'i' Feel Squished by the iPhone

The iPhone 3Gs - I've had it now for just under a month and in the next couple of days I must decide if I am to keep it.

Why is it that such a remarkable piece of technology leaves me feeling squished and small inside? Like being given rules to live by that you fundamentally disagree with. In order to keep using the iPhone, I must surrender to the whims of, not one but two, corporations: AT&T and Apple. Let me express my thoughts - so you can share my dilemma.

• iPhones require the $30/mo for unlimited data plan, instead of $15/mo; and if I select podcasts larger than 10Mb, the download is unilaterally blocked until I connect to iTunes or have a WiFi connection. No recourse; No options; no way out. Leaves me feeling cheated.
• Being able to tether a laptop while traveling is a huge benefit - i was able to get it working during my last trip, but with the next update it will be shutdown; Leaves me feeling cheated, again. Unfortunately, I could jailbreak, but I feel subjecting users to need to do so is just plain wrong.
  
• Oh, the new 3Gs has video capture! I shoot a video and there is no way, that I know, to pull the video off in its raw form so I can edit it using tools of my choice. I'm told, if I have iMovie on a Mac, I'm home free. Not happening.
• Try sending a picture you just took with the camera - without warning, the picture is down sampled to 800x600 before being sent. Come on, give me a choice! Ask, seek permission - give the user the credit he is due, allow user to set defaults. Respect the user.
  
• iTunes - an iPhone user is FORCED to use iTunes - iTunes tries to take over my music library and promptly begins to convert my files.I have to iTunes to subscribe to podcasts and use sync to refresh the iPhone. I have not found a way to have the iPhone refresh over the air... I feel cheated, yet again.
• Frankly, I can't stand iTunes - how did it get to be so popular. Or perhaps it isnt, just because everyone has a ball and chain around their ankle wouldn't make it "popular". Why should I need iTunes even to delete consumed content on the iPhone?
• The processor on the iPhone 3Gs is plenty powerful - why can't I listen to streaming music while checking my email? Why must each application quit, most without keeping context, when a new activity is started. Multi-tasking and task switching is painfully absent on the iPhone.
• Battery life leaves much to be desired - I have had to resort to keeping the iPhone plugged in whenever I'm near a source and using an external battery pack.
• And then there is this: ATT has had system wide iPhone visual voicemail failures: http://shar.es/JzvV

There is more. Don't get me wrong, I could expand on things likable about the iPhone too: the App Store the UI, the browser, are all top notch; none of them would be empowering though and would make for a very long first blog!

So, without further ado, would you share your thoughts? What should I do about feeling 2nd class, about being subjected to arbitrary restrictions, about paying for undelivered service, about being 'squished'?

Please take the poll, add a comment and share your thoughts about the subject AND my very 1st blog! Thanks!

About the Banner: A Partially frozen Saddlebag Lake, off 120 Tioga Pass Road, late June, 2009.