There are advantages and disadvantages to the iPhone.
When the iPhone was released in 2007, it was a major change for the cell phone market. Touch screens became the norm in most high-end cell phones and everybody wanted as many applications (apps) as they could get their hands on. If you have not yet joined the iPhone club, there are some advantages and disadvantages of owning one that you should be aware of.
Common Features
In the latest iPhone 3GS, Apple has finally added some common cell phone features that had been missing from previous versions. This includes video recording, multimedia messaging and voice dialing. This doesn't set the iPhone above any other phone with those features, but now the phone has fewer items missing that are included on a standard phone.
Storage Space
When the iPhone came out it was miles ahead of the competition in storage space. It is still at the top of the line, with iPhones available in 16 GB or 32 GB, and the iPhone 4G will be available in a 64 GB version. This allows you to store your movies, pictures and MP3s so that you can watch (or listen to) them on the go.
Voice Control
The new voice dialing is accompanied by a feature to play your MP3s and movies by voice control as well. This is a helpful feature if you do not have your hands free and want to hear a favorite song, for example. If you have a lot of MP3s on your phone that you've purchased from the Apple store, this can lead to a lot of immediate music gratification.
Status
One of the unavoidable advantages of the iPhone is that it has become a sort of status symbol. When it first came out in 2007, everybody had to show you their new iPhone. While more and more people have bought the phone, lessening the excitement a bit, it is still a good feeling to pull out your iPhone and have people look at you with envy.
Keyboard
Unlike some other top-of-the-line phones, the iPhone has a keyboard that appears on the touch screen itself. Some users like this and some users want to immediately trade it in for a Blackberry. If you are not a fan of typing on the screen this may not be the phone for you.
Camera
The camera in the iPhone 3GS is better than it has been in past models, but it still has some problems that have been solved by other phones. The camera has no flash and the auto-focus function can be confusing. The resolution is now 3 megapixels, which is more than it was in the past, but it is still a lower resolution than some other top-of-the-line phones.
Reception
It takes a long time to improve the reception of a network, so it can't completely be blamed on Apple that the signal strength hasn't improved very much from model to model. That being said, since other networks tend to have a stronger signal, this has to be chalked up as a disadvantage of having an iPhone.
Apple Applications
While other cell phones have gone the open-source route, the only applications that you can put on an iPhone are those sold by the Apple store. This leaves out many interesting third-party applications. This has caused many Apple users to try to unlock their phone for these applications, though that process sometimes damages the phone permanently.
Tags: Apple store, cell phone, cell phones, iPhone Apple, other top-of-the-line, other top-of-the-line phones
