The iPhone (The Phone that almost was)

Wait Wait, is tomorrow is the iDay???? For all the iphone/apple "Oh, its so cool folks" (I am calling them official beta testers), Yes it is. But guys, the book (iPhone, The Missing Manual) is out only on August 15th and you can pre-order from Amazon.

I was walking by the apple store on 5th avenue and spotted a looooong line. I could not believe it as there was a bunch of kids, guys, girls and even some granny’s waiting for the countdown so they can run into the store and buy the phone (or maybe once they all realize how much they overpaid, their next stop at the same speed may be EBAY). And of course, well, new york being new york, there were even a few guys screaming trying to sell their spots on the line for a couple of hundred bucks (Attention: Those who dont want to stand in line). I picked up the papers and everywhere i read, there were iPhone reviews. Turn on NBC, CBS, ABC, WB11, all of them full of iPhone ads.

Has everyone gone mad??? I have nothing against apple (I own 3 ipods myself) and after looking at the plan from AT&T (formerly Cingular), its a no brainer for any person who currently uses a smart phone to conclude that the hype will die down very quickly as its easy to talk the talk, but will people walk the walk on this one??? At $500 (for a 4GB) and $600 (for a 8GB) a pop, it is an EXPENSIVE phone and for all this, it DOES NOT have all the features of a true smart phone.

The hype and hoopla is so high around this gadget that it is truly baffling. You've got to hand it to steve jobs. His net worth has certainly skyrocketed and the stock has been on overdrive since the iPhone announcement. He certainly has managed to whip up frenzy like no other phone has done in the past and for all this, this is apple's first foray into the cell phone market (ok, ok leave out ROKR guys, that was a total disaster!!!). The only true accomplishment of the iphone will be waking up Nokia, Motorola and RIM and changing the smart phone gadgets/market from now on.

Here's some of my thoughts on what rocks and what sucks. Even if you dont agree, as I like to say, a drunk mans words are a sober man's thoughts.

What Rocks about the iPhone

• Looks Sleek and Ultra-Cool
• Looks Sleek and Ultra-Cool
• Looks Sleek and Ultra-Cool
• Looks Sleek and Ultra-Cool
• Looks Sleek and Ultra-Cool

What Sucks about the iPhone

• Only available through AT&T (What were you thinking Steve????)
• No Games
• No Instant Messaging Chat support
• No Picture messaging (MMS) capabilities
• No Video recording capabilities
• No Voice recognition or voice dialing
• No 3G Network Support
• No GPS (What!!! after all this Hype???#$%#$#)
• No support for all of the iPod accessories
• No easy way to transfer phone numbers from an existing phone - This sucks esp if you own an smartphone with 100's of contacts
• No editing or saving of word and excel documents
• No Removable battery - which means if your battery goes, you have to take it back to apple. Btw, apple has already disclosed that battery will need to be replaced after 300-400 charges
• AT&T has refused wireless insurace on the iphone as the phone is provided by apple
• No Expandable Storage
• No Corporate Email support - This is the biggest deal breaker personally for me. If it cant support my work emails, no way Jose.
• Takes more taps to reach the phone interface than other smartphones - I know cause I currently own both a Blackberry and a Treo
• Will not work on Pre-Paid service
• No access to iTunes Music Store
• No way to seach songs or contact lists
• And finally a Desi being a Desi, I cant unlock it and give it to anyone back home. Come on desi’s, ya’ll know its true (I am actually rooting for the Chinese on this one to hack the phone and unlock it within the next 3 days)

I do admit that I spend a lot of my money on booze, gambling, women and fast cars. (The order may change depending on the day of the week). The rest I just squander away. But will I squander away $600 on the iPhone just now???? Nah!!! I think I will wait for the 2G iPhone, which apple will be forced to bring out very very soon, unless blackberry has already thrown a curve ball at the iphone.

Buy hey, please go ahead and buy an iphone for yourself. After all I do own lots of apple stocks and every time one of you buys an iPhone, I get rich:):)

Not buying the phone yet??? Geeeeeeezzzzz, Ok, at least order the book from Amazon!!! (Oh!!Did I tell you I have a deal with the writer as well??).