iPhone fALks hands on short review
While there has been many praise for the iPhone over the past month and many many words written I just canīt resist to also write something about now that I finally have a test unit for two days/nights.
I got the phone simlock free (and the person who owns it wanted it with the newest firmware so he gave it to me to make it work) but apparently not jailbroken. So basically quite virgin.
Generally the build quality and overall simple user experience is everything Apple advertised - its easy as hell the gesture multitouch works beautifully and the lag that I feared is almost noexistent (it could get slightly better but its totally alright how it is). The graphics are speedy the zooms are fast the camera is good - heck even the loudspeakers rock for their size. So generally its freaking great 1.0 product that Apple has build there (I would even say its Apples best 1.0 product ever).
BUT.... I was done playing with it after 5 minutes and think I would get bored with the limited functionality after 3 days - at least in its virgin unbroken form.
So since the update to 1.1.2 the person wanted involves some tempering and jailbreaking the thing I was also able to install 3rd party apps - like a NES emulator and this is where the device gets much more interesting. But the procedures to jailbreak and the upload stuff to it is nothing for the lighthearted and nothing the average joe does. Just google maps gootube and a clock are just not justifying the products revolutionary underpinnings.
What I really find stupid: No downloads from the net -> HELLO 21st century -> I want to keep some stuff I see - like quicktime movies or mp3s or such - even legal ones you know.
No direct podcast subscribe?!! WTF now that we are producing a podcast here I wanted to see how it looks on the phone -> well either through your computer iTunes or not at all. Not even throught the iTunes Music Store app that sits on the phone - HOW FREAKING LAME.
For the rest I got too bored with it - I rather lug around my lappy for a while until things have matured. great that there are enough early adopters to fund apples research - I for once will not be part -> I think the Newton2100 still has the slight edge over the iPhone in regard of coolness factor when it came out (no I mean that 100% serious).
Interface totally great, build quality totally great, usefullness not there yet.