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Walt Mossberg Reviews the iPhone
Posted by
kdawson
on Tue Jun 26, 2007 08:44 PM
from the hands-on-early dept.
from the hands-on-early dept.
WSJdpatton writes "Walt Mossberg tested the iPhone for two weeks, in multiple usage scenarios, in cities across the US. His verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is on balance a beautiful and breakthrough hand-held computer. Its software especially sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry, and its clever finger-touch interface, which dispenses with a stylus and most buttons, works well, though the lack of physical buttons can be a hindrance." Digital Daily has a roundup of early iPhone reviews.
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Linux: Walt Mossberg Reviews Ubuntu 642 comments
sciurus0 writes "Mainstream technology journalist Walt Mossberg recently reviewed an Inspiron 1420N with Ubuntu installed by Dell. Citing problems such as an oversensitive touchpad and poor multimedia support, he suggests that 'from the point of view of an average user, someone who wouldn't want to enter text commands, hunt the Web for drivers and enabling software, or learn a whole new user interface' Ubuntu isn't a good choice compared to Windows or OS X."
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Other reviews (Score:5, Informative)
- "so sleek and thin, it makes Treos and BlackBerrys look obese."
- After walking around with the iPhone unprotected for 2 weeks, no marks on it. Glass smudges are easily wiped off.
- 700 megabytes is occupied by the phone's software
- Making calls can be a 6 step process if phone is off.
- Web, Email is superior
- Battery Life Test: 5 hours video, 23 hours audio. Note: did not turn off Wi-Fi and other features as Apple suggests.
- Typing was OK. Difficult at first, but learned to "trust" the keyboard. "The BlackBerry won't be going away anytime soon."
- Cites AT&T network as iPhone's biggest downfall. Cites Consumer Reports survey which ranks AT&T network as last or second to last in 19 out of 20 major US cities.
- AT&T's EDGE cellular network: "excruciatingly slow"
- Slideshow of photos [nytimes.com] taken with iPhone
- Video Review [nytimes.com]
Steven Levy, Newsweek [msn.com]
- bottom line is that the iPhone is a significant leap
- The iPhone is the rare convergence device where things actually converge.
- e-mail looks more like you're working on a computer than a clunky phone
- YouTube videos work great on Wi-Fi, but can display in a lower quality when you're not at a hotspot and are using AT&T's EDGE network
- unless I did a lot of video watching or Web browsing, [the battery] could generally last the day
- I've been jamming it in my pocket with keyrings, coins and pens, and so far it's nearly as good as new.
Edward Baig, USA Today [usatoday.com]
- Apple's iPhone isn't perfect, but it's worthy of the hype
- The revelation is that it's also comfortable to hold and touch.
- I expected to miss the tactile feel that a physical keyboard provides. I didn't.
- You can hold a conference call with up to five people.
- No voice recognition or voice dialing
- halfway decent internal speakers for listening if you set the thing down
- iPod games are not compatible with iPhone
- our company tech department raised questions about the security settings Apple required with our Microsoft Exchange servers.
- Battery life didn't prove to be a big problem in my unscientific tests
Walt Mossberg, Wall Street Journal [wsj.com] (the submitted article's highlights):
- Our verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer. Its software, especially, sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry, and its clever finger-touch interface, which dispenses with a stylus and most buttons, works well, though it sometimes adds steps to common functions.
- largest, highest resolution screen of any smart phone they've seen, most internal memory
- Impressive battery life and thin
- Feels solid
- Regarding the touch keyboard: "After five days of use, Walt -- who did most of the testing for this review -- was able to type on it as quickly and accurately as he could on the Palm Treo he has used for years."
- Can't use T-Mobile SIM cards
- Wi-Fi capability doesn't fully make up for the lack of a fast cellular data capability
- Multitouch: "effective, practical and fun"
- No way to copy/paste text
- Microsoft's Exchange system support
- Voice call quality was good, but not great
- Can't record video
- No Adobe Flash support
- Songs can't be set as ringtones
- Apple says it plans to add fea
Re:Other reviews (Score:5, Funny)
Praise Jesus!
