<p>Apple does a nice job on OS upgrades with their family pack licensing option.</p>
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<p>The latest upgrade was essentially IPAD-centric. While there were a number of issues reported for the IPAD, the bulk of the problems affected Iphone and Ipod users. As always, upgrades bring numerous improvements along the unfortunate problems. </p>
<p>Upgrades to the OS should not cause applications that were purchased through official channels to stop working on a pristine Iphone. Isn’t that what the Itunes store guaranteed? In the meantime, it seems that the best option for an Iphone user is to own two of them. One to use while the other is in transit for repairs or exchange. Iphone is the new Jaguar!</p>
<p>It seems to me that Apple is stretched thin on the hardware and software sides. They just purchased a 98-acre compound in Cupertino from HP so hopefully they hire a bunch of engineers to fix the problems. I think that smartphone are generally problematic and just avoid them. The people that I know with iPhones are generally quite happy with them.</p>
<p>I just use an old Motorola RAZR - works great.</p>
<p>It is not that hard to be happy with an IPhone, or at least like its functions. Although the quality of phone part is not that great, the balance is pretty positive. </p>
<p>However, there are issues of reliability that cannot be ignored. Why is the phone so prone to water damages? Not really talking about dropping the phone in a toilet here … but phone getting ruined from using it in the rain? Have you checked what warranties cover and how expensive they are? </p>
<p>Although it is mostly an ATT problem, why is the Iphone so “unfriendly” for foreign travel? In many countries, customers have learned to swap SIM cards to take advantage of competitive rates. That remains a pipe dream for ATT/Apple customers, despite having paid a high price for the phone and maintaining pricey contracts. </p>
<p>Would it really be that hard to charge customers a fair price? How does one company justify charging people FIVE dollars per MB for data use in Mexico on a comprehensive ATT Mexico plan, especially when local data plans cost 20 to 40 dollars for 5,000 to 6,000 MB. When people start depending on their cellular and data service for professional purposes, they should not be gouged when leaving the United States. At least not in such arrogant manner.</p>
<p>PS I also use an old Motorola RAZR when traveling abroad. Have yet to find a SIM card that does not work flawlessly and the communications remain crystal clear. As a reference, a lot of the new phones sold in recent years do not work as well.</p>
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<p>I have seen many iPhone customers that fried their phones by exposing it to water. I suppose that a silicone plug could solve that problem but they usually feel and function poorly. I’d guess that any decent case should protect the connector. I’d guess that the water issue is a result of the design of the connector which has to provide data connections and power. Doing those two separately would probably make for a more robust solution. One of the hassles of backwards and forwards compatibility. I guess that I’d prefer a power dock, perhaps mini-USB style, and Bluetooth for transferring data around.</p>
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<p>I’ve never traveled overseas with a phone. I assume that money is involved.</p>
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<p>I do believe that there are issues with their phones. But I’ve been very pleased with their non-phone products.</p>
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<p>It’s a tank of a phone. I got my son a new Verizon phone last summer. Piece of junk.
He said that there were quality issues after using it for a few months so I bought him
a RAZR from WalMart and he’s quite happy with it. Verizon had that thing where they
were scamming customers with web access charges and they have to give customers
back the money for that. They also have that funky thing where you can’t get pictures
and videos out of the phone without paying a charge. That’s easy to do on the RAZR
with AT&T.</p>
<p>Apple does have their issues. They are a tech company that has had a very rapid growth rate and executing well in all areas is impossible to do. That they have executed as well as they have with their products to me is amazing. I work in high-tech and understand how hard it is to do very complex products.</p>