I can’t believe its already been a month since I got up at the crack of dawn, jumped in the car, and began driving around town, taking pictures of the lines at AT&T stores in my area. Having already secured my 3GS online from Apple.com, I took the opportunity to observe the madness in the third person. That is, until my wife decided she wanted one as well, and asked me to go get in a line for her. Thinking this would be an excellent opportunity for her to get turn by turn navigation in our old clunker as well as the ability to produce videos and greatly improve photographs of our children I figured, why not? So, off I went to meet a friend who was also getting in line and a couple hours later we were dramatically ripping open our button down shirts to reveal an “S” for speed.
Once I had my hands on the GS and was using it full time, it didn’t take long for me to realize that aside from the obviously faster load times, I really didn’t get all that much for my $199.00. In fact, the “S” for speed, seems to be about all I got. On a personal level I am glad to have made the upgrade as I am so entirely assimilated by Apple its nice to have at least one of their devices that I can afford to boost to the latest and greatest model every year. However, what about the normal people who got their 3G last year and upgraded? How do they feel? Well, if we can use myself, as the weather vein, I have a feeling the forecast is slightly stormy. So here is the rundown on my impressions as well as my wife’s for the iPhone 3GS:
The Big “S”: This is the obvious difference so we will start here. I gave our six year old daughter my White 3G to use as an iPod Touch with a camera and we often play many of the same games. The load times are impressively faster on the GS with most Apps loading at least twice as fast, living up to Apple’s claims. Still, we must ask ourselves, is the difference between 6 seconds and 12 seconds worth a couple hundred bucks and a new two year contract with the evil empire? Debatable. The real value for you buck comes when using the browser. Surfing the web and using WebApps is now significantly faster. I have ditched my RSS App for Google Reader mobile, I get a lot more reliability and speed out of my Online Banking Web App, and no longer think twice about turning to the phone for a quick check of the Goog which is now, in fact, quick.
According to my wife, when asked “Seriously, do you even notice a difference? Was it really worth the money and the new contract?” She replied, “Well, the internet is definitely faster, as for the rest, I really couldn’t say.”. It is worthy to note that she uses the phone for mobile browsing and social networking, nearly exclusively so the nod to noticeably faster internet shouldn’t be taken lightly. If she sees it, its there.
The Compass: Yes, about that compass. I have used it three times in the last month. One time to see what it looked like, the other to show someone else what it looked like, and a third to watch the map as I spun in circles in my office chair. The map did indeed spin in circles which was really neat, but has no replay value as I don’t enjoy dizziness all that much. My wife, when asked “What do you think about the Compass App?” said, “I don’t know, I haven’t opened it.” When I followed up with the question “What about the navigation changes in the Map App?” she said “I haven’t driven anywhere to need to use it yet.”. I would echo that response for myself as I haven’t had any need of it either. I do not discount how entirely valuable this feature must be if you live in a big city or travel often, but for someone like myself who does neither, it appears to be the exact same map with the exact same functions and is entirely unimpressive.
The Video: Here we have a mixed bag. I really like the video feature, and it really does produce exceptional quality for a phone. The main issue is that I take more forgettable video than anything of real value as I have yet to edit or publish any of the video taken with my phone. It can not, however, be ignored that YouTube reported a 400% increase in mobile uploads the week the GS was released, which goes to show this is indeed a popular feature. I definitely like having a little camcorder in my pocket, but integrating it into my daily routine hasn’t happened yet. As for the wife, who wanted this phone for video only second to the upgraded camera, has taken a grand total of five videos, none of which contain footage of anything more than the novelty of being able to do so.