Parent
Re:Other reviews (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Other reviews (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Other reviews (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Other reviews (Score:5, Funny)
I want a "jesus-phone", not a "meet jesus phone"!
Parent
Re:Other reviews (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Other reviews (Score:5, Insightful)
In the car? You're not. You're supposed to keep your concentration on the road and the traffic where it belongs.
All these idiots yapping on their cellphones while they're driving make driving a lot more hazardous for the few of us left who actually know what we're doing.
Is that cellphone call so important that someone's gonna die if you don't take it? No? Then shut the fuck up and drive, because if you don't someone may well die because of your idiotic phone call.
Parent
Re:Other reviews (Score:5, Insightful)
I actually see some omissions like dialing while driving and music as ringtones are Apple enforcing its taste and manners on the user. They think extremely deeply into the process of not only actually using the phone, but what the overall experience means to the user, and others around them. It's Apple's defining trait, actually, and it's shocking that very few in the technology industry really grok the human part of human interface.
I would put down money that both those omissions are 100% intentional, and good for Apple.
Someone needed to buck the norms of both the hardware and carrier aspects of mobile phones, and Apple's doing it in a big way. Maybe the thing won't take over the planet, but it'll certainly change the landscape for the better.
Side note: my current pet peeve is police officers surfing the web/emailing/whatever on dash-mounted laptops while driving. If you haven't seen one of these, be thankful. That soccer mom in the Caravan with 6 kids and a mobile to her ear won't look nearly as frightening once you experience THE LAW driving like they've just put away a quart of scotch.
--d
Parent
Re:Other reviews (Score:4, Insightful)
I know. I do whatever it takes to keep my concentration on driving. If I have to tell a passenger to shut up, that's what I do.
Handsfree is probably better than nothing, but it's still a major distraction. The person on the cellphone doesn't know when to shut up. The passenger in the car usually does.
And finally, when you're on an "important call" on your cellphone, it's likely more than idle chitchat. In other words, it takes away even more of your concentration than a typical conversation with a passenger would.
No, I stand by what I said before, handsfree or no.
Parent
Re:Personal review (Score:5, Funny)
Doesn't he mean 'lack of...'?
> - Songs can't be set as ringtones
That might work for the US market, but it won't for some others (eg China).
> - Apple says it plans to add fea
Ah, great. I'm sold. My current phone has 'fea', but I had heard the iPhone didn't have it. So, I'm pleased it does, and now I'm definitely going to get one.
Parent
Re:Other reviews (Score:4, Funny)
http://www.milradio.com/Pictures/WW11/BC-611.jpg [milradio.com]
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
You know what I would pay money for? A phone that detected when someone fails to do a simple google search and then sent a few dozen volts through the intertubes and shocked the person before they could publicly bitch irritating me and making themselves look silly in the process.
http://www.mobiledia.co [mobiledia.com]
Re:Other reviews (Score:5, Funny)
I have one of those phones. What I'd really like to know tho..AArggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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Re:Other reviews (Score:4, Funny)
Didn't you mean Castle AArggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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Re:Other reviews (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Other reviews (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Other reviews (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Other reviews (Score:5, Funny)
This is Slashdot. We know what you would pay money for.
But until you move out of your parents' basement, pr0n-to-pr0n networks and VLC will have to suffice.
Parent
I dunno about the rest of you... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I dunno about the rest of you... (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Knowledge wins out (Score:5, Insightful)
I've lost track of just how many uninformed iPhone-hater pieces I've seen over the last week. Of course, most of that is just blog-spam, and to get more clicks, you just say something controversial... As always, follow the money - then you can make a more-informed decision as to whether the opinion being espoused is worth anything.
Oh, and always ignore anything Dvorak or Enderle say...
Simon.
Not an apple hater...but looks aren't enough (Score:5, Insightful)
Me? I'm not buying it. Sure, the external looks are great...sexy even...as are the visual bells and whistles in the UI...but features? They just are not there for me. Not even close.
