IPhone Form over Function - The Perfect Mobile Social Networking Gadget

I've got a confession to make, it's a bit late in the game but I finally got myself to shell out for the iPhone. It is certainly more difficult in my situation ( married with three children) to justify acquiring luxurious gadgets. Particularly when your spending the rest of your income on orthodontic treatment and performing arts lessons for your kids. There's a major disconnect here in that despite the iPhone being a extremely aesthetic device, I'm convincing myself that I'm acquiring it for pragmatic purposes. Anyway, here's my pragmatic review of this phone.

To frame the context, I've previously owned several phones with a widescreen format and some with touchscreen capability. I'm typically much more a web user rather than a phone user. Having ubiquitous web access that is usable and of course readable is high in my priorities. I previously blogged about the nokia e70 being a gadget that was perfect for my needs. However, with just a few hours playing with the iPhone, I may have to change my previous opinions.

I had been earlier eying the Nokia N95 (cnet has a quick review of it comparing it with the iPhone), however I've been putting off my purchase because of it's exorbitant price in the States. It's a crying shame to find that in London, I've noticed a lot of people carrying around a N95. It's unheard of for Londoners to pay over 600 USD for a phone. That in itself should surprise anyone, since these folks pay over twice as much as we do for just about everything else! So when Apple dropped the iPhone price by over 200 USD then it was simply a no brainer for me to get one.

To start my review, here are some features that a blatantly missing on the iPhone. Number one on my list is that the iphone can't take videos (the iphone can't record sound either)! There was one thing that was passable with today's line of camera phones is the fact that they take videos at a quality level that (albeit not HD) is close to vintage camcorders. The photographs may suck but the videos are passable. The iphone despite having the required horsepower apparently can't catch motion video. A feature by the way has existed in almost every phone I've had since I can remember. It a world of participatory media, it's disappointing to discover how limited the iphone is in recording and therefore sharing multi-media.

The second missing feature is all too obvious, the lack of a tactile keyboard. I've mentioned this before, one shouldn't need to look at a phone to dial or answer a phone call. I've had the Nokia 7710 before, and the iPhone albeit a slight improvement, is still equally annoying. One would have expected that if you hold the phone upside down that the keyword would re-orient itself; it doesn't!

The third less obvious feature however quite important is that you can't access the file system. The email client doesn't allow attachments to be saved on the iPhone. You also can't save what you download from the web. It's a strange limitation that's going to take a while for me to be comfortable with. Tthe iPhone is practically a read-only with the exception of the camera. Incidentally, the Nokia N770 and N800 internet tablets have a similar strategy to media access.

Finally, there's the notion out there that the iPhone is in the smartphone category. Well, from my perspective, it doesn't feel like a smartphone if you can't add any new smarts (i.e. applications). It certainly doesn't have those office applications for reading spreadsheets and presentations. That said, the built in applications that it does come with is quite comprehensive for anyone who casually uses the phone. A person comfortable with a smartphone will definitely find the iPhone capabilities quite limiting. However, I would caution that I would expect most business apps to be available via the web.

With all its short comings, to my surprise, the iPhone is a device extremely useful in a social context. Aside from it being obviously a conversational piece, I have never found a hand held gadget that others could so effortless browse the web, show photographs to family and friends and even play music on speaker for everyone to hear ;-). Unlike previous gadgets I've owned, I've had no trouble explaining how to use the intuitive multi-touch interface. My daughter of 5 can so effortless browse through my photo collection, panning and zooming with flicks of her fingers. An 'iFrame' or 'iPhotoFrame' product would definitely be a great hit!

One can only imagine other future applications that can targets this form of social behavior. That is, sharing digital media while being physical present. I've been recently become quite a shutterbug. However, I've always found it awkward to share my photographs in someone's presence. It's just so awkward to hand someone a laptop, it's not the same as passing someone a bunch or photos or perhaps a scrapbook. The intuitiveness of the iPhone makes this activity so much more pleasurable and of course less geeky. The iPhone's speaker phone also permits this kind of activity. Isn't it equally as awkward to have some share your earbuds just to sample some of your music?

By all accounts, Apple with its recent price drop has dropped its margins to razor thin levels. It's also introduced a competing product the iPod Touch that is surely to cannibalize the iPhone market. It's the iPhone's WiFi capability and its superior interface that makes it compelling. The fact that it can receive or send a phone call is a nice addition but possibly not necessary essential. I for one, would prefer to keep it at home where broadband is accessible and affordable. The lack of recording and storage capabilities means that I'll stick with my Nokia on a daily basis. The iPhone is more for lurkers rather than content creators.

Looking forward into the future, it'll be unbelievably compelling once Apple figures out how to consolidate the information found in one's phone calls, text messages with a person's other media. At this moment, that information is locked into silos in the iPhone. If you open out that information out in a manner like Facebook has done (i.e. privacy by default) then we're really moving into entirely new territory. I for one would relish seeing a more sociable photo application on the iPhone.