A friend of mine has been trying desperately to get the new iPhone 3g, but unfortunately either the stock is out or the lines are three hours long. This was expected, however he said something to me that sparked my interest and decided I had to write about it. He said his brother, who already owns a 1st generation iPhone, is upgrading to the 3g, and selling the old one. Despite having this knowledge, he still plans to go out and buy the 3g, which is his decision, however I have to disagree with it. Ignoring others' reviews, I set out to hold the new phone for myself and draw my own opinion on it to see if his decision is the right one.
Well, opposite of what some reviews say, I do not like the new phone's design nearly as much as the last one. To start, it's an all plastic backing, which is being marketed as a more durable casing then the 1st generation phone. Well, I'm not too sure about that, considering the older phone has an aluminum backing, which has a greater chance of denting, but certainly is not any weaker than plastic. I've dropped my own phone several times, and I've barely seen a scratch. But there were two things on the design that really turned me off. Firstly, the new plastic backing loves to stick to moisture [a.k.a. hand sweat]. I was able to turn the phone completely vertical, and it was still sticking to my hand. Now I may be the minority, but this is not comfortable to me. Secondly, and most imporantly, the phone's backing is now curved, instead of flat. When I put it on my desk, and tried to use it without holding it in my hand, it would rock back and forth, making desk usage very inconvenient. So it forces you to hold it in your hand to use it, and then it sticks there, it's like Apple doesn't want you to let this thing go.
Sure, the 3g iphone is faster, and for some people, that is the real draw. The advertised 3x speed increase over the Edge network would be nice, but it costs an extra $10 a month. I cannot blame people for buying it for this reason, especially if you need (or like to) surf the web everywhere you go. But for basic e-mail and search purposes, edge works out great, and it uses less battery life. One point that I cannot dispute is the new headphone jack. The jack on the 1st generation iPhone was recessed into the case, either forcing you to buy a special pair of phones or modify your old ones. But the 3g's is a normal jack, making listening to music much more convenient. Besides this, the 3g iPhone is nearly identical to its younger brother, except for the new (in my opinion flawed) design.
The advice I gave to my friend was to buy the old one off of his brother, but he chose to ignore me and is quite pleased with his new phone. Hope he enjoys the new bill too.
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1 comment:
you know what michael? it's sad enough that i read your blog. and what's sadder is that i sit here in my cubicle all day, working on word-of-mouth marketing and puzzling over twitter and hoping, just hoping, that a little bit of sarcastic sparkle will be brought into my life with a new post from the usual etc.
no sparkle.
write me a post about what kind of ipod-in-the-car player i should get.
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