Why the iPhone’s Not for Me
Ripples of shock went through the Twitterverse last night when I said I was sleeping on the idea of an iPhone to replace Blackberry as my next mobile phone. Rest easy. All is well and harmony has been restored to the universe. But there were enough comments from friends and colleagues that I thought I’d explain why the consideration, and why I’ve eliminated the iPhone yet again as the phone for me.
First, why consider an iPhone?
Like most people, I’m impressed by the application platform. More importantly, I’ve been considering doing some development work again; something I haven’t done for many years. The iPhone is a far easier platform to develop for than other mobile devices. RIM has been my platform of choice, but frankly, I don’t see doing RIM development as being worth the headache and heartache it involves. Developing an iPhone/iPod app is doable, and could lead to other new things.
But, I have an iPod Touch. And most of the apps in the app store are garbage. I don’t want to create more garbage. Still, that isn’t what led me to back away from the iPhone.
What kills the iPhone for me, is the iPhone itself, in a number of ways, partly coupled to the Apple culture.
- It’s a 3G device, but I live in a 2G community. 3G won’t be here before 4G hits much of the US. I haven’t seriously been considering a 3G device because they suck power when there’s no 3G available, and battery life is a big concern for me.
- The iPhone is quirky and unreliable. I only say this based on how many times I’ve seen my friends and colleagues complain that they lost this or that and had to do a complete, tedious restore process. Or they were off to the Genius Bar. That’s nice, but the nearest Genius Bar is a 6 hour drive for me. I won’t go there. Ever. So any failure of that sort, means shipping my phone into space and doing without until it returns; not a good solution.
- Battery life is at a premium. My Blackberry has the best usable battery life I’ve ever seen. It’s better than my iPod Touch, every Nokia since the N73, my older WinMobile Treo. And it’s easily swapped. The iPhone doesn’t have good, let alone stellar battery life from all I’ve read. But at least if the battery in the iPhone dies, I can go sit and do nothing. A non-swappable battery is simply stupid beyond belief.
- External memory is a concern. Sure the current 3GS has a 32G option, but there’s no microSD support, which seems terribly shortsighted and something that can’t be fixed without a new iPhone. Not good for me.
- The keyboard on the iPhone isn’t really a keyboard. I’ve used my Touch for a year and hate it. Yes, I’ve learned I can get used to it. Getting used to it and liking it are personal things. I don’t like the iPod keyboard and I don’t believe I ever will. The Treo, with it’s combination of touchscreen and keyboard were my favorite solution. Maybe one day the iPhone will incorporate a slider keyboard. That would make me reconsider.
- Contract lock. I’m already an AT&T customer, but I’m not under contract. I’d like to keep it that way and an iPhone means signing a 2-year contract. I don’t have to do that.
No, I don’t expect to do dev work on any mobile platform at this point. The iPhone is the only one I was considering, and if I don’t use an iPhone, why bother? It was a nice idea, but that motivation is gone for the time being. Maybe it will resurface at some future point.
Reality is that my work is largely in enterprise network and communications space. And government space. And security space. Areas where the mobile of choice is a Blackberry. The iPhone hasn’t penetrated my core target client base, and it isn’t on track to any time soon.
Windows Mobile hasn’t penetrated anywhere really. Except Redmond. There are pockets of use, but it’s simply not the OS for me.
Nokia has deeply penetrated the cheap phone market. Standard mobile phones, a new model every week. Some weeks every day. But in the high end, and the enterprise space, they’re a non-event in my target client base. The E series might be big in European enterprise markets, but in the US, it doesn’t exist. The N series seems to only exist in the die hard Nokia lovers segment. While I can get an E71 at a reasonable price, even cheap with a contract, why would I? It’s a phone that’s at de facto end of life just by virtue of how Nokia rolls out new ones. Nokia doesn’t make sense for me.
My opinion of ‘droid phones and Android is already well known enough. Not for me.
To be fair, I do love the iPhone browser. I love some apps, but not all. But the Touch is enough. There’s plenty of WiFi. It’s a great sofa computer for casual computing. The iPhone would be too. A great computer, but not a great mobile phone as a single device for my personal requirements,
Blackberry. Simple, obvious, and expected. And the choice is pretty easy for me. There’s either the Curve 8900 or the Bold 9700. The only differences I can see are the Bold comes preloaded with OS5. I may have to load that by hand on an 8900. And the Bold is a 3G device in my 2G world. I already know my Curve 8310 gets better battery life than Sheryl’s Bold 9000 and 3G searching for network is one big driver. The other is WiFi, which both the models I’m considering have. But I manage WiFi pretty judiciously on the N95 when we use it. I learned how to do that without even thinking about it when I started testing the Nokia N series phones.
Winner – Blackberry Curve 8900. The biggest changes and enhancements for me? WiFi, 3.2MP camera and a faster processor that my older 8310. All things I want and need.
Interesting that over 6 months after picking the 8900 as my next phone, I’m still sticking with that decision. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m running out today to part with money and buy one. My 8310 is on its last legs, but it’s limping along and gets the job done. It’s my primary device for communications of all forms for about 14 hours a day.
When’s the last time you got 14 hours use out of your iPhone without plugging in to keep it alive?
on December 1st, 2009 at 11:30 pm
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on December 2nd, 2009 at 1:01 am
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on December 2nd, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Just to clarify the iPhone does have the option to shut off 3G in the settings to both conserve battery and keep your phone from searching for it when you are in area’s that don’t have coverage.
