If you're worried enough about quality to use an optical audio connection then chances are you won't want to listen to mp3s in the first place.
Did you know you can play lossless files? 😉 I just thought, seeing as how iphones are used as music players linked to speaker systems, an optical connection might be a good idea. I doubt it would cost much to incorporate.
Separate USB card reader? Why? Why not simply have it all in one device? I thought that was the whole point...
My current £30 'phone does many of the things an iphone does, it just doesn't have the fancy touch pad thing, or loads of gimmicky apps. Oh, it does have an FM radio though.
Defend it all you like. It's not much more than an expensive toy. £400, plus £30 a month or whatever? So, £700+ for a year, then you'll have to buy another one when the next latest version comes out?
😉I got one because I convinced myself it was useful and I often have nothing better to do than use it for several hours in a day.
Having played with friends iclones I decided to wait until the HTC desire came out and I'm a now a droid convert. Only been using it for 3 days but these things are pretty awesome if your in the market for a smartphone of some description. There are some cracking deals to be had, £60 for the phone then 18months @£25 pm to include 300 mins, 300 texts, unlimited internet, unlimited landline calls. So far a happy droid user here.
fwb2006 whos that deal with the Desire through?
Tmobile, I got £35 off the phone purchase price for haggling.... Even so, £95 for the phone and £25 pm for your calls etc. is pretty good, much better than my old orange 'deal'.
Only using FM radio why not digital, free app available (tunin.fm icar radio lite).
Mass storage device use, try Discover for wireless disc access also free.
Oh and lossless encoding invariably isn't.
loads of gimmicky apps.
and lots of really useful ones too.
i don't class myself as a technology geek who has all the latest gizmos but i find all these very useful
tube update. tells me what lines are running/delays (takes about 2-3 seconds to get info)
trainline. book tickets and get times.
f8. an app that works out the hyperfocal distance and the degree of tilt for my my cameras, i use this for work along with a sunrise/sunset height app.
they now have a model/property release app that people can sign and have mailed to them once they have read it on the screen
a spirit level app for the camera and for the surface when doing overhead copies or for inputting to the depth of field app.
0870. an app that gives you a proper number instead of an expensive one
runkeeper. logs my training rides and shows how slow i am on a map
skype. through the iphone is better than trying to talk into the laptop.
tv catchup. watch freeview channels. often used to watch men and motors when waiting for trains.
i don't use it myself but i know a few photographers and directors/cameramen who use a field of view app that shows them how an image will look with different primes/zooms and cine/16/35/hd/betacam etc etc giving them a scaled crop to a human figure and depth of field scale.
all this in a phone.
£400, plus £30 a month or whatever?
£90 and £30 a month.
or free if you factor in the £90 i sold my N95 for.
i would gladly have paid more considering how useful and easy to use it is compared to the nokia.
Did you know you can play lossless files? I just thought, seeing as how iphones are used as music players linked to speaker systems, an optical connection might be a good idea. I doubt it would cost much to incorporate.
But it would be utterly [i]pointless[/i]. Even with lossless files, the sound reproduction on a portable device (regardless of manufacturer) will never be able to compete with the quality that a full blown hi-fi system will recreate.
Separate USB card reader? Why? Why not simply have it all in one device? I thought that was the whole point...
Pick either of the other options I gave you then.
My current £30 'phone does many of the things an iphone does
Purrrrr-lease!
If you'd said [i]"My HTC HD2 / Nexus One / 'droid does.."[/i] then I'd have said yeah fair enough.
It's not much more than an expensive toy
Toys are generally not also "useful tools" - in fact that is pretty much the antithesis of a toy.
But if you consider phoning people, answering emails, scheduling meetings and getting directions as "play" then good for you. Your life must be a blast 🙂
I got one because I convinced myself it was useful and I often have nothing better to do than use it for several hours in a day.
Not at all. I got one because I had a go on my wife's iPod Touch and saw how it was changing how we used the web, worked, and entertained ourselves.
i don't use it myself but i know a few photographers and directors/cameramen who use a field of view app that shows them how an image will look with different primes/zooms and cine/16/35/hd/betacam etc etc giving them a scaled crop to a human figure and depth of field scale.
Try Photo Buddy - it has some really useful phot stuff like DoF calculator, sunrise/sunset times, hyperfocal, exposure calc, flash guide etc.
Purrrrr-lease!If you'd said "My HTC HD2 / Nexus One / 'droid does.." then I'd have said yeah fair enough.
