Monday, October 6, 2008

Weak Points of the Apple iPhone

Over the past few weeks I have been seriously considered getting an iPhone to replace my existing Palm Treo. As it turns out, I found a few weaknesses with the iPhone. For some, these concerns may not be an issue. However, I believe over time, Apple and 3rd party developers may improve on these concerns.

The following weaknesses were identified by playing with the device in Apple stores and by research on the web.

The 4 areas that the iPhone needs improvements are:
- (1) No cut and paste capability between applications or emails
- (2) No two-way synch of Memo Notes or To-Do lists with Microsoft Office
- (3) No slot for external memory cards for increased or portable storage
- (4) Lastly, while the touch screen keyboard is intuitive, I found it somewhat difficult to use. It would be helpful if the keys on the screen were larger, offered in landscape mode, or have an optional slide out keyboard. If you plan to email, write, or text a lot with the device - then I highly recommend trying the touch screen keyboard in a store or on a friends / co-workers iPhone to see if it suits your typing styles.

While the iPhones applications are eye appealing, colorful and fun to play with, the short comings identified above may be some of the deciding points for me not to pick the device for my Treo replacement. For some, the iPhone may be perfect, while for others, it may lack the needed advanced features for "power users".

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