| Aug. 27th, 2007 @ 11:35 am Faltering Lust for iPhone |
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Don't get me wrong--I still want one! Maybe. I think.
We went to the Apple store in Portland Saturday, specifically to purchase an iPhone (I've been jonesing for one, as you know). This is earlier than I'd planned to buy it, but Tenor Sensation's phone is dead, and there's no point buying him a new one when I planned to replace mine in a few months anyway.
But the store was a major turnoff. I was picturing the Apple store in Phoenix that we visited last summer: clean, spacious, busy but subdued, lots of knowledgeable salespeople.* I've also been to MacForce, an authorized Apple dealer and service center--equally clean and attractive, with employees who are friendly, excited about the products and encyclopedic in their knowledge.
The Portland Apple store, however, was small, cramped, and noisy, and the salespeople were typical mall drones.
I played with the iPhone a little and didn't fall immediately in love, though I expected to. But I might have been influenced by the store--and the customers on either side with whom I was literally bumping elbows (are iPhones in every store short-tethered to a counter, so you cannot get out of another customer's personal space?).
Our drone couldn't tell us whether the iPhone would work where we live and didn't seem to care anyway. She said we had to call AT&T, but didn't even give us the number.
When I called AT&T from the food court, customer service wasn't open, but I only found that out after listening to a marathon recorded message ("If you are from California or Nevada, press 1. If you are from Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, or Massachusetts, press 2." Etc. All the way to 9, and finally, "if you are from any other state, dial a whole 'nother nine-digit number, at which we'll inform you we aren't open anyway").
We left without the phone. And with the first blush of love gone, I came home and Googled iPhone reviews, the most complete of which starts here.
While most people who have an iPhone seem fairly happy with it, there's a lot to be desired. I don't care about MP3 ring-tones, and I don't even know what MMS or G3 are, so I wouldn't miss those features. But it doesn't record video, it doesn't support Flash or embedded video (so much for "full-fledged web browser"), and the landscape keyboard only works in Safari (what's up with that?!). You can't cut, copy and paste text. The battery cannot be replaced and runs out after 300-400 charges. And it comes with those awful earbuds that hurt my ears, and one reviewer said other headphones don't plug into it because the standard earphone jack is recessed.
Then there are minor annoyances. The way you work the controls changes from program to program. The "Recent Calls" list doesn't differentiate between dialed calls and received calls. You can't punch in a number while on the phone without losing it, so you still have carry a pad and pencil. The e-mail program doesn't sync with Apple's (huh?!), nor does the calendar program. In fact, when the Engadget guys input appointments on the iPhone and tried to sync with their computer, the appointments disappeared. YIKES!
I called MacForce this morning, but they confirmed what I already knew: yes, they are encyclopedic about the iPhone, but no, they aren't allowed to sell it. He couldn't even give me much from his vast store of information about it.
It appears I am forced to deal with the drones in Portland (UGH, no way) or order online without having actually used it, on blind faith in the Apple machine.
This is so typically Apple. From early on, Apple has built these exquisite machines and then tossed them away with their arrogant attitude and dismissal of customer needs.
I'm inclined to just replace my Palm pilot that died and buy Tenor Sensation a new phone. Sad though--I was literally in the store to purchase an iPhone, and Apple's complete lack of customer support drove me away.
*In all fairness, the Phoenix Apple store was in Biltmore Fashion Square, an exclusive outdoor mall whose shoppers expect and get great customer service. But still. |
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