Some Initial Thoughts on the iPhone

Yesterday afternoon, while driving home, Mike Q called me - he was in line at an Apple store waiting to pick up an iPhone when the store opened. He's blogged a bit about his experience already and has made some really interesting observations that I won't mention here because he is doing/will be doing so. I have not purchased one yet but will soon - I'm dealing with a current contract that expires in October and am in the process of trying to negotiate my way out of it.

I've been impressed with just about everything I've read, heard and seen so far. There are a few things that some are complaining/concerned about - here's my list:

- No Java or Flash support is no big deal for me - there likely will be soon.
- AT&T's (Cingular) EDGE network - it's 2.5G quad-band GSM based technology - a concern for some but I can deal with that. Most places I go now I find WiFi available. Steve Jobs has said 3G was not an option at this time due to battery consumption.
- Small storage capacity - 4G ($499) or 8G ($599) without an SD card slot. This could be an issue when watching video offline (iPod like).
- Lack of a keyboard - I think people will quickly adjust to multitouch and we'll see Bluetooth keyboards soon.
- Apple's Safari browser and no Firefox - how long do you think it will be before we see Firefox?

The fact that the iPhone is running Apples operating system OS X is key. The applications we're going to see will be impressive and we will see many.

Here's a list of some random questions running around in my head:

Microsoft - so far they are saying they will not respond with a similar product but the company really has to. Microsoft came from behind nicely with the XBox and will have to do the same with the Zune. It's going to be tricky - the Zune would have competed very nicely with the first generation iPod released in 2001. Unfortunately for Microsoft we're half way through 2007. Can Microsoft catch up? My opinion is definitely yes if they want to. Will Microsoft want to? I think they'll have to.

Other Smartphone manufacturers - Nokia, Motorola, Nokia, etc..... These companies also will have their work cut out for them and you can bet they all got them and have spent the last day taking them apart. If you want to see a gutted iPhone there is an interesting iPhone disection (with lots of pictures) link here.

When will Apple come out with a second generation product? Following the iPod cycle we will likely see something in the next 6-12 months.

Do I still want one? YES!!