So you know which 'phone I have, then? Right, ok..
It plays music and videos. It has an FM radio (has the iphone got a radio? Oh..). It has an internet browser. You can get 'games' for it, and it has a useable calendar/organiser thing. It syncs with my computer. I can expand it's memory up to 32GB (32GB iPhone £100 more than 16GB, when a 16GB card is about £30?). It has a camera. It has a sound recorder. It can record video. You can download little 'apps' for it.
It doesn't have the GPS feature, or the motion sensor, WiFi or the fancy touch screen.
It did, howevver,cost £30, which included £10 PAYG credit. 😉 For a few quid a month, I can get unlimited internet access.
It does everything I need it to. Tell me why I 'need' an iphone...
See this..
[i]"Why do I need a PC when I have this perfectly usable typewriter that does everything I need it to? PCs are just expensive toys."[/i]
That's you that is.
Not at all. I'm just not some mug who thinks their life has to revolve around a mobile telephone. 😉
I got one because I was fed up with having a phone 'thing' and a music 'thing' to carry around, and because I use itunes, it made sense oh, and I get a useful browser, and a calendar, and email, and a calculator, and I can take photos, and loads of other things.
As mrmichaelwright cleverly points out, I am Mr smug...
[url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/10/charlie-brooker-iphone ]charlie brookers views on them[/url]
My life revolves regardless. Having a mobile internet device in it just makes it easier to manage.
And to answer your "points":
So you know which 'phone I have, then? Right, ok..
I'm guessing it isn't a smartphone otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation.
It plays music and videos
I see. Video podcasts? Live TV? iPlayer? Feature films? Streaming porn?
It has an FM radio
That's nice. I think my old Nokia 9600 had one of those.
(has the iphone got a radio? Oh..)
Yes thanks. Except it is an internet radio, so you get the FM channels plus the digital ones and hundreds of international ones.
It has an internet browser.
Which you never use because the screen is tiny, scrolling about is a pain and half the websites don't work on it.
You can get 'games' for it
Snake?
it has a useable calendar/organiser thing
Excellent, with live over-the-air syncing with an Exchange Server?
I can expand it's memory up to 32GB (32GB iPhone £100 more than 16GB, when a 16GB card is about £30?)
I don't think anyone claimed the iPhone was cheap.
It has a camera. It has a sound recorder. It can record video
And of course there are apps that let you edit the pictures, sounds and video on your phone and then upload them directly to flickr, picasa, facebook, etc etc yeah?
You can download little 'apps' for it.
How many are available? How many are genuinely useful? Can any of them do any of the things talked about on this thread?
Tell me why I 'need' an iphone...
You don't.
Neither do you 'need' any phone. Or a PC, a laptop, a TV, a DVD player, the internet...
All you non-believers are wasting your time
GrahamS will talk this one [& you] to sleep on the subject - I think he has an app to detect when the word iphone is used on stw 🙂
Video podcasts? Live TV? iPlayer? Feature films? Streaming porn?
You see, none of this bothers me. I have all these things at home. You talk about screen size; so why would you want to watch stuff on a 3" screen??
And of course there are apps that let you edit the pictures, sounds and video on your phone and then upload them directly to flickr, picasa, facebook, etc etc yeah?
Why would I want to do this? I have no need for these services.And I probably could, actually! So there!
Neither do you 'need' any phone. Or a PC, a laptop, a TV, a DVD player, the internet...
You're being daft now. I need a 'phone, and a computer for work. Those two things are the requirements for my job.
My 'phone is a 'phone, and does a couple of other things I'm not bothered about. I don't use it much to make calls anyway, mainly to receive. My £10 top up lasts ages. I have no binding contract.
Your evangelising is fascinating. Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself, more than you are me.
If you're happy with it, fine. But enough of the preaching; it's a toy, and you know it.
How many are genuinely useful?
I rest my case... 😀
My life revolves regardless. Having a mobile internet device in it just makes it easier to manage.
How on Earth did you cope, before the iphone came into your life?? 🙄
Yep, I'll happily defend myself to anyone who brands me a gullible fashion victim for choosing a "laptop" over a "typewriter". 
I thought we were talking about 'phones? 🙄
You see, none of this bothers me. I have all these things at home.
So do I, but (in common with most smartphone owners I know) I rarely bother firing up the PC or netbook to do any of these things any more.
You talk about screen size; so why would you want to watch stuff on a 3" screen??
