Reader Feedback: Why the Iphone Isn’t Worth Buying

by David Risley on Jun 20, 2008 | 11 comments

A few days ago, I talked about the Iphone and officially declared that I wanted to buy one. I was, of course, weighing out the true cost of the phone when you consider the early termination fees I would have to pay with Alltel. I have not yet decided how I want to play that one out come July 11th.

Apparently, I horrified one of our regular readers. Reese (known as reesethepiece) in our PCMech LIVE chatroom, sent in an email on the topic that I thought was good enough to be a guest post here on PCMech. So, here is that email.

Reese here (reesethepiece on PCMech Live). I read your iPhone article and was horrified. Just last Friday, I treated myself to a brand new LG Voyager. The phone is amazing. It’s an iPhone with all the holes fixed. When I broke it down, there were four main flaws with the iPhone that were keeping me from canceling my current contract with Verizon and switching to AT&T and getting an iPhone:
The iPhone’s battery is shit. I apologize for the language, but there is simply no other accurate way of putting it. I was in New York yesterday and decided that I had to go to the huge glass Apple Store there. I talked to the sales guy about this and he said that the only reason that the iPhone’s battery has such a short life is because it has to send/receive email so often, and that with the iPhone 3G, the server will push email to the phone, lightening it’s load and improving battery. Well, that’s pretty much a lie. I guess it might improve, but I use email on my LG Voyager and it does just fine. Yes, I’m sure that the battery will improve, but it definitely won’t be epic.
When people make calls on the iPhone, they accidentally press buttons. Again, I talked to the salesperson and they said that the keypad locks up when you make a call. Well, he obviously had no idea what he was talking about, because when you make a call on the iPhone, there are seven buttons that you can press: mute, keypad, volume, add call, hold, contacts, and end call. Can you imagine accidentally muting a call in the middle of it? Or putting your boss (doesn’t really apply to you) on hold? It would be awful. On the LG Voyager, as soon as you place a call, the phone locks up (the Voyager has a “touch to unlock” picture of a lock on the touch screen which is equivalent to the “slide to unlock” feature on the iPhone) and then if you press it–which believe me, you can’t accidentally touch it during a call–you get access to those kinds of options, including the keypad.
Typing is hell. How long did you use the on-screen keyboard on the iPhone in the store? Did you find it easy? That thing is possibly one of the worst features of any electronic device I’ve ever used. On the LG Voyager, the phone flips open to give you another screen (non-touch) plus a full QWERTY keyboard that makes typing a flash.
30 bucks a month? How about half that? You can get the same plan as an iPhone with unlimited data (minus the 300 text messages, but I have 5000 and would have payed for it either way) for only $15 extra per month, unlike the 30 that is required on the iPhone.
I guess that I had better tell you the few things that I do like better about the iPhone, though:
The touch aspect of the screen is a little more responsive
It uses WiFi when available
It has a sleeker UI, but there is actually an iPhone theme for the Voyager
Sure, you could go and put multitouch on there, but I think that this is another one of the clunky features on the iPhone. Zooming in the browser is hard because the surface of the screen is so unslick.
Another one of the awesome things about the Voyager is that I can almost guarantee you that sometime in the near future, the browser will support flash. You see, the phone actually does support Flash, just not in the browser. So, I would bet you that somewill will write a plugin or something that will unleash the beaty of the web on the Voyager (I feel like such a nerd now!).
I hope you’ll think it over or at least visit a Verizon store to check out the LG Voyager (or similar Samsung Glyde, but I haven’t used it so I can’t tell you how good it is). I hate to say it, but neither of those phones are available through Alltel, so you would still have to cancel your contract with them. However, Verizon does let you “Test Drive The Network” for 30 days, so that might be worth your while. Also, I just wanted to let you know that there really is no bias here, as it’s coming from a pretty big Apple fan. And as I said, I was about to get an iPhone myself, but I sure am glad that I didn’t!
Thanks for your time Dave.

He later sent in an addendum, making noting that he may be incorrect on the data plan pricing:

I was walking by a store today and they had an advertisement for a plan that gave you unlimited email and web (like I was talking about) for $30 a month, like the iPhone, not $15. Someone at a store told me that it was 15, but she must have been talking about something else.

So, despite the possible inaccuracy on the plan pricing, the overriding point here is that perhaps the Iphone isn’t the best game in town.

The Iphone certainly has more social buzz behind it than any other phone. This is, no doubt, because of the superb marketing skills of Apple. Yes, the phone is revolutionary in many respects, but Apple’s marketing has no doubt increased (or perhaps created) the furor that surrounds the device.

