iPhone 3G First Impression: Sweaty
Ed Baig and I have to stop meeting like this.
Baig, USA Today’s tech journalist (one of three reporters Steve Jobs hand-picked to get the first Apple iPhone 3G) and all around good guy and I have a habit of meeting up around iPhone release dates. Last year I saw him at event shortly after he received the first iPhone. He was kind enough to let me spend 10 minutes with it. This year, I ran into him, and since our own 3G has yet to arrive, essentially shook him upside down until the new phone fell from his pocket.
Okay, that’s an exaggeration. Baig did hand it over after some gently nudging. Head-on, the iPhone 3G looks exactly the same as the old iPhone. I noticed the no-longer recessed headphone jack and that the chrome edging had been moved back a bit, to make the face seem larger (though the two phones are the same height and width) The big, and for some I think this will be really big, difference is the back. The much-reported-on bowed black plastic, which make the phone slightly thicker than the iPhone 1.0 and should vastly improve call quality, feels remarkably different than the rev one’s polished aluminum back.
The room Ed and I were in was busy and warm and I noticed that my slightly sweaty palms made the phone back feel sort of sweaty. It also made it sit more securely in my hand. Still, holding the original side-by-side, I noticed that the aluminum back on the first iPhone still felt silky smooth in my other hand.
A minor point, I’m sure. On the other hand, the iPhone’s cherished sexiness may have taken a bit of a hit here. This iPhone feels a bit more like other phones you might hold and, with that slightly sticky feel on sweaty hands, reminds you that you’re just some guy, holding a new Apple iPhone 3G in an over-crowded room.
Original post by Lance Ulanoff