no
The eee wins by a mile

I don’t think the iPhone or Facebook are significant technology developments. Both just do their particular job well. Neither actually invents anything.

Chris - very true.

Nothing Apple produces is an invention. ironically they take others work, tart it up and sell it for twice the amount any sane company would.

Most significant technology… hydrogen fuel cells

All these comments from people saying “you’ve been blinded by the logo”, “nothing Apple produces us an invention” all fail to realise that Apple produce products that people WANT to use.

‘The whole is greater than the sum of the parts’ has never been more relevant than when you encounter these dinosaurs who continually spout their anti-apple diatribe.

I’m going to second Chris, I don’t think either have introduced anything profound - as for the N95 that too, while stronger in some regards than the iPhone - still doesn’t really introduce anything incredibly new. As for Facebook don’t get me wrong I love it but it IS just a website, maybe a MySpace for adults? Although applications seem to be trashing that.

Ahem I attempted to add a link to my previous entry but it didn’t work, so voila:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/default.stm

I’m right behind Neil on this one and wonder how many of the many detractors have actually owned or used an iPhone for any length of time. It is incalcuable the amount of times I’ve grinned like a cheshire cat at the ease with which everything just “works”. It’s possibly the most complete and intuitive and least frustrating gadget I’ve ever owned. I don’t even get EDGE in my area and I don’t even find looking at the odd page through GPRS annoying.

Granted, the features alone may not be innovative individually, but their amalgamation is awesome.

Thanks Paul - I had wondered

I’m not making a case for the iPhone (or Facebook) being remarkable inventions.
But a popular definition of “innovation” is the successful launch of a new product - and both fit into that category. I think, in terms of web/online tech, both are very significant, and iPhone tops my list for the reasons above.

Logo, rest assured, doesn’t have much to do with it, and I was quite prepared to be diappointed with the iPhone. Using one, however, it’s clear: this is really very good indeed.

What a relief to read some objective thoughts on the iPhone. As an owner from day one I keep discovering the simple elegant interface opens the door to new uses. Look up book shop in google maps, click on address, dial them to see if they’re open, save address and get directions all with four or five key presses of the gorgeous backlit screen. A pleasure and worth every penny!

OMG!! I have had a iphone now for 2 months and have never looked back! i laugh at my old Nokia! Shame on Microsoft, Nokia and all those others! you have been left behind again! Well done Apple!!!

I think a lot of correspondents simply don’t get the purchasing process. Like any other consumer purchase the decision is an emotional one, not one based on specs or price.
Let’s take the iPod. Not as good as other on the market spec-wise or price-wise. But they sell in shedloads.
I have an iPhone. No, it doesnt do some things other phones might do but I don’t really care. The truth is is does what it does effortlessly through a brilliant interface. It will be ever so easy for Apple to improve the feature set of the iPhone. Somehow I don’t think that other manufacturers will get anywhere near the Apple interface and ease of use.

I don’t really consider another mobile phone to be a significant technology - especially iPhone. Touchscreen tech for mobile devices have been available for quite sometime, and the technology available within the phone is quite limited. Many other mobile devices feature higher resolution cameras and many work with 3.5G networks, essentially rendering the iPhone obsolete in these areas. Where the iPhone does come into its element is the GUI used to control the phone. This has moved on in leaps and bounds and will cause other technologists - let alone mobile phone manufacturers - to consider improving the way users can interface with their tech. Is it significant though. Well, not really, it’s a natural progression how user interfaces must be push forward, developing on existing technologies.

A significant piece of tech for me is one that I need to have to do the jobs I need it to do. Is the iPhone an iPod with a mobile, or a mobile with an iPod? - Either way, I have both and see no real reason to replace them at this time. So yes, the iPhone has brought improvements in a few areas, but hasn’t made significant leaps - and has even gone backward in some others. The addition of an ‘office suite’, GPS, 3.5G, and a 5 megapixel camera would certainly convince to get rid of the iPos and mobile and grab a new iPhone. At the moment, other than the GUI, there really is nothing new on it…

I feel the point that gets missed here is Operating Systems (OS). Apple have, in the iPhone, introduced the world to the Apple OS that runs on its PCs and laptops. And if you can use an iPhone then you can use an Apple PC or laptop. So, the iPhone, a great user introduction to the Apple OS.

Just looked through your original posting Neil. Are you sure you didn’t just substitute iPhone for iMode from a Japanese posting a few years back. Most of the iPhones’s wonderful features sound strangely familiar…

Those who say bad things about Apple products tend to not have the slightest idea what they are talking about.

