[TBolt]

Hi, guys. Just wondering if anyone knows for sure if the latest iPhone 3GS still does not allow multiple apps to run simultaneously. Is this still true about the iPhone?

A friend has been asking for my input re: smartphones. Considering how often I multi-task between email, spreadsheets, Pandora music, etc on the Curve 8330, I just can't understand how anyone could work with a phone that locks you into one task at a time.

Thanks for your input.

[avt123]

The iPhone can only multitask native apps. No third party apps can be multitasked unless you jailbreak.

Also, even though the iPhone doesn't multitask (stock), it opens up apps incredibly fast. Just jailbreak if you want multitasking, than there is no complaining because you will have the most customizable phone on the market basically.

[TBolt]

avt,

my friend is not tech savvy at all; so, i ask -- how hard is it to:
1) jailbreak an iPhone in the first place?
2) add new apps, handle updates to a 'jailbreak' phone?

i'd like to know if this guy is going to be calling me up every time he wants to install a new app. lol.

thanks!

--

personally, i think it's ridiculous that Apple restricts the iPhone - not just in multi-tasking capability but in other ways, but hey -- i never buy Apple products anyway; so, to each his own & be happy. hehe

[aimetti]

theres a good article in the main section of this iphone thread. gives step by step instructions on how to complete it.

[holland_patrick]

it seems prety easy to JB but i haven't done it..

[aimetti]

here u go

http://forums.crackberry.com/f99/gui...ne-3gs-264624/

[spawn026]

avt,

my friend is not tech savvy at all; so, i ask -- how hard is it to:
1) jailbreak an iPhone in the first place?
2) add new apps, handle updates to a 'jailbreak' phone?

i'd like to know if this guy is going to be calling me up every time he wants to install a new app. lol.

thanks!

--

personally, i think it's ridiculous that Apple restricts the iPhone - not just in multi-tasking capability but in other ways, but hey -- i never buy Apple products anyway; so, to each his own & be happy. hehe

jailbreaking is actually easier to do then you may think. simply follow the instructions from redsn0w which just involves powering the phone with the power and home button then releasing the power but not the home and the application detects when its in the proper mode. after that you just sit there and wait.

[TBolt]

Thanks so much! I didn't see the article.

Your help is much appreciated everyone.

Cheers.

[digital_cataclysm]

Hmm - so the only way to make the iPhone any good, is to do something to it that'll void the warranty? Yeah. That makes sense.

The iPhone does several things well, but if your friend is comparing smart phones, here's a few other things the iPhone is lacking in:

No ability to work as a USB drive. No Bluetooth object exchange. No memory card slot. No Push email except through Yahoo (though Apple seems to want to expand this service). All phone cameras are junk, but they could have at least included a flash. Sealed-battery = 85 bucks to replace plus 3 days without phone (unless you want to drop the extra dough for the rental).
All those extra themes you see online will only work with a jailbroken phone, F.Y.I. and Apple has restricted what people can do on these things WAY too much in my opinion -

But to each his own. Some people only want iTunes and a fast web browser. There is no "perfect" phone for everybody - but your friend should recognize the shortcomings as well as the areas that each contender excells in, as well. Different people want different things.

Happy hunting.

[TBolt]

Hmm - so the only way to make the iPhone any good, is to do something to it that'll void the warranty? Yeah. That makes sense.

The iPhone does several things well, but if your friend is comparing smart phones, here's a few other things the iPhone is lacking in:

No ability to work as a USB drive. No Bluetooth object exchange. No memory card slot. No Push email except through Yahoo (though Apple seems to want to expand this service). All phone cameras are junk, but they could have at least included a flash. Sealed-battery = 85 bucks to replace plus 3 days without phone (unless you want to drop the extra dough for the rental).
All those extra themes you see online will only work with a jailbroken phone, F.Y.I. and Apple has restricted what people can do on these things WAY too much in my opinion -

But to each his own. Some people only want iTunes and a fast web browser. There is no "perfect" phone for everybody - but your friend should recognize the shortcomings as well as the areas that each contender excells in, as well. Different people want different things.

Happy hunting.

Great info, D_C. Thank you. I did not look into iPhone enough to know most of that, but I'm 100% with you on how sad it is that Apple micro-manages their products and what they can/can't do.

His needs are going to be small business-oriented; so, perhaps not using an Exchange server but needing quick email response. I'll try to be sure he sees what you've added here.

Thanks again!

[digital_cataclysm]

Anytime, Butcherbird (great avatar btw- blues brothers = awesome) we try to be a friendly lot 'round here.

