![\"blog-DSC_0910-iphone\"](\"https:\/\/chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/blogdsc-0910iphone.jpg\" "\\"blog-DSC_0910-iphone\\"")
Dumb down out of the box<\/em><\/strong>. It\u2019s just strange that the The Apple Faithful is so forgiving towards Apple\u2019s paranoia in locking down and limit what goes into their devices. Must be subliminal mind control at work. If it wasn\u2019t for the thriving mod and development community that\u2019s providing widely available tools to jailbreak the phone, my decision to give the device a try would had been a non-starter. So, an hour after playing around with the device at home to see what the iPhone\u2019s default shipped state was like \u2013 just so I can say I gave it a chance \u2013 I jailbroke it. The device is essentially half-crippled otherwise.<\/p>\nNo alphanumeric keypad to SMS with<\/em><\/strong>. No kidding. Every other smartphone or wannabe has an alphanumeric keypad for messaging \u2013 except the iPhone. I made so many mistakes using the onscreen QWERTY keyboard trying to compose a simple message that I all but gave up. Ok, so the upcoming OS upgrade will allow QWERTY keyboard in landscape orientation, but for the moment, you have to pay for SMS software to do this. Yuck.<\/p>\n No PC-to-iPhone messaging<\/em><\/strong>. So, every message that goes out now has to be on the yucky iPhone keyboard. No more of those uber fast messaging I\u2019ve been doing for the last 3 years on Sony Ericcson phones. There\u2019s the Veency client-server software<\/a> of course, but it\u2019s mind numbingly clunky. And also that Chinese Panda iPhone PC suite software \u2013 which I tried and promptly crashed.<\/p>\n No Bluetooth-syncing<\/em><\/strong>. Unbelievably too. I\u2019m not asking to sync movie, music, or large data files. Just Outlook Contacts. And just exasperating that I can\u2019t do that without the USB cable.<\/p>\n No printed manual<\/em><\/strong>. OK, so there\u2019s the online manual. But I would have liked a printed version to be included in the box for me to look for the odd instruction I can\u2019t figure out on my own.<\/p>\n $$$ for key applications<\/em><\/strong>. Yeah it\u2019s nothing new here, but as many as there\u2019re applications in the iTunes store and Cydia, a good number of the essential ones will still cost you. Bleh.<\/p>\n Ok \u2013 enough gripes. Next post I\u2019ll write about stuff that worked for me.:)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No, this isn\u2019t a post by Ling about the apples imported from China sold at NTUC. Rather, there\u2019s a little imprint on the back of my Apple iPhone that says \u201cMade in China\u201d. If there was ever a bad omen,<\/p>\n