It’s now been about a month since I went and picked up an iPhone from the O2 store in Cambridge, standing in a queue of no more than 20 punters. It was a far cry from the US launch – there had been no one camping out by the store, the hype in the media was lukewarm and my geek friends rolled their eyes at me for getting my phone from O2.

In the week preceding launch, I had a “Will I, Won’t I” personal debate on whether the iPhone met my needs and, in theory, it ticked all the boxes, so I took the plunge.

One month on, I’m still the only geek for miles ’round who hasn’t jailbroken her iPhone, I’m sure of it. But what’s life with the iPhone, once we get away from the glitzy keynotes and polished promos? Is it really all it was cracked up to be? As it turns out, a number of my assumptions about the big switch from a Nokia S60 phone to the iPhone were wrong.

Assumption #1: EDGE/2G speeds won’t be as bad as people make it out to be

True. Aside from a few exceptions, I’ve never found pages took that long to load, even full-fat web ones.

Also, based on my past month’s travel, The Cloud doesn’t have to worry about me clogging up their network – I’ve yet to find myself in an area where I can use it and have only connected to the home and office wifi networks. So my network diet is mostly 2G, with the occasional spot of EDGE when out and about.

Assumption #2: I won’t miss any of the N95’s features

False. Hate to admit it, but I do miss the video functionality. There have been a couple of priceless moments I wish I could’ve caught on video in the last few weeks, where I had to settle for a few photos that don’t quite tell the same story.

Assumption #3: I’ll get used to the keyboard really quickly

True…ish. Even a month on, sending text messages, taking notes and the occasional blog entry, I still find the keyboard somewhat difficult to use. It takes more visual focus than a classic phone keypad or a physical QWERTY keypad, and since there are no physical grips for the fingers, it’s easy to hit the wrong character repeatedly. When getting bumped around on the train, the phone is likely to guess the word wrong if too many characters are mistyped – It’s a dictionary guessing algorithm, not a mind reader.

Assumption #4: Multiple web browser pages easily accessible will be one of my favourite features

True, true and TRUE! I love having 4-5 pages opened and quickly flicking between Jaiku, Facebook, Google Reader and a news page without having to re-enter the URL via typing or picking a bookmark.

Browsing the web is mindblowing and doesn’t require prior understanding of computer or phone UI. Rarely can one find a device that appeals to a hardened geek like myself, as well as a 4 y/o girl and my father in law who’s in his 60’s.

No Flash plugin is a minor inconvenience, not a big issue. So far, it’s only been a problem with the RAC traffic news service, and considering how much Flash-based sites frustrate me, it’s a wonderful treat to bypass most of those pointless intro pages…

Assumption #5: Only geeks will buy it, but it’ll have knock on effects on the rest of the world who own less flashy devices

Reasonably true. While some people in the O2 store queue were from unlikely demographics, such as mother and daughter who were dropping their £18/month contracts and small Samsung phones for the heftier iPhone contract, the average buyer remains the Mac-toting ubergeek with disposable income I expected to see first in line.

It is less popular in the UK than I had predicted, but with a high profile in the media for the iPhone, the announcement of Google Android and the growing availability of unlimited data tariffs, the interest levels in enjoyable mobile web browsing are increasing.

To hit critical mass, mobiles need to offer a friendlier user experience, more reasonably priced high-end devices and a wider availability across operators.

What has the iPhone achieved? It’s given a nice big boot up the arse to mobile manufacturers, developers and designers across the world, reminding them that what really matters to most mobile users is a frictionless experience where there’s no complicated learning curve.

So there it is. While the iPhone itself is somewhat imperfect, I’m thrilled about what it MEANS for the future. Take away the brand, the gloss and all the hype, you’re left with what is unquestionably the best portable web browser in town and a newfound awareness of mobile browsing for the masses.

Am I still happy with it? To put it quite simply, I don’t think I’d ever be able to go back to any other device now.

[tags]iphone, apple, mobile phone, gadgets, technology, mobile web, mobility, taptu, taptology[/tags]

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 5:19 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.