Finally, the iPhone

My expectations of iPhone features were totally off. I thought for sure we'd see a clickwheel. The last thing I thought to see was touch screen. I have to admit, while pretty, it disappointed me terribly. Many of the concerns/questions I had after the announcement are answered by David Pogue in his latest post. Most of it is enough that I'll wait at least a revision or two before buying it. By then, hopefully, interface/feature kinks will be worked out, and the price will have dropped. But it's not just the questions in Pogue's article that are stopping me from gettin' the phone. The two biggest roadblocks to me buying an iPhone are 1) price, 2) the touch screen.

The Price. $500 for this might be reasonable. Some say it's just like a computer in your hand. But it's not. I can't install my own apps, widgets, etc. I'm restricted to whatever Apple makes available. I'm not sure one can create documents on it. And, it's $500 for a phone and iPod, yes. But it looks large, and not pocket-friendly. Not like the iPod Nano is pocket-friendly, but mayhap that's asking too much from a do-lots-of-stuff-device.

The touch screen. This one really bugs me. Folks have said the smudges show up most when the phone is off. Fine. But how does it perform once it's greasy? If my keyboard, or current phone, is any indicator, the screen will get dirty. Maybe it's just me and my dirty hands.

The other thing that bothers me is the lack of physical feedback. The feeling of clicking a button, feeling the edges of buttons so you know, by feel, you're on the next button. Touch-typing works because you don't look at your hands. You learn to find keys by feel alone. And if you are looking, the feeling of jumping from key-to-key only speeds up and improves precision in your targeting. It's a really good system. Typeing or texting, or hitting any button on a touchscreen requires pin-point accuracy. What if I have a physical disability? Or fat fingers?

So, I'm still out on the iPhone. I don't think I'll be purchasing one for a while. But who knows? Maybe when I play with it I'll be wowed and change my mind. Maybe they've solved the lack of touch-feedback on the keyboard. We'll see.