So back in June, Apple came out with their iPhone.  I’ve always liked how it looks, but given that there are so many features missing from it, I decided to keep my unlocked Sony Ericsson W810i.  However, as of late, I’ve been given the opportunity to acquire a free iPhone.  So, for the purpose of deciding which one to use, I’m going to outline the advantages and disadvantages of the $400 iPhone as compared to my two-year-old W810i.

Disadvantages:

• It’s much bigger
• No MMS (picture messaging)
• No third-party app support and no Java – you’re stuck with the software that came with it
• No voice recording
• No video recording
• No cut-and-paste
• Can’t assign personal music tones
• No AIM/iChat
• No voice tags for voice dialing
• Semi-difficult to unlock
• No memory card slot

Advantages:

• It looks pretty
• Better browser
• Wi-Fi (but since there’s no support for third-party applications, there’s no way to run Skype or VoIP)

As far as the iPhone’s other claims to fame — MP3/video player, Google Maps, a working web browser, and YouTube — that stuff existed in other phones long before the iPhone came out.  Frankly, I think the reason it sold so well is that it looks really cool and Americans were largely unaware of what cell phones could already do.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not criticizing Apple for coming out with it, I just wish they incorporated some basic cell phone features.

I’ll give the iPhone a shot, but it’s hard to imagine going without some of these standard features.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 at 8:18 pm and is filed under Random Thoughts, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.