Also reliability wise I’ve never had to do any restore. Usually issues are resolved by a reboot. But I do agree there are times my 3G does get awfully quirky!
Otherwise interesting post!
on December 2nd, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Thanks Brian. I know you can turn 3G off, but it seems a bit absurd to me to buy a 3G device when the carriers have no plans (any of them) to deliver 3G service here. It would only operate in 3G mode away from home, assuming I remember to turn it on at that point. The fact that these devices (not iPhones, but ALL 3G devices) suck power pretty badly when not in 3G range is symptomatic of a flawed engineering approach in my mind.
I’ve talked to a number of people who’ve not had problems requiring restoral and a number who have. One problem for me is that some of my most trusted friends and colleagues are among those who’ve had the most painful experiences.
Thanks!
on December 2nd, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Hi Ken,
I’m not trying to change your mind, but since at one point I felt very similar and had similar concerns, I’ll share my story, FWIW.
I would not have purchased an iPhone with the intention of using it as my own day-to-day mobile phone. Seeing Apple would sell a lot of these and that there would be a marketplace for apps, I bought one in 2007 for development purposes. I lugged it around for testing and playing while I still kept my Nokia as my “real” phone. I had a list that looked a lot like yours as to why I couldn’t switch to the iPhone as my “real” phone.
But in late 2007 I decided to take the plunge and port my number to the iPhone and make it my main phone. I kept an “unlocked” phone to use with the AT&T SIM for traveling and (potentially) stuff like tethering. After a while, I stopped carrying the other “unlocked” phone and just learned to use the iPhone for everything it will do and live without what it won’t do. After several years of use, and an upgrade to the 3GS a few months ago, I have to say this has not been that big of a deal for me to live without the things the iPhone cannot do.
YMMV and I will say there are couple of things I can imagine would be hardcore show stoppers for a lot of people (in addition to the things you list above). One is that the iPhone sucks at being a phone – except when using the headset, quality is crap and the AT&T network sucks for calls. If you talk a lot, this would be a problem. Turns out, I don’t actually talk that much, especially when moving/driving. The other, is the keyboard issue. For me, I was never in love with any specific hard keyboard, so the iPhone touch keyboard is fine for me, and I personally think the hard-keyboard thing is more an emotional issue that is overblown, IMHO.
To one of your specific points: regarding (2) fwiw, the iPhone has been pretty stable for me (better now than it was at first) – never had to restore yet, knock on wood. Sample of one, I know.
At the end of the day, looking back, I would probably have never bought an iPhone if not for development because I didn’t think it would work for me – turns out I was wrong. It’s been immensely empowering and after 2.5 years it has raised the bar a mile for any phone/service trying to replace it now. I consider it a flawed product for a number of reasons, and yet it is still miles ahead of anything else, including Android.
on December 2nd, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Thanks for a really thought provoking comment David. I especially appreciate it coming from you. To be honest, if we were in Seattle, or any 3G footprint, I probably would opt for the iPhone. To me, buying a 3G phone then not having 3G seems a bit silly. But that’s living in the WA wine country. Odds are 3G won’t hit here for 5-8 years, even though the demographic does support it. The carriers fixate on bigger money markets.
Battery is a concern, but I could cope. I don’t like the lack of microSD support, but that emotional. And I can live with the keyboard, but prefer the hard one. That’s habit and could be relearned.
Part of the issue for me, even for dev work, is while there’s no 3G here, beyond that 2G sucks. 2 bars in the strongest areas. With that kind of network, I don’t think I’d feel motivated to do the dev work that I was considering. Too network dependent, and I simply don’t have the network connectivity to satisfy myself.
Another location, another point in time, and likely the iPhone would win even with the other shortcomings. But I have to replace my current Blackberry fairly soon, and iPhone is the only other device I’d give a second look at. All the others are already out of the race and no competition.
Thanks!
on December 2nd, 2009 at 9:48 pm
I understand the 3G issue, Ken. It would be one thing if you could get the 2G plan. I already feel that I’m getting ripped off for the $30/mo — and I can get 3G here. With the old iPhone I got Edge plus 200 SMS for $20/mo – you would have to pay $35 for the same thing, I believe (a 3G plan you can’t use).
on December 6th, 2009 at 1:49 am
Now that we know you’re getting 3G, Ken, you might want to reconsider the iPhone decision. To be honest, I had reservations about getting an iPhone as well. I remember when I went into the AT&T store in Gig Harbor and played with one of the iPhones before I bought one. It felt, well, weird. It didn’t have a lot of the things I was used to on my Nokia phones. I knew about some of the limitations. I didn’t know if I was going to like it.
The act of buying an iPhone was almost a leap of faith for me. I was half expecting to hate it, but then I actually started using it. I had a much different opinion after a few days. It was, quite simply, a joy to use.
On the battery thing, part of the problem is AT&T’s network (the thrashing between 3G and 2G, mostly). But the other part of the problem is that I actually use the iPhone a hell of a lot more than I ever used my Nokia’s. Why? Because it’s a heck of a lot quicker and easier than my Nokia phones ever were. I also find myself using the iPhone in situations where I could have easily used a nearby computer.
I have to echo David’s general opinion on reliability. The only time I’ve had to use the restore process is when I jailbroke the device and wanted to restore it to a Steve Jobs approved state.