Apple unloaded a truckload or two of new reasons to call yourself an iPhone owner today, but we're curious if those announcements were enough to make any fencesitters sashay on down to their local Apple / AT&T store and take the plunge. So, did the news flowing today from Apple's
SDK press conference push you over the edge? Toss your vote in below, and if you're still holding off -- well, tell us what's keepin' ya (yes, the continued lack of 3G is a legitimate gripe).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
itchy @ Mar 6th 2008 6:33PM
Not buying it because I don't want one.
nerdtalker @ Mar 6th 2008 6:55PM
No 3G data, no "official" carriers other than AT&T (who has the death star for a logo for crying out loud), software keyboard?
No deal.
3G data and AT&T are what hold me back. Using safari on the iPhone is what mobile web should be like, there's nothing "mobile" about it. But tossing it onto 2.5G (if that) EDGE is a class-a /facepalm.
James Cameron @ Mar 6th 2008 7:04PM
Meizu forever. Just to piss off iphone people.
Shane Lloyd @ Mar 6th 2008 7:06PM
@ nerdtalker
AT&T has a 5 year exclusive contract with Apple. The iPhone will be on no other carrier in the U.S. until at least 2012 - so, I guess you are out of luck. The rest of us iPhone users will go on our way without you, sad to say.
Homeboy @ Mar 6th 2008 7:06PM
That makes it two of us. Right now I only want one phone and that's the Sony Ericsson XPERIA.
Bob @ Mar 6th 2008 7:35PM
blackberry ftw!
Rob Conway @ Mar 6th 2008 7:48PM
i don't mind the 2.5, i've used a friend's and it works well. actually much better on the iphone than on my blackberry pearl, but i just don't have the dough to drop on an unlocked one. i could afford it if i tried, but i traded my old PowerMac G4 for the Pearl and for some reason i can't get opera mini to work correctly on it. oh wait, i'm way off my point here aren't I? someone steal one and sell it to me real cheap.
finnith @ Mar 6th 2008 9:28PM
I might if the game support takes off nicely. This, of course, requires Rogers (who else can it be) to pick up the iPhone.
And that isn't going to happen.
John @ Mar 6th 2008 10:21PM
I have a question: If the SDK is available now, and you can test on your iPhone, what's stopping people from just packaging source code in ZIP files, uploading them to websites, and letting other people download, compile, and transfer them to their iPhones?
Granted, everyone would need the iPhone SDK for this to work, but it's a free download!
James @ Mar 6th 2008 10:37PM
Not available in Canada, nuff' said
Josh @ Mar 6th 2008 11:07PM
@nerdtalker
Safari's not a full browser until it supports flash.
Darren @ Mar 7th 2008 1:45AM
Well, there's never been a shortage of Apple haters.
Seth @ May 9th 2008 10:50PM
I am actually really glad that the iPhone doesnt have 3G, because otherwise I would be living with it unhappily as a phone now.
I am much happier with my 3g Blackberry and iPod Touch solution then I would be with a 3G iPhone with no qwerty.
Sam Winter @ Mar 7th 2008 4:14AM
@Shane
You do NOT know that. It has not been confirmed how long the iPhone exclusivity agreement lasts. and IIRC, the 5 year rumor was for USA-GSM only and the total exclusivity is only 2 years, meaning a CDMA Verizon/sprint iPhone could show up in the next 14-18 months
Cassori @ Mar 7th 2008 9:56AM
I'm with James, its not available in Canada.
Jeff @ Mar 7th 2008 12:57PM
@ John
"If the SDK is available now, and you can test on your iPhone, what's stopping people from just packaging source code in ZIP files "
The free version of the SDK only supports running/debugging apps in the software emulator. To transfer it/debug it on your actual phone, you need to be a member of their dev community, which costs a minimum of $99/year.
Still, if it's worth $99/year to you, I suspect you could do exactly as you propose.
ce @ Mar 7th 2008 10:48PM
I'll buy an iPhone under one condition:
if Steve Jobs does Ballmer's monkey dance :P
Andrew @ Mar 9th 2008 4:58AM
If a corporation tells me something is cool and tells me to buy new new version every 6 months or I wont be , I laugh at them. So do most normal people. So why is it that there are a following of people with shiny white bricks with a lowercase "i" on them???
Sorry, but, as with most "cool" things, this crapple is also crippled. Yes, its a crippled crapple. No 3g, no 3rd party programs (when I can DL the SDK and whip up a program and sell it to the millions of sheeple who own one by simply taking their money and giving them an overpriced hunk of worthless code, I will consider that one moot), etc.
Low rank me if you will, but for the love of god, break free from the herd sheeple, break free...
Alijah @ Mar 6th 2008 6:34PM
Don't desire to own an iPhone.
I'm content with my Voyager.
Scott @ Mar 6th 2008 10:37PM
Enjoy your BREW!
Eric Kelly @ Mar 6th 2008 10:38PM
It's funny you should mention the Voyager. Since I'm stick with Verizon for the time being, I just got one and I happen to find it to be a let down. Verizon played it up as some huge competitor to the iPhone, when all it is is another piece of cheap LG garbage with a semi-functional touch interface. It's an average phone packaged with a pretty touch screen. It succeeded the enV for crying out loud.. any phone with the enV as it's base is already on the way to being lame. It has no built in storage, and is only capable of as much storage as the largest microSD you can find... scrolling is nowhere near as smooth and seamless as it is on the iPhone, and doesn't offer a fraction of the capability of an iPhone. Yes, it does have the full HTML browser, which I can never get to work correctly. (sending me to websites I did not tell it to) and the battery life is inexcusable. I just charged it to full last night and it's sitting DEAD in my pocket.
