iPhone 2.0 Reviews
The hottest debate today surrounds the iPhone. If you have an original one, should you buy the new iPhone 3G… or should you keep the old one and simply update the operating system to 2.0? I asked my friends over at Friendfeed this very question. The results surprised me.
OS is always more important – Aaron L. M. Goodwin
For me, the OS is more interesting because of the new application platform. Also, as the App Store is available to iPod Touch users as well, its reach is potentially more broad. The barrier to entry for the software/OS is small, while the barrier to entry to upgrade hardware and service to an iPhone 3G, for first-generation users, or non-iPhone users will be too much for many people. – Louis Gray
It’s all about the apps—hands down. – James Mowery via twhirl
The firmware and the app store are monumental. Much more than incremental hardware upgrades. That’s why I kept my 1st gen unit. It offers 98% of the funtions of the new hardware. Including LBS. One of many thoughts: http://bit.ly/3xqiVj – Kevin C. Tofel
BTW, this post, while not being prefectly relevant, might peak your interest for discussion. I think that subscription-based products are going to dominate in the future. I believe that the app store is providing Apple the experience necessary to take my ideas in my blog post further. http://onlyjames.com/future-su… – James Mowery via twhirl
definitely the apps – now it’s much more like a mini computer – Nathan Manley via Alert Thingy
Definitely the new firmware. – Angel Smith
OS my biggest issue is as multi-whatever as this phone is, why doesn’t it multi task? when are the apps going to run in the background??? all these apps are useless if it can only run one at a time. – Mona N
The App platform is the biggest thing, though the hardware is nice for the fixes it provides: http://fury.com/article/2261.p… – Kevin Fox
Definitely the firmware. Mona, all the apps are not useless due to lack of running in the background, though they’re not nearly as useful as they could be if they did. – Robert Seidman
@mona n …until apple does something to improve battery life considerably, I can’t see multitasking & background running apps that soon. – Nick
Maybe it’s in my head but notifications seem slower when my browser is up…. which is a problem for me since my entire life is based on e-mail and SMS. I also wished Apple at least integrated Java (solely for Gmail) – Mona N
Definitely the new OS. It’s great to have the App Store and finally third-party support on the iPhone OS. Not everyone needs the new hardware as the 3G coverage isn’t available in all areas. – Kevin Skocik
The hardware new features will have a lot less reach (e.g. limiited 3g ares) than the software which will affect both original and 3G models. Furthermore, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the AppStore bring in more coin than the hardware. – William Reveal via twhirl
@Nick: agreed. Though I’m getting the external battery shipped to me from Japan. It plugs in the butt and it’s not as huge… See, only a 50 hour time difference between 2g & 3g iPhones means nothing to me, since all the new apps will probably drain the battery 10 times faster. Well the good news is, the battery is replaceable… since my current battery is crapping out. – Mona N
The new OS, definitely. The best hardware in the world isn’t worth much if nothing good is running on it. – Akiva Moskovitz
The OS – no doubt – though it’s my first iPhone, so the hardware is pretty cool as well. Without the AppStore, the new phone wouldn’t be half as interesting. – Frederic
Software by far. 3G is limited in coverage, GPS is limited in capabilities, extended battery will be wasted on 3G and GPS. – pb30
I only wonder how long it will be before we are buying full fledged Mac OS X desktop applications through iTunes. – James Mowery via twhirl
The hardware is only particularly useful as an enabler of the new OS. The inverse isn’t true. – Nicholas Molnar
definitely the OS. I’m skipping the hardware update (at least for now) but can’t wait to use the new apps. – matt hollingsworth
hardware – the 3G download speed trumps all the apps – Jeremy Toeman
OS for sure!! Not everyone needs 3G. – Ryan Cates
2.0 but the 3G is great too – Grant
I’m kinda anti-iPhone; but, I would think since most people will be using the 3G and GPS features alot, the hardware would be important. Not to say the apps aren’t important but, I’m sure people can live without them as some point. Me, I’d personally say battery life was important. – Outsanity
It’s ALL about the software. Without software, all you have is a nice little heater for your cup of tea, or a shiny mirror. ;-) – Josh Bancroft
Hardware. 480k for me vs 36k GPRS on the old one. + the queues speak for themselves. I had apps on my old cracked iPhone – Duncan Riley
If it was truly all about the software, then you wouldn’t have seen the amazingly long lines that we saw today. They were FULL of people running 2.0 software on their current iPhones. They weren’t satisfied with that though. – Andru Edwards
The OS. Because I don’t plan on getting an iPhone, but I will be getting an iPod Touch come Christmas. :) Also, the OS changed the rules of the game for mobile development, as far as I’m concerned. A development environment that allows thousands of desktop app developers to directly apply their existing skills to a new platform? Hell yeah. – James Williams (willia4)
iPhone 2.0 is much better than 3G or GPS, mainly because I don’t have 3G in my area. – Shawn Molnar
I think the 2.0 OS is the best, but a close second would have to be the 3G and GPS functions. – Ethan
Which is more important to you: the operating system, or the hardware? If you’re already using iPhone 2.0, what has your experience been so far? I LOVE it so far. The Apps Store has kept me occupied for way too long already today.
