iPhone musings

[mdlbear]

The (just-announced, vaporware) iPhone looks very cool -- just two questions: what price when, and how open? I'm not spending $500 on a phone -- plus an extra $50/month for net access -- unless it's open enough to get some good open-source apps. It's absolutely not worth it if the open source community can't write software for it -- otherwise I'll just get a Linux phone from Motorola. We'll see.

Doesn't matter much anyway -- that price includes a 2-year contract, and I still have a most of a year to go on my old phone. Who knows what'll be available by then. Or what the iPhone's UI will really be like. The Mac is more useable than my Nokia phone, but not by much; I wouldn't use either UI if I had a real choice. (edited five or so minutes after posting)

(more -- some good comments on O'Reilly, and a link to Apple's iPhone page from DocBug)

Comments

Gloat, gloat

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for the unlocked GSM model, though.

I hate cell companies

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

It runs MacOS, so unless it's totally secured, open source apps can be written for it. On the other hand, I'll bet that you'll have a hell of a time getting Moto's Linux phone without a new cell contract, just like every other cell-network compatible product sold in the USA. So they're going to be very similar products. Gray market unlocked European versions of both phones will probably be available through third-party resellers like Telestial, and they will work with T-Mobile and Cingular, but cheap they won't be. And, of course, in the USA, Verizon will still have better coverage because they're the ones with analog backup, and we don't have any built-out GSM networks.

Have I mentioned that I hate cell companies?

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

I suspect that you'll prefer the $350 contract-free Linux phone with SDK I saw today at CES...

[mdlbear]

I suspect I would. There are getting to be quite a few of them. And it wouldn't surprise me much to see a GSM followup to the Nokia 770 tablet.

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

Sadly the 800 (also here at CES) is just an updated and recased 770...