PRODUCT REVIEW
30 Days and 30 Nights With the iPhone 3G

It's been more than a month since I bought my iPhone 3G, switching from my trusty Samsung BlackJack. After more than 30 days of relying on it as a phone, e-mail reader, Web-surfing platform, information retriever and time-killer, I've found it to be both remarkable and maddening.

The Flawed Disruptor

It really is a breakthrough product, and I'll go out on a limb and say this: The iPhone is probably the most important personal technology device introduced in this decade. I believe, within its own niche, it is the equivalent of the original IBM (NYSE: IBM) PC. It is disruptive, both to the traditional ways people use a phone, and in the way they are designed, sold and upgraded. The personal communications landscape is changed forever, and dramatically so.

That said, it also is a very flawed product, which I outlined in a blog-post-turned-column July 25. Issues included the iPhone 3G's notoriously poor battery life; its sluggish performance in key areas, such as when switching Web pages and using the virtual keyboard; its crashing apps, both those from Apple and third parties; the surprisingly pokey AT&T (NYSE: T) 3G network; and its unreliability when it comes to connecting to the 3G network.

Apple pushed out a software update earlier this month that eased some of the performance issues, but they're not gone completely. Another patch, due next month, may do more to fix these problems, BusinessWeek recently reported.

30 Days Later

News about the iPhone's problems are widespread, but that has not kept people from wanting and buying them in droves. Lines still form outside Apple stores for them, and analysts estimate the company sold more than 3 million of them in its first month. And Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster expects buyers to snatch up more than 4.5 million phones before the quarter's out.

I, too, stood in line for a little over two hours the day after the iPhone 3G was released. Here's what I like, and what I don't, 30 days later:

• E-mail. The new software in the iPhone 3G, also available as an upgrade for original iPhone users, enables it to get mail from Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Exchange servers, which are used in many businesses. Initially, I couldn't get this to work with the Chronicle's servers, but that issue's been fixed. The iPhone's e-mail interface is incredibly friendly and easy to navigate, and you can now have e-mail show up on your phone almost as soon as it hits your company's mail servers.
• Battery life. The iPhone 3G's poor battery life has reached almost legendary status. There are things you can do to prolong it, but for the most part, they involve disabling many of the features that make the phone attractive -- 3G network access, GPS , "push" e-mail. The best I've been able to do is about 36 hours of battery life between charges. Usually I just charge it overnight to be safe, but there have been some instances in which it didn't last a full day. I've got some tips on prolonging its battery life on my blog.
• Web surfing. There's no question that the mobile version of Apple's Safari Web browser is the best on any cell phone because it can show you the "real" Web, with only a few compromises, such as no Flash graphics. But it's made even more valuable by the large number of Web-based applications that were developed after the first iPhone was released. Originally, the iPhone couldn't run third-party programs, so developers created sites specifically for the device. This makes the iPhone 3G a must-have device if Web access is important to you.
• The keyboard. In my original review, I was fairly blunt about the fact that I thought the virtual keyboard was virtually unusable. While I've made peace with it, I'd still prefer a physical keyboard, or a virtual one that includes some touch-based feedback, such a the vibration you feel when you hit a key on Samsung's Instinct or LG's Dare touchscreen phones.
• Applications. A month with the iPhone 3G has confirmed what I thought from the start: Its ability to run third-party applications installed in a foolproof way via the iTunes Application Store is what makes this the device of the decade. If the iPhone doesn't do something you wish it could, just a wait a day or two -- chances are, an app for that will show up. The process is seamless for users but not so much for developers, who have complained that Apple takes too long to approve updated, bug-fix versions of programs. Also, there's no way for developers to test their programs on a large scale, so many of the programs are crash-prone. This will get better, but it's maddening for now to say the least.

After a month, I'm glad I bought an iPhone, for the most part. Yes, there are times when I long for my BlackJack, but overall I'm happy to have made the switch.