Review: iPhone 3G

rmcnamee said:
but I'm curious, why do you say the Dare and Instinct bust? I would like to hear your rationale for this.

I think it really boils down to three things:

1) screen size, resolution and brightness.
When you're watching a video or surfing the web, the screen makes all the difference in the world. The iPhone seems to add just enough real estate and resolution to make both of these functions much more enjoyable than on the other two devices.

2) Capacitive vs Resistive touchscreens.
I have NO idea why every other phone continues to use the CLEARLY inferior resistive touchscreen technology. This makes the ENTIRE functionality of a touch phone feel cheap. It's simply no fun having a phone whose entire interface is that screen that you have to push and dig into to make anything happen. The Instinct is even worse in that the haptic feedback seems to be triggered by the lightest touch, even though the functions aren't. Which means you get false positive feedback. Like it or not, the iPhone is an absolute JOY to use, in every function, compared to the Dare and Instinct. It's like liquid vs gravel.

3) a REAL full html browser.
Try as they might, neither of these two feature phones offer a pure desktop-like browsing environment. For some, video recording and MMS texting seem to be at the top of their wishlist, but I could care less about these things. For me, I want a small form factor phone with a large screen and real tabbed internet browsing. I want it to be fast and intuitive, easy to read, easy to navigate and actually ENJOYABLE to use. So far, none of the current feature phones listed hold a candle on this last one. It's the deal breaker for me.

Even though I said it boils down to those three, the App store and the ever growing library of games, apps and utilities are already proving to be another HUGE benefit that none of these other phone will ever have.