Lives Up to the Hype?

I know...not really a Star Clipper related blog all that much, except in as much as it applies to me, and I own the place...

As some of you may know, I've been keeping up with all the iPhone what-not, with the intention of buying one of these babies just as soon as I thought I should. The big debate for me has been whether to buy the first generation iPhone or to wait for the next generation, which would be cheaper and more fully-featured (presumedly). I've also been hesitant about the first gen iPhone because it uses EDGE for cellular broadband - and EDGE sux - I have it with my Blackberry and it's super slow. Supposedly it's faster than dialup, but I find that hard to believe. Of course, the iPhone uses the fastest Wi-Fi network it can find - and I have access to Wi-Fi virtually everywhere I go, so it's less of an issue for me. And I doubt I'll be surfing the web while I'm driving...so, EDGE is not so big a deal.

So really I've been wondering if it lives up to the hype, has bugs, etc. Before I shell out $600 for a phone, I want to have confidence that this first iteration will be a near flawless device. I mean, my first gen iPod from 6 years ago still works great and is probably the best (in terms of reliability) iPod I ever bought (and I've bought many - this Christmas it was Nanos for all the staff), so my feeling is that Apple can make a reliable first generation product.

Well, according to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, the iPhone actually lives up to the hype. That's saying something, as I can't remember the last time anything was as hyped up as this device. Anyway, the reviews are all extremely positive, noting the same basic worry about EDGE that I already mentioned. Pretty much everyone agrees the virtual keyboard takes learning, but after 3-4 days you're usually on top of it. You can watch Walt Mossberg's review below.



So if you're interested in getting one of these, you can join me at the Cingular/AT&T store on Friday at 4:00pm to wait in line. Or stop by the store next week and check it out (assuming I actually receive one).

-b