50 reasons not to buy an iPhone
The much-anticipated Apple iphone goes on sale in the UK on November 9. No doubt there will be hoards of Apple fans queuing outside Carphone Warehouse and outlets of O2 mobile – the smug operator which secured the contract to become the only supplier in Britain.
But does the new phone deliver or is it all just a load of hype? And will it retain its gloss for the duration of an expensive 18-month contract. Frankly, I don’t think so, but here are 50 other things you should consider before parting with your cash:
1. The handset is expensive. It’s even got Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, chuckling over it like an over excited schoolboy. Unlike some of the other top phones out there, you can’t get the iPhone for free even if you pay the top tariff price of ￡55 a month. You have to pay an up-front fee of ￡269. Over 18-months, that adds up to a whopping ￡1,259.
2. Compare these prices with say T-mobile’s Flext 35 Web n Walk max tariff. For ￡32.50 a month, you get 450 free calls and 900 texts a month as well as “unlimited” internet surfing. You also get the feature rich Nokia N95 handset for free – costing you a total of ￡610.98 over 18 months. Don’t just take my word for it. Check out the analysis here by the technology website Cnet.
3. If you’re still determined to get an iPhone, you could of course try innovative ways to raise the money like begging on the street like this guy.
4. But once you have the money, you may end up having to queue like this.
5. When you do get it, you may find the phone's specification to be worse than the phone you replaced it with. Instead of allowing customers to use the latest mobile internet infrastructure which traditional operators have paid billions to establish, the Apple iPhone uses a slow mobile data service called EDGE. The phone works on a 2.5-generation network rather than the current 3.5-generation, making it at least four times slower than your current handset. Perhaps they don’t want the iPhone to be too perfect in case it becomes a religious cult and displaces traditional religious figures.
6. Apple would argue that it does offer free wi-fi internet access in over 7,500 hotspots around Britain, but if you live outside of urban centres, this isn’t going to be any good for you. Rob Mead of Tech.co.uk, says that Edge has only 30 per cent coverage in the UK.
7. The battery life is a bit rubbish part 1. One of the reasons Apple gives for the slower internet speed is to increase the battery life. But if the American experience is anything to go by, most handsets conk out after five hours of talk time, so be prepared to carry around a charger with you. There are however some tips on making your iPhone last.
8. The battery life is a bit rubbish part 2. When the iPhone’s battery dies, you have to send it back to Apple to get a new one (for a fee). It will be the only mainstream phone in Britain to not allow you to change batteries yourself. Here’s a consumer alert posted on YouTube about the issue.
9. The battery life is a bit rubbish part 3. Sending your iPod away for a few days is bad enough, as most of us can probably manage without music for a short time. Being without a mobile for days (or weeks) could be more of a problem. Luckily there are some techies out there who are happy to show you how to replace the iPhone battery yourself.
10. Many will see 3.5 inch display as the crowning glory of the iPhone – the interface oozes quality – but despite what Apple disparagingly called "small plastic keyboards" on other mobiles, they're far more likely to work reliably than a touch-screen. Some have decided the iPhone is not designed for women or for those who’ve grown up texting using their thumbs. Business users are also going to be disappointed as emails may not be so easily typed out.
11. Talking about texting, you may want to consider how big your hands are. If you've got small hands, your iPhone will look really big and we can’t have that can we?
12. But you have to give it to Apple for creating a seemingly scratchproof display. If you’re brave enough, try bashing it around.
13. The rather pathetic two megapixel camera is a disappointment. Phones such as the Nokia N95 already boast five megapixel cameras so a comparison, might leave iPhone customers wondering what they’ve spent their money on.
14. OK, camera phones are never going to beat a digital SLR, but most “standard” handsets now have at least three megapixel cameraphones as this guy Reiter explains in his blog.
15. The Bluetooth service is limited. Though the iPhone comes with the latest version of Bluetooth it can currently only connect with Apple headsets. This means you cannot easily transfer files, music or pictures that you may have on your PC. However, the iPhone headphones do double up as crack pipes which could be useful to some out there. I’m sure this is a temporary glitch, and Apple will sort it out – but having paid out over ￡250 quid, you don’t want to be dealing with a glitch.
16. Only 8GB storage: Ok, ok, it's the biggest storage capacity of any phone on the market, probably, but 8GB (about 2,000 songs) is still pretty limited when you compare it to the likes of the ipod which can boast 40GB or more. There are also rumours that before the end of the year, Nokia and other handset manufactures will increase the storage capacity of some of their top handsets anyway.
17. The launch of Vodafone’s MusicStation earlier this month is a direct challenge to itunes. It probably has only a fraction of the number of songs as itunes, but at least it’s an alternative.
18. Windows mobile users are used to downloading and installing the applications they want to add, just as with a “real computer.” Not so with the iPhone. Apple probably did this so its operating system is more stable, but people who shell out this much money for a phone expect it to be a fully-fledged hand-held computer too. Luckily, there are ways to pimp out your iPhone with Apple approved software.
19. You’re stuck with 02. Not that I have anything against the Spanish owned firm, but I would have appreciated some choice. Mind you, the Sunday Times In Gear team managed to download software from the internet allowing them to “unlock” the phone so it could be used on other networks such as Vodafone, and if they can do it….
20. Not that I encourage anyone to go down this route, but here’s an online guide anyway.
21. Apple will probably block you from doing this, and moves have already been made to bar potential hackers.
22. Also, if you do unlock the phone, your warranty will be void, and apple might be able to lock your hacked handset with future updates.
23. If you’d rather not hack into it, there are phones that can rival Apple’s latest offering. This review on Tech.co.uk provides some alternatives to the iPhone. Here is a straight comparison between the iPhone and the Nokia N95, which is perhaps the main alternative.
24. There are of course many innovative ways to use the iPhone, although I’m not sure if your manufacturer’s guarantee would cover you for any of these uses.
25. Other ideas seem more impressive and may actually work.
26. Fears that fraudsters are trying to target iPhone enthusiasts with fakes are not unfounded, so don’t be fooled. Here’s an iPhone fake from China.
27. Taking about all things “i”, some imitations are not so great. Not sure if I’m more disturbed by the phone here or the scarily accurate depiction of overexcited Apple geeks.
28. Mobile devices are generally getting smaller but not these new smart phones. You probably can’t flaw the slick Apple handset in terms of design, but it is rather large and bulky. Imagine going on a night out with that bulging out from your pockets…..actually, maybe not a bad thing after all.
29. Perhaps this guy, who’s trying to sell his old Motorola brick phone will remind you why we want smaller and more compact.
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