Still Eyeing the iPhone

I’m still considering the options, but while I wait and cogitate, the performance on my Treo 680 continues to degrade. It suffers from inexplicable slow-downs, random reboots, and increasingly poor web browsing. (Seriously Palm, don’t you think it’s about time for a Blazer update? And don’t even get me started on Opera Mini!)

So . . . I’m waiting for details on this mythical next-generation device and OS from Palm. Yawn. Some year perhaps.

I waited for Android to finally roll out. Interesting, but it still needs to prove itself.

BlackBerry Storm? Looks very good, and I’ve never even really liked the looks of BlackBerry devices. However, it’s getting some mixed reviews from users. Some like it as a first smartphone, but others say it’s a step down from a traditional BlackBerry or even an iPhone. Lots of buzz over on Engadget.

And then there’s the iPhone. I’ve played with an iPhone a number of times. I like the device, and over the years Apple has given us some truly brilliant interface designs. I WANT to like the iPhone even more. But human nature compels us to compare the new with the familiar. My Treo, tired and dated though it is, still goes the iPhone one better in a number of areas. I keep wondering – when the iPhone is so superior is so many areas – why does Apple let it fail on some keys points that are of genuine concern/interest to iPhone users and would-be users?

Although I’ve played with an iPhone many times, I don’t use one as my primary device, I don’t sync data on it, and I haven’t had to do any installation or setup with one. I’m drawing my concerns from a number of sources around the Internet, and in trying to make an informed decision, I find myself wondering just what I can live without if I make the iPhone jump.

No Video Recording
What was Apple thinking? Hello! The camera is already on the phone. It is attached to what is perhaps the largest hard drive on any cell phone out there. So why can’t users record video? Surely the processor and hard drive can keep up, so what are the limiting factors? Software? Laziness? Apple?

No multimedia MMS
Again, what were they thinking? Cell phones have been doing this for years. Why would they roll out a device without a feature that is now pretty much standard issue on phones in this class?

No Sync with Outlook Notes
From what I’ve read the iPhone can successfully synchronize Outlook e-mail, contacts, and calendar information, but it cannot sync notes or tasks. While this was excusable when the device rolled out, what’s the hold-up now? Apple is working hard to push this device in enterprise markets. So why – this long after its release – are users still waiting for full integration between the device and a piece of software heavily used in the corporate world? I use notes extensively for everything from project lists to troubleshooting and installation tips. I use my notes regularly, and I like being able to sync them and carry them around on my phone. Since I use them so much, this inability to sync Outlook notes is a major shortcoming for me.

No Built-in Multisync Option
Again, considering the way I work, the fact that there is no native way to sync an iPhone with multiple computers is another major shortcoming. I regularly move between an office desktop, a home desktop, and a laptop. I need to be able to keep data in sync between all of these devices and my handheld. This is actually a pretty easy thing to accomplish with a Palm device. In fact, I’ve been able to sync with multiple computers for years on a variety of Palm handhelds. Apple makes it annoyingly difficult – so difficult in fact, that they want to sell you a $99 subscription to their MobileMe service. Fail. I don’t want my data to live in their cloud, and I suspect many corporate environments wouldn’t want that either. I don’t want a suite of fancy web apps to let me manage my data online. I just want to plug my device into 3 different computers and press a sync button.

So . . . I’m still undecided. The iPhone definitely has a great interface, but do I really want to sacrifice functionality I have now on my old, outdated device?