I finally went to the AT&T store this past weekend and played around with the iPhone. Amazingly the store in Norwalk, CT had both models in stock. I was very surprised by this fact as the building is right next to Costco and the cost-conscious retailer has thousands of people streaming into the store daily.
I was surprised at how few people were in the AT&T store actually. It seemed the kiosk for Verizon and Sprint in Costco was busier than the AT&T store.
My impressions of the phone are exactly what I thought they would be. It is an amazing device but for someone who does a great deal of e-mailing and blogging via mobile device it is not so great. The onscreen keyboard is lacking and my thumbs are way too fat for this input method.
I hear you can get used to this keyboard over time so I am still thinking one day I will defect and become an iPhone user.
But this will have to wait as the other complaint about the device is the terrible broadband speed and I wholeheartedly agree that the surfing experience on this device is atrocious. Using this phone as a web browser is an exercise in frustration in fact. I brought up TMCnet and it took a very long time to load. An eternity in fact.
TMCnet is a very rich site so I didn’t expect Google like access speeds. Still, the experience was like watching grass grow. I feel for people who the iPhone browser over the AT&T wireless network.
I would imagine this problem will be solved with a new model on or after Christmas this year. Still there is the issue of a keyboard. I really think the device needs one. Perhaps my needs are different than most but I think everyone should be able to use their phone to jot notes and send medium length e-mails.
Hopefully this phone will kick all other mobile phone companies in the rear so all phones can have such high resolution browsing. This resolution over EVDO Rev. A would be spectacular. I imagine Verizon is working with HTC to make this happen. But what is the problem? Shouldn’t these devices be out already? Please, Verizon, Sprint and others… Give us iPhone functionality with a keyboard and high-speed wireless access. We really need this and we need it now.
As an aside… In my research for this piece I came across an article I wrote on January 7, 2005 about Apple being one step closer to the VoIPOD (what eventually became the iPhone). You may find it interesting.
The author is a shareholder in Apple.
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