Editorial: Taking the iPhone 3GS off the job market

The other day, whilst sitting in the waiting room of a doctor's office, awaiting the inevitable bad news to come down the pipeline (you're dead, you're dying, no that rash can't be treated), I attempted to do something daring with my iPhone 3GS. I attempted to work. I say attempted, because what dawned on me -- separated from my laptop, a netbook, or any viable computing system -- was that I couldn't really get much of my work done on Apple's bundle of joy. It wasn't the first time I tried to get work done on my phone, but it was one of the first times that I really thought about how frustrating the experience is. What follows is my heartbreaking tale of staggering lameness. Or staggering tale of heartbreaking lameness. Your pick.
Before I even got to the "work" part of my experience, I realized I had serious problems. AT&T's service is never anything to write home about in New York City (in fact, it's usually embarrassingly bad), but I found that my 3G connection seemed especially weak in this Manhattan doctor's den. Oh, I had five bars all right, but trying to load just the iPhone-formatted version of Engadget tested my will to live. After nurses denied my requests for assisted suicide, I resigned myself to dealing with the network issues. Honestly, a lot of what I do during the day (namely, hanging out in a chat room and commanding the team to help me pick the perfect pizza toppings) doesn't require the highest-test connection -- though I certainly put pedal to floor at times.

So, stoically accepting the fate of thin 3G, I set about firing up the apps I would need to actually tend to Engadget. First up, I required an IRC session. That's no problem, because the App Store is filled with useful tools for chatting with good buddies. I prefer Mobile Colloquy, so away I went, happily bounding into the Engadget chat room to direct the editors and get the latest gossip about Gyllenspoon. Of course, it took an exorbitant amount of time to actually connect, but once I did it's a reasonable experience... save for one big issue. The iPhone keyboard truly sucks if you're trying to type words it might not be familiar with. You know, like tech terminology which isn't exactly part of its native dictionary. Additionally, typing quickly during a conversation with lots of people is severely hampered by the inaccuracy of the on-screen keyboard.

I would have left it at that, but my work requires that I use a bunch of web tools, look at lots of news sites, and have a feed reader open... basically, things that would require some level of multitasking. Imagine the frustration of having to constantly break the connection in chat to go look at a site or work on a post. It's frustrating, let me tell you. The idea of jumping into and out of applications -- of having to actually quit an app to move to another one -- is

"We don't work like this on our computers -- why does Apple think we want to work like this on our phones?"

an incredibly outmoded and foreign idea in 2009. Additionally, the email experience on the iPhone is brutal -- and to get anything done in a day as Editor-in-chief of Engadget, you need your mail. As a Gmail user, the way the native iPhone mail application handles messages is counterintuitive at best. Google presents a lovely browser-based solution for email, but it is markedly hampered by the browser environment itself. It's slow and inaccurate to navigate, though obviously better if you need to bounce between an open page and your mail. Funnily, the Safari experience provides better multitasking than the phone itself. Adding insult to multiple injuries, the system of notification for SMS, calendar events, or even push IM messages (which still gives you limited options) is intrusive, productivity-stalling, and frankly upsetting. It doesn't aid productivity if you're constantly being hammered with pop-ups.

The whole, painful experience set me thinking. Is this really what Apple wants me to be doing with my phone anyhow? The company has added lots of features -- like decent Exchange support -- so that its phone will appeal to enterprise and business users, but can these users really get what they need out of the device? Basic functionality, like calling people, email, and certainly document editing still feel inelegant and clunky due to the onscreen keyboard, and the lack of multitasking makes moving around through those typically important tasks difficult to say the least. The experience on an Android device, S60, the Pre, a BlackBerry, or even Windows Mobile just makes more sense. Let me say that again: those experiences make more sense. Now I'm not saying the execution of those experiences is better across platforms, but the philosophy of letting users multitask is more natural to us. The iPhone doesn't even have a method for switching between recently used or favorite applications.

We don't work like this on our computers -- why does Apple think we want to work like this on our phones?

Well that's the thing -- maybe they don't really care about how we work. Maybe they don't want us to work at all. If you take a look at the App Store, it's fairly obvious where the cash is going -- and it's not to productivity or enterprise apps. Where is it going? To Doom Resurrection, frankly (sorry, not for me -- I hate games on rails). At the end of the day, it's nice to stick the "we love business users" line into your PR, but it's quite another thing to make it real.

Keep this in mind: I'm not a Wall Street lifer -- I'm a guy in new media who needs to get things done. I should be part of Apple's target market.

So, what's the fix here? Well for Apple, the solution is simple -- the virtual keyboard problem is annoying, but not a deal breaker necessarily. The lack of multitasking is. The fact that Apple won't let end users decide to run down their battery with these dangerous, experience-ruining background tasks is galling, but the fact that the company doesn't seem to recognize how important the concept is is even worse. Giving users the option to select even a few apps to juggle would alleviate this problem instantly, but you've still got the hurdle of notifications which are difficult to manage, and an email platform which feels woefully behind the curve. Until the company finds some new paths to beat in those departments, the iPhone -- for all its apps and all its uses -- still doesn't hit the sweetspot for a lot of users who need to work.