I have had a mobile phone by every manufacturer on the market… almost..

I have had countless computers running just about every operating system ever made.

I have developed software for Windows and Linux. I am a graduate of computer science and have been playing computer games since I could walk on every gaming platform ever made.

Not that I say these things to impress but rather try to suggest my opinions are objective and subjective.

I have been using Mac OS X for around 18 months and also recently bought an iPhone.

I run a graphic and web design business and basically I am twice as productive using Apple products over any of the others I have used.

It has nothing to do with the logo. It has nothing to do with the price. It has to do with the fact I want the best tool available to me and I happen to believe it’s Apple who make it.

My last phone was a Nokia N series and it basically crashed 3 or 4 times a day. Sending email was simply routed SMS… and Calendar sync was basically rubbish.

If you have never owned or seriously used (for a period longer than 3 minutes) and iPhone or Apple computer then you should not make any comments whatsoever… because you are chatting shit!!

The iPhone is undoubtedly a nice idea. But for the price they’re charging I think you’re better off containing your excitement for 12 months or so till the inevitable iPhone 2.0 (with proper 3G etc.) comes out. Personally, I doubt I’ll get one as I’m too wedded to the slide-out keyboard on my HTC TyTN and can’t stand on-screen ones. I just hope Windows Mobile 7 can learn something from the iPhone….

“You all fail to realise that Apple produce products that people WANT to use” - which explains why they have abt 5% of the market and the other 95% of people who can see past the constant marketing and evaluate whether the item offered is actually any good (If its from Apple it’ll be yesterdays technology at Lottery winner prices) (PS N95 rocks - just needs a bigger battery!)

I wonder how many of the critics here actually have an Iphone. First they should try one for a while before making a judgment. nothing has come close to this device that is such a pleasure to use. It works beautifully first time every time. Its a cut above anything else on the market as a user experience, It just makes me wonder what the designers at Nokia and alike have been doing for the past 10 years, When a company like Apple can come along and make such a leap in terms of a product that is such a joy to use, at their very first attempt. Well Done Apple you deserve your success, now lets see the rest of the industry improve their products above the new standard that has been set

Iphone - useless camera and 2G technology which is useless for downloading anywhere outside of a city centre where there is no wifi.

Technology advance ???

“which explains why they have abt 5% of the market and the other 95% of people”

Yes, but it’s the 5% that count the most. When you look at the demographics ,those 5% are the wealthy and/or trendsetting segment of the market hence Apple’s super profitability; they’re simply not in the mass market low margin box shifting game. Not everything in life has to be made for the lowest common denominator.

Back on topic, I bought an iPhone and have to say that it does terrible things for those with internet addiction. One can sit on the loo at work browsing away for far too long, or sat in a cafe/bar and pass way too much time with the excellent browser.

WiFi on iPhone is brilliant, it gets well used at home as it’s easier to sit on couch/sofa and flick through internet with iPhone than have a laptop or sit at a desk. The Cloud coverage is better than I thought it would be in many areas, and it’s quicker than 3G. But for the odd page, Edge isn’t _that_ horrible.

Myself and a friend visited Glasgow a week ago and I took a nosey into the Apple store there. A table full of Iphones grabbed our attention, they were tied to the table obviously but you could play around with them. Two weeks earlier I had just taken out a contract with Vodafone (and received a lovely Sony Ericsson that I was particulary chuffed about). After playing with the Iphone, I cried.

Get a life you lot. It’s a phone with some great features. Nothing’s perfect but Apple gear comes close.

I think the iPhone has had a terrible press in the UK, having owned several smartphones and being surrounded by people using Blackberries I think the iPhone stands out. I use it more for surfing and email than I do my laptop. Yes, I believe it will change the internet and it is already changing the mobile phone market. As for the argument that it is too expensive, it’s cheaper to run than my last phone and I only used that to check football scores on the web. It’s as quick at downloading content as my 3G N80 was. Has anyone studied the spec on 3G? The data download rates are per mast not per phone, the more users the slower it is, which means it crawls in London. The initial cost when you consider what you are buy an iPod Touch (200quid)and a phone (70 quid) is no where near as bad as people make account. Its also the first phone with a decent upgrade strategy, software upgrades are a piece of cake.

It does however needs a few changes, most notably the SMS facility, the chat dialog is brilliant, however, I would like to queue messages ready for when I leave the tube and I’d like the ability to send to more than one recipient.

