I’ll admit it, I’m a liar… But, I’m also a woman and we always reserve the right to change our minds, right? 😉 If you recall, back in June I told everyone that I was not going to buy the iPhone 3GS because I don’t have 3G coverage here in the bustling metropolis of Columbus, Indiana. That’s still true, the latest date for 3G rollout isn’t till the first quarter of next year. I’ve been hearing ‘next year’ for years now though, so we’ll see.
Why did I change my mind and go ahead and buy a 3GS? I could blame it on the fact that I’m constantly being offered iPhone accessories to review and not having the latest model has kept me from checking out new cases and what not. Or, I could blame it on the fact that I’m bored and just wanted a new toy to play with. But do I really need a reason? I mean, I am the Gadgeteer after all. And with that title comes the fact that I can’t help myself when it comes to shiny new things. It’s a curse, but one that I’m happy to bear.
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Everyone I know has an iPhone. All they talk about are the hundreds of Apps they have. I feel like a pariah with my HTC Touch HD that costs 5 times more than their crumby iPhone. What am I supposed to talk about, how many times WM6.1 crashes in a day, or how much the few and weak add-ons cost? I think the AT&T store is still open. The iPhone is calling….
That wont stand up in a court of law! Only Clinton can get away with that..
Actually you should be happy you don’t have 3G. I live and work downtown in a metro area of 1.5 million people. I can’t use 3G during business hours at all. The bandwidth is all used up. I came in on a holiday when there was no one working and the speed was blinding.
Never had any issues with ATT until I upgraded from my first gen iPhone to the 3Gs. Wish I could turn off the 3G and use edge so I’d get slow access as opposed to no access. So you may have faster access than I do. And more toys, of course.
I want to feel sorry for you… but I don’t… you know why?
Because you now have the best phone…………ever. There is a reason over 40 mil of these things have sold in 2 years (not to mention over 1 million in 3 days at the 3GS launch)…but hey… who is counting.
Kevin. You can turn off 3G. I do that at work where I have poor 3g but useable Edge. Go to settings-network-turn off 3g.
I’m only surprised you held out this long. Enjoy it! 😉
From the reviews I’ve read, the speed Apple’s touting so heavily isn’t really noticeable in day-to-day operations. Of course, it could be that when the reviews were written the applications they tested weren’t optimized for the new APIs in OS 3.0. AT&T hasn’t rolled out the 7Mbps HSDPA, and AT&T is also taking it’s sweet time rolling out MMS or tethering for the iPhone, even though every other smartphone supports the technologies now and have for years. I would expect the gains in Safari to be at least somewhat noticeable, although I wouldn’t classify my iTouch 2G as a slouch by any means.
Overall, I’m not impressed with 3.0…
The OS has no real multitasking that developers can access. It is only available on AT&T, 2+ years later. It requires a data plan, even though it has WiFi, which is $30 a month. Although it’s a slim phone, they haven’t trimmed the extra space around the top and bottom of the screen, making it still a rather large cell phone. Apple has also severely fragmented the space developers have; you can write for a compass, but only the latest iPhone has it, etc. Apple will either have to move away from the one size fits all store it has now, or provide clear explanations on each app’s page as to what is and isn’t supported for the user’s specific device. Otherwise, I’d wager more than a few people will be upset because their iPhone 3G’s camera can’t autofocus. To many people, a software upgrade can provide this functionality; they don’t know they had to add movable lens elements and motors to move them in the 3GS.
Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone is a very very nice phone, but it is far from the Jesus Phone status it was given 2 years ago. Sure it’s probably better than any Windows Mobile or Garnet phone in many respects, but I would say it’s probably no better than the Pre or G1 in other respects.
I’m now at the stage where i COULD end my contract with T-Mobile UK and switch to O2 to get the iPhone….but at the moment, there isnt much of an incentive. Part of my reluctance is that i dont want be like all the other sheeple and the other is that i can currently download an infinite number of apps from Android Market for my G1……for FREE! I (stupidly) believed that tethering would sway it for me but o2’s pricing for that is so horrendously expensive that i’d rather keep my crappy Huawel USB modem for the odd occasion i use Mobile BB on the go.
I think i’ll wait for the flurry of Android handsets to come on the market before making my mind up….the Samsung Galaxy/I7500 (http://tinyurl.com/c6yuj3) excites me as does the new HTC Hero (http://tinyurl.com/mrhhkv)
@All I have never bought into the iPhone as being the end all/be all phone on the market. There are many things that I really like about it (browser and great apps to name two), but there are things that I don’t like so much such like the lack of call/end buttons for one. Knowing myself as well as I do, I know I’ll use the 3GS for a few weeks and then probably wander off to another phone. That’s just the way I am… I mainly bought the 3GS to review and so that I’d have the latest iPhone for software / accessory reviews.
yeah, yeah – whatever ;). BTW – what handset were you using before you picked up the 3GS?
@Shkermaker The past two months or so, I’ve been going back and forth between the Pantech Matrix Pro, the original iPhone, G1 and a old clamshell Nokia. 🙂
Palm Pre community – 1
The 3GS speed bump is fairly noticeable. It’s the biggest day-to-day benefit for me, and the biggest reason why I upgraded.
Anand has a good in-depth writeup on the 3G with a comparison of 3G vs 3GS vs Pre speed:
http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3595&p=6
hi Julie,
Congrats on your new toy!! There shouldn’t be a reason for you not to get the iphone. I think anyone who loves gadgets as much as the people on your site, needs the newest gadgets. It is in our blood!
btw, my new BB Tour is waiting for me at home!! A new toy for me also!! It is only right!! haha
screw conformity. you want. you buy. you buy. you happy. you happy. no problem 🙂
Cool! Congrats Julie. I still am thinking about upgrading in the October time frame. The iPhone is the only phone I ever “liked”.
“Pants on Fire” That 3G iphone makes you feel like the Aerosmith song! Gadget Glory! Endorphins!
I know I am kinda late on the thread. But just wanted to say I share your pain Julie. As a new resident of columbus and a new iPhone owner the lack if 3g or even decent edge coverage in the city is irritating. Though I couldn’t be happier with the 3gs I am fervently hoping for a 3g rollout in Columbus soon. Nearby Bloomington got 3g around a week ago and I am keeping my hopes up for a rollout before the end of the year.
@Salil Welcome to Columbus! Are you a new Cummins employee? I was in Bloomington last weekend and found out that they have 3G. I was jealous! If they just got it a week ago, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for us 🙂
Thanks Julie!
I am a new Cummins employee and moved here from Bloomington a week before they got 3g 😐
Anyways, I have been bugging the ATT guys to give me a definite date and nobody seems to know a thing. ATT had committed to rollout 3G here by year end (http://www.indy.com/posts/at-amp-t-unveils-its-state-3g-expansion)
Lets see if they hold true to their word.
@Salil Welcome to Columbus 🙂 Which Cummins building do you work at?
I hope they are true to their word too! I won’t hold my breath though…
I work at the COB. I follow you on twitter as well. You can follow me @spongebrain