The Jobs Showing Off The iPhone - Paul Sakuma/AP
Twenty-four hours ago my head felt like it was going to explode.
Steve Jobs, the celebrated CEO of Apple Computer recently maligned with a stock option backdating scandal, was giving his usual keynote speech at MacWorld San Francisco and shocking the world with news of the long-awaited iPhone.
Imagine that, a phone with video and music and Internet and seamless syncing with the Apple Macintosh. It was my wet dream and I wanted to cheer loudly in the shop to express my glee and joy in what seemed to be the end of a long journey. After work, I had my chauffeur rush me over to the Towson Apple Store to see what details I could glean on the iPhone and the iTV.
I wish the chaps at the Apple Store were a bit more enthusiastic and a bit more knowledgeable on what was going on. While Jobs announced that you could pre-order the iTV immediately, they knew nothing of the sort at the Apple Store. Is it too much to expect their own staff to know what's going on?
Today, the elation has worn off and Iwonder if this is what marriage is going to be like: that rush of getting hitched then the morning reality that all things aren't as shiny as you originally thought. Now that I've had time to ponder the iPhone, I'm feeling a little jilted - a little Rebecca, if you will (who will now become my new whipping post).
The features are cool. You supposedly can do full-screen Internet browsing as though you were on your laptop. It's running on Mac OSX. The widescreen will automatically work horizontal or vertical, depending on how you are holding the unit. It will play movies. It will play music. It will do all of this is a small-form factor.
It's going to do all of this on a maximum 8GB of memory?
Right now, I've got a four year old, 3rd generation 30GB iPod. It's completely filled. My contact list was nearing 2,000 contacts and I regularly shuttle episodes of Battlestar Galactica, Heroes and Ugly Betty off my laptop to my desktop because there's not enough space. Quite simply, 8GB is next to nothing in terms of usability.
But the most bitter pill of all is the price: $499 for the 6GB iPhone and $599 for the 8GB iPhone. I told "The Bob"® that I would be wiling to pay upwards of $700 for an iPhone, but the paltry gigabyte size and the TWO YEAR CONTRACT with Cingular makes me feel dirty, and a bit miffed.
It's the morning after and the euphoria has washed away in the tears of a jilted lover.