I also the security model is poorly implemented, I’d prefer the security lock to be limited to phone and data functions. Having to use an access code when running the iPod during playback is simply hopeless and a very poor decision.

Finally has anyone noticed how many women use this thing? My partner is using her’s for email and the web, I believe she is using 60-80% of the functionality straight out the box. That just is not true of other phones and that is why it is a break through device, if you can’t see the advantages of that level of intuitive simplicity then you have missed the point.

BlackBerry.

Windows mobile 7 …. i laughed so hard I cried … but now that I’ve had time to compose myself I’d like to return to the talking point - iPhone significant technology development of the year. 1) announced in 2007 and delivered in 2007 caused media frenzy from the word go. 2) Immediately had other manufactures and phone companies vying with each other to provide similar functionality (even although nothing here apart from gui is really new) 2.5) ever since the first Mac the rest of the computing world has been trying to catch up in terms of innovation and usability 3) iPhone in the hand is just gorgeous and usable straight out of the box … as one commentator said 85% plus features easily accessible intuitively … have you seen the size of the manual 4) it just works and people want products that work … that alone is worthy of the prize for tech innovation 5) works better and more smoothly integrated than any other device i have ever owned in the categories phone/camera/multimedia playback device 6) surprisingly mature offering for a baby product from a company with no history of producing integrated devices … yes i do know about pipin, newton, emate etc etc … but they were not integrated … and finally 7) significant because it moves a whole raft of technologies forward and makes them a pleasure not a chore to use.

PS not one mention of contacts because they are network operator arcana and nothing to do with the device per se … btw iPhone can be bought network free in france and germany. All New mobiles cost a fortune but the networks heavily subsidise them by paying millions to nokia et al .. there is no such thing as a free lunch so don’t even go there as far as device cost goes. Thanks for listening. I enjoyed ALL the contributions to this thread.

iPhone Is a significant development. I use Apple products but was sceptical, but having used my iPhone in the UK and in France, I must say the device was a joy to set up and actually use.

when will people stop knocking the iPhone. It simply is the best gadget I have ever owned. Who cares about the camera. The whole thing just works. Words can’t explain the power of proper Internet in your pocket. Yes I love apple but anyone that has played with my phone wants one. This is just the beginning

Anyone noticed that when you access facebook on the iphone it comes up with an iphone specific version http://iphone.facebook.com …?

Anyway, with my N95 that I upgraded to in June (with o2) my phone bills were averaging £200/month on the £40/month 800 minute tariff, a large amount of which was data for e-mails and some ‘internet’ use.
I went into my local o2 store the day after the iphone came out to have a look and walked out with one after playing with a demo handset for ten minutes. I’m on the £55/month 1200 minute contract, and my bills are now around £70-£80 a month. With that £80 a month as an average I will be spending around £1440 over the 18 month contract, plus the £270 for the phone. Even though my N95 was free on my upgrade I would’ve spent somewhere in the region of £3600 over my old 18 month contract. I could’ve changed tariff to bring my bills down (as I was thinking of doing), but after using the demo handset in the shop I realised exactly how useless my N95 was!
My iphone fits in seamlessly with my Macs at home, syncing with ical, address book, mail etc when I put it in its cradle - I never even thought of trying to sync (or integrate in any way) my old N95(or any phone previously) with any system in my house (windows or mac).
My iphone really came into its own the other week when myself and my colleagues’ flight got cancelled and we were stranded in Italy because of the air traffic controllers strike.
On my old N95 I would have been on the phone for an indeterminate amount of time to an expensive call centre number, paying even more for calling from overseas, trying to find another flight and then book the tickets. Within 5 minutes on my iphone, using the safari browser and whatever the data network in Italy is, I had booked us new tickets through a popular online travel agent. I think the data charge was about £4 because I was on the continent so it didn’t fall in my contract allowance. It was quick, extremely easy and really rather cheap considering! My colleague (who is also a Mac user) is now buying an iphone in the new year.

The icing on the cake was that I sold my old (and free with my previous upgrade) N95 on ebay 2 days later for £300!

I have to agree with the first post. The Asus Eee would seem to be the most significant technology development of the year and the one that will have most impact on the technology market. I have been reading through a number of reviews and I can think of no tech item that has received so much positive praise, it is really hard to find a bad word about the Eee - The same can not be said for either the iphone of facebook. Sorry but I think you have missed the real winner for 2007

Smartphones have been around for a few years now. If the Orange SPV was given a better GUI front end then it could quite easily achieve the same as the Iphone.

