iPhone 3G criticisms...

I can't help but make this post. People absolutely love to complain about Apple products, possibly because Apple put themselves in that hole: they made commercials insulting other companies, so naturally people are going to look for things wrong with Apple. The iPhone 3G is a big topic of criticism. I really hate the criticism because it's really a great device, probably the best device in the world. So here, I'll discuss some of the biggest arguments against the current iPhone.

It's too expensive: Obviously, when you look at the iPhone 3G, you are excited because it only costs half the price. However, pessimists are quick to point out that it adds an extra $10 or so to the monthly bill. If you add the extra $10 with the actual iPhone's price, you get about $440; more than the predecessor's price.

Now let's think about why this is. iPhone 3G obviously uses the 3G network- hence its name- and it costs more for AT&T to provide us that. That means they would lose money unless they charge us more of our money for the 3G service. Think of it as an HD TV service. Obviously the TV is going to cost money, and obviously the HD machine we buy, such as DirecTV, is also going to cost money. However, they also have to charge us for the HD service, right? It's no different. I would actually EXPECT that AT&T would raise the price for a premium service that we should be thanking them for giving us. In fact, I'm going to go a few steps ahead and say that Apple is NOBLE for doing this. They are NOBLE for foreseeing the huge price the new iPhone would've had (try $640 for an 8 gig hard drive) and lowering the entry price just for us. They could've kept it at $400 and raked in the cash, but instead, they decided that they were going to take in less money in order to accommodate consumers' needs.

And by the way, why are these people even adding the monthly $10 extra to the entry price? That makes no sense. It clearly doesn't count as part of the entry price, and yet these people are looking for something in the iPhone 3G to complain about, so they search until they get this accusation they can make. That's like if I bought a car costing $17,000, but I also added the amount of gas the car was going to ultimately cost me within the next two years, making it a bigger price. It's an unfair accusation to make. Bottom line: Apple is not guilty on this one.

Bad 3G service: I'm not going to explain the peoples' case as much as show you this video that sums it up:



I understand this person's frustration, but I think this video is exactly what it's trying to combat: deceptive advertising. Instead of showing a fair comparison, they exaggerate their point to make it misleading people into thinking many things. They mislead people into thinking that this video shows how the iPhone acts everywhere. They also try to say that Apple made a fake video of the 'twice as fast' thing, as if the iPhone can't possibly use internet twice as fast. They say things like "We tried this 1/2 a dozen times" to make people think of the number 12 instead of the number 6. "You'll be waiting and waiting and waiting"? That's ridiculous. I have the first-gen iPhone, and I don't remember waiting that much for it let alone the new one. Overall, they just exaggerate their point, which is what they're accusing Apple of doing.

The truth is, the iPhone 3G CAN use Internet twice as fast. It doesn't necessarily, depending on where you live, how many bars you have, how the 3G network is in the area, and so on. But it can. Apple showed this when they introduced the device by showing a recording of the iPhone's speeds. No, they weren't lying. No, they weren't making it up. It really happened. Just because it doesn't go exactly twice as fast for you doesn't mean you have to complain about it. And by the way, how many phones can you find that go as fast as the iPhone? I want you to find me three phones that have a faster network. Until then, I rest my case. It's not deceptive advertising. It's showing what the machine can do.

No plastic keyboard: I can't believe people still think this is a problem. There is an auto-correction software built in to the iPhone that definitely makes up for this. And pretty soon, you'll be able to turn it off! I have no problem typing on it. Plus, lack of plastic keyboard is better. It gives you more display, it's only there when you need it, and it can be changed for different languages.

-Derek