Thursday, February 16, 2012

Money & Business

The iPhone's Top Pros and Cons

By David LaGesse
Posted 6/22/07
Page 2 of 2

Touchiness: There's only one key, and that simply brings you back the phone's main menu. Not having a mechanical keyboard means you'll need to focus your eyes on a virtual keypad to dial a phone number or a virtual keyboard to text a message. The soft versions look responsive, but they can never perform as well as hard keys.

Lack of sociability: The iPhone won't run on AT&T's fastest data network, making it painfully slow for Web browsing or sending and receiving photos, unless you happen to be at a coffee shop with free WiFi. But the WiFi can't be used to connect to other iPhones, unlike the Microsoft Zune, nor can it sync music with a desktop computer.

Unfriendliness: Apple won't let software developers write their own programs for the iPhone, saying it wants to ensure tight security and ease of use. The phone's Safari browser can run applications developed for the Web, but that means having to connect first to the Internet, and that's slow with the iPhone unless it's within range of a WiFi network.

Questionable stamina: Apple promises eight hours of talk time, but analysts suggest that's optimistic—and that using WiFi or playing videos will cut that time significantly. Plus, it appears users won't be able to change the battery, and they'll have to send it back to Apple for a new one.

Weak eye: A phone this expensive should do better than a 2-megapixel camera. It should even have an optical zoom.

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