For some stupid reason, I succumbed to Johannes’s wishes and brought him back an iPhone from the US. It’s a pretty thing, and he’s been playing with it nonstop since he got it. Why was it stupid for me to get it for him, then? I had been irritated by the cult-like behavior of the media, Apple, and iPhone owners since the damn thing came out. And I knew it would get worse once Johannes got one in his hands. He’d already been exhibiting cult-like behavior before he even got one.

What kind of behavior am I talking about?

• Jobs’ statements about the phone, e.g. “…it’s the Internet in your pocket for the first time.” No, actually, it’s not. It can be argued that mobile web browsing has been around since the mid-90’s–over 10 years before the iPhone came out. Realistically, though, true mobile web browsing became a reality when Opera released Opera Mini in 2005. Even if Jobs intends his statement to be a metaphor, the vast majority of people exposed to the iPhone hype won’t realize that fact. Therefore, when they want the Internet in their pockets, they’ll go for the iPhone.

  Cult members will, of course, argue that Jobs’ statement is true, claiming that the iPhone is the first device to make mobile web browsing usable. Johannes, for example, made such a statement, and only grudgingly admitted afterwards that his only previous experience with mobile web browsing was on his Samsung D900, which is not even in the same class as the iPhone. I’ve been using the web on my cellphone since I first got my little T300, and seriously since I got my N91 in 2006. I use the web on my mobile daily now since I got my N81 last year. It is true that the iPhone’s browser renders pages in the same way that a traditional web browser does. From a usability standpoint, that’s not necessarily a good thing. Having used both the iPhone’s browser and Opera Mini, I have to say that I prefer Opera Mini, which adapts web pages for the limitations of a smaller screen, thus alleviating the need to constantly pan around and zoom in and out. So even without a touchscreen, I find mobile browsing to be more accessible with Opera Mini than with the iPhone. Usability is important, and the iPhone’s browser isn’t the mobile web at its most usable.

• A tardy, overhyped, and relatively restricted SDK which requires a $99 fee to even run your code locally and requires that you own a Mac and live in the US, and even then disallows plugins and background processes. Admittedly, this is preferable to firmware the previous update that locked out third party apps.
• Underhanded marketing practices such as outfitting the phone with a recessed headphone jack that prevents users from using almost any set of headphones except Apple’s, without an adapter. So basically the vast majority of iPhone users are going to be going around wearing white headphones, thereby providing free advertising for Apple.

This kind of stuff just leaves a nasty taste in my mouth, and here I’ve written up only some of my gripes about just the iPhone. I have to wonder if there’s some sort of substance impregnated in the glossy surfaces of Apple products that addles the minds of people who spend a lot of time around them. Don’t get me wrong–Apple makes beautiful products, and I like the direction they’re driving the industry. What I don’t like is the starry-eyed rhetoric of Apple fans, the underhanded and sometimes outright deceptive marketing practices, or Apple’s tight-fisted and begrudging concessions to allow third-party development.

I can’t wait to see what happens with the Android. One good that’s come out of the iPhone is that it’s convinced me of the importance of free and open software development.