For me? Providing this heart holds up the way doctors say it will, I'll be keeping a keen eye on Android developments. But seriously guys... put a keyboard on those things.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 3:10PM]

Get used to the closed ecosystem that is Apple where you even get your dictator in Steve Jobs! Things will only always work the way Steve wants them too. And NO, the kids cannot come out to play. Jobs wants the world to run on Apple and only on Apple and then only the way Apple says it's OK to operate.

People, this is not the way things to be, can't we all just get along? :)

Sean Brown (@tialoc)

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 17th 2009 1:35AM]

Um.

I think you're missing one important fact.

IT'S A PHONE.

The fact that it can do anything at all besides make calls and send the occasional text should be quite enough, I would think. If you need to work, break out your Macbook, for god's sake.

[JayXL14 Posted Jul 19th 2009 12:17AM]

iPhone 3GS rocks

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 19th 2009 2:13PM]

I am able to remain connnected in exactly the way and level I want to with my iPhone. I just don't understand this extensive trash talking about a mobile device that was primarily intended for the consumer market. Yes, Apple hopes for the iPhone to compete with the Blackberries and the like in the long term and are taking small steps in that direction. I use my iPhone to check the weather report and read my work email. That's it...I READ it...I may respond, but I can usually get to a computer to respond by typing on a real keyboard. I've NEVER had a mobile device that makes reading email as easy as the iPhone has. Who can deny it?

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 20th 2009 9:47AM]

this is hysterical to me, some one who has owned all 3 iPhones, and have speed tested with all the said "competitors", including pre's, androids and such, and Ive never lost im always the first one loaded, even more funny is the the test page we use...Engadget.com.

even better just last week i was out of town and yet i managed to keep up my ebay buisnessing all strictly threw my phone...

so i do indeed find this article quite amusing.

[ex242 Posted Jul 20th 2009 3:56PM]

Finally, someone has come out and said it! For all it's glory, the iPhone on Gen3 is still a toy. A cool toy; a thin toy; a flashy toy...like all toys should be. But, still a fashion phone. Ok, so that being said, what ever happened to CE, Windows Mobile...it used to own the market. It was flawed but highly useful. Isn't the iPhone a reflection of MS's inability to finish the job? They always get close, and then just totally screw the pooch. And so, here we are left without a complete, solid, efficient, useful SmartPhone...again! And then Palm goes and starts the cycle all over again! Here's to HTC slowly but steadily perfecting their hardware for use with OSs that can mean something.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 20th 2009 3:58PM]

Very interesting, nice story

ToddDiroberto
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[(Unverified) Posted Jul 24th 2009 4:53PM]

Seriously? We're still talking about this?

[ounkeo Posted Jul 25th 2009 11:33AM]

1. The iPhone is not a business device. It is a media consumption device aimed at a very specific target market. It has certain tools to handle business to a certain degree but it was never designed or intended to be a business device. At least in my mind it wasn't designed to be. Lack of buttons/keys, 2handed optimal usage, controlled/closed OS environment, missing basic functionality etc etc. These are clear signs of a device made specifically for standard consumers. Added business functionality was simply nothing more than a bone and a half-hearted attempt to possible expand a bit more.

2. The business experience is phenominally better on devices designed to do such. There is an errounous belief that you need to carry around a laptop to do work. You do not need to. A proper business device will do almost everything a desktop will and is more mobile and reachable than any laptop or netbook type device.

When on the move, the most important functions are always, SMS, Email, Document view and limited editing (at least), browsing, limited media. Most phones can do some or all of these somewhat ok, but only the business phones will do them at a level which is usable. Look at a Nokia E90. It's the best selling mobile business communicator out there and can replace your PC entirely for business related tasks with people forking over 5k just to get their hands on one. Which is to say E90, E71 and its related competitors in the same class are enterprise level devices. They can and do completely replace desktops and laptops when out of the office and they do it very conveniently and comfortably. You do NOT need a laptop for serious work unless you are production level staff, and even then, a desktop is a better and cheaper option.

3. My E90 and E71 have internal memory of 128 MB. Might seem miniscule but the OS, as lambasted as it is from the NA press and NA users, allows FULL on multitasking. Media player in background, IM on, facebook app on, full browser on, Word document on, PDF reader on etc etc and you just press & hold 1 button and select the open app you want to display. For all intents and purposes for real world use, you have "unlimited" multitasking apps in the background. It is a small thing that makes a huge impact when you are interested in productivity.

So in the end, it's not surprising the author is havign a hard time actually trying for productivity (even basic productivity) as the device was not ever meant to be such. It's a consumer level media device that has telephony functionality and it's potential ends there. The device will scale less than similar offerings on the market. Fair article.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 10th 2009 7:14AM]

Please can anyone tell me if the Iphone 3GS can automatically sync up with IMAP and Exchange sub-folders without the need to manually click into each sub-folder to sync them (which was the case with the older 3G and not practical)? I know it will tell you if you have a new email in the top level inbox but I would want to know which sub-folder that new email was present in so I can go right to that email. If I have up to 50 email sub-folders it would become impractical having to click into each one to see where the new email was.

My main requirement for my work is email so the multitasking issue is not a problem for me - although I am surprised they do not offer this "basic" functionality.

Thank you very much for any help to answer my question.

[soccersgreat Posted Sep 23rd 2009 5:54PM]

yes, android is much better for multitasking and etc.