iPhone: Whole Lotta Touchin' Going On

The iPhone was first introduced last January. Today, I did a search for "iPhone" that turned up 165,000,000 returns. That means, on average, there are 916,000 references per day. For a product that doesn't exist yet. I swore I wouldn't get sucked into iPhone mania, but after viewing the 20-minute guided tour that went up on the Apple site this weekend, it's hard not to salivate. Is the phone as perfect as it looks or could Steven Jobs sell me the Brooklyn Bridge?

What impressed me most about the video tour is not that the phone combines the power of an iPod, phone, Internet surfing, text messaging, map navigating, weather and stock reporting, and more all rolled into one device. There are a lot of wacky multifunction devices out there. They're just not very easy to use.

What impressed me is the way that Apple can get this functionality across to the average mortal by creating a user interface that thinks like humans do. Here are some little, but simple, examples:

• Any time you add something, whether it's a contact name or another caller on a conference call, you hit the + key.
• A simple slider controls volume or locks your phone from making calls inside your handbag.
• The screen orients itself in landscape or portrait mode depending on what you're doing.
• You can listen to the fourth voice on your voice mail without having to hear the others just by moving the slider.
• The 3.5-inch screen is big enough for me to read without my reading glasses (at least for the moment).
• The phone keeps a convenient history of your text messaging sessions—one that might actually make you remember what you were talking about.

The hardest thing to judge is how easy it will be to use the touch screen keypad. Remember the biggest "think different" moment about the iPhone is that it's got no keyboard, just a touch screen. Early naysayers are already complaining about using the touch screen, saying that it's just not up to the business requirements of seasoned key-tappers. In the demo, even the tour guide's slim, long fingers look fat on the iPhone's demure virtual keyboard. Others say that the iPhone will get fingerprint-dirty real fast. I can see that happening, too. The tour didn't mention the words "MS Outlook" once, which would make it hard for someone like me to depend on it for synchronizing mail and calendar. And, in addition to touching and tapping and sliding, there are some weird finger flicking commands to page you through things. And, of course, the biggest obstacle is the price tag: $499 for the 4GB model and $599 for the 8GB model, with a two-year contract and a service plan. If you have an existing contract, getting out of it could be an added expense.

So here I am contributing to the verbiage. Launch time is 6 p.m. on Friday, June 29^th. You can buy the iPhone at Apple stores, online, or at AT&T Wireless stores. The stores are planning to close for an hour and a half before the launch to ready themselves and will stay open until 10 p.m. AT&T has hired extra staff and done a fair amount of training (reports claim an average of six hours per employee).

Endgadget has been following rumors and early reports all week. MacRumors abound. Gizmodo is running an interview with the first iPod campers at NY's Fifth Avenue Apple store. (They showed up 100 hours early. Here's photo proof). They've also been mapping the facilities (including Wi-Fi hotspots) near any Apple store, should you be thinking about staking your tent.

So what are you doing this Friday night? I'm going to head over to the Fifth Avenue store to watch the melee. I'll report as soon as I get home.