As much as I have loved watching the stylish Apple release more wonderful products, what the hell is going on with them now? Because the iPhone looks SO good, so different, going against everything that I objected to, I actually walked into an O2 store, handed over my credit card and started filling out the contract.
During this lengthy process I was weighing up all the negatives wondering why I was determined to buy one. One look at the sexy, shiny gadget in my hand reminded me. Mmmm iPhone. iDo, admit to being a geek and a gadget addict. Every time I go through an airport I have to be restrained from the Dixons duty free electrical store. Luckily, last time I travelled I was without company, and simply couldn’t resist a real cute Sony laptop. Biometric fingerprint login is wicked by the way. Worth £800 just for that. Anyway, back to the iPhone contract. Seconds before signing on the bottom line I managed to come to my senses and tear up the contract. Yep, it was that close.
What then was the deciding factor? Was it the 18 month contract @ £35 pcm, which actually is a deception. In reality it’s a LIFETIME contract. At the end of the 18 months IF the phone is still working you’re not free to move over to another provider. Oh no, the phone will remain locked to O2. And get this:- without a SIM card you can’t even use it as a music player! Was it the poor 2 megapixel camera or perhaps the real slow Jurassic 2G communications (I can write faster than that) or even the virtually compulsory and extortionate £35 per quarter insurance?
No, the final straw was the Muppet salesman. I asked if the headphones had a built in microphone somewhere along the cable. “Umm, dunno lets have a look” he says. His cursory examination reported (wrongly) that actually no it didn’t have a microphone. “You’re kidding me”, I said “what happens then when you’re listening to music and the phone rings? You have to pull the thing from your pocket and what take out an earpiece too?” Sadly the poor guy didn’t have a clue so I was saved from the evil Apple by an unsavy salesman.
Why Is Apple Evil?
In my opinion what was once an icon for hip, open source, design quality has evolved into a paranoid, money obsessed, exploiter of loyal users. No other phone manufacturer ties you in to one provider. No other phone manufacturer transmits your internet usage history back for analysis. No other phone manufacturer charges nearly 300 quid for a phone on a new contract. No other MP3 player prevents you from using YOUR choice of software to manage the music. Have you ever tried getting a track off your mates iPod? They store music in such a way that the average user is locked into using their proprietary software only. OK so they argue it's to prevent copyright infringement, but why is Apple the only one who cares enough to make the effort to restrict our freedom of data transfer? I really love iTunes still nothing compares, but keep watch because there is something sinister going on behind the scenes. I'm just waiting for the next update to inform me that it is unable to play a certain track, has deleted the file and logged my IP address to the internet police. We will see.
Can’t we fight the corporation?
YES. In Germany the iPhone is available unlocked. See this amusing article for more information:- http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/iphone-wars/t+mobile-germany-sells-1478-unlocked-iphone-to-avoid-legal-troubles-tells-vodafone-that-they-suck-updated-325298.php
Also in France, Orange are offering an unlocked version for €749 which allegedly, will work in any country, with any provider, although the visual mail may not work. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/12/17/orange_denies_iphone_lock_claim/
Still complicated though isn’t it. Should I not be able to go down to my local Vodafone store and buy an iPhone? Well yes, but actually considering the poor features and Apples behaviour the right thing to do is stick 2 fingers up to Apple and boycott the iPhone. Perhaps when version 2 comes out I might reconsider.