When it debuted, the iPhone was a beautiful device, although it lacked a lot of functionality, and the hardware wasn’t powerful enough. Yet, we defended, bought and loved it, making it one of the biggest hits of ‘07, and the fastest selling device in some countries. I, however, was one of those people who didn’t/couldn’t take the plunge¹. As with most new Apple products, I knew that rapid iteration was the name of the game, and no matter when I would buy one, it would be obsolete by the next big conference. I chose to hold out. And boy am I glad.⌘

When it did arrive in India, the iPhone 3G was ridiculously priced, and it didn’t back that up with features that we were used to. The U.S. has been fairly backward when it comes to mobile phones, but India is not. For years, we have been Symbian toting users of Nokia phones (which holds a huge majority share here) who have come to expect a lot of features from our phones, even if we never really used them. Most of the people I know willingly pay for what it can do, and not what they really do with it. That, coupled with lack of 3G in the country (even though the same people would buy other 3G enabled devices), and superfluous requirements like SMS-forwarding turned people away. So it was really no surprise when the launch failed miserably.⌘

But now comes the iPhone 3G S. The first iPhone I can really get on board with, and it’s not just because it’s faster and better than previous iPhones. That’s a big part, yes, but the decision is made so much easier because of the fact that the competition looks (to quote Steve Jobs) really last century.⌘

The Grass is not Greener

No matter what one might think, most non-iPhone smartphones today sucks. I’ve had a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic for quite a while now, and am thoroughly frustrated (I’ve already argued about how it’s a smartphone even though Nokia never meant for it to be one). I’m frustrated with the UI, with the lack of apps, the terrible hog that is the OS, and the plastic-y feel to the build. It’s a good phone, but not for ‘09. I’ve seen the specifications and read reviews of the N97 as well, and am still not impressed. If you thought Nokia, the largest smartphone manufacturer, would maybe get it right after two iterations, you’re very wrong.⌘

Competing phones from Samsung and Sony Ericsson are just glorified good looking devices that offer nothing beyond a touch interface to whatever has been there in the market for the last decade. I’ve not seen the Android phones because they haven’t launched in India, so I can’t say anything about them. Windows Mobile devices are in the same boat, and a downward spiral.⌘

Basically, any non-iPhone device that is trying to compete with it at the moment, is a poor man’s version of the iPhone. They’ve clearly missed the point.⌘

Apple has almost completely bridged the gap (features wise) with iPhone OS 3.0. The apps war wages on, but it has already won the battle with a massive head start the App Store and its 50,000+ apps has given it. The Ovi store is a joke (and I dare say too little too late), and the Prē is too new and too immature to be in reckoning for at least a year to come. Windows Mobile isn’t even relevant anymore in this department. The competition today, is where Apple and the Macintosh were in the 1980s — not differentiating enough, and hence, constantly playing catch-up, among other things. If all this sounds fanboy-ish, then let the numbers talk. Remember, this is just one model, on one carrier in 8 countries.⌘

I guess what I’m saying, in a few words, is that iPhone shines through like a diamond in a coal mine that is the phone market today. But a diamond that shines by its own light, not reflected. It’s not an awesome device because everything around it sucks. It’s an awesome device, period.⌘

It is finally something that meets my requirements from a portable device that is a worthy substitute for my computer when I’m on the move. And it’s constantly pushing that boundary to show me things I didn’t realise I wanted. For example, my favourite thing from this year’s WWDC was the peripherals’ support². The iPhone being able to 2-way communicate with other devices is such an awesome thing, that ideas like this don’t seem so unworldly crazy anymore. It’s not only innovating, it’s letting us innovate along with it as well.⌘

Coup De Grâce

Apple started by making the smartphone usable. Now, it’s giving us things to use. Slow and steady will win this race, because that allows Apple to work on the features that people will use, and make them in a way that people will want to use. The iPhone is already its priority device, with maximum development and marketing efforts going into making it as much of a hit as the iPod was. And I’m glad that they are turning it into a device that people want because they like it, and not because it’s flashy. People are buying the iPhone to use it and be productive with it, do things that they did not or could not do with other phones, in a way that makes it a very pleasant experience. They’re actually having fun with their phones.⌘

I’ll be buying one when I move to the UK this October, and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m half expecting an OS update by then, to iron out any bugs they might have found after the release (UPDATE: early signs of which are showing).⌘

I am an Apple faithful, but sometimes it just takes a while. The wait, however, is so worth it.⌘

Further Reading

R • Waffle
The iPhone Software Revolution • Coding Horror⌘