Finally, after much deliberation, I got my iPhone 3G.
First impression? Awesome!!! The much talked about UI is really slick and unlike most phones available on the market.
Fun? Yes!!!
Intuitive? No!!!
The first thing I had to o after getting the iPhone 3G out of the box, was to insert my SIM card into it. And it took me a good five minutes to figure out where and how to insert the SIM. If not for Google, I would have definitely spent a lot more time trying to figure this one out. I finally got the answer on YouTube titled “How to insert a SIM card in an iPhone“. Since, for some reason, I had trouble downloading the user guide from the Apple website, this was a blessing.
Making a phone call to someone is not as simple as selecting the name and clicking the phone icon. Infact, after selecting the name of the person you want to call, you have to “tap” on the mobile number. The number looks like plain text and not like a button so yeah, it takes a while to get used to the UI.
Next, one would think that the silver/metallic button on the left of the phone is for the camera, (Similar to the Motorola L6, The Nokia and the Sony Ericsson K750i) but no, This button is for controlling the volume of the ring tone. I then thought that the “Home” button would be the one for taking pictures once you are in the Camera mode. However, this again is not the case as one has to tap the “camera” icon on the touch screen to take pictures. This is a challenge when you want to click your own photo. The lack of the tiny mirror does not make it easy either.
With the iPhone, I have to pay good attention and make a conscious effort to perform tasks. This is part of the learning. And this learning is not hard, just requires getting used to 
.
Applications on the iPhone are its trumpcard
So all in all, yes the UI is slick and does make you play with the phone more, but, not without reading the iPhone user guide first. Unlike other phones available, where you don’t need to refer to a manual for inserting SIM cards, making calls etc, with the iPhone, the experience is rich only after you have read through the manual. Though the UI is not intuitive and requires a shift from the usual way of doing things, it sure is interesting and engaging.
Coming from a User Experience background, the last two words are key “Interesting” and Engaging” and it is precisely this why the iPhone is so popular and also the reason it trumps over the others in the market.
Will play around more with my new toy and will post my thoughts as I learn to use it more efficiently.
Tags: Apple iPhone, iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone features, iPhone SIM, SIM, SMS, Text message, usability, user interface