Comments on: Five Downsides of iPhone 3G http://www.iphoneplanet.co.za/2008/07/10/five-downsides-of-iphone-3g/ iPhone news, tips and tricks Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:49:44 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Switch http://www.iphoneplanet.co.za/2008/07/10/five-downsides-of-iphone-3g/comment-page-1/#comment-9 Switch Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:19:41 +0000 http://www.iphoneplanet.co.za/2008/07/10/five-downsides-of-iphone-3g/#comment-9 @psychocrackpot - I think you might have missed the point of the post - We are not here to give the iPhone a hard time, but it must be said that there are things that it cannot do, and things that people should consider before commiting themselves to a purchase. You make a good argument, but to point #1, there is just no telling how users will interact with their iPhones. I think peoples usage will differ. I for one will definitely be doing more throughput of data through a mobile device than I have ever before, and across the board Vodacom will realise larger turnovers from data than before. To point #2 - The 1st Gen iPhone did not have GPS and was not available in South Africa. Point #3 - The worry here is that people who cannot get flash support might like to use their mobile phones to connect to the web using bluetooth - This will not work by default without tinkering with the software (which is strongly discouraged by Apple). Point #4 - Battery life is down from the previous generation of iPhone, there is no doubting that. Also, if you find yourself in a hilly environment (like KZN) you may well find the loss and regaining of the 3g network drains your battery faster than one would expect. (This is speculation based on previous experience with MTN and an HTC). Point #5 - Yeah, people don't really send that many MMS's - It's true. I personally have an SLR digital camera which due to its technology is unable to take video. So the only device I currently have that can record video is a cell phone and USB webcam. There is a work-around about not being able to send MMS's, you can always save the image and email it. However, this is something which the phone does not do, and people should know before queuing up for ages. Don't get me wrong, there are a number of pluses with regard to the iPhone; I, for one, will undoubtedly follow the press and hook myself up with one shortly after they have been released. @psychocrackpot – I think you might have missed the point of the post – We are not here to give the iPhone a hard time, but it must be said that there are things that it cannot do, and things that people should consider before commiting themselves to a purchase.

You make a good argument, but to point #1, there is just no telling how users will interact with their iPhones. I think peoples usage will differ. I for one will definitely be doing more throughput of data through a mobile device than I have ever before, and across the board Vodacom will realise larger turnovers from data than before.

To point #2 – The 1st Gen iPhone did not have GPS and was not available in South Africa.

Point #3 – The worry here is that people who cannot get flash support might like to use their mobile phones to connect to the web using bluetooth – This will not work by default without tinkering with the software (which is strongly discouraged by Apple).

Point #4 – Battery life is down from the previous generation of iPhone, there is no doubting that.
Also, if you find yourself in a hilly environment (like KZN) you may well find the loss and regaining of the 3g network drains your battery faster than one would expect. (This is speculation based on previous experience with MTN and an HTC).

Point #5 – Yeah, people don’t really send that many MMS’s – It’s true. I personally have an SLR digital camera which due to its technology is unable to take video. So the only device I currently have that can record video is a cell phone and USB webcam. There is a work-around about not being able to send MMS’s, you can always save the image and email it. However, this is something which the phone does not do, and people should know before queuing up for ages.

Don’t get me wrong, there are a number of pluses with regard to the iPhone; I, for one, will undoubtedly follow the press and hook myself up with one shortly after they have been released.

]]> By: psychocrackpot http://www.iphoneplanet.co.za/2008/07/10/five-downsides-of-iphone-3g/comment-page-1/#comment-8 psychocrackpot Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:00:30 +0000 http://www.iphoneplanet.co.za/2008/07/10/five-downsides-of-iphone-3g/#comment-8 Response to your points. 1. Wi-fi -> That's how most people will browse the internet and check their mail. Data bundles are not that expensive anymore. 1gig will more than even when watching youtube videos. You're probably going to use your pc / mac + itunes to download your music, videos and games. The iphone does not force you to use bandwidth, so that a invalid point. 2. The GPS functionality on the first gen iPhone relied on cellphone towers, and yes, Vodacom does support it. The iPhone 3G is a full GPS device that relies on google maps for the location data, but TomTom (the GPS manufacturer) has released a full turn by turn App for the iphone, allowing you to download the street maps, and use it just like any other GPS device for sale here. 3. Bluetooth connectivity to Mac. First I thought it was a bumber as well. But after using the iPhone I realised that it's really not neccessary to connect your iphone to your mac. You generally do this to check your mail or a website very quickly, when you do not have your normal internet connection available. Now you do all those things on your iphone... no need to even open up your laptop or startup your mac. Just use the iphone to do those quick tasks. 4. Battery life is exactly as claimed if you do not jailbreak your phone and run apps that run daemons in the background. 5. Video + MMS. I will just give that. Many people point this out to me. I have a decent digital camera that takes decent video clips (there are plenty of apps enabling video clips btw). I have only ever sent 1 mms in my life. How many have you sent? Response to your points.
1. Wi-fi -> That’s how most people will browse the internet and check their mail. Data bundles are not that expensive anymore. 1gig will more than even when watching youtube videos. You’re probably going to use your pc / mac + itunes to download your music, videos and games. The iphone does not force you to use bandwidth, so that a invalid point.

2. The GPS functionality on the first gen iPhone relied on cellphone towers, and yes, Vodacom does support it. The iPhone 3G is a full GPS device that relies on google maps for the location data, but TomTom (the GPS manufacturer) has released a full turn by turn App for the iphone, allowing you to download the street maps, and use it just like any other GPS device for sale here.

3. Bluetooth connectivity to Mac. First I thought it was a bumber as well. But after using the iPhone I realised that it’s really not neccessary to connect your iphone to your mac. You generally do this to check your mail or a website very quickly, when you do not have your normal internet connection available. Now you do all those things on your iphone… no need to even open up your laptop or startup your mac. Just use the iphone to do those quick tasks.

4. Battery life is exactly as claimed if you do not jailbreak your phone and run apps that run daemons in the background.

5. Video + MMS. I will just give that. Many people point this out to me. I have a decent digital camera that takes decent video clips (there are plenty of apps enabling video clips btw). I have only ever sent 1 mms in my life. How many have you sent?

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