Apple iPhone: Hype Vs Reality.

After long wait of one and a half years, Last week, I also became "proud" owner of this black beauty - Apple-3G iPhone. But to put it mildly it was an Anticlimax.

On the positive note, its an engineering marvel. The hardware capabilities of iPhone surpass its nearest competitor(which I think is Sony Erickson) by miles. As with all apple products, the product is an absolute beauty. The touch screen and other sensors inside the phone which enable screen flip etc is brilliant, Voice clarity is good. Though it might be slightly big for ladies to get a comfortable grip.

If only hardware would make a good phone, iPhone would have no rivals(even in immediate future). Its the OS which makes iPhone an unwieldy piece of electronics. Even the simple functions which is taken for granted in even basic phone is not available in iPhone. A lot has been written on the features that are not available on iPhone so I will not go in details. Things as mundane as editing a phone number from recent calls is not possible. A look at iTunes reminds me of Ambassador car.

I think the source of problem lies in apple not having knowledge base on preferences of a typical phone user. The traditional Phone companies(like Nokia and Sony) build this intimate knowledge base thru their years of experience in this market. As an analogy, Apple making a phone is like Escorts (the tractor manufacturer) trying to make a luxury car. Ya both tractor and car has four wheels/steering/accelerator etc. But these things do not make a good luxury car.

It is the failure of media and "expert reviewers" that they got blown away by marketing hype and failed to take Apple to task for the shortcomings. I hope and wish that apple would comeup with some serious revisions of OS and do justice to the people who supported them. Untill then its back to basics....