As you know, I’ve been a long-time holdout on acquiring an iPhone, largely because I have never seen the need for a wireless phone that has anything but the basic features, plus Bluetooth for handsfree connections to the car or a wireless headset. So when Apple came out with the iPhone, I was skeptical.

On the other hand, I also regard most cell phone interfaces as pathetic, and I’ll have more to say about that in the next article. So this is one major reason why I have not strayed beyond the basics with my handsets. I have other priorities, and as long as the signal strength is adequate, and audio quality is decent, I have remained happy.

But I’ve been awfully curious as to what makes the iPhone tick, and why it became so popular so quickly. No, it’s not just hype. You see, a healthy majority of the folks who own one adore this wonderful gadget, so I’ve been sorely tempted.

Finally, I got in touch with my PR contact at Apple and he arranged to send me one to review, along with the requisite press review guide.

Now, to be blunt, I have mixed feelings about those review pamphlets. On the one hand, they help you focus on the key features of a new product, and sometimes suggest test scenarios. But the lazy writer may sometimes do little more than summarize that information, and then provide a brief comment on how they felt about the product.

I’m not going to do that, and, in fact, I never did check the reviewer’s guide before writing this review, nor did I read the brief instruction booklet packed with the phone.

Story continued in this week’s Tech Night Owl Newsletter.

This article was posted on Sunday, January 6th, 2008 at 7:30 PM and is filed under News and tagged with: Audio Quality, Bluetooth, Cell Phone, Gadget, Handsets, Hype, Iphone, Mixed Feelings, Night Owl, Owl, Priorities, Signal Strength, Wireless Headset.