The launch of the iPhone was one of the most anticipated gadgets to hit the high street, with customers queuing for hours and hours to be the first to get their hands on one. Yet when they unpacked their slick and stylish looking Apple iPhone, many encountered not only connection problems but sensed a disappointment with the software and hardware features available.
There’s no doubt that the iPhone is a must-have fashion gadget with excellent features, such as the ability to use the phone as an iPod, a sleek high-resolution touch screen and extremely slim design. Yet there are many features one would expect as standard on the phone, which are found on many much cheaper models.
Connection problems
When customers got their new phones back home they couldn’t activate them for many days, with the network being jammed or communication failure with the iTunes store. once up and running, the disappointments continued as they began to discover several simple and frustrating limitations with hard and software.
Hardware Shortcomings
- The camera is only 2 mega pixels – on many other cheaper phones a 5 mega pixels camera comes as standard.
- The headphone jack is only compatible with iPhone headphones and a few other brands. many customers are angry that they cannot plug in their own better quality head phones.
- The screen can scratch easily and some of the cases and sleeves can scratch it further.
- There is no removable battery – it has to be sent to Apple to replace, at a cost of $69 and a three day turnaround. This is extremely frustrating for anyone who habitually carries spare batteries because they are constantly on the move.
- The touch screen takes some getting used to – there is no button keyboard and for those with large fingers a touch screen format is extremely frustrating.
- Files cannot be sent and opened via Bluetooth.
Software Problems
- Voice dialing is not available
- You can only use one of 25 tunes for the ring-tone and cannot import music from iTunes to use as your ring tone.
- You cannot cut and paste text – which is frustrating for those who blog and send files via email
- You cannot create or edit new Microsoft Office documents – you can only display them.
- There is a lack of Flash support in the web browser, meaning some sites won’t open properly because they are multimedia rich. This is a real shame considering the high-resolution screen.
Despite the problems, sales of the iPhone continue to soar, with customers the world over desperate to get their hands on the most fashionable gadget. whilst the iPhone certainly has some incredible features, and is brilliant for those who love to listen to music on the go, one might be better investing in the latest iPod and choosing a phone with all the necessary features to suit your lifestyle.