The iPhone 5

[Bill_Loguidice]

Again, no reason to start the debate, but I don't mind a central management station (in the form of iTunes) for all of my iOS devices, which includes an old 60GB iPod Photo, iPhone 3G 16GB, iPhone 4 32GB, iPhone 4 32GB, iPad 2 64GB, and iPad 2 32GB. I plug in to automatically charge, sync and backup as needed and I can manage what and why goes on each device. Not a big deal. It's also not like things like the music are copy protected anymore either, so it's not like I can't play those things elsewhere when the need arises. As for the apps, they work on whatever iOS devices I own that I choose to put them. I don't feel restricted, which combined with the excellent UI and app availability, adds up to a win in my book.

[Shane R. Monroe]

For a lot of people, that centralized hub works. But even Stern was bitching about it failing to work properly for him in a recent show - and he dragged in his "Apple experts" and they couldn't fix it either.

Don't get me wrong - I think it's a good OPTION for people - but I don't want to HAVE to use it.

[Bill_Loguidice]

Don't get me wrong - I think it's a good OPTION for people - but I don't want to HAVE to use it.

I agree with you there. It shouldn't be locked down like that. With that said, I suppose one could argue that that ensures the "Apple experience" that people at Apple - particularly Steve Jobs - insist upon. That's certainly one business model and one that works for them.

I have to admit, I'm starting to be seduced by the "Apple way". I was listening to one of the TwiT podcasts the other day and they were talking about Final Cut Pro going to the Mac app store for $299, and damned if I wasn't starting to think about how cool it would be to have an app store-like experience on my computer and be able to use these apps on any other computer I own. I get so frustrated by licensing restrictions with certain productivity apps. I'm a die-hard Windows user in that I'm comfortable that if I want something it will be available on the platform, so why should I bother with having a Mac as my primary system and have access to less, but then I hear about things like the Mac app store and then consider, well I can run Parallels or Boot Camp to ease my transition and/or maintain a PC laptop just-in-case, and the wheels start to turn. I doubt I'll ever do it, but it intrigues me how much Apple products can tempt me these days when I was fairly belligerent or indifferent to them for pretty much forever...

[yuckymucky]

Until they ditch the dependency on iTunes, there is never an iPhone in my future. It's just that simple.

I had forgot about that, that is a large negative in my book also. iTunes runs great on my Macbook Pro however in Win 7 it honestly runs like ass. It is nice to have as it backs everything up, however Google backs up all my contacts, email, and keeps all my apps in the cloud, which is the direction that Apple is heading also. We shall see what happens.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I had forgot about that, that is a large negative in my book also. iTunes runs great on my Macbook Pro however in Win 7 it honestly runs like ass. It is nice to have as it backs everything up, however Google backs up all my contacts, email, and keeps all my apps in the cloud, which is the direction that Apple is heading also. We shall see what happens.

Right, the software blows ass on Windows - but it isn't just that fact that bothers me - it's the whole way it WORKS (even if the code was tight).

I hear horror story after horror story about people syncing and having everything wiped out, or simply things not working right - and you HAVE no alternative recourse to rely on.

If I was using some tool to deploy music on my phone (a dedicated app), and it failed to sync, I LOVE knowing that I can fire up Dopus or some other tool, mount the sucker as a drive, and move the stuff over manually.

It sounds TRIVIAL, but I'm just not willing to give that power up - not where there are perfectly good (and in ways, BETTER) options out there.

[WorknMan]

Well, I am very, very interested in the iPhone5. iTunes used to be a deal-breaker for me, but having had to dick with it on my parents' PC to sync two iPods, an iPad, and an iPhone on the same PC, I think I've got a handle on it. And besides, since I don't really have anything I need to sync, I won't ever have to use iTunes for anything except OS updates. (I don't copy music to it, since I have mp3 players that are better at this task than a smartphone will ever be. And I don't copy movies to it, because I'm not retarded enough to watch movies on a screen that small.)

Whether or not I get an iPhone5 will depend on a couple of things:

- Apple really, REALLY needs to do something about their shitty notification system in iOS 5. When I was researching how well Google Voice worked on the iPhone, I was horrified to learn that notifications just pop right up in your face. No sir, that dog won't hunt. However, I read that Apple hired the dude who designed the notification system for WebOS (which I hear is better than Android's), so we'll see.

- In regard to Google's anti-fragmentation moves, they need to start putting the smackdown on these vendors who keep dicking with the OS and fucking up the stock Android experience with their bloatware. I'm not too keen on playing the custom ROM game to get rid of the carrier/vendor crap on my next phone, nor finding out that I have to do some weird-ass workarounds, like having to install a custom kernel so I can get a secure connection going with wireless tether. I know that some people really get a kick out of hitting the forums and searching for new custom roms, finding out which features don't work, overclocking the CPU, installing different kernels to see how it affects battery life, etc. Well, some of us aren't in high school and don't have time for that shit anymore. I know to some people, the whole Android thing is like the second coming of Christ, and that's great. I'm just too old for it, I guess.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I'll make a pledge right now ... I'll seriously consider an iPhone if and when it can be used COMPLETELY without a computer running iTunes.

[alexjlopez]

I'll make a pledge right now ... I'll seriously consider an iPhone if and when it can be used COMPLETELY without a computer running iTunes.

Get a Touch, dude--as much as you love Android there's no sense in giving up your phone when you can experience a lot of the same stuff on a $200 no-contract device.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I've considered numerous times getting a Touch .. but the same rules apply; not until they divorce it from iTunes.

[Womp]

I've considered numerous times getting a Touch .. but the same rules apply; not until they divorce it from iTunes.

Outside activating the Touch, you DO NOT need iTunes. You think I use iTunes? heh. iFunBox for the win!