Can you & iPhone 3G live together?

So if you haven’t heard, YES, I’ve made the switch, YES, I’ve made the purchase and YES, I sound like a complete hippocrate. Just not too long ago, I was preaching about how great the Nokia 5800 was compared to the iPhone 3G…

It also didn’t help that Maxis had – I repeat “had” an awful package that couldn’t care less for their existing hardcore customers.

Everything changed last Saturday – a new package was introduced, a drop in iPhone prices – their hardcore customers like myself are now happy.

 

The hippocrate justifies his purchase
Thing is, even after owning an iPhone 3G, I still stand by all things I said about the shortcomings of the existing iPhone 3G (software version 2.0). The inability to mms, no video, less than great camera etc – yet I’m HAPPY. Why? It really depends on the kind of user you are and what things do you prioritize.

What user are you?
I’m the kind of user who would squeeze every grain of sand of out of the chips in a phone. In other words, I’d categorize myself as person who uses a good 90% of all available features ALL THE TIME.

• The mobile social addict
   
  You’d dream of mobile blogging, twitting, facebook-inig, chatting all the time. The iPhone is the perfect phone for this. Don’t just take my word for it. Just checking out any twitter client or facebook client (which is absolutely FREE by the way) on the iPhone would leave you in awe. These apps had everything thought of.
  
  Upload images directly from your iPhone to Facebook? You got it! Upload your current location via GPS to twitter? You got it!
  
  
• The net addict
  I surf A LOT. All the time. Fabes would tell you this, my wife would tell you this, my dad would tell you this – you’ll NEVER see me idling at the dinner table, lunch table, my table, your table, you mother’s table – you get the idea. I’d either be talking or doing something (surfing) with my phone.
   
  To-date, iPhone’s safari browser is rated the best mobile browser in any mobile device. Nothing comes close – YET. Sure it lacks the ability to support Adobe Flash, but the way it renders the pages, it’s speed, it’s usability completely shadows that flaw. Personally, I’ve had no problems surfing 90% of the sites I go to.
  
  
• You love something new EVERYDAY – The Chinese call it the ‘new toilet bowl’ syndrome
   
  Who wouldn’t like something new everyday? Especially something new that’s FUN, easy to use and is very likely FREE!
  
  The AppStore that comes with every iPhone connects you to a store that hosts tens of thousands of applications developed specifically for the iPhone / iPod touch. There’s literally an app for everything – light saber, games, finance, business, games, you name it – they have it! If there's something the iPhone is not able to do, chances are there will be apps readily available to fix that.
  
  No MMS? There's an app for that
  No VoiceDial? There are tonnes of FREE apps for that - COOL TOO!
  No pet hamster? There's one for that too! I've got a dog, hamster and a cat living in mine
  
  Some are free and some aren’t. The ones you pay for start from as low as 0.99 cents (USD) – on average, most apps are within the 2 USD range – that’s FREAKING cheap compared to applications for other mobile platforms that start from 19 USD! 
  
  So, from a price of NOTHING – you can get something new to play with EVERYDAY.

So what are the shortcomings? Sure there’s at least one?
After using the iPhone for 72 hours now, apart from the shortcomings I’ve mentioned in my previous post, the iPhone does lack…

• Battery life
   
  I’m not sure if it’s all the excitement that I’ve used the iPhone and meddled with it more than usual – the battery life goes down rather quickly. Then again, I would be constantly online every few minutes, twitting, facebooking, downloading new apps, switching from 3G to WiFi, taking pictures, listening to music, watching videos, listening to podcasts – wow, no wonder battery life went down so quickly! :)
  
  Seriously though, the battery life could be better. Although it’s usable, I’d suggest buying an in-car charger and have a spare Apple USB cable lying around if you expect a looonnng day.
  
  
• Internet connection – almost mandatory
  The iPhone can only be used to it’s maximum potential when it has constant Internet connection. I’m not talking about 3G. I’m talking about an Unlimited Data Package – attached to your mobile service. Rates start from 68 to 99 ringgit – depends on which operator you use.
  
  Sure you can use an iPhone 3G with a WiFi connection, but that’s going to be troublesome – looking for a new WiFi hotspot, just to download an app, play an online game, watching youtube videos etc. 

What does the future hold for the iPhone 3G?
I honestly do not know the future. There are rumours that a new iPhone will be out in June this year. That’s yet to be seen.

One thing that’s confirmed is that there will be a new iPhone 3.0 software which will come as a FREE upgrade to all existing iPhone 3G users. iPhone 3.0 claims to solve many shortcomings of the current iPhone 2.0 software – cut-and-paste, bluetooth sharing of content, device wide search, mms, video recording and more will be introduced. Many people are expecting iPhone 3.0 software to be out in June this year.

Should I buy it now?
If you answered YES to all the types of users defined above plus you’re ready to possibly invest in an unlimited data package (though not mandatory), you’re not kiasu & worried about a new version of the iPhone 3G and that you’re willing to live with some of the shortcomings of the iPhone until iPhone 3.0 comes out, it’s a resounding YES! YES! YES! 

It's really not a phone for everyone
In short, the iPhone 3G is not exactly a phone for everyone. It's for tech geeks, music geeks, video geeks, social geeks, new toilet bowl geek... if you're not one of those geeks - then you might want to rethink the purchase. Hold it off for a bit until Apple releases another iPhone that will better suit everyone else.