Hey, that's a pretty sweet breakdown, good work.

Catching up and emptying my ever-overflowing link box:iPhone consensus grid (Valleywag)New study argues iPhone is too expensive (Park)Marchex just launched more than 100,000 "local and vertical web sites" (which still look more like SEO spam to me) (Marchex)Total ad spending to be up marginally in...

Nice job Rick!

I'll try to buy one on Sat morning at a local Apple store. Friday will be nuts so I'll avoid it. I wonder if they'll have any left on Sat...

Aside from the fact that I just bought a new phone recently, that low score on the network speed is enough for me to wait until the 2.0 version.

BTW, any speculation on how this might eat into iPod sales???

looks like apple should have pushed harder to go with a less-sucky network, like verizon or sprint.

@deliriousnyc: This is the point lots of investors are forgetting; in theory, every iPhone sold means one fewer iPod sold later. I don't think the stock price is justified.

This is a cool breakdown. Thanks. Also, Engadget had a cool breakdown of the costs related to buying the iPhone compared to other smartphones like BlackBerry and Treo. I have the link plus some background.

Given the hyperbole surrounding the iPhone reached a crescendo *before* any hands on reviews came out, the gamesmanship was all too apparent as pundits and wannabes jockeyed for position. SO why not make it a real game?

Why not have an iPhone critique pseudo-Olympic event? Not only do they get to rate the iPhone (sight unseen) but you, the judges, rate them on a scale of 1-10 on difficulty of comment area and they have a compulsory program to compete in before they can "go freestyle". For example: Mossberg receives a 5 for the virtual button critique but only a 3 for difficulty--everyone's dinging that obvious issue.

There's enough tech journalist masturbation in that chart to get this post onto Fleshbot instead of Valleywag. And does anybody know when Mossberg farmed out writing his column to the interns?

@sample032: You say that there may be one fewer iPod later -- but remember that some iPhone users may be existing iPod owners. So that's adding another Apple device to their pocket.

Even if a new iPhone user doesn't buy an iPod later, the iPhone is still more expensive than an iPod. So that's more revenue in the bank. Plus all the free publicity. Sounds good to me.

@sample032 "[...] in theory, every iPhone sold means one fewer iPod sold later."

In theory, but it's not unheard of to have more than one iPod.

Nearly everyone I know with an iPod -- myself included -- has more than one.

I think your breakdown is nice, but I submit that in gathering your "network" scores, you sabotaged the iPhone's overall grading by solely assessing the critical mass regarding the EDGE connection. All of the reviewers cited were quick to praise the iPhone for its ability to latch seamlessly onto WiFi, which is a distinguishing feature of this product. Further, you apparently only considered the data transfer over EDGE and not the call quality; while there were also complaints about it being less than stellar, that should also factor into your analysis.

It's just one man's opinion, but I believe modifying the network category to be more overarching--maybe something like "Wireless connectivity"--would be more just, and give a better perception of how the critics responded.

two authors used the word 'pokey' to describe the network connectivity (or lack thereof)? at least these guys didn't coordinate their reviews.

@Smaple032: But you are forgetting that the size of the cellphone market is much much much bigger then the mp3 player market. You do the math.

Im not sure I agree with this score card. You give a "grand total" score then the first first score is already an "Over all score." Why would you average in all their scores when the reviewers have already given you their over all score? Also, I dont think "recharge every other day" is so bad for a smart phone that does all that. And how is "not a mark on it" a 7? What more do you want for a 10 in that catagory? You gave "as good as new" an 8 as well. Isn't that the same thing as saying perfect? What gives?

in reply to the comments from:
BY EINNOCENT @ 01:47 PM re: go with a less sucky network

Apple first approached Verizon, then Sprint - both turned them down, for various reasons. The last one last standing was AT&T/Cingular.

Once all the fingerprints start making your unit look like a CSI fingerprinting commercial, you'll wish you had your old trusty BB or Palm! ;-)

"...brought down above all by the sluggishness of AT&T's data network."

I'm not saying that AT&T's network is the best by any means, but I don't think it's fair to put all the blame for the "sluggishness" on AT&T's EDGE network. We all know that EDGE on any network (e.g. T-Mobile) is slow in the first place... even more so now since it has to load up full fledged webpages on iPhone's Safari. Let's remember that it was Apple's decision to not use AT&T's HSDPA or UMTS network (probably for battery-life purposes) which are a whole lot faster.

I'm going to wait for iPhone 2.0 or whenever Steve decides to man up and put 3G into the mix...

@figaro

You'll be able to check to see if an Apple Store still has phone in stock here

[www.apple.com]

the bottom line is some people will love the iPhone, some will hate it, and most will think it has some flaws (or it might be worth waiting for the 2G version).

By Marc Hedlund The iPhone and Ratatouille are opening on the same day (tomorrow, if you haven't heard) here in the U.S. Ratatouille currently has a 93 on Metacritic; the iPhone lags behind that a bit, with a 73.75 on Valleywag.

Xeni Jardin: Steve Jobs hosted a companywide town hall meeting for Apple employees earlier today, all about iPhone. Each and every Apple employee will receive one of the devices, which adds up to a total retail value of more than $12 million. Gizmodo: Link. Engadget's posts: one, two.