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The release of the Apple iPhone has been met with a lot of enthusiasm, but while a lot of people have charged right in to get their iPhones, there are plenty of folks who have been holding back until they get the real story on this nifty new gadget. Well here’s what you’ve been waiting for – a list of the pros and cons of the iPhone, so that you can make up your mind on your own without paying heed to the hype out there.

So here’s a semicomprehensive list of all the things that are right about it, and the few things that could be done better. In no way do I guarantee that this is a complete list, it’s just a good selection of “goods” and “bads” that’ll give you an idea of what you’d be getting into by getting an iPhone.

The Good -

The iPhone comes in two models: a version with 6GB of storage capacity and one with 8GB. This is good or bad depending on how you look at it. 6-8GB is by no means a small amount of storage space, but I can see how users of an 80GB iPod can look down their noses at a “measly” 8GB. I’m still gonna chalk this up as a “pro.”The overall design is sleek and beautiful as it is innovative. Almost the entire unit is a large touch-screen, very complex and very sensitive. The tactile sensors across the surface of the screen respond to your touch to push buttons, move sliders, scroll through windows, and do any number of other actions. Since the entire interface is digital, new software updates could make just about anything possible for the iPhone.The camera function for the iPhone is just amazing. It shames other cameraphones, and rivals even some of the digital camera units out there. Picture quality is pristine in good lighting conditions, and doesn’t even suffer much when the light dims. Gets a little fuzzier, but it’s still remarkable.The iPhone possesses a fully-functional connection to the Internet via either the EDGE service or any WiFi connection. This isn’t a “watered-down” Web either, you can access almost anything. There are even sites being built exclusively for iPhone that you can’t view on your computer.The interface, touched on before, has been designed for utmost ease and flow…animations are smooth and interesting, and everything is easily accessible.

The Bad -

Considering how brand-new the iPhone is, there are still a lot of bugs and software errors to be worked out. There have been complaints about portions of the screen simply ceasing to function, as well as simple system crashes when running too many complex features.Probably the biggest problem is the price. The unit itself costing either $500 or $600 depending on the model, the iPhone isn’t friendly on your wallet.The phone service is done exclusively through AT&T, who isn’t exactly cheap. I haven’t used them myself, so I don’t know how reliable their service is, but it’s pretty common knowledge that leaving some money in your pocket is NOT their biggest priority.iTunes is another of the big moneydrainers…with audio downloads costing almost a dollar per song, the folks at Apple are happily rolling in your money.Aside from the above, the main limits are that you can only use the phone service in the US (so far it’s the only place the iPhone has been released), and that the battery isn’t customer-replaceable; you have to send it in to be replaced when it goes dead, and I believe it costs $80 or somewhere around there.

So there’s a basic idea of the iPhone’s pros and cons. Now you should have the basic info you need to make your choice as to whether or not you want to buy one for yourself.

By: Erik Michaels

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