iPhone 3G thoughts from a Nokia/SE fan
After the first couple weeks of having the new iPhone 3G in my grubby little mitts (thanks to this phone, I’ve discovered just how clean/unclean my hands really are), I have put together my first impressions. I’ve willingly given up some highly-used handset features (high-end camera with Xenon flash, high-res video recording) for some features I’ve always wanted to have on my handset, and my current Nokia /Sony Ericsson at the time, had just never been able to deliver (usable mobile web browsing, GPS mapping… Nokia maps doesn’t cut it for me).
To me, this is a divergence device… I had to by myself a tiny little gay camera (with widescreen video that’s pretty damn nice, FYI) so I can take photos in crumby photo conditions… ie, bars. And since I opted for the tiniest baby camera that ever was, so far I’ve had little annoyance with carrying it along when I know the iPhone cam will fail to all measures of failure.
I mean, this camera takes me back to somewhere between the Nokia 7610 and the Sony Ericsson K750i… so 3 to 3.5 YEARS back in the grand timeline of top-of-the-line camera phones. One can only hope that Apple finds some sneaky way to monetize photography on the iPhone, so it’s worthwhile for them to spend the time cramming the features in the 3rd round of hardware. All that griping aside, I’ve managed to play with the camera a good deal, and it works for the candid little snaps here and there… but coming from someone who didn’t need a separate digital camera for vacation photos, let’s just say I won’t rely on the iPhone to capture the good times like I have with phones in the past.
So what’s the friggin’ tradeoff for this miserable, painful, self-sucker-punch to the face?
Connectivity.
I no longer will take a laptop on vacation, to have in the hotel to look up places and stay connected online. And time in the airports (I just got back a seven-flight, two week trip, I can speak plenty for airport time right now) is much more pleasurable when you have a usable Internet experience in your pocket. And when I’m not traveling for business, I’ll ditch the laptop altogether. But of course, will have to carry along that aforementioned tiny gay camera.
And to be able to play tunes, some pretty fun games, and watch movies on the plane, all from one device… isn’t something that came as a great experiences on my previous handsets.
I like white phones. Apparently, at least as much as tilting head slightly to the right.
Since I’m relatively new to this area of Canada, having mapping software that’s quick and easy to use, is great. And Mark would give kudos to any device that makes it easier for me to have a better clue as to how to get places around here.
I nabbed an iPhone a few weeks before the launch of the 3G, and had a realization… the touch-screen, for text input… wasn’t the big challenge for me…. it was the qwerty altogether. I flew through messages with predictive text like nobody’s business. I’m starting to get used to a qwerty, but luckily I haven’t found the touch element of the text input to be as big of a deal as I had considered I might.
Comparing it in the hand to the first iPhone I borrowed from a friend, it’s much less slippery, even though the previous version’s metal back was a much classier look. The bonus is that the white version, which I typically spring for, doesn’t show fingerprints at all like the black model. Hardware-wise, this thing is rock solid and feels great in the hand. But those stingy Apple bitches should have put a standing dock in the case. Stingy.
And while I’ve "sold out" in the eyes of many of my readers… my response is… it’s Nokia’s/SE’s fault. But you’re a little bit right.
I’ve been quite loyal fans of their handsets over the years, and still am. And the first version of the iPhone, didn’t have enough connectivity advantages to make toss my phone aside. And a whole 18 months later, SE is hurting, and Nokia’s next generation touch interface makes me watch to hit them, hold them tight, and then hit them again. A stylus?
In fact, my bet is on RIM to show Nokia up on the front of a powerful/usable touch interface. Symbian needs to be rewritten, not made slightly bigger, for touch. Looking at it’s current state, Symbian has barely changed since it’s beginnings, and has gotten bloated, sloppy, and sad. At least SE has made steps over the years to keep it’s phone UI powerful, quick, and more usable for it’s purposes.
And if you think I’m the only Nokia-lubbin’ blogger that’s bought an iPhone 3G, you’re wrong… I’m close to those much more in the web spotlight than myself, and I’m just the only one not hiding it from my readers :)
So, for now, I’m really loving the 3G. We’ll see how I feel after a bit more time, as who knows what I might feel as time goes on. And no, I haven’t owned my last Nokia or Sony Ericsson phone. But if they’re just gonna sit this one out, I’ll dance with with the iPhone 3G for the time being.