The 3MP Camera: Here is the real winner and “S” be damned, my favorite feature. The tap to focus, white balance, and color adjustments really shine here and are a vast improvement of the shabby camera in the 3G. The camera is still highly unforgiving in poor light, and very slow for succeeding shots but it is, after all, a phone. I use the camera feature constantly and have over 100 photos in my Facebook “Mobile Uploads” album to prove it. The camera on the 3G was a huge source of frustration as it often produced blurred images and disappointment. The camera on the GS however, while not a camera for taking professional shots (again, its a phone) will usually produce something I can actually use 80% of the time. If you profiled my camera usage, I am one of those people who wants to be able to quickly take a picture of that smoking truck in front of me, post it on Facebook, and then write smart ass commentary. Fortunately the camera on the 3GS makes this process a breeze. In short, if I am going somewhere and plan on taking pictures, I still take a camera. If I want to catch something quickly and push it to Twitter or Facebook because its appropriate for that medium and not necessarily something I want in my photo album, I have the iPhone and it works brilliantly. My wife also notices a dramatic difference in photo quality, and with a quick look at her camera roll, has 90 photos from the last month to show for it.
Voice Recognition: See Compass, this feature is absolutely useless in my opinion. I don’t even show people this feature when I give tours of the phone because I wouldn’t want someone to think I considered it a selling point. You have a touch screen device you can manipulate to your whim in under 10 seconds to do whatever you could possibly want it to. Why would I spend 5 seconds merely holding down a button waiting to verbally give it a command it may or may not interpret correctly? This feature will likely shine in third party Apps, but the stock functionality is laughable and forgettable. It is an obvious feature thrown in simply because the hardware to support it was there and it gives Apple another box to check on a side by side comparison with the Palm Pre and Blackberry or perhaps those poor souls considering a WinMO. My wife, when asked “What do you think of the voice recognition?” says “I like that! I hardly ever use it, but its really cool.” Our stark differences of opinion should give some perspective on the various impressions people have of this upgrade.
The Style: Seriously? The company that makes, hands down, the most elegant, stylish, and perfectly designed equipment known to man, can’t make the new phone that I just dropped hundreds of dollars on and resigned for two more years of the crappiest cellular service on the planet look different than the old one? Shabby… It doesn’t even say “3GS” on it. Give me a break.
The Conclusion: My final verdict on the 3GS is that if you already have a 3G and are happy, I would wait for June of 2010. The features are nice, but for most of us, not necessary. If your new to the iPhone, that extra $100.00 to get the “S” is, in my opinion, the way to go, yet I can’t find a soap box to stand on for those who still choose the $99.00 3G. I think that, as mentioned in my last bullet, the lack of a style change from Apple is their expression of the fact that there really isn’t a fundamental difference in the GS and the 3G. My impression from the first month of an App community that has twice the horsepower to play with, and loads of new features, is that there will likely be another model next June before this new functionality is fully utilized. After getting out of the line (hopefully at Verizon) in June of 2010 with my new iPhone, I will likely have to acknowledge the GS as the digital bridge to no where that it is for those of us that already had a 3G. Finally, all that being said, and having made what sounds like a somewhat negative conclusion, I would like to end with the fact that there is absolutely no way I would go back to a 3G having used the 3GS. At least not willingly. It is a solid upgrade if the money and contract renewal are a non issue, and must feel like going from a Pinto to a Ferrari to the 2G users. Its just that, at the same time, I wouldn’t really call it the next best thing over the 3G, just the next thing. If someone is giving you static because they have a GS and you only have a 3G, you can easily shut them down by simply saying “So”.
The Voyager 885 is your mild mannered “Ear Mullet” with a catch. It supports full A2DP stereo bluetooth. This little convertible will allow you to listen to your music or podcasts while on the go all while keeping you firmly anchored to the world around you. Finally I can cruise the Home Depot or Bed, Bath, and Beyond (if there is time) while TWiT, The Mac Observer, or my favorite tunes are pumping into a single ear, all while under the guise of someone walking around with a low profile earpiece in, waiting for a call. When Sunday rolls around and its time to mow, or if I have that rare break where I can fully “check out”, I can pop on the included stereo adapter that runs a short cord around the back of my neck so that I get full stereo in both ears. 