The Iphones success is more to do with branding than anything else.

E.g. Ipod vs Mp3 players

The fanboys are winning this one, as it appears that conviction trumps just about everything. Do you suppose someone pays people some stu-pend or dis-honorarium to troll through various fora to bad-mouth/shit-talk the iPhone? It sure seems like it.

Anyway, if I had the bucks, and even the slightest need for a mobile, I’d probably look first, and long, at an iPhone.

Do do feel that your view of the iphone is somewhat through rose tinted glasses… yes, the iPhone is a massive step in the right direction, but it’s not perfect.. and to compare this against your crumby N80 really means nothing as the 18 - 24 month gap in technology clearly shows… Try comparing the iPhone to the new Nokia N95.. that would be more accurate.

I would describe the iPhone like a bag of walkers sensations crisps… The bag looks great, and the contents tastes pretty good… but the bag isn’t full… The iPhone will only truely compare to other handsets when 3G / HSDPA are included… lets see how the battery copes with the extra loading from the radio stack!

Don’t get me wrong. The iPhone is good… just not that good!

I wonder if in 12 months your views of your 2G iPhone will be the same?? Hopefully the battery will last your 24month contract ;O)

2 points.

1. My last 2 Sony Ericsson’s have the sound fade when a call comes in.
2. In a recent Christmas party, we cheated at the quiz (i know!) my collegue tried to use her iphone, but I was able to get the answer and fill in the sheet while she was still trying to get a wifi connection - im sorry but this is a real life situation so dont throw the geek/spec line at me.

I have been a PC user all my life…i am now an ICT teacher in London and we only use PC’s…my parents thought they would buy me a laptop for xmas…what did they get me…an iBook?!!! To cut this story short.. I love it…I cant stop playin gwith it..everything seems to work the way i never new i would want it to! I decided to go to the apple store…and what did i find? not a store but a place where people hang out talk about stuff play on the products (They do the talking not the logo!) I have never seen anything like it…i have def not seen a Microsoft store where people play with the product for as long as they want! I have the ipod touch and i love it… As for the price of the iphone…maybe times are changing and we wont be able to get the best devices for the prices we want? maybe its just a filtering system to get the customers they want? that might be harsh but they have no obligation to make sure everyone can afford their stuff?

I can’t WAIT to get the iphone next month. My contract is due for renewal and i gaze at it every day on the O2 website. I have had a play with it instore too. It was sooo easy to use. Wonderful to hold, looks amazing, and the access to the web was so easy and fast. It all depends what you want to use a mobile phone for. I want to make calls - it does that. I want to access the web with speed and ease - it does that, I want to text - it does that. I want portable music - it does that. I want a phone that looks great - it looks great. Roll on mid January….i am counting the days.

I too wanted to hate the iPhone, despite having various Macs around the office and home. But it’s gorgeous, knocks the N95 into the weeds for all but the most geeky users, and I have clients who want now use their iPhones for almost everything.

Only thing putting me off buying one is the silly contract. Methinks it’s going to have to be a “jailbreak” 16Gb Touch with microphone mod when the prices drop next year. ‘Til then, I’ll continue to drool !

To those saying MS Smartphones allow you access to the ‘real internet’, this isn’t quite true. Sites using frame layouts are inaccessible, and CSS is handled in a far more basic way than by the mobile safari.

It’s easy to see the areas where the iPhone leads the technology (UI and browser), but the lack of expansion and it’s being tied to a network make it useless to me. Wifi works fine on my Samsung i600, I don’t have to touch the screen at all to read my email, I can connect to secure and unsecured wireless networks, I can browse the ‘limited’ web, view Office documents and pdfs, send texts, check rss feeds, take and email photos, use msn, etc… (not a full spec list btw

I’ve been an Acorn, Windows and MacOS user for nearly 20 years, so know a little about computing, and have only been left wondering why the new Apple advertising in the UK is offering the functionality I’ve been using since the start of the year. Another case of Apple’s marketing ignoring the fact they weren’t there first. (Um, remember the RISC home computing claims made by Apple by any chance?)

Is the iPhone revolutionary? For many people it will be, and hopefully the progress made by Safari will push other developers to match the usability it gives. Unfortunately, the debate seems to be more about Apple than the iPhone (”no other company produces better computers”).

Personally, I’d love an iPhone. But I really don’t need one.

