A Bit Eclectic

iPhone 4 - Initial Thoughts

A List in No Meaningful Order

Here are some of my initial impressions after ten hours with the device.

• The display is stunning. It’s a shame that a lot of third party apps aren’t updated to take advantage of it. Icons that haven’t been updated really stick out.
• The camera takes great photos. I see little reason to cary a point and shoot. I have my dSLR when I need heavy lifting and the iPhone can take care of everything else.
• The Flip cameras are approaching the end of their existence. An iPod Touch with the same camera will be the final nail in the coffin.
• For me, 32 GB is not enough space. I’ve been spoiled by the 64 GB in my iPad.
• This sucker is dense and sturdy. It feels like a high end gadget. My 3GS feels cheap in comparison.
• Every piece of hardware on this phone feels improved, ll the switches, camera, and general construction. The glass feels great.
• It is speedy, faster than my 3GS.
• The LED flash is crap and I’m kind of disappointed that Apple added it.
• I have not had any of the reception issues that have been reported around the web. I’ve tried to reproduce the results on three different phones.
• Calls sound clearer and reception has been great.
• Although only two games take advantage of it so far, the gyroscope was a great addition.
• Overall I just love this phone

FaceTime

How can I talk about the iPhone without mentioning FaceTime. I used FaceTime on four different calls under different wifi conditions and all worked great. We even tried a FaceTime call at the Apple Store on their crowded and sometimes spotty wifi. I haven’t seen any glaring issues and the technology feels really polished. It really is a different experience to see things during a call. It even feels different than video chatting with a webcam.

With FaceTime, you can go with the person and explore their environment. You have freedom of mobility to interact with the world they are in. One of my calls was with my brother at my parents house. He showed me his new navigation system and I had a chance to say hello to the dogs. It can’t be put into words. On another call I got to see a friend that I haven’t hung out with in way too long. During a third call, my girlfriend FaceTimed me from work so I could show her coworkers around our condo.

Although I didn’t have any connection issues or experience lagging video, I can understand why this is only WiFi for now. This must consume a large amount of data and could easily overload AT&T’s feeble network. I look forward to FaceTime calls over 3G so we can have these experiences no matter where we are.

The biggest force that will push this forward would be Android adoption. If Android phones implemented this it would signal that this is too big to let OS wars get in the way. This feels like the future of communicating.

The Line

I reserved two iPhones for launch day. We arrived at 6:30 a.m. to the Deer Park, IL Apple Store. We were through the entire setup and out the door by 9:20 a.m. I personally love the experience of standing in line for an Apple product launch, as long as it isn’t too long (we waited in the iPhone 3G line for about 9 hours). You get to bond with the strangers around you who are all there for the same reason and you walk out with a shiny new gadget. I have a bad feeling that the iPhone launches will only get worse in the future and in a year or two I might have to stop going.

Overall Apple has done a great job with the phone and the entire experience.