Convenience. If you're on a plane then it's much easier to watch a film on a phone than on a 42" plasma.
Why would I want to do this?
Why would you want to take photos, video and sound, but [u]not[/u] want to edit them or show them to other people?
My 'phone is a 'phone, and does a couple of other things I'm not bothered about.
i.e. it is a typewriter. All you need it to do is write letters with no extras. So it suits your needs and you remain convinced that these computer things will never catch on.
Your evangelising is fascinating. Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself, more than you are me.
Interesting because from here your desperate denial and luddism has much the same sound.
How on Earth did you cope, before the iphone came into your life??
That's just like asking how people coped before mobile phones really. Quite well, but mobiles changed how they coped when they came along.
charlie brookers views on them
Ironically this link doesn't work on a mobile phone browser... 🙄
Convenience. If you're on a plane then it's much easier to watch a film on a phone than on a 42" plasma.
Oh, because of course there's nothing at all between the size of an iphone and a 42" plasma... 🙄 Anyway, most planes have little screens on the back of the seat in front! 😀
So it suits your needs and you remain convinced that these computer things will never catch on.
Where did I say that? To me, my 'phone is a 'phone, and does a perfectly adequate job. I don't need it to do anything else. I'm not so tied to my work, that I 'need' to have me emails etc instantly available. If I did need to check something, I can on my current 'phone. I've never needed to.
Interesting because from here your desperate denial and luddism has much the same sound.
Now here's the thing. I have actually owned an iphone. bought it off a mate. Had it a couple of weeks, didn't see the point in keeping it, sold it for what I paid for it. since then, I've not had a single moment when I thought 'oh, I wish I still had an iphone'. As for 'Luddism'; how's that, just because I don't want an iphone?
They're fun, clever little devices. I can appreciate their appeal. Not something that adds anything to my life, so no point in wasting money on one. Simples.
So, to repeat my earlier question; how would you survive without your iphone? Would life still carry on, or would the mouth of Hell open up beneath you? Do you really need an iphone to organise your life? 🙄
Rio - Membercharlie brookers views on them
Ironically this link doesn't work on a mobile phone browser...
Must have taken some figuring out, impressive if deliberate
After buying an iPod touch idealise that the iPhone is probably quite good but too expensive when I have a good gsm phone and a good cheap contract including broadband
A little while ago I had a car accident. I was left a bit shaken up with a car that I suspected might be damaged. When I pulled myself together I used my iPhone to find the address of the garage, and the GPS to locate it and guide me round the backstreets to it. Stress released 🙂
Just one example where having a capable mobile internet device made a difference, where an old fashioned mobile phone would not have helped.
Anyway, most planes have little screens on the back of the seat in front!
ironically enough I'm currently stranded at Edinburgh Airport waiting for a flight to London that has been delayed two hours (frickin easyjet!!) Which has given me plenty of time to surf, answer emails and catch up on my podcasts.
So, to repeat my earlier question; how would you survive without your iphone? Would life still carry on, or would the mouth of Hell open up beneath you? Do you really need an iphone to organise your life?
no, obviously not, but it helps a great deal. Emails/web on the go and GPS both make life easier. Instant access to mine and my wife's calendars and to-do lists makes organising work and home lfe much easier, and has completely ended the "I told you my parents were coming that weekend"-type arguments.
Was your job literally impossible before PCs or mobile phones were invented?
Last Friday I was on a business trip in Aberdeen. I needed to travel back to Amsterdam via Copenhagen on 2 separate flights (are you following ? 🙂 ) I had a 45 minute connection in Copenhagen, and no access to a computer except my iPhone. I checked in by internet, and received a boarding pass via a web page. I caught the connection with minutes to spare. If I'd had to check in the conventional way I'd have missed the flight.
(BTW - I don't remember travelling on a plane with a video screen other than in business class. No doubt they exist, but not on the KLM and SAS flights I have taken)
Most long hauls have personal video screens these days, but few domestic or short haul budget. Though the last one I got (Air Canada) also had USB ports to keep your phone charged 🙂
I'm too old and soft to fly long-haul in Economy 🙁
LOL, I'm too poor to fly anything but!
Maybe if I gave up this expensive phone... 😉
Charlie Brooker actually has one, but he realises that to do his "thinking man's slightly left of centre Jeremy Clarkson", he needs to take the piss out of anything popular. We all fall for it...
Oh dear...
