Spatial Dynamics

The Good:
I finally gave in and bought an iPhone. Since I’m always on the cutting edge of technology, I waited only six weeks… haha.

Generally, I am very impressed; the design is not only excellent, but the software is intuitive.

The ease of downloading additional applications from the AppStore is the iPhone’s greatest strength. These mini-apps are the future of cell phones and it will be interesting to see the first blockbuster.

Personally, the navigation maps are my favorite and I’m looking forward seeing the explosion of GPS capabilities.

The Bad:
AT&T’s 3G network seems awfully slow, even in downtown DC. Sometimes, it seems like it’s barely working, I’m considering turning off the 3G chip to conserve power. Living and working in DC, most of the time there are plenty of unlocked WiFi networks available, but I have yet to encounter any WiMax networks. It’s obvious AT&Ts has oversold the capability of their 3G network.

Additionally, the back of the device gets ridiculously warm, sometimes almost too hot to touch while the battery only lasts about 1.5 days under moderate use.

Another gripe is that when texting, oddly, it’s impossible to use the keyboard horizontally. I prefer to use the keyboard this way since the keyboard is bigger and I tend to make fewer mistakes. The horizontal keyboard is available when using Safari, why isn’t it available when using SMS?

The Ugly:
Unfortunately, the iPhone has an exclusive agreement with AT&T. Healthy markets require competition and since the device is released under a single carrier, the AT&T/Apple partnership almost seems monopolistic. However, this behavior from AT&T should probably be expected from a former monopoly that has notoriously bad customer service.

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