs and have posted some things here, and to be honest, I was a bit disappointed with the announcement. The new iPhone is a big improvement over the current model, but it’s not a huge leap. Here’s what I thought versus what actually is going to be available:
As if anyone doubted, Gizmodo is reporting that it has been confirmed that the new iPhone will be introduced at WWDC on June 9. There have been many rumors floating around about the specifics of the hardware, new form factor, and date of availability, but here is what I have gathered so far:
As I have mentioned before, if the new phone has 32 GB of capacity, it is the ultimate device for me. I can’t imagine what availability struggles they will have and/or the line I am going to have to wait in to get one, but it will all be worth it.
So what?
This announcement is definitely going to revolutionize the smart phone market. Since the launch of the iPhone one year ago, there have been advances in the mobile web, and we have gotten the sense of what consumers want and need when it comes to advanced mobile devices. The iPhone is no Blackberry in capability at this point, but it is solid hardware and the advances (including Exchange support) will take a chunk out of Blackberry’s marketshare.
The Wall Street Journal ran an article today posing the question, “Is Faster Access to the Internet Needed?”, citing a recent announcement that Comcast has released a new higher speed broadband service to the metropolitan Minneapolis area (to the tune of $150 per month). The 50Mbps downstream speed (5Mbps upstream) is more than 10 times faster than Comcast’s current offerings, and it intends to expand both the speed and coverage in the near future.
The article goes on to describe how other vendors believe that money needed to enhance the backbones of their networks to accommodate higher speeds can be better spent on other projects, which would leave Time Warner Cable and AT&T subscribers at a standstill with their current bandwidth offerings. The author believes that “aside from a few niche applications like high-end videogaming, no real applications exist to allow users to take advantage of the higher speeds.”
So what?
I’m sure in 1996, WSJ writers touted 56k as “The Fastest Thing Since 4800 Baud!!!”, but without the innovation of broadband, we wouldn’t have the Internet that we have today. Are you happy with waiting 10 minutes to download a 100MB video podcast? Waiting 30 seconds for a video clip to buffer? Watching a tiny 320×240 postage stamp with pixel blocks the size of Tic Tacs?
Let’s take a look internationally.
Japan has the world’s fastest, cheapest Internet access. Western Europe has a faster growing broadband penetration than the US. A 75 year-old woman in Sweden has 40 GIGABIT speed to her home. Yeah, you’re right, 5 Megabits is way too fast. (And I won’t even mention Comcast’s wonderful habit of throttling bandwidth if they deem fit.)
So, is faster access to the Internet needed? In a word: YES. I’m sure it is financially beneficial for ISPs to sit on their laurels and rake in the cash while their networks remain stagnant, while people are content paying a minimum fee for minimum service. But when those “few niche applications” turn into money-making machines, they will be scrambling to catch up to the rest of the world.
Steve Jobs must be rolling in his grave.
Okay, so he’s not dead, but if he’s ever uttered the words, “Over my dead body” about a cooperation with another company, he’s just as likely to preemptively roll in his proverbial grave. The wonderfully tight-lipped Mobility CEO of AT&T has announced that a 3G iPhone will be “coming in months.” He attempted to be a little sly by not mentioning the iPhone by name, but his cues were anything but ambiguous.
So what?
This little slip means that I am one step closer to my purchase of an iPhone! I am anticipating that the 3G iPhone will probably be a higher end model at the $599 price point, and I’m hoping that it will also be 32GB. That way, I’ll be able to ditch my old 30GB iPod and have one device for telephony and portable music. YEE HAW!
It’s no secret that I want an iPhone. Bad. I know it’s not right to covet your neighbor’s cellular telephony device, but every time I see my iPhone-toting neighbor, I just want to covet all day long. Why then do I not have an iPhone? Not because of the $175 early termination fee of my current provider (I’ve been out of contract since July of last year), nor because of any hesitation of switching to AT&T for all my wireless needs.
It’s because Steve Jobs and I have some unfinished business.
I love what has been done with the iPhone, from the slick interface to the fact that most any of my surface-level wishes can be added with software updates or the upcoming SDK. But there are just a couple of hardware tweaks that will send me over the edge and empty several hundred dollars from my bank account:
1. 3G Wireless - EDGE is so last year. Or the year before that. Come to think of it, when was the last time Nokia preferred EDGE for browsing? 2006? The CEO of AT&T has mentioned that the 3G iPhone is on it’s way this year, so I guess we’ll just have to play the waiting game.
2. Internal GPS - Sure the Google Maps application on the iPhone is great, and the cell tower triangulation feature is neat, but come on. We need a real, bona fide GPS in that thing. If the Nokia N95 can have one, so can the iPhone.
3. 32 GB Internal Storage - Ok, here’s the deal. I have a 30 gig iPod. Coincidentally, I also have close to 30 gigs of content. I do not enjoy plugging in my Nano and having to go through and select what I may want to listen to until the next time I dock the device. Likewise, I don’t want to have to select what content I put on my phone, nor worry about what content I have synced to the device every time I plug it in to charge! A 32 GB iPhone would do the trick. I could get rid of my iPod and use my phone as my only portable device. I might be dreaming, and I might need a solar-powered jacket to stay operational, but I’m willing to make that sacrifice.
BONUS! 4. Starbucks Ordering System - Ever since I saw this, I haven’t stopped thinking about how stinking awesome it would be to order my Venti Shaken Black Tea Lemonade from the car on my way to the ‘Bux, and have it waiting for me when I get there. Mad props to Phil Lu for mocking that one up.
So there it is, my wish list that would set me over the edge (or 3G, if you will) and get me over to the Apple Store to pick up my very own iPhone. I have never wanted to part with $500 so much in my life.