dug 
OK so it’s now Stevenote - 7 and my iPhone is stuck in an imap loop and when I turn it off it reboots instantly. Of course plugging it in and clicking “restore” (which theoretically wipes your iPhone and restores it to OEM condition) doesn’t fix the problem so I’m sort of hoping the 2.0 firmware will sort this…
…but I keep trying to decide if I should continue to put up with the phone. So many aspects of it drive me crazy. Take the battery for instance. On my N95, when Symbian thinks it’s the best mobile OS on the planet but gets it wrong, the phone lets me take the battery out. This is kinda like the handset saying “sorry” like a grumpy two-year-old, a good thing. When it turns out iPhone needs to be disciplined, Steve just repeats “no, mine!” like another kind of two-year-old, a very bad thing indeed:-(
Well, on balance I think my iPhone sucks, but it sucks less than the other twenty smartphones I’ve lived with over the last couple of years.
It’s not all handset woes, take for example O2’s brilliant Apple-approved billing structure. Unlimited data (unless you instal a demon in which case the fair-use policy kicks in) and a set number of calls for a set monthly price. That is (almost) exactly what I want except that when I call my bank, or the power company, or I want book a movie ticket or call a helpline I have to pay extra for the 0870 local-call number. Never mind that I haven’t got the choice. Powergen hasn’t got a local extension I can call so the word from O2 is “tough” :-(
Not a big deal you might say but my £45/month all-in contract quickly becomes an £80/month which is way way more that I want to pay for the service.
I thought O2’s iPhone contracts might have jogged the other operators into finding some sense so I checked my fave, Orange (France Telecom) to see what unlimited data contracts they had for new users.
Well, surprisingly, as of 2 June 2008 not a sausage
Sigh… crap really.