the hoopla surrounding iPhone day part deux has been pretty well covered. from server meltdowns to the confusion surrounding rate plans and upgrade eligibility, the day was pretty much packed full of drama. at the valley fair store, crowds were met with disappointment as some learned that they were not eligible for upgrade price, or could not purchase at the apple store because of corporate discounts on their AT&T wireless account. someone even had a seizure in line, which was a pretty saddening turn of events.
of course, skeptics abound — is 3G worth the upgrade? is the iPhone 2.0 software an improvement? are you going to upgrade when the 60gb version is released in two months?
well, the bottom line is the 3G may or may not be for everyone. for me, the opportunity to increase non-wifi data speeds was enough of a draw. here’s the recap thus far:
- the plastic issue: there has been much controversy about whether the new sleaker (yet plasticy) backing is really an improvement. the debate centers around aluminum vs. plastic. it’s true that plastic is less classy, but the advantage with plastic is that it’s easier to grip. while i love the aluminum finish, the plastic finish feels likely to slip out of my hand.
- buggy 2.0 software: sure, it’s fair to criticize the 2.0 release to some extent, but it is a pretty big overhaul. the apps show promise, but some of them miss. lightsaber? c’mon, really.
- the good apps: hands down, there are some awesome apps available. remote is mind-blowing, not because of what it does, but because of what it suggests could be done. ok, it’s remarkable because of what it does, too. twitterific is great, but i’m anxiously awaiting a socialthing app. evernote may actually suck me in with their app. pownce put together an interesting app that allows photo uploading and uses OAuth to validate. just downloaded pandora, midomi, and whrrl — all seem interesting, but so far my experience with whrrl has been a little spotty.
of course, the iPhone has never been perfect, and the 3G is no exception. here’s a list of wants:
- copy and paste — they improved this issue by adding an “email a link to this site” option in the bookmark tab on safari, but that isn’t the only instance that copy/paste would serve.
- MMS — ok, come on…really? let’s get on this, ASAP.
- video — qik has already proven that it’s possible, now all we need is an app to do the trick. hopefully, these crafty apps won’t be doomed to jailbroken phones because Apple refuses to approve them…hopefully.
- GPS turn-by-turn directions — telenav is all over it, but i’m still chomping at the bit to get my hands on this.
these are software-based, and two of the three have been solved by developers already, so this gives me hope. any others to add to the list?