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13 Comments
GPS Obsessed
July 13th, 2008
at 11:17pm
s display? It’s supposed to be that way, says Apple-Macworld iPhone and iPod Touch: Charging the battery-how exactly do you do it?-Apple Support iPhone 2.0 Reviews-buy the phone or update your old one?-Chris PirilloHow do You Install Apps on the iPhone?-you must know by now if you read GPS Obsessed, but just in case you don’t-Chris Pirillo Will Apple redefine portable game market?-okay, so not really a technical article, but an interesting read nonetheless
DIGGED
July 14th, 2008
at 10:05pm
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at 6:40am
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wikili
August 14th, 2008
at 7:03am
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Dynasty Chen
July 12th, 2008
at 10:09am
If you haven’t played with the iPhone 1gen before, then the 3G is for you. Although to average families, the cost of plans and rates are extremely high. The iPhone really changes your life. Now with the App store expanding, it is becoming the Matrix. Unlimited possibilities. Get it if you want a phone, apple product, GPS, browsing the web on-the-go or even just to show off to your friends. Go grab it, it’s worth every penny.
Toastmaster
July 12th, 2008
at 12:06pm
i love ipones
Michael Markman
July 12th, 2008
at 3:49pm
In this case:
iPhone 2.0 software delivers 80% or more of the value of the new iPhone HW. I know uber geeks will need the HW upgrade too. They can’t take the embarassment of being seen with an iPhone with a metal back. (Hint: put it in a case. Nobody will know.)
The HW definitely offers some improvements: faster network, more accurate location finding, improved sound (kind of important in a phone). Beware, though… running all those new radios will give you shorter battery life than the first gen iPhone.
But the truly revolutionary advances are available through software upgrades: App store… push notifications… MS Exchange integration… Enterprise IT support… push synchronization with PC’s and Macs… and above all an SDK and developer program.
As someone in Redmond said quite famously: “developers! developers! developers!
If you don’t have iPhone yet, the new total value proposition should give you plenty of reasons to consider.
If you have a first gen… you really don’t NEED the upgrade. Except to meet irrational urges. (And if it weren’t for irrational urges, life would be pretty dull.)
Heavenrox
July 13th, 2008
at 2:10pm
I’m thinking about whether I want an iPhone or not. But the thing i love to do is texting people. So Chris could you post a video about texting on an iPhone. Thanks and you are doing a great job.
Justintrumpet21
July 13th, 2008
at 4:59pm
To put in the most simple terms. If you want GPS and 3G get it. However, if you have an iPhone already you have to try the new software update. It completely changed my mind about getting the new iPhone. This is how great the new software update really is. Of course there are some bugs but these will most likely be resolved with future updates.
7egend
July 14th, 2008
at 5:00pm
I downloaded the new update to my current iPhone even though I still have the iPhone 3G in the back of my mind for the time being. No sense in being trampled to death trying to get the new iPhone 3G, although that is my end goal very soon.
Firmware 2.0 has provided some great new features, but the most notable would definitely be the AppStore which I have been waiting impatiently on for quite some time. The UI on the 2.0 seems a little quicker to respond and I have had less applications and safari Force Quit on me. I think the upgrade was well worth it and wouldn’t go back to 1.1.4 for nothing.
techman224
July 15th, 2008
at 10:23am
The iPhone and iPod Touch 2.0 update is great. I downloaded some games from the app store and the quality is great. I recommend the update to anyone who hasn’t already.
Harold
July 15th, 2008
at 2:46pm
1st Generation iPhone with 2.0 loaded and loving it!! Apps are pretty cool and useful, while some are just plain fun to play with and demonstrate the iPhone’s capabilities (i.e. accelerometer).
Just need a good application organizer so I can at least categorize stuff on the phone (i.e. social networking stuff, games, etc.)….
Harold
July 15th, 2008
at 2:52pm
My brother-in-law purchased the HW and is not excited about the 3G battery life. He had an 8GB 1st gen iPhone so him the HW upgrade made sense (16GB). I on the other hand already had a 16GB 1st gen iPhone so the SW was all I needed and I don’t care about 3G service or GPS for this phone yet.
Overall, I’m extremely happy with the SW with even on the EDGE network enabled me to make many updates via Ping.FM while traveling from San Diego to Houston. Loved it!!! Wife didn’t, which made me love it more!!! LOL