The New iPhone: Hmmmmm

I got up at 5 a.m. to travel to the Walnut Creek (N. Calif.) retail store for the iPhone 4 debut. I found that many of the people in line were Apple loyalists, but that wasn’t really why they were there. These people had been cut out of home delivery on the very same day by computer problems, some with Apple’s servers and some with AT&T’s contract validation link. So they showed up to collect their iPhone as walk-ups, right next to everyone who did manage to pre-order on-line for store pick-up. Anywho…I managed to order my on-line and it was delivered by a Fed-Ex driver at 9:20 a.m. (“I should put a giant Apple logo on my truck,” he said. “All I’ve been delivering is iPhones!”) The phone seems much smaller, and is much slicker to the touch. Seems like a case of some type is a requirement, especially because I keep thinking, “This thing is made of glass!” It seems to operate as fast as the 3GS, and physically all the buttons seemed to have a little more “click” when operating them. My top iOS 4 features are: multi-tasking (not instant but really convenient), unified e-mail in-box (I watch four accounts), improved photo/video (makes my store pix/videos better, love iMovie for iPhone) and improved battery life (can’t have too much power). Other interesting features include the flash/light for photo/video, improved video focusing, and folders. I’m not yakking on the phone a lot, so AT&T’s reception problems and the antenna problems don’t really bother me. I would love tethering…except it costs $20 a month (Why?). Overall, a killer first smartphone for anyone, and a great upgrade for iPhone 3G owners. If you have a 3GS, the “must have” feeling is a little less obvious. On the other hand, you can trade in your 3GS for $197 on Gazelle.com, and essentially buy the 16 Gb version for free.