iPhone 2.0 is the most un-Apple product of the last 15 years (1 Viewer)

This article nails it:
iPhone 2.0: The glory wore off in wash - (37signals)

Sorry to go on a trifecta of Apple Negativity today, but I call em as I see em and the last month and a half have put an extreme dull in Apples shine for me. Not to be maudlin, but if you want some proof that Jobs' health isnt all that, the mess of this transition, including all of the following, show that the legendary perfection is just not there. NO WAY Steve Jobs in his prime lets this happen.

-Firmware not being available
-In store activation not working
-Firmware 2.0 acts more like windows than OSX
-They still dont have their shit together on the NDA
-Aurora's privacy breach
-Battery life can be visibly watched draining while using app store
-Mobile Me DISASTER

They tried to do entirely tooooo much in a single point in time. And it all kinda sucks. And they had the nerve to try to charge me $10 for this junk.

I haven't read the article yet, but you do have some valid complaints Sam. There is no denying that. On the other hand, I think 2.0 is quite impressive. It added a ton of functionality to my 1st gen iPhone. It is not a stable as I am accustomed to an Apple product being, but it is worth it to me for the added functionality. iTunes 7.7 is another matter entirely and I'm still annoyed by the really long sync times with 2.0. 2.0.1 needs to arrive quickly.

The reason for the long sync times is that EVERY application that you use has to round trip back to its host because there is no file system breakout for user data. That's an iPhone/touch firmware disability not something you can lay on the feet of iTunes.

App Store and all the apps it brings are awesome if and only if the experience matches that of the flawless nature of Apples home grown tools. It doesnt. And it will take months of patches to this firmware to get a stable base.

Ok, maybe 2.0.4.

I was going to start a new thread but: things Apple needs to change in iPhone firmware 2.1 and iTunes 7.8

1) Eliminated the momentary freezes (Contacts, Safari, etc.) that didn't exist in 1.0 - 1.14

2) Fix backup times in iTunes -- Sam may be right to question the underlying architecture, but there is no reason that ~300MB worth of data should take HOURS to copy over. None. This is a BUG, not a design flaw.

3) Allow users to turn off auto-correction. This has to be a simple, simple thing to put in the iPhone Configuration. Until they do it it is impossible to write in unsupported languages -- all 160+ of them.

They need a better way to lay out what app goes where on what page too. I's unusable with more than 20 or so apps.

Oh, and copynpaste =)

I agree. This phone sucks. 3G doesn't always work in an area
that is covered by it. Battery drains very fast. My friend's iPhone
crashes every time he pinches a webpage to enlarge it.

I'm optimistic that Apple will fix all of this, but I am disappointed
that this was a rushed effort on their part.

Geez: This seems to make my decision to stay with my original iPhone even better! I'm running the 2.0 software / Itunes 7.7 combo but don't seem to be having anywhere near the problems described above. AT&T's 3G service in my area is "spotty" (by their own admission); and I have WiFi available almost everywhere that I go, so I just didn't see a need for a new phone at this time.

As far as battery life: Didn't Apple state last year that the reason they went with EDGE over 3G initially was due to concerns over battery life? Since this was widely stated last year you would have thought they would have addressed the battery issue before rolling out 3G access. I have to say that this *is* very disappointing. (I've heard stories from insiders that a beefier battery was developed, but would have required a slightly thicker case. Apparently somebody made the decision to go with aesthetics over functionality. If so, that was a poor design choice. Where's Woz when we need him??)

So far, I'm loving the new 2.0 software! My apps include Pandora (love it!); VisuaRadio (good - but a few bugs); Tips (Jerry Seinfeld would be proud); PhoneSaber (good for laughs); and Mrs. Pac-Man (expensive, but it works well with no discernible problems and includes all the original sounds, mazes, and cartoons). The only crashes and freezes that I've had were with the VisuaRadio app; and it was very clear that the problems were with that app and not the 2.0 software. So far I've stayed away from some of the more exotic apps like Voice Recording. I just assumed that apps that add a huge degree of additional functionality to the iPhone probably will be a little unstable for a few months or so. After all, you're dealing with version 1 of the SDK. Things will get much better from the "apps" perspective over the next three to six months. But I don't see a fix coming for the battery life anytime soon ...

Ron, have you tried running for a day with 3G turned off (Edge/WiFi only)? Is there any evidence that the battery life on the new phone is any worse for reasons other than the addition of the 3G radio?

If it is strictly a 3G issue, I think there is definite hope in one respect -- the battery life will improve even without Apple doing anything when AT&T improves 3G coverage, as more juice gets vampirized when the phone is struggling with a marginal 3G signal or is switching back and forth between edge/3G.

I can tell you the iPhone 2.0 firmware drains the battery on my iPod TOUCH faster than the old firmware did and there isnt even any 3g hardware in this guy to point that blamefinger at...

I must have the world's greatest iPhone battery, because my year old iPhone (running 2.0) is just as impervious to battery drain as ever. Are you sure you aren't just spending a lot more time doing stuff (like playing with apps) that you weren't before? I spend a lot of time in Safari, Mail, Twitterrific, Remote, PocketPedia,WeatherBug, Stanza and various other apps. Not a huge amount of talk time. Some music, not much video.

Yes. Do me a favor. Use AppStore for 20 minutes downloading a few new apps. Watch your battery. Let me know how that works out, cause on mine I can watch it tick down line by line.

Play a game of scrabble or Aurora feint for a half hour. How much battery does that eat up?

Well I used it for 10 minutes and downloaded the Bloomberg app. Battery still showing full. No time for games (This was done using Edge)

Gosh, can I pile on

QC nightmare - Bad screens, buttons falling off, bezels out of line, seals leaking light, on and on.

Light at the end of the tunnel (instead of the edge of you screen) Apple ques a 2nd/3rd shipment with hardware fixes and between 2.1 and 2.2 improves battery management, bugs. Voice GPS arrives and people return to Apple praise. Possible?

Oh wait, they start shipping online direct and the Breadliners scream Bloody Hell!

Cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria!