Thursday, July 19,2007 @ 4:10am
13 reasons not to buy an iPhone
PC World editor-in-chief Harry McCracken, who earlier this year left the publication because an anti-Apple piece was censored, has posted a list of 13 reasons not to get an iPhone, including lack of 3G, inability act as a modem for laptops, no built-in chat client, no slingbox client, a lack of adequate storage space, inability to edit Office documents, no built-in To-Do list, contract requirements and the virtual keyboard. McCracken says he purchased a Windows Mobile-based AT&T 8525 instead, commenting "A week with the iPhone showed me I could be adequately happy tapping out text on its screen. But I'm happier still with real keys with actual tactile feedback--the 8525's slide-out keyboard provides nice big ones with a dedicated period key, real arrow keys, and other luxuries," but admitting "(there are ways) that the iPhone is more impressive than the 8525, and it's just plain fun in a way that the 8525 will never be."
McCracken in April left the publication after newly appointed President & CEO Colin Crawford sought increased control over the editorial process from its then editor-in-chief McCracken and refused to publish a negative piece about Apple titled "Ten things I hate about Apple." In the weeks following the public controversy over the magazine's editorial integrity, Crawford returned to his former post at IDG Communications with a new "Executive Vice President" title (previously he was "Senior Vice President"), while McCracken returned as editor-in-chief of the magazine.