I know I'm swimming against the tide on this one, but hey with the India reverse outsourcing I'm on a roll lately... ;-). I am giving up my iPhone and going back to my Blackberry. Those of you who know me know I love everything Apple. I personally own 4 Macs at my house, one AppleTV, two apple LCDs, and 3 ipods. So I am certified Steve Jobs fan.
However, this iPhone just sucks. Before you say I didn't give it a chance. I did. I used it for 35 days as my primary phone. As a business user it just doesn't work for me. Here is why:
a) It is not a better phone as Apple proclaims.
- You can't jump to an entry in the address book by typing a few words. I have thousands of entries in my address book and the way you have to scroll to get from the beginning of the S's to the right Shah (you can't believe how many Shah's there are in my address book) is just ridiculous.
- It is very touchy. I have accidentally called at least 10 people in the last week alone. The deal killer for me was when a CEO of a competitor called me and I sent him to vmail because I was in a meeting and in actuality it answered the call and he heard parts of the meeting.
b) The is a horrible email device.
- After a month I can still type 10x faster on my blackberry than my iPhone. Now before you say I have big hands... I don't ... I am only 5'6". Before you say I didn't learn to trust the auto correct... I did try and trust it many times but frankly a few of the messages I sent were so badly corrected people wrote back saying "what did you mean by this email".
- It only has 200 emails - which is like 1/2 days email for me
- It has no search or sort
- The SMTP configuration between wifi and Edge mode doesn't work for my SMTP server at fastmail so I have to switch the server each time I switch networks. I know there is a solution if you use SMTP.com or a similar service, but geesh... who has time for that.
I use my phone for email and calling (imagine that) and the while the other features of the iPhone are good (Deven loves to watch Cars on my phone when we goto a restaurant and he is bored), they are not enough to compensate for these two features.
So alas I'm switching back to my Blackberry and I'm guessing Blackberry has nothing to fear from Apple for now and maybe forever (I believe that iPhone can't be a good email device until tactile feel of real keys it somehow simulated).
I dont think iPhone is meant to be used as a business device. Apple hasnt really made any business device until now (no Macs for business, etc) and I dont think it will. A business product requires more than just good UI - it requires integration with so many products from so many different companies and Apple has never been good at dealing with other companies. iPhone is likely meant to be an intermediate product between Razr and Blackberry.
Posted by: kaarthik | August 06, 2007 at 11:30 AM
I concluded that the iPhone still had flaws within 48 hours :-). I guess I should have sent you my write-up. The iPhone needs a keyboard desperately. :-)
Posted by: John | August 11, 2007 at 09:19 AM
Thanks for this helpful info ... my wife is in the process of deciding whether to upgrade her Blackberry 7105 to a Blackberry Pearl or an iPhone, and your posting was enlightening (like you, she's primarily a business user). May I ask which Blackberry device you're using / reverting to?
Posted by: Eric | August 12, 2007 at 03:38 PM
Why don't you sort your contacts by first name. That will solve your Shah problem.
Posted by: Luke Skyywalker | August 18, 2007 at 04:00 PM
Right move munjal
Posted by: Prashant | August 20, 2007 at 10:55 AM
Before you post the iPhone on eBay, think of your poor sister-in-law who is working tirelessly at 1am and would really love the happy distraction of a new gadget. I promise when/if I come to the same product conclusion, I'll split my eBay revenues 50/50. :-)
Posted by: Sonya | October 09, 2007 at 01:03 AM
Merely confirms that which I already knew, nice to see this coming from a die hard Apple fan too. The 8120 Pearl with wi-fi is sorely tempting, lack of wireless networking being the only reason I changed my beloved Pearl for a Windows Mobile device (HTC Touch).
Posted by: William Faulkner | December 04, 2007 at 07:10 AM
I'm a big Apple fan myself, since the Apple II in fact! I was seduced by the interface of the phone, but sexiness doesn't compensate for remarkably inferior functionality all above true - the scroll feature? I've almost thrown the thing into the sidewalk I was so frustrated. IT IS NOT A BUSINESS TOOL. Period. PS have you left the country with the device? Well - case closed, unless you have Mr. Job's bank account. Waiting on my Blackberry Curve. I'll trade functionality over looks any day. Like a pretty, nonfunctional bartender - WHAT'S THE POINT?! Step it up Apple.
Posted by: MATT | December 15, 2007 at 11:28 PM
Right on all points. If MacWorld doesn't announce secure sync with Exchange server, I'm going back to Blackberry.
Posted by: Ray Conley | January 11, 2008 at 06:47 AM
Munjal,
Just as Luke said, sort your shah contacts by first name
Or the way I do it - have some kind of unique name for each shah OR put first name first in case of shahs ;)
From Kalpesh Shah :)
Posted by: Kalpesh | February 18, 2008 at 05:06 PM
The iphone freaking SUCKS! Where is my good old cheap reliable blackberry whose battery lasted for 4 days and where I could type on it at lightning speed? I tried to write a fast email the other day and it spells so badly its EMBARRASSING. And this coming from a lifelong Steve Jobs fan. Steve - how could you do us like this?
My favorite is when it randomly dials out (no, nothing touched the screen while in my pocket) it just bugs out sometimes... A girl whose number she recently gave me was surprised to to hear me call her (at midnight) and became privy to me and my guy friends bar talk... What a joy!
I'm going back to my blackberry. Again, love the Steve Jobs story and his life is an inspiration, but I need the tactile feel of keys under my thumbs. Also recharging my phone twice a day gets old. Quick.
Posted by: john kim | February 26, 2008 at 10:27 AM
The iphone freaking SUCKS! Where is my good old cheap reliable blackberry whose battery lasted for 4 days and where I could type on it at lightning speed? I tried to write a fast email the other day and it spells so badly its EMBARRASSING. And this coming from a lifelong Steve Jobs fan. Steve - how could you do us like this?
My favorite is when it randomly dials out (no, nothing touched the screen while in my pocket) it just bugs out sometimes... A girl whose number she recently gave me was surprised to to hear me call her (at midnight) and became privy to me and my guy friends bar talk... What a joy!
I'm going back to my blackberry. Again, love the Steve Jobs story and his life is an inspiration, but I need the tactile feel of keys under my thumbs. Also recharging my phone twice a day gets old. Quick.
Posted by: john kim | February 26, 2008 at 10:29 AM
I have been an Apple Afficiando for 20 years and I purchased an iPhone 1.0 and used it without too much hassle for a year before the launch of the 3G version. I was so excited when the #G version came out believing that Apple just gets better and better. What a fool and I! Apple has become worse than Microsoft - mostly becasue we expect Microsoft to be awful at everything the do. Apple's 3G iPhone is a shock! It is horrible. As an enterprise device is it is a complete waste of time. It is unreliable and you spend more time fiddling with restoring it and loosing important data because the back up you have isn't compatible with the latest buggy firmware. Apple and Steve Jobs should be ashamed of themselves. I wonder whose heads are rolling over this one. I can't begin to express my disdain and disgust. Nokia, all is forgiven!
Posted by: Ian Stokol | August 22, 2008 at 06:39 AM
With all the criticism building up on the internet about the iphone I just became too embarrassed to take the phone out of my pocket and use it in plain view just in case someone saw me using it and burst out laughing, it shouldn't be that way, you should be proud to have a phone you can show off..I might as well be walking around in a pink all in one lycra suit and ankle warmers!!!Thankfully I have 5 days in which to take it back and get a full refund and it's already boxed up and ready to go..Thank god for my Nokia N82.
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