What is the real use of 3G when
1) You can't download music over 3G network (iTMS)
2) You can't do a video chat (phones cam can't record video)
2) You can't send MMS
Having a 3G only for browsing is too underimplementation of 3G.
1. You can’t download music over the 3G network because the carrier won’t allow that. There’s little Apple or any other handset maker can do about that.
2. When the leaked features of the iPhone popped up a few days ago, a front-mounted video conferencing camera was one of them. I was wondering what use it would be of to me at the time and I honestly could not come up with a single one.
(a) Video conferencing is overrated anyway. The few times I do it on my Mac is just for novelty’s sake. In our busy schedules, it’s just not feasible to vest your entire concentration into chatting with some person, because we all know it’s pretty difficult (if at all possible) to get anything done while video conferencing with someone; (b) You can’t do it unless you’re sitting somewhere and have time on your hands. I don’t know about you but if I’m going somewhere and I know I’m going to have time enough on my hands to sit and video chat, I’ll prefer to carry my notebook along; and (c) When I’m in my home, I wouldn’t use the phone if I wanted to video chat.
IMHO, it would be just a useless (and probably unsightly) addition to the otherwise very functional and clean front face of the iPhone, just like it is on every other 3G phone I’ve ever seen. I’ve actually come to admire this quality of the company—they recognise the futility of features taken for granted in the market and aren’t afraid to buck the trend by leaving them out, the status quo be damned.
3. MMS. LOL!
Never knew any of my phones had it, never felt the need for it and never bothered with it. When you’re on an iPhone, a device with full and unlimited access to the Internet in various ways, the last thing you’ll bother with is sending an MMS. When Preshit shot a funny picture of Milind in Inorbit Mall and all of us wanted it too, he just dispatched it to us via email and we received it in a matter of seconds, thank you very much. You want MMS? The nineteenth century is waiting for you, please feel free to revisit it.
You can upload photos over 3G, synchronise your contacts, calendar and email, watch YouTube videos, use Google Maps and GPS, get stock and weather updates, download applications from the App Store and browse the Internet. Not to mention the fact that almost all (99%) third party applications will be able to access the Internet over the 3G network.
It hardly sounds like an “underimplementation” [sic] to me. Of course, the fact that there
is no 3G connectivity to speak of in our country is another story altogether.
BTW, is it true that the phone can only be activated at ATT store and can't be done online?
Yes, that’s how subsidisation works. The price of $199 sounds cheap on the face of it but, over the period of two years, it actually ends up being more expensive.
People were grumbling when Jobs declined to go the subsidising route and made customers pay more upfront. And now they are happy, even though they are paying more. Customer knows best, right?