The IPhone is simply a shiny smart phone with a few nice features and a lot of marketing.

Facebook has put me in touch with friends I have not seen in years. It has allowed people to socialize, plan events, form groups and discuss issues in a way that email simply can’t. Setting aside whether facebook counts as a technical development or as something that can be tied to 2007; it has certainly had far more of an impact to people’s lives than a smart phone and that’s what counts. However I am sick of being attacked by pirates, ninjas and zombies.

The Iphone looks nice, and the features available are very well integrated. Some of the features do need some improvements, but overall its a nice gadget.

The problem is if I’m buying a phone I want it to be a phone
1.) Internet access on a phone is a nice touch, but accessing emails and using googlemap are my two most likey uses for the internet when I’m not in front of a PC, I can do this without an Iphone. Also I would definitely not be shopping online using an Iphone on an unsecure wireless network, call me cautious but I wouldn’t feel confident that my information is secure.

2.) Phone as an MP3 player, my current phone can store MP3’s. But I very rarely use my phone as an MP3 player I thought I would but I don’t. When I’m looking for a new phone I probably won’t make it a reqirement.

3.) Texting on my current phone is quick and easy, I’ve tried using the text messages on an Iphone, its a terrible design, they should have used more screen space to make the keys larger. I text a lot on my phone so its essential that it is quick and easy.

The Iphone doesn’t fit MY requirements so I’m not interested in getting one. I’m sure some peoples requirements are specific to the Iphone, and that makes it a great choice for them, but it isn’t for me.

The iPhone has changed people’s perceptions of what they can expect from this kind of device which makes it as revolutionary as the iPod. It’s easy for the specification-obsessed techie crowd to knock it, but to do so is to miss the point about it’s appeal and why, as you’ve described, the iPhone is selling so well. Obsessing about features matters to the people who do the technical development of these devices and many people who’d class themselves as early technology adopters. But as with many revolutionary technologies in the past, the general population is fickle and if these products are not easy to use they can easily die out when more human-centric devices come to market. From my experience (with microwaves, video recorders and some software packages) it seems not everyone in the technology industry appreciates the importance of an effortless user interface. (despite the iPod’s success, maybe they still haven’t learnt this). I’m glad Apple is now leading the way in putting experience before whizz bang features - they’re maybe not the first, but definitely the most successful so far. However, I must add that I promised myself a while back that, on principle, I’d never pay for a mobile above the contract costs, so may possibly never own one!

I fell for the iPhone hype and have never regretted buying anything more in my life. Features that you expect in a basic phone, let alone a so called state-of-the-art one just ain’t there, texting on it is like stepping back 10 years, Camera is dire but that doesn’t matter too much as there is no MMS. Even if I were to be offered a diamond encrusted, solid gold upgrade at the end of my 18month contract I would tell them where to shove it. Roll on May 2009 when I can look forward to having a real phone again.

my apologies, i forgot to say that i think the most significant technology of the year is the JML super mitt. try it on your phone / pc screen. it works a treat.

The Eee PC wins by a mile - it will revolutionise the way we work and use PCs, as well as spawning loads of imitations. Mark my words!

I absolutely love the iPhone and whilst I can see where some people are coming from I do actually think it’s a very significant piece of technology. Apple have used the same trick of taking an existing market and reinventing it as they did with the mp3 market. I’d suggest that people are missing the point though when it gets reduced to criticising individual features. The user-interface is desperately good. It finally makes a multimedia phone actually useable. A huge number of companies put out fantastic products whether they be hardware or software but what makes a great product is how it’s used. You know, the human interface bit. Now that’s revolutionary. However, that’s not even the most significant bit. Apple have loaded in pretty much a full copy of OSX in there. What you have is the world’s first REAL portable computer. That happens to be a phone. And they can take that machine you have at home, update it and make it do a whole new set of tasks. You don’t need to junk your phone every year to get the latest features; Apple will load ‘em onto your existing device. No other phone can be changed to that level. It’s a computer! And it seems that most people really haven’t even noticed how significant that is!

Good words Keith. Computing in the 80s and 90s consisted of men with big brains telling the whole world how wonderful they were. Computing in the 00s is all about: What does this do for me? and How well does it do it? In terms of the i-phone the product allows you to listen to music, watch video, get mail, browse the internet,.. etc and more importantly you can do all these thing if you have a brain, and computer literacy, of a door mouse. Sales say it all, browsing figures say it all, and the fact that apple could turn around tomorrow and completley re design the interface without effecting existing products says more than anything. i-mac = desktop computing nailed, i-pod = mp3 player nailed and now i-phone = mobile device nailed.

