I'd quite like an iPhone and slightly regret my 18 month contract with Orange and the new Nokia N95. Though to be honest it is the free data plan that is one of the attractions for the iPhone, seamless access to the internet from a small device would be great. Orange seem to be reluctant to even try to match the data bundle that comes with the iPhone, eight pounds for 30MB is their best offer.
One of the things I've realised I value about Apple is saving me from dealing with the murky world of multiple computing vendors, which I get when I look at the mobile phone industry. Apple offer clean nicely designed spaces, which lack the venal atmosphere of the rest of the IT world. The camera world is similar, at least at the SLR level, there is a simple enough choice Canon or Nikon, perhaps Sony in the future. I'm saved the hassle of picking amongst dozens of providers, I can pick the model I want from Apple, saves time and mental energy. It might not be perfect, but it works well for my computing. I wonder if this is behind the swing to Apple over the last few years.
In terms of actually getting an iPhone, I'd want to see a few things in the next model. Getting to 32G as the storage on the iPhone would be good, the iPod Touch has this so it is solely a pricing issue. A better camera with a little bit more control. Perhaps a xenon flash and optical zoom. It is never going to be a brilliant camera, but it can be better than the 2Mpixel version it comes with. The camera with my N95 is surprisingly good for the size of sensor it has.
3G would be a good addition too, I understand it uses more power and generates more heat, but with the iPhone I have the luxury of being able to charge from my laptop, so the power thing is less of a concern. EDGE is ok, but proper 3G is great, I've used my N95 a couple of times as a modem and I own one of the E220 modems that three.co.uk sell. They are properly fast. Being able to use the iPhone as a modem would be good too, but I can't see the operators agreeing to that too quickly.
The likely iTunes store powered application provision is another reason to be interested in the iPhone. I know that Nokia have tried this in the past, but their client software is overwhelmingly windows based and so alien to me. It is the simple Apple provided and potentially approved world that is appealing, with slight shades of Brave New World. I'll still go and hunt out the jailbroken tools that offer ssh and bit torrent, but I can have a decent simple to install catalog of software directly on my mac.
So enough storage that I can leave my fifth gen 30G iPod behind and just carry my iPhone, a slightly better camera and some interesting software please.
One of the things I've realised I value about Apple is saving me from dealing with the murky world of multiple computing vendors, which I get when I look at the mobile phone industry. Apple offer clean nicely designed spaces, which lack the venal atmosphere of the rest of the IT world. The camera world is similar, at least at the SLR level, there is a simple enough choice Canon or Nikon, perhaps Sony in the future. I'm saved the hassle of picking amongst dozens of providers, I can pick the model I want from Apple, saves time and mental energy. It might not be perfect, but it works well for my computing. I wonder if this is behind the swing to Apple over the last few years.
In terms of actually getting an iPhone, I'd want to see a few things in the next model. Getting to 32G as the storage on the iPhone would be good, the iPod Touch has this so it is solely a pricing issue. A better camera with a little bit more control. Perhaps a xenon flash and optical zoom. It is never going to be a brilliant camera, but it can be better than the 2Mpixel version it comes with. The camera with my N95 is surprisingly good for the size of sensor it has.
3G would be a good addition too, I understand it uses more power and generates more heat, but with the iPhone I have the luxury of being able to charge from my laptop, so the power thing is less of a concern. EDGE is ok, but proper 3G is great, I've used my N95 a couple of times as a modem and I own one of the E220 modems that three.co.uk sell. They are properly fast. Being able to use the iPhone as a modem would be good too, but I can't see the operators agreeing to that too quickly.
The likely iTunes store powered application provision is another reason to be interested in the iPhone. I know that Nokia have tried this in the past, but their client software is overwhelmingly windows based and so alien to me. It is the simple Apple provided and potentially approved world that is appealing, with slight shades of Brave New World. I'll still go and hunt out the jailbroken tools that offer ssh and bit torrent, but I can have a decent simple to install catalog of software directly on my mac.
So enough storage that I can leave my fifth gen 30G iPod behind and just carry my iPhone, a slightly better camera and some interesting software please.
Building Social Web Applications by Gavin Bell.
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