Visual voice mail is neat. I'm sure the iPod also has some other exclusive neat tricks in there...but I have a year-old Treo that does what the iPhone does and more...for $200. Start with the overlap:
- Email
- Web browser
- MP3 player
- Phone
- Addresses
- Videos
- Camera
- Google maps with integrated calling
- SMS
- MS Office compatibility (iPod?)
and a range of other similar functions. Don't bother critiquing the individual Treo apps, because unlike the iPod, I can replace them with other apps. For example, the new version of Opera Mini provides the same means to view an entire web page and zoom in. There are dozens of replacement apps for any one of the above functions.
Now let's look at some core features of the Treo that the iPod lacks:
- Multiple carriers
- High-speed 3G network
- SD card slot...for essentially infinite on-the-go storage for MP3s et al.
- Numerous hard buttons to immediately get to the phone, MP3 player, or another app...and they are all programmable
- Can record video
- Has a GLOBAL find function
- CUT & PASTE (between apps)
- IM
- Tactile sensation on keyboard for typing...or for dialing
and perhaps the most important feature:
I CAN ADD APPLICATIONS TO IT
Yes, Walt claims that he finds the onscreen keyboard to be acceptable...but any Treo user can dial on the screen or on the keypad...and almost everyone I know dials on the keypad when they aren't selecting an existing contact. The actual keyboard and 5-way nav key allow you to use the phone when you aren't staring right at the screen. Yes, we shouldn't dial while we are driving, but we do, and you can do it without looking while using a Treo.
Hey, the iPod raises the bar...by a large amount...and the screen is 50% larger than that of a Palm-based Treo (320x480 instead of 320x320)...but a $600 phone that is not expandable and is only offered by one carrier with a two-year lock-in? One to which you cannot add software (outside of...ahem...AJAX-based apps)? How about one that claims to be a smart phone killer yet lacks basic features like cut & paste and global find? Yes, it has wifi. Great. So do many phones.
No, this is a beauty competition. I applaud apple for getting into the market and raising the bar, but I just cannot see how someone thinks this unit is worth the expense compared to other competing devices. I suppose techno lust is powerful...and form often wins out over function. Me? I'll wait a year or two and see what the next versions can do...and how the competition responds.
Your mileage may vary.
$0.02
Parent
Re:Not an apple hater...but looks aren't enough (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes and all MP3 players play music. Yet there are differences in operation, that have made the iPod a great success while other models languish.
But of the things you mention, very few are problems with the iPhone many people cannot realistically get 3G, but in many places they get get WiFi. I don't need to be able to record video with it (heck, I didn't even really want a camera!). And saying an SD card slot offers "essentially infinite storage" means you have to buy 8GB worth of SD storage to get the inifinte amount of storage to come close to the iPhone, much less the issue of managing cards. I'll bet your "global find" doesn't tell you which of the swapped out cards something is on...
As for the keyboard, all the doubters say they would miss it. Yet all of the reviewers say they do not, even those that started with doubts. So what are we to think might be more correct?
To go along with your admission of being a happy Apple fan, let me say that I was a rabid Palm fan. I convinced many people to buy Palm pilots. I even recently bought a Palm Zier for someone, because it was perfect for what they wanted to do - and indeed they are delighted with it.
But years ago, ater my Palm V gave up the good fight and stopped listening to the stylus, I waited for a phone/PDA from Palm and got... the treo. I don't know what forces drive men to crave tiny keyboards, but they do not find a hold of me. It is not that I have large hands, I can thread needles with great dexterity and have excellent finger accuracy. I hated the space the keyboards took, and across many devices (not just the Treo) I hated typing on said small keyboards... and so i waited for Palm, who I still consider to once have been a company of innovators as great as Apple has ever been, to deliver to me a "real" phone PDA that was worthy of the legacy.
Apple has delivered the phone I have waited for so long for Palm to build.
Over time, we will see expandability (in applications anyway), growth of features, and a browser that makes actually using AJAX based applications thinkable instead of madness. One thing common to the Apple experience is that feature sets and usability improve with time - it was true of the iPod and there's no reason to think it will be any less so for the iPhone.