Certain people think these gadgets enhance themselves and make them better people with more status and kudos. That's bollucks of course, for them I really want Charlie Brookers app to be real, and mandatory..
"1. An app that makes the iPhone scream 'I'VE GOT AN IPHONE!' each time the user pulls it out of their pocket. Once activated, it would be impossible to switch off. The only way to stop the constant embarrassment would be to repeatedly crack the device against a wall, or preferably your own face, until it shattered."
These things will be totally commonplace and old soon enough. get over it!
The iphone is 'limited' in that it lacks a few fundamental features that could make it really useful, such as effective Bluetooth capability with data transfer, the ability to use it as a portable storage device, optical connection, storage expansion via SD card or similar, and a front mounted camera.
I have never needed Bluetooth to transfer any kind of data; anyone wants something that's on my phone I'll email it.
Mass storage device; well, I could use my phone, I've got Airshare, so copying via wifi is what I'd normally do, however, there's a neat little jobbie that plugs into the dock that will take an SDHC card up to 32Gb should I want to remove data or copy data when away from my computer.
FM radio; who the **** wants a shitty FM radio on a phone? They don't work away from a large urban area, hell, my local FM transmitter barely reaches three miles out of town in the car, and wouldn't give a signal on my old Nokia at the back of my house when I can see the transmitter from my bedroom. Idiots keep bleating about iPhones needing FM Radio, but why? What's there you could possibly want to listen to? I can listen to any BBC or independent station from any part of the UK, I listen to KROQ in LA, CBC Radio 3 in Canada...
I've even listened to a radio station from the Faro Islands. Try doing that on your crappy FM radio.
When Viewranger becomes available for the iPhone then not only will you have OS mapping available but mapping for lots of European countries, plus you can get Geo Survey maps for the whole USA for free, all installed on the phone so data roaming isn't needed. FWIW, I use Memory Map Free on my phone, so I've got the whole UK to 1:1million and 1:250k, and a big chunk of 1:25k from Marlborough to near Bristol plus the Forest Of Dean, for less than £20 so far. I love
OTA (over the air) map downloads. Then there's all my ebooks for when I can't be arsed to browse the net, or listen to some of the 1100+ songs on here, or listen to Canadian indie rock or whatever.
Yeah, I guess the iPhone is a ‘toy’, in some people's opinion; probably about the same as my 17?laptop is
seeing as how the phone gets used several dozen times a day, compared to the laptop sitting under the TV for weeks at a time. Whatever. If all you want a phone for is to play dumb games, then I guess an iPhone is a toy. However
mine happily replaces most things I use a laptop for, so I tend to think of it as a useful day-to-day pocket computer with always on Internet capability.
I remember when I was a kid and owning a commodore 64 would be the shittest hottest thing ever and I could play all the coolest games with 16 colours and it had that sid chip that sounded amaaaazing and a proper keyboard. I'd get all the bestest games, and it was better than my spectrum and my Texas instruments ti44a before that, and my atari VCS before that. I really needed it. I finally got one. Then everyone else got an amiga or an atari st. Then I really needed one of them, so I sold mt GT freestyler to get one.
I was 13. I hope I don't think like that anymore!
Lol, yes indeedy Kevevs.
I've got a crap phone. Having said that, I can get tinternet and fillums on it tho for the day when my brain finally becomes [i]totally empty[/i]. I take it on long journeys too just in case my eyes stop working, the book i've taken spontaneously combusts or both.
I must admit that the thought of 00s of freeware apps hasn't got my pulse racing so i'll pass on an iphone for now, eh.
FM radio; who the **** wants a shitty FM radio on a phone? They don't work away from a large urban area, hell, my local FM transmitter barely reaches three miles out of town in the car, and wouldn't give a signal on my old Nokia at the back of my house when I can see the transmitter from my bedroom. Idiots keep bleating about iPhones needing FM Radio, but why? What's there you could possibly want to listen to?
You sound almost angry. Calm down dear!
Internet radio requires internet data plan with contract. I don't want a contract, as I'm not beholden to my 'phone so much I am willing to waste money on one. If you're someone who uses a 'phone a lot, then fair enough. My crappy little FM radio 'phone is fine for me. It receives Radio 3! 😀
Personally, I'm not bothered at having an amazing life-changing mobile device with me at all times. I can chat to friends, admire the view, read a book/paper/magazine, do stuff that people did before the iphone revolutionised life.
