Register reporter Sonya Smith survived her 26-hour adventure waiting for to buy an iPhone. After three days of play, not to mention getting interrupted every five minutes here in the newsroom by people who couldn’t be bothered to wait in line, here are her thoughts:
I’ve had a whole weekend to play with my iPhone, Jimmy…
And - to answer everyone’s first question - yes I love my iPhone!
The 26+ hour marathon wait for a pricey electronic gadget has paid off. I’ve met my deadlines (thanks to reminders on Jimmy), mapped out directions and beat the traffic (using Jimmy’s Google maps), and showed off my newest best friend. Watch my video recap:
(Watch the larger version at YouTube)
Sure Jimmy could use a few other features (most are not necessary for me). But, to counter against the mostly-rough reviews given the iPhone - take any other cell phone or PDA and make a list of everything you wish it could add, improve upon or remove. That list would be at least 10 times longer than my iPhone wish list. But, I’ll still share my list of features Jimmy and his friends could use.
In a perfect world the iPhone would (PLEASE be sure to comment and add to my list):
* Be able to download wirelessly other ringtones.
* Camera on the phone would: not be blurry when shooting moving images, would have 3-4 megapixels, be able to shoot video and would have effects you can apply to the photos just like the current Photo Booth offered on desktop and laptop Macs.
* Have a longer battery life or better yet, be able to replace the battery so I can carry a backup.
* Have more YouTube videos (only a partial library currently).
* Safari should have Flash! If it’s the real deal Safari — and not just some mobile version — then why doesn’t it have Flash?!?
* Be able to remember passwords in Safari. Safari should learn to autofill addresses so, for example, when buying things online, my iPhone would remember and auto-suggest my home address.
* Copy/paste. This could be difficult for adding to the phone’s design because of the scrolling, BUT Apple should be able to figure this out. (NOTE: This frustrated the heck outta me the other day when I was looking up a friend’s address in a MySpace evite and then had to remember it so I could type it into Google Maps.)
* GPS. Come on Steve! If the iPhone added this feature it could not only take on music devices, PDAs, cell phones and smart phones — but also GPS devices! And then companies could design a vehicle system for the iPhone so it could play music through the vehicle’s stereo system, give audio turn-by-turn directions and use the phone through the vehicle’s stereo system.
* To-do lists. Why is this not included?
* A folder for storing documents, etc. Again, why is this not there?
* Voice-activated dialing. Seriously Apple engineers, with all the other bells ‘n whistles — this should have been included. The cell-phone-while-driving ban (except for hands-free calls) is coming soon and I don’t wanna get a ticket.
* A better calendar. Apple’s iCal needs to seriously step it up if it wants to compete with Google’s calendar (I don’t consider Outlook or Entourage threats). iCal should be available online through .Mac so it can be edited from any computer (easier than typing on the iPhone). And the iPhone should be able to sync to .Mac wirelessly.
iCal on the iPhone should be color-coded (just like on the real, desktop iCal), and you should be able to turn the different calendars on and off. For example, I have access to various calendars (work, music, personal), plus my mom’s, boyfriend’s, friend’s and some public calendars (DVD releases, movie releases, astronomy). But on the iPhone, they’re not color-coded so it’s one big mess.
Also, iCal needs to offer a way to import an Outlook calendar (I know Steve’s and Bill’s software don’t get along. But Steve, let people to easily import to iCal — and allow iCal to be used on PCs just like iTunes and Safari. And you can continue to show PC users why Macs rock!)
* Turn up the volume – I can barely hear my phone ring (same goes for watching YouTube videos, listening to iTunes, etc.)
* Allow us to see weather forecasts beyond 7 days (and allow us to view the previous day’s weather so we know if the current day will be warmer, colder, have more rain, be less humid). And while you’re at it, add alerts so iPhone’s can warn people of oncoming rain, etc., even though we don’t really need that in sunny O.C.
* Allow users to bookmark routes not just places in Google Maps.
* Allow people to use Google Maps to locate place genres (not just specific stores). For example, search for nearby coffee shops (not just Starbucks).
* Make better headphones. The touch button is great for hanging up calls, but the headphones really hurt my ears.
- Sonya
Read Sonya’s earlier posts:
Thursday, 2:19 p.m.: iPhone fever hits OC
Thursday, 5:24 p.m.: Lining up for the iPhone with Sonya
Thursday 6 p.m.: Inside the Apple store
Thursday, 7 p.m.: Slow day at T-Mobile?
Thursday, 7 to 8 p.m.: Photos from the iPhone front lines
Friday, 6 a.m. 12 more hours: It’s iPhone day!
Friday, 9 a.m. ish: Breakfast outside the Apple store
Friday, 9:30 a.m.: Where exactly is Sonya?
Friday, 11:31 a.m.: CNN is here!
Friday, 12:04 p.m. Beating the sun in front of the shadeless Apple store
Friday, 12:13 p.m. Watch Sonya get interviewed by SqueezeOC’s Matt Degen
Friday, 12:42 p.m. iPhone goodies show up online
Friday, 1:21 p.m.: Five hours to go and ready to pass out
Friday, 3:18 p.m.: Apple store closes! See the photos
Friday, 4:16 p.m. Two hours to go, anxiety sets in
Friday, 5:28 p.m. Making extra money
Friday, 5:59:40 p.m.: VIDEO: The last 20 seconds
Friday, 6ish p.m.: VIDEO: Apple welcomes first customers
Friday, 7ish p.m.: The iPhone aftermath, photos and thoughts
Friday, 11:30 p.m. VIDEO: Unwrapping the iPhone
Tamara 'the Gadgetress' Chuang
