The iPhone does not need 3G. With many major cities around the world currently rolling out widespread Wi-Fi coverage, its only going to be a short time before before pretty much everyone who has an iPhone also has access to near-universal Wi-Fi coverage.
It is important to understand how the iPhone (and other iGadgets) have become such sort-after items. This has happened not because the technology is the best in the market (its usually pretty good, but rarely the best value for money, and is not always reliable) but because Apple know that people who spend lots of money on gadgets are generally more concerned with looks and gimmicks than the actual nuts and bolts of the technology.
Sure, the large touch screen interface is truly cutting edge, but look at the other functionality misses; you have to take the phone to the shop when the battery needs replacing, you can't upgrade the memory, you can't use the thing for data storage, the camera is reportedly comparitively poor quality, you are tied to one network and if you live in the sticks you will not have fast internet access. You also don't have GPS, which is (so I'm told) the most usefull function of the Nokia N95.
The truth is that people who care about owning an iPhone are either gadget freaks or fashion victims. The success of the iPhone will depend on one thing: how reliable the touch screen is. Apple have cleverly ticked all the fashion-label wearing, R'n'B/middle-of-the-road rock listening, PS3 playing, childless urbanite tick boxes - as long as the thing doesn't break easily it will sell by the bucket-load.
One word of warning for the iPhone - the EU won't like the idea of tying a popular brand of technology to a single network. Unlike the US, where money = good, the European Comission could well intervene if it feels that a single-network iPhone will prevent fair competition between networks. There have already been threats made by EU officials against the fact that you need an iGadget to play iTunes. The iPhone will only increase these tensions.
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The iPhone does not need 3G. With many major cities around the world currently rolling out widespread Wi-Fi coverage, its only going to be a short time before before pretty much everyone who has an iPhone also has access to near-universal Wi-Fi coverage.
It is important to understand how the iPhone (and other iGadgets) have become such sort-after items. This has happened not because the technology is the best in the market (its usually pretty good, but rarely the best value for money, and is not always reliable) but because Apple know that people who spend lots of money on gadgets are generally more concerned with looks and gimmicks than the actual nuts and bolts of the technology.
Sure, the large touch screen interface is truly cutting edge, but look at the other functionality misses; you have to take the phone to the shop when the battery needs replacing, you can't upgrade the memory, you can't use the thing for data storage, the camera is reportedly comparitively poor quality, you are tied to one network and if you live in the sticks you will not have fast internet access. You also don't have GPS, which is (so I'm told) the most usefull function of the Nokia N95.
The truth is that people who care about owning an iPhone are either gadget freaks or fashion victims. The success of the iPhone will depend on one thing: how reliable the touch screen is. Apple have cleverly ticked all the fashion-label wearing, R'n'B/middle-of-the-road rock listening, PS3 playing, childless urbanite tick boxes - as long as the thing doesn't break easily it will sell by the bucket-load.
One word of warning for the iPhone - the EU won't like the idea of tying a popular brand of technology to a single network. Unlike the US, where money = good, the European Comission could well intervene if it feels that a single-network iPhone will prevent fair competition between networks. There have already been threats made by EU officials against the fact that you need an iGadget to play iTunes. The iPhone will only increase these tensions.