Before anything else, please know that I am writing this review from my brand spankin’ new iPhone 3G using the Wordpress for iPhone application that I got from Apple’s App Store for free. And from where I sit struggling with the on-screen QWERTY keypad, the iPhone’s internet connection is not too shabby at all. Read no further if that doesn’t sound impressive enough.
Truth be told, Apple’s latest attempt at world domination will hardly appeal to the mobile communication market, much less to us Filipinos who practically invented texting and whose savvy on cellular technology is more sophisticated than others. Steve Jobs could have consulted my cell phone-toting messenger Ompong and he would have come up with the ultimate wireless gadget ever made. The iPhone 3G is not it but hey, give those geniuses at Apple more time to figure out why the world needs a mobile phone that has:
- multimedia messaging service (MMS);
- text message and contact forwarding;
- a simple copy/paste function;
- a really useful Bluetooth connectivity;
- better camera specs; and
- a removable battery.
On second thought, they are not called geniuses for nothing. They have a ready excuse at the least: Apple is revolutionizing mobile communications the way it revolutionized computer disk storage by taking away the floppy disk drive from its computers when such a move was still considered outrageous. I happen to partly agree with that propagan…I mean assertion. In the Jobsian worldview, multimedia messaging is redundant with email; text forwarding breeds annoying chain letter senders; forwarded contact details are usually not the sender’s own and are thus invasive of privacy; copy/paste promotes plagiarism; Wi-Fi does a better job of transferring information than Bluetooth (and the only reason the latter is on the iPhone is to preserve one’s freedom to look stupid with a Bluetooth headset); better camera specs would mean a thicker and more expensive handset that still could not compete with a half-decent standalone digicam; and lastly, the iPhone’s battery design may seem like a deal breaker, but 150 million iPod owners don’t necessarily think so.
Photo taken with the wifey
I said I partly agree and that’s because the iPhone 3G’s features (or lack thereof), while seemingly logical and groundbreaking, don’t jibe with certain realities facing consumers today. In the Philippines, for example, the disparity between Internet subscribers (2.5 million) and mobile phone subscribers (60 million) ensures continued reliance on MMS, Bluetooth connectivity, and other such common cell phone features that Apple has decided to do without. Ironically, some relatively advanced features have also been left out. The more tech savvy among us will surely gnash their teeth in frustration if they find out that their 3G-enabled iPhone has no front camera for video calls and cannot be tethered to a laptop. Until technological gaps like these are bridged, today’s iPhone will continue to draw flak from mobile users of all stripes.
As for me, I knew what I was getting before the purchase so I’m way past complaining. I’m now working on getting my iPhone to function the way it should; I can’t delve into the details right now except to say that it’s just a matter of time before you can call me Scofield. Wink wink.
