Weighing up the new iPhone
After all the hoopla of what was a decidedly meak iPhone launch - dampened by the accuracy of pre-launch leaks - the dust is settling and people are beginning to look at the phone outside of Steve Jobs' legendary Reality Distortion Field.
In reality most of the iPhone 4 "innovations" are just Apple playing catch up with the rest of the industry.
Half-decent camera with a flash, front-facing camera for video calls, multitasking, half-decent battery life, high screen resolution, better cell reception... these are all common occourances on rivals' phones.
Of course Apple will have you believe they are first to the party in these regards - to the point where Steve Jobs implied onstage that video calls were only now possible because of their technology.
However there is an amount of truth to the suggestion that an idea is not done well until it is done by Apple.
Touchscreen phones are the perfect example of that - a form-fact that has existed for many years but never even close to popular until Apple came along in 2007. App stores too; they were knocking about in various forms for a while but when Apple did it the concept suddenly began to make sense.
My bet is that they will change the way multitasking works on phones for the better. I have an Android phone at present and as much as I like the freedom of multitasking it is far too easy to leave apps running in the background unintentionally, creating a major drag on battery life. In fact an Android user needs a whole other app - the AppKiller - just to keep tabs on what's slyly running in the background.
On the flip side I cannot see them revolutionising video calls but largely because I don't think anyone can. Video calls have been around long before the mobile took off and no-one wants them. They're more hassle than they're worth, they create a whole new set of concerns when placing a call and traditionally they just don't work as they're supposed to.
Overall, though, I think I want the new iPhone... though I say that as someone who does not have a 3GS. If I did, I'm not sure I'd be all that bothered.
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