Isnt this suppose to be a PHONE

I think what you see as them possibly missing something is more likely to be the result of the design process, where it's very easy I think for the rather single-minded focus to create a product which is out of step with broad user expectations or needs. I think the search issue in Contacts is a good example. Given the designer's clear intent to create a simple and effective metaphor for contacts, the rolodex model implemented seems very logical and neat, and very well suited to the majority of ordinary users. As such a search is really not necessary - after all, a rolodex doesn't have one and we all lived with those as an effective solution for many years. However, in the real world there are many who actually need a different organizational model, or who's approach to organizing their personal data is more chaotic or ad hoc. For those, the rolodex model is hopeless and the lack of a search feature is critical.

It's not, in my view, that they omitted search by accident, but that they didn't think users would need it. I'd agree with you that they were wrong, and indeed that there are a number of areas where the iPhone could do with some reconsideration in terms of software functionality, but as I say, I think they got there through design rather than mistake.

That's one of the reasons I think the apple.com/feedback page is so critical - it's basically the only way we get to tell the designers they missed the needs of the market!

true very true indeed but progess has been made nontheless . i was only saying the obvious . apple has produce an inovative product , that may very well change the way we view smart phone for ever. It just rubs me the wrong way when peeps want more and more and more, when they have somthing truly unique, and dont have the patience to wait for it to get better

Great and thoughtful reply!!! I have used applefeedback to in fact, let them know about this. It's refreshing to see a well thought out post rather than the mindless stuff that so often permeates this site.

Thank you for your extremely informative and well thought-out post.

It has to be said that despite the occasional posts here suggesting the contrary, Apple did indeed get most of the iPhone exactly right for a serious number of people. The design metaphors are so different than have been used before in this industry that it's no surprise that there are some for whom they don't fit well. However, things like the Contacts area with the simplicity of structure undoubtedly works well for many, and perhaps even most. The lack of other features also helps make a product which is far removed from the awful generation of recent cellphones which either need a complex menu system to drive and control them, or an interface that is so cluttered and non-intuitive that they are frustrating to try and use.

Set against these devices, the iPhone is a breath of fresh air for many. Simple, well integrated tools that offer useful features and leave the device uncluttered and remarkably easy to use. But it's in the nature of people to want more and more and more, and to perhaps fail to see the value in simplicity of design and the unique qualities of a product that breaks away from conventions.

well said. i am a music producer. nothing would be greater, better , sweeter than to have the music that i create playn from the speakers of my phone . i refuse to bash apple for the things that they didnt do, but will be the first to praise them for the things they did do, i just wish others would do the same " wishful thinking " . I have learned so much from these forms, from the likes of peeps like u (andyo), allan, nathon, ichick, bnbzone, and a list of others. WOW look at me, im venting, i guess the ultimate answer to this post is yes it is a phone. A phone thats gonna, in time change the game.

thx for reading

It is much easier to be satisfied with the iPhone if you keep in mind that it is NOT a smartphone. And, that it is absolutely an 8gb music/video convergience device...that you can also make and recieve phone calls on. Yes, the volume is too low. No, the speakerphone doesn't work at all. And...no, you cannot hear the phone ring unless it's right next to you. The reception is poor...and the call quality is the worst I have experienced...and certainly not worthy of a $599 communication device.

I am not at all satisfied with the iPhone as a phone. And, if I would have come into this deal with delusions of the device being a real smartphone...I would be totally dissatisfied.

But...as it is, every day I marvel at how cool the iPhone is, try not to dwell on it's many glaring shortcomings.

Message was edited by: davistld01

I think what you see as them possibly missing something is more likely to be the result of the design process, where it's very easy I think for the rather single-minded focus to create a product which is out of step with broad user expectations or needs.

Very well said, and very true. And there are two other factors:

1) Lack of time. The iPhone has only been in hard development for less than two years. Although they may have thrown a lot of developers at it during the final few months (I guess Apple never read the Mythical Man Month), that's not a lot of time to get core things working... much less add bells and whistles. Project managers hate the latter, anyway.

2) The test group also bears responsibility. Reportedly over 200 ATT personnel secretly tested the iPhone. Who were they? Obviously not big ringtone changers, or people with large contact lists, or name-your-favorite-missing-item users 🙂

Sadly I agree with Davis post above 100%.

I do love my iPhone and its a great iPod but as a phone it is lacking.

...but as a phone it is lacking.

For me, not at all. Mine works perfectly well as a phone - indeed, every bit as well as any I previously had. Volume is fine, I can hear it ring with no problems (even when it's upstairs), speakerphone is fine for those occasions when I need it, call quality is fine, no dropped calls at all..... etc etc.

There's no way to tell in a practical sense whether my experience or yours is the more typical, but it has to be said that for me, the iPhone is an excellent device all round.

That isn't in any way to deny those who have problems with theirs have reason to be disappointed, but just as it's a mistake for anyone to believe that because they don't have a problem, those who claim they do are mistaken, so it's a mistake for those who do have a problem to claim the problem is generic to all these devices.

My ring tone is so low that I have yet to hear it from my purse. I always check my phone and usually have to make a call back. I have tried all the given ring tones. Some are louder than others. I have settled on a nerve wracking sound that at least is the loudest of the bunch.

Point #3 I agree completely.

Oh, I don't think it's so much haters as people who are immensely frustrated. I know when I got my first iPhone I was extremely frustrated by the volume issue, by Apple's seeming lack of response or concern, by the lack of features I had assumed would be on the phone (yeah, I didn't research that aspect as much as I should have having assumed that its PDA and phone functions would match those of existing phones). And I usually do a lot of research before buying even handlebars for my MTB.

But once I returned my first one, I missed it and took a chance on a second one which has been okay, volume-wise. I still miss many of the features of my Palm PDA and Samsung phone but I am willing to do without to have the other features of the iPhone, most notably its killer screen, and anywhere e-mail/Net, its dynamite keyboard (ferget Grafitti writing!!!).

I think the advice to take names down and avoid reading the posts is a good one. One that works equally well both ways!


p e a c e

not without a kevlar vest, he didn't.

Apparently their design and testing process didn't catch the volume and speakerphone issue...