Love The iPhone But…

Image representing iPhone as depicted in Crunc...

Image via CrunchBase

..Can you here me now? …Can you hear me now? …Good!

I like Apple. It’s the best computer manufacturer — no question. My primary machine is a MacBook Pro, and we have several iPods in my house.

I also love the iPhone. It’s a game-changer in mobile computing. It’s well-designed — beautiful, actually. Its user experience is brilliant. The iPhone also has rallied a huge third-party application-developer community — which has advanced the device’s entertainment, utility and overall value, exponentially.

But a great phone? The iPhone is not. I don’t care if it’s the iPhone, or compatibility with the network it runs on. The fact is that calls with iPhone users are more difficult to carry out. Even when reception is good, iPhone call quality seems to be relatively weak.

Case in point: Among four calls I received this morning from iPhone users, three of them dropped and one had poor reception that required a voluntary hangup and callback.

If you need to speak with me and own an iPhone, please do me a favor: just call me from a landline.

Tagged as: apple, iPhone, Landline, Mobile phone, Smartphone

Daniel M. Clark

I have to disagree, at least, where I am (Albuquerque). I've had the 3GS since early July and haven't had a call drop yet. Haven't had any complaints about the quality - in fact, the first thing I did was call family in Houston and Tampa and ask how I sounded. Everyone said it sounded fine.

This is not to say that AT$T is great and everything is always perfect anywhere in the country - clearly, iPhone owners in other areas have been having problems (and I'm sure some owners here in town have had issues, too).

I'm just sayin', for all the complaints out there, valid or not, there are some of us that are happy with both the device and the service that we're getting... so far.

maxkalehoff

You probably have a less trafficked metro area, which is easier for
ATT to handle. My experience is mostly with people in NYC, LA and San
Francisco.

Daniel M. Clark

Exactly... I think the whole population of Albuquerque would just about fit in one borough of New York ;)

theskyewire

The data usage of the iphone is absolutely absurd... it puts serious strain on the network and is probably a huge factor in the poor call quality and high drop rate. Furthermore, while the phone is an amazing piece of technology, Apple and ATT's business tactics are tricky and pretty upsetting at times. When people are putting so much money into these plans, they should at least get reliable networks.

maxkalehoff

Agree. Is the iPhone good enough to own without a data carrier? In other
words, is the iPod Touch worthwhile, or would it simply frustrate me because
it won't work when on the road (away from a wifi connection)?

theskyewire

perhaps the best way to answer that would be to list my top uses for the iphone:

1. news/browser/online apps/youtube (40%)
2. phone/text (35%)
3. ipod (10%)
4. calendar (10%)
5. camera (5%)

So, for me it would probably not be worth it. The ipod touch would be really handy for ical, ipod, and gaming, but besides that I would stick with a nano, which has video-- the touch does not (for now).

maxkalehoff

Thanks. I'll stick with my trusty blackberry...which is archaic, but works
pretty good for what I need it to.

AdamB

#1 reason why I haven't made the jump to the iPhone yet: non-stop complaining by iPhone owners about the AT&T service / coverage here in Boulder, CO. Basically unusable by most accounts.

Meanwhile, haven't dropped a call in 2 years on my comparatively boring b-berry pearl, also on the AT&T network. Someone could cash in big with an aftermarket iPhone antennae around here...

maxkalehoff

I enjoy the Pearl as well. I wish a kick-ass third-party dev community would
sprout around Blackberry as well. Ineed, it can run third-party apps.

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