Procurement
I was forced to forgo the original iPhone as it came out just a few months after I renewed my contract with U.S. Cellular. Faced with a failing Motorola Razr and my need for a smart phone growing stronger than ever, it was time for an iPhone 3G. Not wanting to make multiple trips to the AT&T Store only to find out they sold out in the first hour of business each time, I decided to order my iPhone. If you currently have another service provider, want to keep your number and don’t want to go a week without service, not to worry. AT&T allows you to order the iPhone as long as you complete the credit check (and of course, swipe your credit card).
The Phone and Its Features
The first day I had my 3G, I was constantly playing with it. Sleek and smooth, it’s got just about every bare-bone essential utility you really need to have in a smart phone: Mail.app, iCal, the all-too-handy but never-too-familiar Weather widget, Safari, Contacts (not the hard-to-maneuver, unfulfilling address book you find in most phones), Maps and Notes. It nearly duplicates the virgin Leopard Dock in content. The app store allows you to download plenty of handy apps as well, such as AIM, OmniFocus, several Yellow Pages directories, plenty of RSS readers and news services, and gems like PageOnce (it’s nearly criminal that such a great program is free).
So it’s cool. It’s got lots of little flashy lights and doohickies to keep you amused. It’s a great iPod, organizer and handheld video game console.
But it sucks as a phone.
Apple may have put the “i” in it, but they seem to have forgotten what follows. Shoddy reception (though through some fault on the part of AT&T), low volume, and a consistent, pesky “Call Failed” message when placing an outgoing call indoors, even if you’ve got three or four “bars.” Finally, the nail in the coffin: absolutely horrible battery life. Still not convinced? It’s slow. Unlocking your phone to type in someone’s contact information or simply make a call and you will have lost 20-30 seconds.
A quick glance at various iPhone support “communities” (communities are something you need if you suffer from a disease or affliction, or have a lot of technical problems with an electronic device) shows the answer to many of these issues may lie in Apple’s new trend toward pushing out firmware and software updates without the knowledge of the QC department. Others may lie in individual phones. However, the fact that there are so many 3G owners facing so many common problems does not make for an optimistic outlook. Besides, no one likes exchanging products or waiting for updates. Most of the Mac Law Student audience belongs to a field in which things must be done right the first time because they simply do not have the time to screw around making them right.
The Service
Apologizing in advance for loyal AT&T users with deep pockets and non-traditional business days, I never though I’d be so disappointed. I also never thought I had it good with US Cellular.
For starters, AT&T’s plans are outrageously expensive, limited and specifically designed to take more of your money. The cheapest iPhone plan, with 200 text messages, 450 anytime minutes and 5000 nights and weekends starts at around $75. That’s a ridiculous $40 for the minutes alone, plus $30 for data and $5 for a tiny number of extremely low-cost (to them) text messages. Go over your minutes and pay 45 cents per, go over on your texts and pay 10 cents per. The next plan doubles your anytime minutes, but you’re looking at $95/mo (the added benefit is a 5-cent discount on overage minutes and your nights and weekends are unlimited).
Paying a $30 premium for 3G may be worth it, but if you’re like me, you won’t see 3G for a year, at the very least. AT&T’s 3G coverage extends only to major metropolitan areas, according to bloggers, but we won’t know for sure until AT&T actually publishes a 3G map. One thing is for sure, I have yet to see the 3G icon on my screen.
To AT&T’s credit, their customer service is much better than U.S. Cellular (and from what I hear, Sprint). The ability to know how many minutes you have left by pushing a button on your phone is the best thing they’ve got going for them.
Conclusion
1. If you need a reliable phone, that you’ll mainly use as a phone, wait. Either for a better iPhone, a better firmware, a better AT&T, or the day when Apple bows out of the shady exclusivity agreement business.
2. If you want a flashy doohickie to manage your life and entertain you, get an iPhone. You won’t have much of one without a reliable phone, but you won’t need one with this sexy poker-playing, weather-reading, email-reading, contact-holding, picture-taking machine. On second thought, doesn’t the iPod touch do all of that?
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