Wednesday, July 30, 2008

iPhone

Yes, I ended up getting the iPhones last week as belated anniversary presents for me and Sheryl.

And after 5 days of using them here's what I think of it. On the whole, I think it's a great meshing of hardware and software. Is it the single greatest phone I've ever used? Probably, but in the grand scheme of things, it still is just a phone/music player.

Pros:

I love the User Interface (UI). I love how things move and just seem to flow in general. How things open, how things move. It's almost a spatial experience. When a program opens up at you, it gives the impression of a much larger experience.

I really like the iPod interface (even though I miss the click wheel of the my iPod at times). I also like that I have the entire Extended Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Batman Begins, and Casino Royal with 4 GB leftover.

The AppStore is very cool as well, although this is something that's been around on Windows Mobile machines for quite a while. Not so cool are some of Apple's restrictions around them (no apparent widespread beta testing for apps available; also if Apple is the ultimate gatekeeper for apps, I'm sure we'll NEVER see an Amazonmp3.com application). So far the apps I have on mine are Google (not so great), Twitterific (pretty great), Facebook (not bad, but almost has to be used in combination with the Facebook iPhone page), Urbanspoon (looks cool, but I haven't got much use out of it), PhoneSaber (so awesome), Texas Hold'Em (great fun), SportsTap (great score updater), Midomi (song finder, but not great), BoxOffice (movie finder), NYTimes (very problematic), and Shopper (looks cool so far, but I haven't used it much). Wow that's more than I thought I had.

Cons:

Seriously, Apple. No cut and paste? Seriously?

I also wish that they had allowed for some more customization of icons. You'd think a company with as many designers as customers might do that.

It also seems odd that you can't change the notifications for incoming emails. That one just seems like a basic one.

Crashing. I think because there couldn't be widespread betatesting/user testing of the apps, some got through that don't play as well with the iPhone and cause crashing. I think this can be fixed on an ongoing basis, but it makes it a little annoying right now.

So, overall, besides the waiting for them, it's been a good experience. Any of you iPhoners out there have an app recommendation?

1 comment:

Cory said...

My most used apps:
Bible (from LifeChurch.tv) - lots of different versions - pretty basic

Aurora Feint The Beginning - pretty cool game - a cross between a puzzle game and an RPG - addicting and free

BoxOffice - pretty robust - search by movie or by theatre - even a fandango link from the app - again, free

Morocco - free Othello game

Midnight Mahjong Lite - free Mah Jong game

Tap Tap Revenge - not as cool as you'd think, but still free

iPint - yeah - it's stupid, but it gets a laugh like 40% of the time (free)

Riddle Racer Lite - free puzzle game

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