Three of the mainstream media’s most influential technology writers have published their initial reviews of the iPhone 3G and the consensus opinion seems to be “well, why not?”
Edward C. Baig gives the phone 3 3/4 stars out of 4 for USA Today and says “it’s cheaper, faster and a lot friendlier for business.”
Walter J. Mossberg writes for the Wall Street Journal that he found Apple’s upgrade “a more capable version of an already excellent device. And now that it’s open to third-party programs, the iPhone has a chance to become a true computing platform with wide versatility,” but notes the access to speed promised by AT&T’s 3G network seriously degrades the phone’s battery life.
The New York Times writer David Pogue has the least glowing of the three reviews and says that while there are notable, if small improvements in the 3G model, “unfortunately, most of the standard cellphone features that were missing from the first iPhone are still missing.” He cites lack of voice dialing, video recording, copy-and-paste, memory-card slot, Bluetooth stereo audio and phone-to-phone photo sending (MMS) capabilities as reasons to think twice about getting the phone.
All three reviewers praised Apple’s upgrades to the sound quality on the new model, an important consideration for those who might view its price in terms of the savings realized from not needing to purchase a new iPod, and always a welcome improvement to any portable multi-media device.
Lonnie Lazar is a writer-musician-web designer-attorney. He writes about Apple for Cult of Mac and Mac|Life, and about VoIP and telecommunications for Voxilla. Follow Lonnie on Twitter @LonnieLazar, join the Cult of Mac on Facebook, and find Lonnie’s photos on Flickr.
