Before all the Apple fanbois have a complete Apple-gasm, lets look at all the things WRONG with this phone. 1. Apple, in their unique arrogance decided to NOT use Skype, the largest VOIP and video conferencing program in the world. No, they felt they could do it better by using their own software. This redefines missing the boat. If someone could video call your iPhone from their laptop or home computer, THAT would be cool. Unfortunately, the only way you're going to be able to have a video call right now is if you know someone else who's willing to stick with AT&T for another 2 yrs and wants to shell out the $200. 2. Apple still controls their app store like a bunch of pretentious asses. For this solitary reason, Google's app market will be superior very soon. Apple killed Google voice and countless other apps that they felt “interfered” with the iphone. So what does this mean for the latest launch? Well the video chat feature is cool, no question. But if they try to prevent developers from making a BETTER video call app, it'll likely get booted. Is that speculation? Unquestionably. Am I likely right? We'll see. 3. This thing is STILL only AT&T. So why is that a problem? AT&T does get you a great strong signal with the speed to use this phone; when you can get a signal. Now i know that's not fair to say for all parts of the country, but as a past AT&T customer, i can attest to the countless times i'd drive to work and would have to time when to make calls to avoid getting dropped in one of the many dead zones en route. 4. No Flash. Furthermore, they won't even let developers put the compatibility on THEIR OWN PHONES. Any app that goes on the market is rejected outright, and if you try to “fix” your phone, your warranty is shot. Now, I don't care if HTML5 is the “future of the web”. I'm a developer; I'll even agree with you on that one Steve. Here's the problem. I'm STILL debugging every web site and application for IE6 and IE7 because people don't know how to upgrade; and yes i blame that on moronic Windows users. However, the fact remains that outdated technology will exist for MANY more years and developers will still need to keep that in mind. Flash is universally supported by all web browsers EXCEPT the iPhone. Even Android phones use a lite version of Flash. Because of Apple's arrogance, the web experience of iPhone users is still going to be crippled. And i don't want to hear any crap about battery life, because that's just asinine. Before I get get chased by a mob wielding iPhones running their iLynch app, let me say i used to LOVE Apple. I wrote a dissertation in college on how much superior the Apple computers were to Windows computers at the time. However, the company has changed. It's now longer about building a solid product; it's all about building a “cool” product. Once they suck in the masses, Apple forces its way of doing things onto it's users. Try playing all those great songs you bought on iTunes on anything but your iPod (or related Apple toy) or on iTunes. Let me know how that works out for you. It's this forced compliance paired with the pure disdain that I have for the majority of Apple users these days that made me flee. Why the disdain? If I hear “Apple's don't get viruses” one more time, I'm going to choke a puppy. They do get viruses. It's just that no one wants to waste hours of programming to get your vacation photos that you bastardized in Photoshop because (since you own a Mac) you're a graphic designer. Ok. I'm done.