As for gadget willy waving; I have a media centre computer that has a nice big screen, loads of hard drive space, can play Megabastard 4 type computer games, etc etc. TBH, I don't spend that much time in front of it.
I spent a couple of days playing with my iphone,then got bored with it. 'Oh look, I can send someone an email whilst sitting on the bus!'. Wow. How incredibly amazing.
I was 13. I hope I don't think like that anymore!
😆
Personally, I'm not bothered at having an amazing life-changing mobile device with me at all times. I can chat to friends, admire the view, read a book/paper/magazine, do stuff that people did before the iphone revolutionised life.
And yet, here you are, typing away on an internet forum...
So to summarise your position Talkemada:
- you don't want an iPhone because it lacks an optical audio connection and front facing camera, which are fundamental requirements that it is "maimed" without.
- You only need a phone to make phone calls.
- yours has an FM radio.
- no one could possibly find having access to computery stuff on a smartphone truly useful for business.
- your computer and phone are essential requirements for your job.
Yep. All very coherent. 🙄
I used to get stuff done during the day before my phone made it easy to browse and interact on STW. Time to ditch it. It's far too useful.
I expected this to get half a dozen replies!!!
OK - much of it heated debate about the pros and cons about iphone ownership, but all useful.
So for the users - can I plug any USB card reader into the phone to transfer files (assuming a standard to micro USB adapter?
No, I don't think so.
Iphone...? who...?
I saw a feller drop one onto a concrete pavement recently. I thought he was gong to cry.I've done that several times with mine, without any protective cover, and it's perfectly fine.
I've thrown mine very hard against a tiled wall, taken it in my shorts pocket on every MTB ride I've done, dropped it countless times on every kind of surface. Never had a case, use it very very often and it still works fine 20 months later (I got the 3G when it came out). I reckon thats pretty durable, don't you?
The problem is with iPhones is that you need to spend some time (say the first 3-4 weeks) using it regularly and finding out what it can do. There are loads of little things you can add on which make things a bit easier or quicker. Ok you can do without them but why not try it?
If you get an iPhone and just use it as a phone then you are going to be a bit dissapponted. Because it's going to be the same as a £5 Tesco PAYG jobby. As all phones will be...
If you're happy with your phone then that's ok, an iPhone does require a decent contract or PAYG with unlimited data but that's the same as most smartphones nowadays anyway (In 20 months I have downloaded 6.5gigs worth of data!!!).
Internet radio requires internet data plan with contract. I don't want a contract, as I'm not beholden to my 'phone so much I am willing to waste money on one.
Ahhhh. You can get PAYG plans with unlimited data now you know!
rkk01 - nope.
The usb connection is for plugging the phone into things, not plugging things into the phone.
So to summarise your position Talkemada:
I'll do it for you:
I had an iphone, I found it lacked certain features I wanted (USB data storage, Bluetooth file transfer, expandable/swappable storage). I didn't really find any of the 'apps' all that useful (I have a tiny spirit level on my keyring). I bought a bolt-on to use the internets. I found I simply didn't use it when out, and it was too flaky to do anything like radio or video streaming when moving about. I figured a contract with internet data was a lot more than I spend currently, for something that I wouldn't really use. So, an iphone wasn't for me.
My current cheapo 'phone does the things I want it to. It's not flash, and if I lose it/smash it, it's not the end of the world. It's got a bloody good battery though.
I think the technology of the iphone is fantastic. The touch-screen feature is a joy to use (I did find the 'keyboard' a bit fiddly though). There's features in an iphone that could be utilised to enable people with physical disabilities to use computers more easily. I'd love to see this exploited. The overall idea of a 'multi-thing™' really does seem to have arrived.
See, I've got no problem with the iphone, just the evangelising that seems to go with ownership. If some of you were to read back what you've written; you've warbled on about a 'phone, ffs. How do you think people would take it, if you waxed lyrical about a car, or a bike, or a toaster? Think about it.
The iphone satisfies the geek in many of us. That's not a bad thing. But some of you really do sound like teenage boys, as Kevevs has shown us so eloquently.
If your happy with your iphone, fine. But you don't hear people with other, just as good smart phones wittering on about them anywhere near as much, do you?
I'll reiterate; for [i]most[/i] people, the iphone is little more than a fashion accessory. If you're one of those special people who don't fit into this category, then good luck to you. Don't expect the rest of us to have 'seen the light'.
(Sent from my electric kettle, via UHF radio waves)
