I am writing to express my disappointment in the Apple 3G White 16GB iPhone. I have found areas of the iPhone to be inferior to my previous smart phone, the Treo 650p. As most would agree, Apple is a visionary organization known for pushing the limits of user experience and customer satisfaction. Therefore, I did not expect that things like battery life and phone reliability would give me fits when I made my “investment” in your technology.

iPhone 3G Battery Life Sucks

So let me just come right out and say, without mincing words, that the battery life of my iPhone 3G is horrible. I get all of these great phone features like: email, youtube, applications and web surfing and Apple’s marketing encourages me (in every marketing campaign) to use them, and then find that my battery needs a boost around 2PM every day.

I even believed some of the Apple zealot propoganda out there. See the third comment on that thread. It basically “reminds us” that lithium batteries need to drain totally, then have several 12 hour charging cycles before we judge them. I did this. I made sure that my battery was totally drained, not just mostly dead.

I have 2 problems.

• Apple obviously knew that the battery life was going to be a problem or they would not have put out this comprehensive guide to becoming an iPhone battery ninja. It’s practically a course syllabus.
• The phone is sealed so that I cannot swap the battery for a replacement mid-day even if I want to

Let’s take an in depth look at the suggestions for improving battery life.

• Minimize use of location services: OK done!
• Fetch New Data Less Frequently: Oh, ok. I guess I can get my mail less frequently.
• Turn off push mail: How infrequent are we talking now? Every hour is a long time to wait
• Auto-check fewer email accounts. Is 3 too many? Gmail, Yahoo and Corporate email are all pretty important. I guess I could scale back.
• Minimize use of 3rd party applications. But, I thought you wanted me to get cool stuff that differentiates my phone from every other phone. So I can have it, but I just shouldn’t use it that often? What if I meet a Sith Lord and need to battle with my Phone Saber? What if I don’t recognize a whole block of songs and need a whole lotta Shazam? Seems unfair that I should be encourages with 16GB of space and not be able to use the apps when I want to.
• Turn off Wi-Fi. I thought that WiFi was supposed to help battery life. Oh, I see it does! “If you rarely use Wi-Fi, you can turn it off to save power. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi and set Wi-Fi to Off. Note that if you frequently use your iPhone to browse the web, battery life may be improved by using Wi-Fi instead of cellular data networks.” Man, that sure is confusing. I hope there is a one-click method for picking which configuration I am using. I move around a lot during the day.
• Turn off Bluetooth: I don’t use it. It’s off.
• Use Airplane mode in low coverage areas. AT&T has low coverage areas? GASP! It’s the “largest wireless operator in the country”.
• Adjust Brightness. All the time?
• Turn off EQ. Reduction in sound quality! AWESOME
• Turn off 3G. Great idea. Turtle phone.

Would it have been that hard to expose the battery and let us buy another battery/charger so that we could run all day?

Sincerely,

the Michael Schneider

Readers: what thoughts would you add?

In the June 2008 issue of Wired Magazine, reader and Apple Zealot Dan Luke of Portland, Oregon made one of the most preposterous statements since “The world is flat.” What he does not realize is that his flippant attitude is actually dangerous to his red delicious way of life.

He declared: “It’s simple. Apple doesn’t make garbage. Everyone else does. PCs don’t really work.”

Let’s imagine for a minute that everyone suddenly agreed with Dan Luke of Portland, Oregon.

Suddenly educators, strategists, software developers, analysts, investment bankers, mail carriers, scientists, prostitutes, cartoonists, morticians, proctologists, herpetologists, cytologists, electrologists, gemologists, gynecologists, archaeologists, NBA superstars, ditch diggers, peeping toms, elephant wranglers, social media consultants, poker players, brewmeisters, potato chip inspectors, hand models, wax figure makers, slot car racers, golf ball divers, knife thrower’s assistants, wig makers, ice cream tasters, stuntmen, majors, generals, actors, plastic surgeons, airport ambassadors, politicians, royalty and musicians all suddenly saw the error of their ways and decided to make the switch.

Remember. Dan said that everyone else makes garbage. This includes Dell, HP, Sun, Lenovo and EVERYONE.

OK Dan. OK believers of the propaganda of Chairman Jobs, you win. As of right now, the entire world is in agreement. PCs must go and they must go now -as in turned-off-and-chucked-into-a-landfill-they-are-garbage now.

• You just crippled the Internet.
• World trading markets have screeched to a halt.
• Global business as we know it is on hold or dead.
• See ya eBay!
• Ciao Yahoo!
• Sayonara Google!
• 再见 Baidu!
• Your email is toast.
• mac.com? Useless.
• Skype? Yeah right!
• Blogs. What blogs?
• etc.

Basically, you’re back to the library and the Dewey Decimal System. Better get some 2X4s and a hammer and nails because your virtual soapbox is gone. Oh you are going to need it, because surprisingly, an Apple-only world is not going to be the Utopia you are hoping for.

PCs are gone and now we have all of these things that we need to do on Mac.

Assuming you did not kill Mac’s foundation, BSD, in the process we have to rebuild the world’s infrastructure on Mac. This means that we are going to need to make a lot of changes so that Macs can accommodate Joe User.

That’s right. Mac is no longer just the machine for the teacher, the student or the 18-34 year old hipster, this sucker needs to do everything. The size of the company did not change, just the demand.

• Prepare to bloat the OS with unnecessary functionality with stuff that you do not care about.
• Prepare to make the cool stuff like iLife Suite a much lower priority in terms of development.
• Hello PUPs and Crapware! You are now the most popular platform.
• Hello Viruses!
• Howdy Adware!
• Prepare for Apple to become the PC.

That’s right Zealot, you are no longer the top priority user. Everyman is.

There is a place for PCs. It’s the land of mediocrity and average otherwise known as the blunt edge. Linux and Unix are the lands of stability and uptime. They are where the nerdcore hackers live and make the Internet work. Do you really want these people in your club? Sure the doors have always been open, but you do not REALLY want everyone using a Mac any more than Hillary wants to be Obama’s running mate.

PCs are the machine that try to be all things to all people. This is the whole reason that they don’t do any one thing particularly well. Is this what you want Apple to become? If so, keep up the smack talk. The more people you convert, the closer Apple comes to mediocrity while trying to satisfy the requirements of its new users. Apple has established itself as an elite machine. It is the machine for creatives and for academics. Apple is stylish. An Apple is more expensive than a comparable PC. Apple is your Mercedes, your BMW or at the very least, your Saab. If you want your Mac to continue to be what it is now; an elite, user-friendly, media-driven, seXXXy, powerhouse then drink this double shot of STFU. It’s for your own good!