A lot of companies are coming out with contenders to the Iphone. Many are probably going to surpass the Iphone in features. The Iphone has raised the bar of what people expect from a smartphone.

In the end, it still comes down to preference. At this point, I still prefer to go with the Iphone. I have personally used it (albiet in the Apple store) and I thought it was easy to use. I have not tried speaking on it, so I cannot speak to the suggestion that you accidentally press buttons when talking. Any Iphone users out there, is this true?

I welcome feedback from real Iphone users. I posted Reese’s opinion, but I’m still left pondering the purchase. Can you shed any light?

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Drew
I’ve got 3 words to sum up my opinion on the matter:
GET A BLACKBERRY.

iPhone’s are overrated, over-marketed and over-estimated in their abilities. Sure, they are slick to look at, nice and shiny like an iPod and look fantastic, but they are nothing more than a fanboi’s toy phone with a few extra bells and whistles over a typical ‘candybar’ phone.
Combined with the fact they are with AT&T and the cost of owning one over a 2 year period tops out near or past the $2000 mark (pending your current contract, cancellation fees, etc.) I think I’ll stick with my Curve until the Javelin gets released.
Empyrean
One question for this guy: Why did you ask store associates? As far as I know I haven’t met a store associate that knew what he was talking about.
sad
this post is such a letdown. come on, is this the kind of writing you want to represent you on the web?
what this post tells me is you were either bored or totally lacking any ideas, so you posted someone else’s email. a voyager’s fanboy e-mail. with terrible language included, and utterly uninformed. the language, by the way, fully represents you (since you didn’t edit it.)
I just stumbled onto this accidentally from a search result page. it’s sad!
Chris
I cannot believe you think this is worthy of publishing. For one, it’s not factual. I’ve used a variety of smartphones and the iPhone v1 has a great battery. Of course, if you set your iPhone to retrieve mail every few minutes, it will have an adverse affect on battery life. I have never had an issue with battery life and I’d consider myself a power user.
Never have I “accidently” pressed buttons on the iPhone while on a call. That’s complete crap.
While I do prefer a QWERTY keyboard, the iPhone keyboard is still fine for email and texting. If you are writing a book, then it’s probably not right for you.
Have you seen the plans at Verizon? Granted, their service is better than AT&T, but their data plans are more expensive.
Finally, the LG Voyager? I think you are the first to say that “it fills all the holes of the iPhone”. That’s laughable along with your argument.
Facts
This is all complete bunk. Has this guy even touched an iPhone?!? Doesn’t seem like it.
1) I have a 1.0 iPhone and the battery has NEVER died on me… not once. This despite using it WAY more than any other phone I’ve ever used, and using it for more battery intensive functions too – like surfing the web, watching video, and listening to hours of continuous music.
2) Anyone with even a passink knowledge of the iPhone would know that its impossible to “accidentally press buttons” while on a call. When the phone is against your ear it automatically detects it and TURNS OFF THE KEYPAD (just like the salesperson said). When you move it away from your ear, it detects that and only then displays the mute, keypad, and other options.
3) Typing on the iPhone is absolutely the best experience I’ve ever had for entering data on a mobile device. I mean the keyboard is context sensitive… that’s impossible with a physical keyboard.
4) He already corrected his pricing, which was completely wrong also.
So, why post this FUD at all? Just desperate to remove any semblance of credibility from your site? Mission accomplished.
Marvin
Yes, I also believe that the iphone is overrated. Just talking about its browser, it did not support many websites that used flash or important websites for mobile professional for example expedia.com. If you wanted to make a hotel book in expedia, you are out of luck with the iphone browser. However, if you are using Opera Mobile, you could use expedia.com completed without any problem.
There are so many good browser for windows mobile such as skyfire. Skyfire is the best browser out there. If you wanted to watch youtube videos, you could use skyfire and watch them as in your desktop. It is amazing.
What about the ms word, excel, power point files. Iphone is garbage about that. Even palm centro is better handling those type of files as well as pdf files.
Don’t buy the iphone, it is completed overrated for people that don’t have idea about smartphones or business phones. This phone is just like a fashion propaganda and they want to sell it as the “revolution” item in the industry. Give me a break. Revolution of what.
Before their browser, opera mini and opera mobile already existed and touch screen also existed.
Many people that write about the iphone are clueless about the business or smartphone advance and that is the reason of this stupid overrated, plus the Microsoft haters, of course.
Falkirk
