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So I did succumb, and picked up a shiny iPhone on Saturday afternoon. I gather that the Glasgow store had somebody queuing from the morning on Friday (I just can’t understand that level of expectation), but certainly would have been shocked myself it there had been much of a shortage: Apple have had almost six months to get production up to capacity for the Europe launch.

So I didn’t actually activate the phone until Sunday evening. Delay was mainly that I wanted to be entirely sure there was a decent O2 signal at home. My brother was visiting and he had an O2 signal, so that checked out. But the pre-activated emergency signal on the iPhone had me a bit worried (it bears no relation to the actual O2 signal). I was also wanting to check a few of the finer points of the O2 contract, specifically that I could transfer my number later (it’s not clear that you can), and whether the inclusive minutes covered any network or just O2 and landlines. The great news is it’s every UK network, includes 200 text messages, The Cloud access and Edge data transfers, so it’s a much better deal than my existing Orange contract.

Anyway, after activating the phone I get a decent signal, and the call quality, even with just one bar of signal was still very good. Hooking it up to my home wireless made sure it was all working perfectly.

So, yes, I love the iPhone. It’s a decent phone, and fits well with what I want to do, with (to me) a great tariff. Orange were always reasonable enough, and the free cinema tickets were always nice. But I’ve a suspicion my details were sold to a third party around contract renewal, as I had a couple of phone calls trying to get me signed up again that didn’t strike me as originating from them.

Any gripes with the iPhone? A few. That the landscape/rotated thing doesn’t work everywhere, that the camera is really rather sub-par (but as I’ve a digital SLR, it’s not a biggy, but it’d be nice if it was a better camera for instant snaps), the one-recipient-per-SMS, the lack of Java, the US-centric Stock application (it does UK stocks just fine it seems), and the lack of choose-your-own Ringtones. I really am not prepared to pay money for some song excerpt. I have one I like (and many friends despair at it when I explain), and I’d like to use it on the iPhone. Also that it has speakers, quite good ones all said. Although I’m doubtful too many teenagers will be playing iPhones on the bus…

As far as the user-experience is concerned, it’s a delight. I find it intuitive, and judging how much my brother seemed to enjoy using it, for him too. The lack of keys is great, as I inevitably have problems with moving parts in phones. But I am worried the phone is a bit fragile with all the glass: Especially as I’m sometimes a bit clumsy. So I’ll be looking for an iPhone protection case of some description. Consensus was that it’s a bit heavier than my old k750i, but I prefer the iPhone form factor over a condensed - but thick - phone.

The cost is certainly something, but I looked at it more as an iPod/mobile-browser than a phone. Exclusivity to one provider is a surprise, and I’m puzzled that Apple think the cut they take from O2 (and other providers in other networks) outweighs the money they’d make by getting more providers on board to support it and sell more units. I remain terrified I’ll drop it to find the screen has broken, but there’s not much to be done about that.

In short, I like it, and expect most of the software shortcomings will be fixed in due course, especially as the SDK is due out next year. I’m sure the platform will make for some interesting software solutions. It’s not for everybody, but Apple have certainly given the existing mobile phone manufacturers (and network operators) something to think about, and that’s got to be good for everybody in the long run.

Update

• So I got a text on my old mobile phone that my number porting date has been set for 20th November, which is a week away. Quite a bit longer off than I had hoped. I’ve only done this once before (Vodafone to Orange after we moved to Glasgow, as Vodafone had an atrocious signal around Glasgow)

• I didn’t mention that I actually have an Edge signal at home. I’m a long way from the M25 people, and not really that close to the centre of Glasgow either (I’m in Shawlands, if you wondered). So some hope the Edge service might be more useful to me than I’d expected.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 at 2:30 pm and is filed under Apple, Gadgets, Glasgow, Southside, Technology, Thoughts, UK. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.