Bruce Tognazzini AskTog, July 2007
On June 29, 2007, the long-awaited iphone was released. Was it worth the wait? Is it all it's cracked up to be?
Yes.
There is no mistaking that this is a first-release phone, both in the hardware and software. However, it is an Apple first release, equivalent in many respects to the fifth or sixth release quality we have come to expect from other major computer technology players.
The "fit and finish" of the device are extraordinary, both in terms of industrial design and human-computer interaction.
The Hardware
The press has made much of the slow networking of this initial iPhone, something that will undoubtably be corrected in upcoming versions.
The initial iPhone makes use of the old AT&T 2G (Edge) network, rather than the new 3G network. That reduces the web browsing user-experience to something more akin to a dial-up modem, rather than the DSL-like experience of the 3G network.
The rest of the hardware seems solid, though the touch system could be improved with a couple of small additions. More on that later.
The Software
The fundamentals of the system have been well thought-out and deftly implemented. User-operations are smooth and pleasant, reflecting Apple's traditional attention to detail, again something unusual in the computer industry.