Technology Review: Even critics give Apple a pass on iPhone 3G woes

http://www.technologyreview.com/Wire/21319/?nlid=1307

And the halow is rusty. For a long time I was like most Apple fans and willing to overlook all the problems. I’ve owned a long series of Apple products. I’m typing this on a MacBook Air while I’m reinstalling Leopard on my MacBook Pro. There’s a 160GB iPod within reach and my white 3G iPhone next to me.

But I’m about to give up on the iPhone. While I can’t imagine getting rid of it completely. It is the most complete combination of phone functions, multimedia playback and downloadable apps out there.

For all the great stuff the iPhone 3G does, it has two flaws which continually cause me to want to move back to my Blackberry Pearl as my default device. First is battery life. While I’m not using my Pearl as much as my iPhone and it’s got an EDGE and not 3G radio, the Pearl can go a day or more without a recharge. If I am worried I’ll need more power I can swap in a new battery. The only way to bring along more power for my iPhone is to carry a bulky APC USB power pack and USB cable.

The second, and to me more important issue with the iPhone 3G is speed. The iPhone may have blazing 3G network speed but sorting for contacts, looking up information, loading applications, and other basic functions are just too slow. I have almost 2000 contacts in my database. I don’t like having to pick and choose which contacts I am carrying with me even if a shorter list might improve sorting and search speed (also why I don’t use any of my favorite Sony Ericsson phones with their 1000 contact limits).

I’m considering getting a new company started (more on that here soon). I can’t afford to have a phone that only works for half a day before the battery dies, or that takes too long to look up an important number when I need it immediately.

So while I am still using my iPhone 3G as my primary phone it may not be long before I switch back into the more utilitarian, but more productive, world of Blackberry as my favorite business device.