I got an iPhone today, and I hate it.<\/p>\n\n
I've been longing for an\niPhone<\/a> since they were announced. They finally became available in\nJapan this summer, just prior to my I'll admit that the geek in me is interested in all the fun things one\ncan do with an iPhone, but the overriding reason<\/i> for wanting one is\nthat I want<\/span> a phone<\/span> whose features I can<\/span> actually use<\/b>. Lots of cell\nphones have lots of features, but they're always hidden behind a So, I went to<\/span> a SoftBank<\/span> store yesterday to get one (SoftBank is the\niPhone carrier in Japan). The first<\/span> thing the sales guy says is that the\niPhone antenna is sort of weak, and that I can't<\/span> return the phone even if\nthere's no signal where I intend<\/span> to use it. So that I<\/span> can test things, he\nloans me a different<\/span> SoftBank phone that I can<\/span> take home and check. The phone<\/span> signal strength indicator goes up to three bars, and if I can<\/span> get at\nleast two bars things will be fine. If only one<\/span> bar, it could be iffy. If zero bars<\/span>, the iPhone will certainly not get a signal.<\/span><\/p>\n\n Bringing it home, I get a<\/span> solid two bars in the livingroom and in my\noffice. Good enough. I return<\/span> today and buy a black<\/span> 16-gig 3G iPhone.<\/p>\n\n With the iPhone at home, I get “no service”. I don't<\/span> even get service\nwhen I step<\/span> outside the house (onto a busy<\/span> street in Kyoto city\nproper).<\/p>\n\n I just want a phone that I can use, and all of Apple's masterful user\ninterface means nothing if I can't<\/span> get a $#@&<\/i> signal!<\/p>\n\n Not happy. At all.<\/p>\n\n