Iphone is a great invention, until it goes wrong and you find out the warranty isn’t valid because you put a finger in the wrong place of the screen, and the techy guys can’t fix the remedial issue anyway. Facebook? I can’t think of a better way to have your identity stolen. Siteadvisor however - 100,000 downloads of a free gadget to let you know when your about to get stung? absolutely perfect - and 100% cheaper than an iphone.

oops, forgot to say, bravo to the $100 laptop, actually doing something that might help people who need helping.
((is this blog written by someone on the apple payroll? or just someone hoping for some freebies?))

the iPhone is a very cool gadget. I’ve messed around with a colleagues, and there are some lovely features in there - rolling the screen and stopping it for the music menu, for one. But these are all the sort of cool features that iPods and Macs have - flicking through the menus with your thumb, the PSU magnetising to the socket - but it doesn’t get over the poor build quality of Macs. Diss Windows all you want, but there are a heck of a lot more people using 5 year old PCs today, than there are Macs (proportionately). I bought an iPod and it just died out of warranty without much “over-use”. I get the impression that they are relying on the wow factor to sell a new product to people every two years - I mean, how long is it before you get fed up of the 8Gb memory for your music and videos?

I’d pay £100 for a 3rd gen model with 80Gb and 3G on a £30/month contract.

Not £280 for 8Gb on a £35-55 contract.

If anyone actually reads this far - but here’s my very simple take on this; you get what you pay for. Period.

And if a standard mobile/windows smartphone/BB is what works for you, then it probably suits your particular needs better.

Meanwhile I’ll keep to the iPhone and won’t look back - just forward to the next version.

I phone looks nice- had a play with one in the shop and yeah I am sure it is a joy to use (for those of a less geeky nature). Personally I need the slide out keyboard, HSDPA, interaction with my works outlook, and I do use MMS. Hence i will be getting a free XDA Stellar, which although will probably not bring me quite so much joy, is far more upgradeable, has built in sat nav and features above, plus will be free.(did I mention that?) I am not aware of anything that the Iphone does that the Stellar cannot. the same can’t be said the other way. But yeah, if I had lots of money and wanted to look cool, the Iphone is the one to have.

Of course facebook isn’t the most significant technology of the year–it’s been around since 2003…

It will be interesting to see how the iPhone does in Japan. The 3 main handlers are fighting for the contract right now.

Mobile phones in Japan are vastly superior to the majority of phones in the US and UK, but I have a feeling the iPhone may be one of the first foreign made mobiles to make a significant impact here.

Im neither an Apple fan, nor an Apple hater, I just appreciate good technology. I own an iPod, and I own a very high spec PC. I hope to add a Japanese iPhone very soon.

Iphone or facebook?
Why not have both?
I use facebook on the iphone and find it a nice interface and easier to use than the pc version. I can also check it whilst on the loo at work or home via wireless.
Latest Technology
Perhaps not but it packs a meaty processor with plenty of ram and a lean operating system. As it is designed to be docked to your pc and is a computer running a proper os it is also super easy for apple to upgrade it for most of the other functionality that people are wanting. I cant wait for the sdk to be released as there will be some amazing apps coming out for it. I think of it a little like the wii. Lots of people where slating its low power and quirky interface and now its flying off the shelves as its a really interesting platform and it has been a revolution in the gaming industry.
Not for the serious professional?I’m a professional? I do web development and e-marketing and use it frequently. It’s handy to quickly test a web site is cross browser compatible as well. I sent a mailshot via our server from the comfort of my bed on Sunday with no problems at all. I’ve owned a couple of xda’s and when I turned my xda on the other day it looks really crappy compared to the iphone. Its really hard to use as well. And it cost me over £150 plus an 18 month contract to get it. I paid over £200 for my first xda as well plus a contract. This is the first apple product I have owned and it is much better than I thought it would be and don’t regret what I spent on it and the contract is ideal for my requirements.

I hate to say it but on this one, I’m not convinced. The N95 under the new firmware upgrade - v.20 something - has made it everything a phone should be (this isn’t an 8GB but the normal one). The wifi works perfectly well, the screen is fine, call quality is fantastic as is the 5MP camera (for stills and video). The iPhone will come good but it was too under-specced for me and the keyboard never impressed me. Having used both, I must be one of the few Apple fanbois who prefers the N95.