Yes, that's right, a disappointment. C'mon Apple! There was soooo much hype and then you introduce a phone that is what the first version should have been. Great, now you finally have a phone that compares to Blackberry or Treo. But it still lacks basic features that even the cheapest phones have (like a headphpne jack that's flush with the body!!?) and then they made a big deal about the 2.0 firmware release features that should have been there to begin with! (such as 'delete all' for mail...big deal!) Ok, it DOES do a lot of things that no other phone does but it should do all the things that other phones do do. (HAHA..get it. Sorry, I had to for shits & giggles. Ok, I'm stopping now because I think I just pooped! No shit!)
From a design perspective, I have to question Apple's choice in material- plastic. This strikes a nerve with me for a couple of reasons. For one, it's not recycled plastic and chances are, it never will be recycled. There's also a durbility issue with plastic since it can crack and scrathes easily. (it's that super-glossy kind) Wasn't that a big issue with old iPods? If they stuck with aluminum, they could not only use a higher percentage of post-consumer waste but it could also help to keep the product out of the landfill. Not to mention the fact that it is much more durable and scratch resistant. OK, so I got three points. The third is the fact that Apple is voiding their own promise to be environmentally responsible and conscious. Which, by the way, they are not very responsible with their packaging for the iPhone either. I think consumers will be just as happy if their new iPhone came packaged in a 100% post-consumer recycled cardboard box printed with soy inks and no plastic bags. Apple does claim to be very environmentally aware and responsible about it's products but I'm not totally convinced since it is also very trendy to put this kind of stuff on your website nowadays. However, I think Apple's choice to only redsign the back and not the top was a good one to make. But what about all the things it does do or have...
The camera still sucks (except outdoors) and has no flash.
Still no MMS.
Still no cut and paste.
Still no date on the main screen.
Still no SMS features such as letting you know how many characters or how many you've used, canceling send, etc..
Still no sorting features for the iPod
Still no manually moving the cursor (w/ keypad)
Still no viewing quicktime or mpg vids on sites
Still no flash browsing
Still no full-screen browsing
Still no control over the drive for downloading, importing or exporting files (such as email attachments
Still only on ATT
Service fees are higher than 2G version by about $15/mo.
Cannot activate from home anymore (very strange since it will be available online.)
After I get 2.0 for my 2G iPhone I'm sure there will be A LOT more issues. This is just a small list from what the current version (1.1.4) doesn't have. It is only $199 though..hopefully they will offer a refund on recent purchases of the 2G model. I was also surprised that they didn't introduce a new MacBook Pro which they were expect to do. Not that I would be able to afford one, but it would make the price of the current ones a lot less and hopefully attainable for me!
