a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by mk
mk  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: November 26, 2014

I dropped by phone last night and it killed it. It was probably my 5s's 20th fall without a case, and it only fell about 1ft, but it was on the unforgiving cement floor of my basement.

At any rate, the Pub opened late because I was at the AT&T store getting a new phone.

I got the iPhone 6. My first impressions are not good. It is too wide to comfortably hold in one hand, and it feels cheap. The case is metal, but it feels like plastic. The protruding camera lens looks janky, and the button seems oddly centered low, as it is centered on the black space under the screen, rather than in the flat area between the screen and the bevel.

Of course, every phone these days is almost a magical obelisk, but Apple is losing their way with this phone, IMO.

You can either design for the consumer, or you can design a product that consumers will like. Both are successful strategies, but they are very different, and you should not conflate them. Apple is conflating them. It looks like I bought a Samsung.

I expect that Apple will slide down the path they went down the first time they lost Jobs.





user-inactivated  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I got one too ... I think I'm also a "weird user." I don't need any of the 64 gigs, don't really need the camera, actually don't need the phone at all. Wasn't my choice.

The point is, I've had it for about six weeks and it still kinda sucks to hold because it's so damn big, and I can't figure out how to get it to sync to itunes (have read four hours worth of bug fixes; no luck ... this never happens to me, I'm very frustrated) or any other damn thing. Might might be a cable problem, but the cable is brand new! Fuck this thing.

Anyway. I will say that you are going to LOVE the battery life and begin to wonder how you could have ever gone without it. Mine is 250% better. And the screen size is a nice bonus which goes a little of the way toward making up for how terribly it fits in your hand.

I'm caseless right now which has me a little worried.

Oh also I'm finding the thumbprint unlock mechanism insanely helpful, when initially I dismissed it as frippery.

mk  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    I'm caseless right now which has me a little worried.

Me too. I hate cases, but my wife is right when she says that its size means I am going to drop it more.

I like the thumbprint too. But, it's lame that it is so wide that I can't easily hold it in one hand and press the button with my thumb.

user-inactivated  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You may not be using the "pinky bridge" iphone holding technique. I recommend it; more stability, more horizontal reach.

And you don't sacrifice as much vertically as you might think (top right corner window closing, for instance) because you can double tap the home button, just tap not press, and shrink the screen. A feature I'm still getting used to.

mk  ·  3631 days ago  ·  link  ·  

So after a few weeks, I have to say that it still feels too big. Maybe I wouldn't want to go back to the 5s size, but something in the middle.

The battery life and thumbprint unlock are great.

But the phone is poorly designed. It would be so much easier to hold if the sides were flat. Also the buttons and the vibrate toggle have slop in them. No iPhone I used before did. Not a Steve Jobs product.

user-inactivated  ·  3630 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I am having extraordinary difficulties lately with its coefficient of static friction, among other things.

mk  ·  3630 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yeah. Drier hands in the winter is an issue.

mk  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yeah, that's not so bad.

Shit, I am going to drop this thing. I'm getting a stupid case now.

thenewgreen  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I know a place that sells iphone cases, I'm not sure if they have them for the 6 yet?

Cumol  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I was thinking about getting a 5s case, anyone owns one and could say something about it?

I hate cases, they make the phone huge and heavy. Are there any thin/sleek cases?

elizabeth  ·  3653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I personally find skins look better. They protect the phone from scratches but won't save your phone from a fall (the same way most cases won't save your phone either).

sounds_sound  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Never figured you for a butter fingers.

kleinbl00  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Want a OnePlus One invite? It ain't no Iphone but it also costs less than half as much.

mk  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Damn, that's sexy.

Thank you, but I am going to hold off atm. Our plan is great on data as we had the original unlimited, but shitty on text. I get away with mostly iMessaging. There is (was?) an iMessage app for Android, but it meant giving your Apple ID credentials. I'm going to have to see if we can upgrade our text without killing our grandfathered data plan.

kleinbl00  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Not gonna lie. The lack of iMessage is a drag. The fact that you need to kill iMessage for six weeks before switching if you want MMS from Apple users to work is a bigger drag. I went from about four different Windows Mobile devices to an iPhone 3G to an iPhone 4S but the iPhone 6 broke my head.

It's huge and expensive. I was planning on switching from AT&T to T-Mobile so the day the 6 came out I realized "fuck it, we're all Phablets now" and priced out a fully loaded 6 on T-Mobile. They wanted $59 a month.

Then I got home and Nissan was offering me a Versa for $79 a month.

Granted - the Versa was with a $2000 downpayment and it was a lease... but after two years, a 2-year-leased Versa and an iPhone 6 were both gonna be worthless. And I couldn't quite reconcile "car" and "phone" being in the same ballpark financially.

It took me about a week to go Android, particularly as the OnePlus is like $350. There are definitely things I miss... but like you, the 6 (and the watch) were an "apple has lost its way" moment for me.

BTW - switch plans. I get a 20% discount on AT&T just for being Union and I'm still saving $90 a month with T-Mobile.

OftenBen  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

What made you switch to the iPhone? Do you think you're going to keep it?

I had an iPhone 4s as my first smartphone, once I switched to Android I never looked back. I can't imagine losing all of the functionality and customization I've come to expect from a smartphone.

mk  ·  3654 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I've had iPhones since the 3s. I am not a Mac user, but when it comes to my phone, I don't like to fiddle around. I just want it to do the few things I ask of it, and do them well. I am a weird user. I don't even listen to music on my phone. For most of this time, the iPhone was winning out when it came to that. I've played with various Androids along the way, but they always seemed jankier and less intuitive. Also, I always appreciated the slimmer size.

However, with this phone, it's not so clear that I am getting as much as I am giving up. The salesperson asked if I wanted to do their auto-upgrade plan, and I told her that I didn't because I wasn't sure that I wouldn't be moving over to Android.

It's funny, the iPhone has a level app, but the protruding lens makes it impossible to level the phone unless you hang it off of an edge. I am almost certain that they tested a black version, but concluded that it was indistinguishable from a number of Androids.

I'll keep it. It's not terrible, it's just not as good as the previous ones.