Joe and Attila,

I agree with you guys. the whineys above do sound like the same whineys that dissed the iPod in the beginning.

Yeah, it does seem to be missing that oh-so-important 3G – which most providers in the US don’t provide anyway. Go back and look at the keynote – Steve said very clearly that it will in the future.

As for Exchange integration – what part of CONSUMER don’t you understand? Exchange is for business, and this is NOT a business phone. It is intended for the high end consumer, not the business consumer.

As for the rest (voice dialing, etc.) wait a bit – this was just a first look, and Apple often reserves the details for later, just before the product is released. We’ve got until June, for Pete’s sake!

If they release it in June without, for instance, voice dialing, then you’ve got every reason to gripe, and I’ll be right next to you, too.

Go back and look at the CNBC interview Steve did that Tuesday afternoon. He clearly noted that he expects the price to come down after noting something about economies of scale. It’ll clearly depend on how many of these things they sell. The more they sell, the lower they can drop the price over time. Again, look at the Razr, same deal.

I would note as well a quote on another site (sorry, don’t remember which one) of a Cingular sales rep that told a journalist that from inquiries he’s gotten about the iPhone, he could sell 100 a day easily.

And, yes, Apple often adds features to later models. First versions often aren’t the best – they’re just the teaser to open the market, something that can be easily dumped if it doesn’t sell well. Look at the Cube. It was a beautifully crafted machine, but was too high in price for the lack of expandability, but contained new cooling techniques that were later incorporated into the iMac line after the Cube bombed.

I’ll also say this: for every one of the whineys here and elsewhere I hear complaining about a lack of features, I hear just as many like Jennifer L. Eisenberger above saying that they’ll be standing in line for theirs the morning it comes out. The same Cingular sales rep quoted above also noted that one man he talked to was going to buy one for everyone in his family, including his two teenage daughters. That is four at least!

Scoff if you like at those early adopters and the ones that will buy Apple products sight unseen, but they kept Apple afloat during the lean years, and others like them now are helping them expand their market share, and create new markets.