Apple Phone Show Episode 9
One week later...
Run Time: 32:30

Host:
Scott Bourne: Podcastgearguy.com, OnlineMediaTips.com and iLifeZone.com

Special Guests:
Chris Breen: MacWorld Magazine and Playlist Magazine
Andy Ihnatko: Colossal Waste of Bandwidth and The Chicago Sun Times

Time to recap week 1 of the iPhone launch.

Scott has had faith all along in Apple, but not so much in AT&T. AT&T has had numerous woes this week, and didn't contact us with an explanation when asked. Apparently a third party company was handling the activations, and there were various issues. The question, of course, is why wasn't AT&T prepared for the load to begin with with some people waiting 60-70 hours. AT&T claims the problems have been solved and they were all related to load. Let's hope people who activate in the future won't have issues like this.

And now, Andy Ihnatko from the Chicago Sun Times!

Andy got his at 10:00am on Saturday. His setup went flawlessly. 15-20 minutes later, he was ready to give it a B-. As time went on and he changed his habits, the score got better. Scott agrees and said that the more he used it the more he liked it. Andy's main "AH hah!" moments included learning how to type properly by aiming at the top of the keyboard buttons. It also took him some time to get used to the sensitivity of the touchscreen. A light tap does the job, now, instead of a massive press. You also can't rest your fingers on the screen because it's really sensitive. Eventually, you get over the habit, though.

Scott was at a bar showing off his iPhone to pick up chicks, and the girl almost smashed the screen pushing it so hard. Andy says that's usually the first reaction people have and they just want to mash on it for some reason. Andy is concerned that people who take a quick look won't "get it" right away and he hopes that people won't give up on it too soon; it does take a bit of practice and use before it all makes sense.

Scott has showed it to quite a few people and the accelerometer tends to wow people. Andy thinks the iPhone's strength is that it gets into your head and is inviting to actually use. Within 3 hours of using an iPhone, you find yourself reaching to the screen to make it work like the iPhone. Scott was looking into it for the basics, and apparently Steve Jobs was right: this is the best iPhone ever. Andy isn't quite as enthusiastic about the iPod, but he likes how customizable it is; particularly that you can drag icons down to the button bar at the bottom. Smart idea.

Andy has one small qualm, though. He would like an alternate set of buttons. He would rather have a virtual control disc so that he didn't have to aim his fingers as needed.

Scott has been hearing from a lot of disabled people about how they're going to use the iPhone since there's no audio feedback and no tactile feedback. Andy thinks that's coming seeing as lots of phones in this price range already do it. Andy isn't quite so sure that anything can be done for people with low vision simply because it's a very visual device.

One thing Scott found frustrating was that there's no bulk selection of e-mails. You have to kill them one at a time. Andy also notes there's no way to select "all" in a message and so on. Highlighting, copy, and paste are all missing. Andy spoke to Apple and they have said that they aren't going to add something to the iPhone if it makes it more cumbersome or complicated, even if it means leaving functionality out.

Scott thinks that the Apple was betting the average user of the iPhone is more an iMovie product than a Final Cut product. Andy agrees and says it really is a consumer device, in the end, unlike other feature-rich e-mail smartphones that pretty much ignore the regular guy.

Andy has been floored by the virtual keyboard. It's gotten better as he started using it and the keys are really big compared to a Treo. Secondly, the predictive correction has been really good. He's gotten better as he's gotten more comfortable with it. The key, of course, is to trust the keyboard. His speed on the iPhone is 51 words per minute versus 27 on his Treo. Scott hated the Treo keyboard also because he has larger fingers, and Andy had the same issue. He was expecting the iPhone to be good, but he really wasn't expecting it to be this good. Scott is also picking up speed, and has finally found a keyboard he can use.

Andy points out that the iPhone does not have disk mode like prior iPods and that makes it harder to stuff the iPhone full of fun stuff; something you should be aware of.

And now Chris Breen with the news!

Lots of news this week. Chris points out that Apple may have sold as many as 700,000 iPhones in the first 3 days of it being on sale. Some analysts are saying mid 300k. We don't quite know yet, but Apple should be coming out soon with some numbers. iSupply has ripped apart an iPhone and says the iPhone costs around $265.83 for the 8 gig model, a margin of more than 50%. If you multiply that by the number of sales, you realize just how much money the iPhone is making Apple and why the stock prices are so high.

You can still buy an iPhone, but it is harder to get one than it was last week. You may have trouble getting them at retail stores, but you can check www.apple.com/retail/iPhone and you'll know if the store near you has them in stock for the following morning.

AT&T may not have been fully prepared for the iPhone crush. The EDGE network had a bit of a burp earlier in the week. AT&T claims it had nothing to do with the iPhone, but Chris believes it probably didn't help matters.

Scott's theory on the activation issues and the EDGE issues is that Steve Jobs got on the phone right quick. Chris points out that if you bought your phone at an Apple store, you were in and out in minutes. No such luck at the AT&T stores. Scott points out that the lines were around the block but they moved really quick at the San Francisco Apple Store.

Rumor has it that some AT&T stores required accessory purchases to get an iPhone. There were also reports that people were turned away prior to the AT&T launch but there's no corroborating evidence to that effect.

That's all for now... If you have any questions, comments, concerns, tips, etc., let us know at applephoneshow@gmail.com.



Thanks to Apple Phone Show producer Vincent Ferrari for the shownotes!

New Apple Phone Show theme performed and arranged by Scott Bourne.