iPhone: Let the griping begin!

No one will see it until June, but that doesn't stop the grumpy commentariat from criticizing the iPhone (nor should it).

David Pogue of the New York Times got to play with the iPhone for about an hour, giving it a mostly positive early review. Pogue found a few things not to his liking, however.

Typing is difficult. The letter keys are just pictures on the glass screen, so of course there’s no tactile feedback.

Software helps a lot. You can afford to make a lot of typos as you muddle through a word, because the software analyzes which keys you *might* have meant and figures out the word you wanted. Its best guess appears just under what you’ve typed; if it’s correct, you tap the Space bar to accept it and continue. I typed a couple of e-mail messages with lots of typos but eventually 100 percent accuracy, thanks to this auto-correct feature. (My testing didn’t involve proper names, however.)

In an online polle, Wired's Gadget Lab asked readers, "Did Apple lose your iPhone sale by partnering with Cingular?" Fifty-four percent said yes.

On TechBlog, Jim Thompson says he won't be buying an iPhone.

Compared to traditional media players, the iPhone is too expensive and holds too little. But I dig the big screen and the new UI, which has those alpha-blend touches I loved when I was reviewing the Zune. I don't need a new phone, but I'm hoping that an iPod-only version of this device is in the works. Give it a 80 GB hard drive, take out the cell phone and camera, and drop the price to $399 and I'd jump at it. But as it is, I won't be buying an iPhone.

Analyst Michael Gartenberg with Jupiter Research says there are a few things missing from the iPhone.

1. It's not extensible by third parties, only Apple. The means at the moment no RSS readers, no Slingplayers.

2. There is no support for Microsoft Office attachments.

3. Not clear how well Exchange will work with calendar and contacts

4. No 3G support. (WiFi makes up for this in some ways.)

Even with these issues, I still believe Apple is going to be force to reckoned with in this space.

News.com polled a panel of average Mac users, and while most of them loved the iPhone concept, there were some complaints:

"I'm disappointed to find that Cingular is the exclusive service provider."

"I don't want my phone to play music."

"For their customers' sake, I hope they've field tested these with soccer moms, plumbers, and people who really abuse their phones. If it's delicate AND expensive it will be a disaster for Apple."

"I don't think that the smart phone aspect of it will take off. I think people have gotten too used to the BlackBerrys with the built-in keyboard."

Paul Boutin in Valleywag seems a little ticked off that Apple announced a product that won't be ready until June, and another (Apple TV) that was previously announced but still won't go on sale until next month.

Steve hauled out a TV box we'd seen already but can't have yet, and a phone for which we can only "sign up to learn more." I've made a name by doing hands-on reporting about stuff that's ideally already available. If this is the new face of Macworld, I can stay home and read it on Engadget.

Finally, even though I gushed to the St. Paul Pioneer Press that the iPhone gives me "deep product lust," I did manage to salvage a shard of my reputation by complaining about the price and the exclusive tie to Cingular.

Jon Gordon, Minnesota Public Radio's Silicon Valley correspondent, said he has "deep product lust." The iPhone "seems close to perfect. It has beautiful integration of the things I like and want: a mobile phone, an iPod and wireless Internet."

The iPhone's cell-phone functions will work with AT&T's Cingular wireless service. A 4-gigabyte iPhone will cost $499, with a two-year service contract, and an 8-gig version will go for $599. This is pricey, said Gordon, who also lamented that versions for other carriers aren't available.

Boutin either didn't pay attention to Jobs or ignored what he said about the release date: they announced early because the iPhone still has to go through FCC approval, and Apple's application would be visible on fcc.gov. This happened with the Zune, when technical details and photos allowed people to figure out that the Zune was just a rebranded Toshiba device. (We blogged about this on TechBlog). Given The Steve's paranoia about controlling the announcements of Apple products, it makes perfect sense that he decided to announce early.