Unless you have been living under a rock for the past six months, you would know that today is the day that the Apple iPhone becomes available. Actually, it is not until 6pm local time today, which seems a bit odd but it does provide a way to hype things all day as there will undoubtedly be endless news reports about the people standing in line to get an iPhone. The hype is almost endless, it would seem. Quite frankly, I don’t see how the iPhone will even remotely live up to all the expectations that have been placed on it. It slices. It dices. It solves world hunger and cures cancer! Well, okay, maybe not… but the hype would almost bring it to that level. I have to expect that over the next few days the blog posts will naturally turn to peoples’ reviews of the product and the inevitable let-downs.
I, of course, won’t have a chance to experience an iPhone anytime soon. As I wrote previously, those of us who live in states without AT&T coverage are just out-of-luck. (Also noted by a local Apple retailer.) I guess the good news is that by the time we finally do get the coverage, whatever year that is, we should have a good idea about how well the iPhone does or does not work! 🙂
In the meantime, for all of you out there who get one today and are standing in line now… well… have fun!
(Thus endeth my obligatory iPhone posting!)
… or Italy… 🙁
I don’t get it.
I use Tmobile Dash.
Outlook Integration
Office Communicator
2 GB of music (via optiontional card)
Bluetooth
Wifi
Sip phone sometime soon I hope
slow Internet….
For $200.
Iphone – can’t do half of that. Plus no keyboard.
Apple has spent very little promoting this phone. It is a very expensive phone. It is not a feature rich phone, and people are camping out for it. I don’t get it.
I was super excited when I heard about the iPhone. I thought it was a great innovation for lovers of cellphones and iPods alike. Then I heard that only Cingular and AT&T were carrying it. This is so enraging! These companies offer no coverage in our very neglected state. I hope that this remedied soon by either Verizon or Unicel.
GSM does seem like an odd choice for a launch in the US market. But actually even if it were launched on day one in Europe, it still wouldn’t be such a great device. I talked about some of this on my own blog (http://martyndavies.livejournal.com/34628.html), but the mobile handset business is very competitive, and in many ways the iPhone has the features of handsets from a year ago or more. I wonder if Apple know what it will take to stay current in the handset business?
@luca – thanks for the reminder that there *is* a world outside of the USA, and you didn’t get the iPhone, either! 🙂
@voipstutter – it’s the “Apple” ethos. They are very good at creating a “mythic” element… people want to get one just for the experience and to be able to say “I was there” when the iPhone launched. I think there’s a part of all of us that wants to be part of a “revolution”. Apple is successful at tapping into that vein… even if some aspects of it may not be as revolutionary as others.
@VTGRL – Yes, I wasn’t thrilled when I learned that only AT&T (formerly Cingular) was carrying it. Ever since I moved here in 2005, I’ve been wishing AT&T/Cingular would appear in VT so that I could actually get GSM coverage (so I could have a phone that would work abroad). I don’t expect, though, that either Verizon or Unicel will carry the iPhone anytime soon – there would need to be a non-GSM model first, and I can’t see Apple bothering. They get world coverage this way (GSM).
@Martyn – Do remember that you are in Europe which is several years ahead of the US in terms of cell phone features. To us here in the wireless backwater of the USA, the iPhone is fairly leading edge. If our telcos had agreed on standards and fought on features, we’d be right there with you, and maybe the iPhone wouldn’t be that interesting. Instead, our telcos have fought on standards and we just watch the rest of you get far better phones!
I’m somewhat partial to the iPhone although it doesn’t currently meet all my needs (but it gets pretty damn close).
I’m in the same boat as you, though. Living in Vermont there are few ways to get an iPhone. Other states lucked out as AT&T announced that they were purchasing Dobson (i.e. Cellular One) the day the iPhone was released.
We have pretty good GSM coverage by Unicel so iPhone users can roam here, but you can’t buy a contract. Some people are buying contracts out-of-state in the hopes that AT&T won’t cancel their accounts for always roaming, or at least not too quickly.
Unfortunately, yesterday Verizon Wireless announced they’re buying RCC (i.e. Unicel) and converting existing customers over to CDMA. They’ll keep the GSM service turned on to earn roaming fees, but even if the iPhone gets fully unlocked in the near future, SIMs will be unavailable for Vermont in the not-too-distant future. See:
http://makkintosshu.dyndns.org/journal/say-goodbye-to-the-iphone-in-vermont
What a bummer for those of us who actually would like one.