I use my iphone as a mobile computer more than a phone.

I really, really, really hate AT&T. Really. Their customer service is absolutely the bottom of a bad mobile barrel in the US. It may be fine for the retail space, where there isn’t a strong dependency on a good provider, but for an IT manager in a small company like me, AT&T is a horrid partner.

And, I speak from experience. As an example, a recent order for a batch of 5 phones resulted in a bad setup. I spent five hours on the phone, going through nine(!) departments, and six the next day to get the issues resolved. That’s just one example.

It’s really too bad that Apple went with AT&T. That is one of the principal factors preventing my personal and work-related adoption of the iPhone.

How about a phone that:
you can tether to your laptop
record videos
has a focus on the camera
has a zoom on the camera
has a light or flash on the camera
has a second camera on the front of the phone for video conferencing
has an 800 x 480 touch screen (2.5 times the resolution of iPhone)
has a QWERTY keyboard
supports MMS messaging (does the iPhone support this now?)
has voice recording
runs open source software
supports HSUPA
supports HSDPA 7.2 (actually, the iPhone may support this; I’m not sure)

The iPhone does none of the above.

The Sony Ericcson Xperia does all of the above and supports almost all of the same features that the iPhone has except for internal storage (however the Xperia supports microSD cards). I don’t know about you guys…actually, I DO know about you guys…but I’m going to rock the Xperia. The only thing I’m giving up over the iPhone is the internal storage which can be matched (exceeded if I buy multiple cards) via microSD.

If the iPhone doesn’t support HSDPA 7.2 (I know it doesn’t support HSUPA), the Xperia will be able to download data twice as fast as the iPhone. Uploading data from the Xperia is going to be several times faster than on the iPhone.

I like Apple. The iPhone is rock solid and you can’t really go wrong with that device. I may get one for my wife who is a casual mobile device user.

But make no mistake. Apple mobile devices are about software and services. The iPod is about iTunes and the music store. Apple wants the iPhone to be about iTunes and the marketplace. They want to control what goes on your device. I’m opposed to that kind of restriction.

Think about everything open source software is. Look how almost everyone reading this blog supports open source. The iPhone 3rd party apps are the exact opposite of the open source software movement.

And I know WinMo has problems. I’m in my 3rd year of WinMo usage.

I think I know what I’m getting into.

Look at the iPod hardware. Today and even back then when the iPods first came out, you could find MP3 hardware that was superior (that is, hardware that had more capability). However, iPod took the marketshare because, well, Apple is Apple and they had a rebirth; great software and services, thousands of publisher deals, and a slick and simple UI.

History is repeating itself with the iPhone. Phones are out there that have better hardware capabilities. Heck, the 3G iPhone lack features that were on phones years ago.

However, Apple is going to have a winner with it’s software and services, AT&T carrier deal, and iTunes app store. People are going to love it.

I would love it, but I’m picking another road. It probably won’t be easy, but that’s the price I’m going to pay for a few more features.

Maybe the next iPhone after the 3G will have the hardware features I want.

I’ve been with them 13 years.

I wouldn’t buy the touch again. Wish I could get an iPhone on the Sprint plan. wooooo eeeee! That would be suite.

While i’ll wait i’m deffinitly going for the new C905 :D
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/17/sony-ericssons-8-1-megapixel-c905-breaks-free/

But making sites work on the iPhone browser is interesting, and opens up all sorts of considerations that are fun to think through and implement.

This substantially increases the business case for actively dealing with the iPhone browser for a broader range of sites.

If I could walk into a Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, or Alltel store and see iPhones on the shelf, your headline would be very true.

I ask this: how many people walk into the phone store with a $200 budget and *don’t* know about the iPhone? (Or how much it costs?)