I love how Steve Jobs can compare his iphone (which is mass-produced on an astronomical scale by Chinese workers who earn less per hour than Mexican fruit pickers) with Leica, or any other item which is produced by real craftsmen, and designed to last more than the length of a 2-year cellular phone contract.
The iphone 4 will not be anymore timeless than any of the previous phones. It will become obsolete in a year or two, after which it will be replaced with the iphone 5. I wonder what Jobs will compare his next iphone to, a Rolls Royce?
As for the new iphone, it is supposed to be improved so it doesn't drop call so often. Steve Jobs of course blamed this on ATT's network. But iphones suffer from the same problem here in Japan where the cell network is probably the most advanced in the world. One of my coworkers had to get rid of his iphone because of it's poor reception; it routinely dropped calls while he was speaking with clients, and inexcusable occurrence in Japan.
I'll keep my 2 year old Panasonic telephone. This phone doesn't come with the applications which are available with the iphone, but it has plenty of features; a 5.1 megapixel camera with a bright LED light for dark situations, built-in GPS, dictionary, and multi-band functions which allow it to work on all 2G, 3G, GSM and other networks. I like the built in dictionary which works with the camera. I can take pictures of Japanese/Chinese/English words or even traffic signs with the camera, and the phone can translate the works into English or Japanese. I like the built-in television tuner which allows me to watch television without having to receive broadcasts through the cellular network or wifi (which means that they are free). I like that I can keep my train pass and bank card information on an IC chip in my telephone, that way I can simply hold my phone next to a sensor on the bus, train, or in a store and make a payment without even having to take out my wallet. Perhaps the iphone 10 will have some of these same features.
