I am writing this post on my iPhone twelve days after I got it. I am “one of those” who got it on day one, but only after eight hours of waiting to get the white and only the white one.
For me it is probably the single most life-changing gizmo ever. The experience has been so dramatic that I immediately realized an improvement in the quality of my life. To say it is a liberating experience is to say the least.
It is not a great phone compared to my Nokia N73. The bluetooth is for headset-like devices only. It can’t sync or transfer files over bluetooth or WiFi, nor can it beam data over bluetooth with another phone. I can’t upload my MP3s or AACs for use as ring tones without some effort. It can’t do a lot of things a phone circa 2005 can.
It is more useful as a PDA except for the lower resolution as compared to my Dell Axim X50v’s VGA (640×480) resolution. The Dell Axim with the PocketPC 2003 OS has a lot more Windows desktop equivalent applications, but I find that for the two critical things I need – opening WAV and PDF attachments in e-mail – the iPhone can do it whereas the PocketPC can’t. The iPhone shines in its data features with the 3G data connection as the cellular data connection is omnipresent compared to WiFi.
The iPhone is locked to operate with a certain carrier or country as sold in most countries, so it is generally (without hacking) not usable with a cellular network when traveling overseas, which paradoxically is when a cellular data network would be most needed. Prepaid cards that combine voice and data usage would be excellent when travelling with an unlocked iPhone.