Apple catching up with what customers want

So, they finally made it. It's only been what? 3-4 years? Maybe something like that. Apple Inc (not Apple Computer Inc anymore) has released its first iPhone. There's a lot I'd like to say and there's even more being said in blogs, news sites all around the world, so if you don't mind I'll skip the obvious "wow it's the coolest phone ever made" comments to get straight to the point.

The iPhone is still 6 month away from its US release. It will be sold with a 2-year contract only… This means that some claver people will make a good share of money by purchasing bulks of iPhones and then unlocking them for other operators.

When will it be available in Europe?
The fact that it's not going to be available in Europe pisses me off but on the other hand it could be a good thing. Personally I don't see the point for this iPhone if it's not running on 3G. Hopefully by the time it's going to be rolled-out in Europe it will be a 3G phone… Let's also keep in mind that if Apple wants to take the same approach as they have taken in the US, they'll have to find either a Europe-wide operator to support it or sign deals with individual operators in each market. Needless to say that's it may take a while before we'll see our streets full of iPhones.

Key functionality still missing.
If you take a closer look at the iPhone, once the "wow, I NEED one of those" effect is gone, you can start see some flaws. First of all the iPhone can only be compared to a nano. It has a 4-8Gb memory and with ipods getting closer to 100Gb it seems a little small. Connectivity is fine, but as said above I'd like to see a 3G version of it and wireless synchronisation is not part of the package. What's the point of having internet access if it's going to take longer than drawing the page yourself? Other things I don't like is the fact that the battery is not removable (those of you who had a bad iPod experience know what this means- ie apple overcharging you to change a battery or telling you to get a new iPhone), the memory is not expandable and as usual Apple will keep a tight control on what can be used on the iPhone and what can't.

And now for the killer: do we really need an iPhone?
Let me explain a little bit better. I do love gadgets and I do like some things in the iPhone. A wide screen is clearly a good idea and the touch screen seems quite a step forward for Apple. My point though is about this sort of device. If you're travelling and know you're going to spend a lot of time in a plane/train then take your iPhone with you and enjoy the trip. The point I want to make is that when you're going down to your local for a pint with a couple of friends (or was it a couple of pints with a friend?) do you need to carry your iPhone? If you have a closer look at it you'll see that it's quite a big thing to stuff in your pocket and you don't want to put it in your back pocket (just in case you forget about it and sit on it).
The pub example is just a stupid example, but I think that as there are times where you need full connectivity and all your music/videos/pictures, etc, there are times when you just need a phone. It would be great to be able to use seamlessly 2 different devices for instance. I'd love to be able to take the iPhone on my business trips and watch a movie in the plane, but if I'm going out at night I'd like to pick up my smaller (and a lot less flashy) nokia 6230 instead (as long as I can get the address book synched with my iPhone or my Laptop).

So who really wants an iPhone now? ;o)

That's it for now. I'll keep on looking around see if I can find interesting comments about this new apple must-have accessory.
Take care.
iacopo