I am an iPhone owner. Personally I think you should get the phone that best serves your needs. The iPhone is great, but it’s not for everybody. And I’ve never used the competing phones so I can’t speak to them. However, there are some iPhone myths that I would like to address.
1) I’ve never had any trouble with the iPhone battery and I can’t compare it to any other phone so I have no opinion good or ill on this matter.
2) The iPhone has a proximity sensor that automatically locks up when the phone is placed next to the face. When the phone is taken away from the face the buttons, such as mute, keypad, etc. become active. I’ve never had any issue pushing buttons by accident.
3) There is a lot of misinformation concerning typing on the iPhone. People who love the phone say it’s great and people who hate the iPhone say it’s terrible. The truth is that it’s an acquired taste. Without a doubt it is harder, initially, to type on an iPhone. There have been several studies conducted that show that the learning curve is steep in the beginning but that those who stick with it learn to type as quickly on the virtual keypad as well as they did on the tactile keypad.
My advice is that if typing is the most important thing to you, you might want to stick with your physical keypad. For everyone else the typing issue disappears with time.
4) The pricing issue has been addressed. From the charts I’ve seen the iPhone 3G is about $150 more expensive over a two year period than the original iPhone but both are slightly cheaper than some of the iPhone competitors. It appears that it’s human nature to only look at the short term costs. Most people don’t calculate in the cost of the data plan. They look at the new Sprint phone and see $129 and look at the the IPhone 3G and see $199 and say the Sprint is cheaper. Unless the long term costs are significantly different, I think it makes sense to only look at the short term cost of ownership since that is what consumers do.
I’m surprised that the author of the original piece called the multitouch clunky. For me, it’s a gimmick when it comes to photos. A definite “wow” feature to show off to friends. But it’s a godsend when it comes to the internet. You go to a web page, double tap and voila, the content you want fills 100% of the screen.
To me, this is the essence of the iPhone. It’s the best mobile web browser on the market by far. The phone and the iTunes integration are are good, but nothing to shout about.
However, I think the iPhone is about to step it up and move into the mobile computing platform stratosphere with the unleashing of the App Store and associated third party applications. If you’re seriously on the fence regarding buying an iPhone I urge you to wait until after July 11th and reevaluate your decision once you see the thousands of applications that instantly become available. I promise you, it’s going to be a game changer.
S. Fierbaum
What I can’t believe is why these types of articles and this type of argument keeps coming out. I *know* it’s a ploy to get a reaction, generate traffic and ultimately pad the pocket of the publisher…what amazes me is how often people fall for it.
Who the hell cares what phone you use, what computer you use, what console you use, or what OS you use. For christ’s sake, it just doesn’t matter. Fanboys will always be fanboys and people will always defend their purchase decisions because they don’t want to look stupid. Let it go.
Fact is, every cell phone is crap, every computer is crap, every OS is crap and every console is crap. People have come to expect and accept crap products and, even worse, defend them. The marketing department and shareholder bank accounts have you…they own you.
http://wildheartsworks.com Joe Cheray
Ok I saw this in the newsletter and came over to check it out.
Falkirk is the only one who has posted that has given a fair well spoke and educated rebuttal to the over all purpose of this particular article.
I haven’t bought into all the iPhone hype but I will say I like the author of this article want to have any and all fact, myths whatever else is necessary before purchasing something. Would you deliberate the purchase of a house or car any more or less so than consumer electronics surely not. I choose not to be an early adopter of most technology and the iPhone is one that I am still waiting to get on the bandwagon with.I prefer to be a late adopter as I want to know that a majority of the bugs have been worked out and whatever product I plan on buying is going to be stable.
Personally I have been tuning in every week to listen to Dave and Rich and I value what they have to say about tech related information it sure has aided me in making a better decision perhaps in a graphics card.
I also had someone Stumble me and gave my site a bad review said the site sucked and that my theme was horrible. Yet I get over 1200 hits per day. Guess you can’t please everyone. In my defense my theme works for me and does what I need it to do.
Reese (author)
Opera has a browser called “Opera Mini” for mobile phones. They have recently ported this browser for BREW phones (like the Voyager). As of now, it’s only available to OEM manufacturers, but that will likely change soon. Once it does, forget how fancy the iPhone browser is (which I admit, currently kick’s the Voyager browser’s ass) because you can’t beat Flash.
Vkillzo
The truth is people are mad because they can’t afford luxury, stay in the cheap lane
With you non web browsing phones!