How do I think it's worth the expense? Because I have used he other devices, even the Treo, and the iPhone appears to suck about $1000 less than those, never mind $600.
Parent
Passion wins out (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, to me that's the hallmark of successful design: Invoke passion. Make something that some people love and that some people hate and you'll have a market.
Too many companies design by committee and focus groups to the point where the end result is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. Others seemingly design by comparison chart, cramming in feature after feature, and often for no more reason than to fill in the blanks.
The later approach also seems to be favored by commentators here on Slashdot. But by walking a mental checklist of missing features, they also miss what it does do. And by all accounts, does to the point of elegance.
Parent
Re:Knowledge wins out (Score:4, Insightful)
So it's perfectly possible to like the phone while at the same time noting that the keyboard doesn't work as well as a physical keyboard.
Which obviously means that the iPhone isn't the perfect phone for everyone.
Parent
In other words (Score:4, Insightful)
Excellent (Score:4, Funny)
Yes everyone, listen to him! It is useless.
I hate standing in long lines.
You may awaken Saturday with your urges resumed.
Parent
Okay, so wait for 2.0 (Score:3, Insightful)
While Apple may have gotten things mostly right, they'll refine things and any problems will be well documented by the time the second gen rolls around.
While my old flip phone may not be super sexy, it will work until Apple gets all the bugs hammered out. Maybe by Christmas or this time next year I'll have one, but until then.
Re:Okay, so wait for 2.0 (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Sorry not interested. (Score:5, Funny)
Because i love being modded down... (Score:3, Interesting)
I've unlocked my treo 750 phone to take full advantage of cingular's 386kbit/s g3 and occasionally get a speed of around 800kbps download.
While i suppose that the iphone was designed to color co-ordinate with a starbucks cup as you sit and browse the interweb in the coffee shop hotspot, i'll be using my treo with a clunky interface to access the mobile internet (i.e. the list of simple websites designed for gprs and below and the one that i would set the 60.0kbit/s iphone to download if i was away from a hotspot.)
Once again, apple resorts to its age old design technique: stunningly beautifuly, brilliantly intuitive, but about as useful as a 6 year old pc for what 90% of people do 90% of the time.
Re:Because i love being modded down... (Score:5, Informative)
While traveling around the world, I definitely love my 3G-capable device. In the US, I hardly see the point. Just something for the spec-sheet geeks to bitch about. Why support something that most people don't have access to, and even those that do can't get up to speed?
90% of the people 90% of the time can't get 3G access speeds, even assuming 100% of cell phone users had data plans, which of course they don't. I think you need to re-assess what "people do 90% of the time."
I'm not going to buy an iPhone, and for all the reasons not to, this is pretty much the most lame.
Parent
What I've gleaned... (Score:5, Insightful)
-The AT&T EDGE network sucks
-The iPhone ignores some key smartphone features (vid capture, SMS/MMS, etc.)
-The price
-No Flash support for browser
-No SDK for third-party developers (boo/hiss!)
Some of the surprises were:
-The battery life is close to the advertised numbers (well, more than expected anyways)
-The virtual keypad is actually useable but it takes a little getting used to "using the Force"
-The multi-touch thing works as advertised
-the Safari web browser lives up to the hype
-The WiFi is actually pretty good
-The iPod part kicks ass (except if you want to use it with 3rd party headphones or in your car's iPod dock)
My own opinion as a "Mac Professional" and Smartphone addict:
-If you want one, wait for rev 2--as you should with all Apple products
-If you don't want an iPhone but like some of the technology, your preferred phone will be getting updates, too
-It will be nice to merge two more devices that go with me everywhere--my smartphone and my iPod.
-The price is a bit high, but I think the market will bear it for now and the price will go down by Q4
-The missing features people are bitching about will come--some of them anyways
-An SDK will appear after Leopard is launched
-The entire market will benefit by the iPhone--and the tech will get cheaper
Re:What I've gleaned... (Score:4, Informative)
It's got a standard 3.5mm minijack headphone port and a standard (for iPod) 30-pin dock connector.