SO in conclusion. If you want a Voyager... I'll trade you mine for an iPhone.
Kris S. @ Mar 6th 2008 6:34PM
Where's the just plain "no" option?
Dave @ Mar 6th 2008 6:37PM
yes I like how 4 of the five options deal with either already owning an iPhone or planning to buy one in the future...I mean cmon Engadget...truly pathetic.
Bob @ Mar 6th 2008 6:38PM
Wouldn't be Engadget if there was one, now would it?
Rafer @ Mar 6th 2008 6:39PM
Wheres the waiting for android option.
dj-kenpo @ Mar 6th 2008 6:40PM
theonly no option leaves you in support of meizu.
which is basically saying "I'm an idiot".
geez c'mon guys, you really ARE getting fuckign annoying at this point.
was the news awesome? no. sdk now, but not really. kinda sort, 2 months from now. as an ipod touch owner this news just annoyed me. it doesn't qualify as "OH MY GAWDZ" in any way.
Ruben @ Mar 6th 2008 6:40PM
The only option that indicates no also indicates that you are "cheap" and "unethical" as you are picking an option that has gone down on the net as a blatant copy.
Heres an equivalent survey:
Have you murdered a kitten for fun?
a) Yes
b) No, but i masturbate to their dead bodies.
Way to go E.
Kris S. @ Mar 6th 2008 6:47PM
They listened.
athousandleaves @ Mar 6th 2008 6:50PM
Wheres the Gphone option!?
ryan @ Mar 6th 2008 7:04PM
where's the "I'm waiting on the X1" option?
Mtirv @ Mar 6th 2008 7:14PM
Where's the "If VZW didn't have an early termination fee" option?
madwh @ Mar 6th 2008 7:34PM
"Heres an equivalent survey:
Have you murdered a kitten for fun?
a) Yes
b) No, but i masturbate to their dead bodies."
rofl I can see their faces not knowing what to choose http://www.primaryteaching.co.uk/acatalog/US2b.gif
Student Driver @ Mar 6th 2008 10:32PM
@Ruben,
Nicely done. Too many stupid-ass poll "options" that are redundant, stupid, worthless, and don't even negate the primary option/question in most cases. However, I vote for your poll as it looks like it belongs here.
Rik @ Mar 7th 2008 3:07AM
And where is the "I got an N95 instead" option?
Jeff @ Mar 7th 2008 1:27PM
where's the "No, because i like Sprint, but i WILL buy an iPod Touch in June!" option?!?
how thoughtless of engadget not to cater to my exact answer.
(though not including a plain old "no" at first was pretty lame.)
Tor Slettnes @ Mar 7th 2008 7:55PM
I clicked on "Not until they add 3/3.5/4G, real Bluetooth support, internet connection tethering, J2ME or any open 3rd party application platform, better camera with video recording, GPS, SyncML, SDHC and SIM unlock" option.
Funny, I didn't see my vote register though...
Das @ Mar 6th 2008 6:35PM
Too bad overhyped and not appealing enough for the price isn't an option.
Zak @ Mar 6th 2008 7:30PM
That's because this isn't a poll about the 8 GB N95.
Chris @ Mar 6th 2008 6:34PM
I like apples, but I like pears better.
hoshq @ Mar 6th 2008 6:35PM
Give us an iPhone that works in Canada and I'll think about buying one.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoshq/
o rly @ Mar 6th 2008 7:46PM
Unlock one and it works fine with Rogers or Fido.
Bullitt @ Mar 6th 2008 8:07PM
Hear Hear! I'd get an iphone in a heartbeat but I live in Toronto :(
MARSHAK @ Mar 6th 2008 8:43PM
ur an asshole for posting ur flickr, but hes right. I'd buy one if it would work native with fido or rogers.
Ruben @ Mar 6th 2008 6:35PM
Meh. All they have done is present things that others have already done, in a way that seems like they are the only ones to have done it.
Zak @ Mar 6th 2008 7:29PM
See, this is what I don't get. Where did Apple say they were the first ones to do this? This generic complaint about Apple is so prevalent, yet nobody can ever back it up. If you're going to hate on Apple, hate on them for something they actually did or said, not something you made up.
Ruben @ Mar 6th 2008 7:39PM
Apple never said they did, nor did i say they did. But they did market it well, and from reading some of the comments during the keynote, some commenters left a wet spot in their pants with this precedented announcement.
Zak @ Mar 6th 2008 7:44PM
"in a way that seems like they are the only ones to have done it."
What way is that, exactly? Tell me something, is there anything Apple could ever say that you wouldn't interpret as arrogance? All they did was tell us what the new stuff is and how it will work. Exactly what part of that was Apple insinuating they were the only ones to have done it? Here's a hint - it's all in your head.
John @ Mar 6th 2008 7:54PM
Amen brother
Chris C. @ Mar 6th 2008 8:08PM
@Ruben: So... let me get this straight.
You've got a problem with the apple fanboys, but instead of slagging crap on the fanboys, you slag crap on Apple.
Uhuh... yeah, that's logical :)
Ruben @ Mar 6th 2008 8:13PM
No, i have a problem with Apple too. I dont want to annoy people with why i hate apple, which would take up a large amount of space, and i used to own apple products.
My logic is perfectly sound.