iPhone review

I've had about 4 days with my new iPhone now. Some features are stronger than others, but overall, it simply rocks.

• Phone - I have several friends who bought the first iPhone a year ago. They often complained that it was lacking as a phone. I haven't found this at all. It's very clear, and I've had no trouble with AT&T service (we'll see how that holds up once I travel outside silicon valley). I have found that the screen gets a little oily after I've been talking for a while - I don't know if that happens to everyone, or I just need to scrub my cheeks and ears better.
  
• Music- As a digital music device, it's better than anything else I've used. The speaker is top notch for a palm device, and the large touch screen UI blows my old Dell DJ away. I've only used about 2 of my 16MB so far - mostly music and a few photos. We'll see how that holds up if I stick a few TV shows and movies on.
• Video - I have to admit I spent about 20 minutes of my first day with the iPhone watching Weird Al videos. I must strain to recall a moment in my life geekier than that. I don't get the sense that watching even a feature length movie would produce too much eye strain.
• Browser - This is where it really shines. A couple web sites were a little awkward to read, but mostly it was easy to zoom in and out, select links, and read even large blocks of text. I use Google Reader a lot, and their mobile interface is excellent on the iPhone.
• GPS/Map - Excellent interface. It integrates well with Safari, too. I got lost the other day. I looked up the web site for my destination. As I clicked on the maps link, it automatically launched the native maps application. I selected directions, then current location (the new iPhones have GPS), and voila - turn by turn directions without having to type a single character.
  
• Text Entry - Alas, the Achilles heel. I just can't get the hand of the touch screen keyboard. There is a satisfying "click" feedback with each key, but the lack of tactile sensation is a big obstacle for me. It auto-corrects, but sometimes that's just a pain. 1- and 2-letter words are the worst. I took notes on a talk the other day that ended in a Q&A. I entered "q:" and "a:" before the questions and answers, and it kept auto-correcting 'q' to 'a'. Maybe there's a way temporarily to disable it. Fortunately I don't SMS much, and I don't anticipate sending much email. I might search for a dictation app so I can skip typing notes altogether. There's also no cut-and-paste that I can tell.
  

So, overall I'd give it an A, the text entry being the only barrier to A+. It really is a quantum leap over any other device I've used. We'll see how the new toy wow-ness factor wears out over time.