Apple's iPhone: The Future is Here
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 2, 2007 6:13 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
The Keyboard
I've tried PDAs and I've tried all sorts of smartphones, but the device that won its stay in my life was the Blackberry. I've been through five different Blackberries over the past few years, including a brief stint with the Pearl and more recently, the Curve. When the iPhone was announced, I was intrigued by its promises of a fast, focused user interface, but I was concerned about the lack of a tangible keyboard.
You see, I can type pretty quickly on my Blackberries; I've written multiple pages of articles on them before, when I didn't have easy access to a notebook or when I had an idea strike me while in an unusual location. Anytime I'd pull my phone out to type down a message someone would always exclaim that they were shocked at how fast I could type on something so small. In my mind, the iPhone would inevitably lose out to the Blackberry because of its lack of a physical keyboard. Then I began testing the Samsung Blackjack and the Blackberry Curve.
The Blackjack is the perfect example of why the lack of a tangible keyboard is a non-issue. In order to attain such an attractive form factor, the Blackjack's keyboard is extremely cramped. Not only is it cramped, but if you type too quickly, the keys sometimes have difficulty registering, making you type things like anad instead of anand. The last Blackberry I used was the 7730 which had a huge keyboard by comparison. But with the Blackjack, I not only had to type slower, but I had to look at the keyboard while typing - something I rarely had to do on previous Blackberries. Then I tried the Curve.
I am Gigantor
The Blackberry Curve was a little better than the Blackjack, the issue with keystrokes not registering was not present (Blackberry's user base would definitely not stand for that), which made typing a bit easier. But the fundamental issue of a cramped keyboard remained; I had to keep looking at the keys to make sure I was hitting the right letters, and while I appreciated the form factor more than my enormous 7730, the Curve made me feel like I had the thumbs of a giant.
In both of these cases, the Curve and the Blackjack, the tactile feedback of the keyboard was hardly an advantage. The limiting factor to typing performance was the closeness of the keys and as a secondary limitation, the keystroke recognition issue on the Blackjack; in other words, the iPhone had a chance.
My first evening with the iPhone's keyboard was absolutely horrible. I had heard Apple's advice of starting with your index finger alone before graduating to two thumbs, but "dammit I am a fast thumb typer!" so I discarded the suggestion and went right to it. About an hour into trying to type anything I hated the iPhone, I wanted my Blackberry back and I wanted Apple to make me another phone with a real keyboard. The issue wasn't the lack of tactile feedback, it was the fact that my thumbs were hitting everything but the keys I wanted. I tried slowing down, but that didn't help much either, I admitted defeat and went to granny-typing with a single index finger. Even then I was making a ton of mistakes; each incorrect keystroke frustrated me to the point of needing prescription drugs. I called it a night and went to bed, I would tackle the iPhone in the morning.
One letter down, only ten more to go
The next day I took my iPhone and sat on the couch with it; away from all computers, and with a clean slate, I took my right index finger and started typing as many pages as I possibly could. I wrote some of this review, I wrote long emails to good friends, I text messaged everyone, I would not leave that damn couch until I had gotten better at typing on the iPhone.
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zsdersw - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
As a long-time Star Trek fan and someone who regards The Next Generation as the best of the series, I have to say I'm not at all interested in the iPhone.Two primary reasons:
- Price. For $500 and a 2yr contract, what it brings to the table above and beyond its competitors is less than compelling, IMO.
- AT&T only. Screw that. I'm never buying a phone with which only one carrier is available.
tuteja1986 - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
alot of features are missing :!Bluetooth is crippled
Virtual keyboard onlys works good with Web browser since its horizontal. keyboard sucks
Does not have 3G
battery life is 4hrs talk time.. unable to change battery. black berry 8800 can do 10hrs+
Digital camera is very basic compared to high quality camera used in phone like Nokia N95.
No support for 3rd party application
Its has edge connection which sucks
no support for HDSPA
No GPS
No IM program
No widget support
Not able to abstract the image anywhere.. sending image through email reduces it low res which sucks :(
The only awesome thing about iphone i think its interface , the screen and the ipod video/music feature which works. The phone is certinaly not worth $600 and can be sold for $350 and apple can still make a decent profit.
plinden - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Where is 4 hour talk time mentioned. Anand didn't mention talk time, did he? He did get 6-7 hours with wifi.
Just about every other reviewer got 7 hours or more talk time, close to what Apple claims.
tuteja1986 - Wednesday, July 4, 2007 - link
Comfired by latest TWIT episode :! TWIT networks has the biggest apple fanboys ever :)http://www.twit.tv/TWiT">http://www.twit.tv/TWiT
but I sorry to burst you bubble but read the review by mobile phone professionals.
http://www.wirelessinfo.com/content/Apple-iPhone-C...">http://www.wirelessinfo.com/content/App...one-Cell...
Also ain't a anti apple but people buying it for so many reason as its calling the revolutionary phone which is not in tech wise , features but is revolution in only in UI design.
sviola - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
YEah, the Nokia N95 is an excelent phone, here are some of it's features.In-built GPS and Navigation Program (over 100+ countries maps)
5 MP Camera with Zeiss Lens and Optical Zoom, and Video Recording
Symbian OS
Plays MP3, video, etc
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, TV out
Quadriband GSM/WCDMA (3G)
MicroSD Card Reader
I would like to see an anand review on it and a comparative against the iPhone.
vectersmith - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
I have enjoyed the iPhone thoroughly and agree that while it is not perfect, for what it does do it does better far and above anything else.Edge speed is slow, but bearable (barely). Wi-Fi is must better, although I still have sites that just hang and I have to hit the X button and reload.
The UI is breathtaking, earth shattering, and will revolutionize the smartphone industry. It has too, once you use the iPhone everything else seems like fruitcake for Christmas (no offense intended to those that enjoy fruitcake on Christmas). I find myself just taking it out of my pocket to slide the unlock and see if anything is new :)
Also I will agree with Anand about the SMS, you really have to watch out what you are doing as having a conversation is just painless which causes those SMS message count the fly up :)
kilkennycat - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
....how long did you take to compose the review and how much sleep did you get in the process? Did you work from a pre-written plan?Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Thanks :)I wrote the whole thing in about 24 hours, but the testing took a lot longer obviously. As with all my articles I have a very high level outline, but what ended up being written was significantly larger than even I expected it to be. My initial outline had something around 10 - 15 pages long, then by 3AM Monday morning I estimated it would be around 20 pages and by the time it published I realized it was going to be just shy of 30.
I had to cut out a lot of additional material from the review just in the interest of time, and I took another 6 or 7 hours working on it to try and make sure I was keeping the attention of the reader throughout the piece (hopefully it worked :)...). There's enough extra content that I didn't use for at least two more articles, but I'm not sure what the demand will be for that so who knows if it'll ever get used.
As far as sleep goes, I don't sleep much in general when I'm working but the iPhone weekend was ridiculous. I went to bed Saturday night, woke up Sunday and didn't get to bed again until 4AM Tuesday morning. Needless to say, sleeping last night was the most amazing thing ever.
Take care,
Anand
oopyseohs - Thursday, July 5, 2007 - link
This is definitely the best article I have ever read on AnandTech or on anything technology related in general. Also, it is nice to see that someone else exhibits the same behavior I do when writing major articles!DerekWilson - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
I'm sure Anand is finally getting some sleep after a grueling weekend with the iPhone, taking only the occasional nap so as not to die.And a pre-written plan? naah, Anand's just that good :-)