Parent
Re:What I've gleaned... (Score:5, Informative)
The minijack headphone port is extremely recessed. So you'll need an adapter for most headphones. The software running on the iPhone isn't the same as the software for the iPod and DOESN'T support stuff like the Alpine in-dash iPod controller.
Parent
EDGE Might Suck But... (Score:5, Funny)
So you can just set it to "linksys" and you won't even need EDGE.
NOT suitable for visually impaired people (Score:5, Insightful)
Just a little addition to my rant: I noticed that even simple changes to the firmware, that would make the interface more suited for blind people, like returning to the initial state of the menus, if no interaction for a minute (or such), is being dropped in newer models, even thought it costs nothing to implement. It's almost as if manufacturers have a requirement to make their electronic gadgets less usable by the blind.
Re:NOT suitable for visually impaired people (Score:4, Informative)
The higher pixel density of the screen should make the screen somewhat more accessible to those with certain low-vision issues, as compared with other screen based phones. However, phones with physical keypads are probably superior in general for that group. There are interesting technologies in Mac OS X for accessibility. As with other features, those that make sense in a phone-like device will probably migrate to the iPhone as the device matures. Some will take the form of software updates to existing models, others may require new hardware revisions, a voice recognition chip for example.
Parent
Two major issues: (Score:4, Insightful)
From the article:So basically it's at least as annoying as using T9 for me, where I constantly have to keep changing between the Finnish, Swedish, and English dictionaries?
I still want one, though...
Seems like a typical Apple product (Score:4, Insightful)
So, this is all about bringing the features of smart phones to the people that previously would never buy a smart phone due to their clunky nature. By all accounts it is going to be a storming success.
Personally I like the feature set of the iPhone, except the lack of 3G, and I could never justify the cost of it. Do I want it? Hell yes, but I'm going to have to wait for a while. This is obviously part of the Apple plan:
1. Release a sexy phone that lots of people want
2. Make it initially very expensive, so that it becomes a luxury status item.
3. Wait until it is firmly established as THE status item, then start slowly release new versions at cheaper prices making loads of people buy it because they still view it as a status symbol even though everyone can now afford to buy one.
Exactly the same plan as with the iPod.
Which reviews are you reading? (Score:5, Informative)
"After walking around with the iPhone unprotected for 2 weeks, no marks on it. Glass smudges are easily wiped off."
"I've been jamming it in my pocket with keyrings, coins and pens, and so far it's nearly as good as new."
"I expected to miss the tactile feel that a physical keyboard provides. I didn't."
"Typing was OK. Difficult at first, but learned to "trust" the keyboard."
"After five days of use, Walt -- who did most of the testing for this review -- was able to type on it as quickly and accurately as he could on the Palm Treo he has used for years."
"bottom line is that the iPhone is a significant leap"
"The iPhone is the rare convergence device where things actually converge."
"Multitouch: 'effective, practical and fun'"
"Feels solid"
"Apple's iPhone isn't perfect, but it's worthy of the hype"
"The revelation is that it's also comfortable to hold and touch."
"Our verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer."
Parent
Re:Problems (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
There is no "quota" for reviewers (Score:3, Insightful)
Look at what Apple's been releasing, and you can see why he reviews them well. I don't care if you don't like the company, their products have been outstanding over the last couple of years -
E911 does not mean GPS (Score:3, Informative)
There are a lot of phones that even have GPS at the hardware level, but it is disabled.
Verizon... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:GPS and e911 (Score:5, Interesting)
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Fingers? (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:really clean fingers? (Score:4, Interesting)
No. It uses capacitance. You'll need really thin gloves or special gloves with electronics embedded in them.
Parent
Re:PLEASE! - GIVE IT A REST! (Score:5, Insightful)
ITS JUST A GOD DAMN CELL PHONE NOT A CURE FOR CANCER
I really feel ridiculous as a human being people are so enamored with teh shinyz. Especially 500 dollar ones when that money could be used for something so much more important.
Parent