How can the most advanced phone ever made not do this?
Apple claims to create the most sophisticated computing products. Historically though, they have been remarkably shortsighted in their engineering. Keyboards that are in no way ergonomic. That annoying single-button, no-scroll mouse. Their inferior implementation of the convenience of a windows environment.
Earlier this year, I was in the market for a smartphone and decided to go with the iPhone. Billed as the most advanced phone ever made, there was certainly a lot to love about this gizmo. Email, web, phone all rolled into one package that can even take on the roll of entertainment system, playing music, videos and slideshows. But in usual Apple fashion, they left out one of the most common features available on the simplest of flip phones. MMS (picture messaging).
Oh sure, they have their reasons. According Apple’s usual limited view of the world, the future of MMS is in emailing images from one device to another. And they may be correct in that assumption. The problem with their logic is that this common use of email between phones has not happened yet. The most popular way to send pictures right now is thru MMS. Making matters worse are their lame solutions.
First you get this message directing you to a website, but the link is not clickable. You’re almost forced to turn on a computer to type in the address, msg id and password since that’s not easy to do while switching between screens on an iPhone. Once there, you can’t save or resend the message and AT&T deletes it after a measly 7 days.
This other solution is even more lame because it only works for sending images you have stored on your iPhone. You can send them to anyone’s phone using the email address all companies set up for their customers (ie xxxxxxxxxx@mms.att.net or xxxxxxxxxx@vzwpix.com). The message should be delivered as a text. This in no way helps in the receiving of MMS on you iPhone, unless everyone on the planet has an email enabled phone or pays for web access.
How did the makers of a phone that can do everything short of pouring you your morning coffee come up so short on this common feature? And now I will join the fray of iPhone owners who are begging Apple to get with the real world fix this. If every free phone offered by every wireless provider can send and receive pictures, why can’t a $400 iPhone? Seriously!