If your friend is going primarily for business, in trying on a smart phone - I would gently suggest the BlackBerry myself - my opinion only. I've been using mine for my own business, and although it doesn't have the uber-slick OS interface that the iPhone does, and that Safari web browser - I can tell you that it's been fantastic on letting me get stuff DONE.

I can Push-eMail from anyone to anywhere. Several of my clients also with BlackBerrys are on my BlackBerry Messenger contacts, so we can text each other all day - without having to pay text charges. I can drag and drop any kind of song or files with this thing, no questions asked.
But I digress - point being, it was the right choice for me.

Your friend should definately check out an iPhone if they're interested - it might just have everything they want - ya never know. But a little comparitive shopping goes a long way too - I can say honestly as a Mac-Guy, had I not bothered to investigate the BlackBerry, chances are I probably would have ended up going with an iPhone simply because it had an Apple logo on it.

Anyhow, an informed decision is usually a good decision - let us know how it works out!
Again, happy hunting!

Oh yeah - one last thing I wanted to mention: the carrier. (Sometimes we as people get so whipped-up on the latest device, it seems carrier-service gets pushed back to second seat!)

The iPhone as you may know is an AT&T exclusive - which may or may not make a difference in the primary area your friend lives in. Most times, it is a combination of carrier and PHONE that decides whether or not you can expect poor coverage and dropped calls.
If possible, I would ask iPhone owners and BlackBerry owners (who have the same carrier your considering going with) living in the same area of your friend, how their reception and call quality is.

Maybe there is no distinct difference - which is a plus. Other times (like in my own area) there is a BIG difference between carrier reliability from one to the other. Just figured I'd throw that in there.

[TBolt]

Re: carrier -- you know, if he decides to go with the iPhone (even though I'm still not recommending it), I believe he is going to hold off until the iPhone is available with another carrier. I understand that only Verizon has announced plans to offer the iPhone, but perhaps his carrier - Sprint - will as well.

I'm ALL for the FCC investigating and breaking up these exclusivity agreements that carriers force cell phone makers into. Imagine how many iPhones would have sold if the damn thing had been available across all carriers. hehehe

[Duvi]

For jailbreaking, use this guide. Make it Ra1n isn't being updated anymore and no new compatible releases will be out.

iClarified - iPhone - How to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3GS on OS 3.0.x Using RedSn0w (Windows)

[TBolt]

thanks, Duvi!

[Duvi]

Let me also clear up some misinformation on DC's posts.

It voids your warranty the same way upgrading your OS to a non carrier released OS... all he has to do is restore his device which is done in less than 5 minutes before taking it to the store.

All phone cameras are junk

The iPhone's 3.0 camera is among the best. I take better pictures with it then I did with my 8900, Storm, Bold and better than my Tour. Flash sucks on BlackBerry devices; they are good flashlights though. If it had a xenon flash, then I would see your point. Only time better pictures are taken is in pitch black -- not sure how many times I've ever wanted to take a picture in that condition though

Sealed-battery = 85 bucks to replace plus 3 days without phone (unless you want to drop the extra dough for the rental).

You don't have to pay a dime for your phone to be replaced due to the battery being shot. You take it to an Apple store and they either fix it or get you a new phone. Warranty with other phones don't cover the battery, but it's definitely covered with Apple. Also, why would he have to ship it out? He can go right into the nearest Apple store.

No Push email except through Yahoo

If he's using exchange, he gets push mail. If he's using MobileMe, he gets push mail. If he wants to use Gmail, he can use several products to achieve push: Gpush (.99 cents) or Mail2Web (free)

After jailbreaking, all the following points are addressed:

• No ability to work as a USB drive
• No Bluetooth object exchange

[Duvi]

thanks, Duvi!

No problem. Either way, BlackBerry or iPhone -- both are great choices.

[spawn026]

Re: carrier -- you know, if he decides to go with the iPhone (even though I'm still not recommending it), I believe he is going to hold off until the iPhone is available with another carrier. I understand that only Verizon has announced plans to offer the iPhone, but perhaps his carrier - Sprint - will as well.

I'm ALL for the FCC investigating and breaking up these exclusivity agreements that carriers force cell phone makers into. Imagine how many iPhones would have sold if the damn thing had been available across all carriers. hehehe

just a little heads up, no carrier has announced plans to offer the iphone not even verizon. It is probably going to make its way across the board once the exclusiveness runs out but as of yet, no news.

[digital_cataclysm]

Thanks for filling me in on the iPhone push eMail services, Duvi - I'll admit that I am not as techno-literate on the whole subject matter as I could be. If the iPhone has full push eMail, great - it's a wicked useful feature I couldn't live without on my BlackBerry.

As for the rest of the issues I mentioned with the iPhone - perhaps I should have stated them a bit clearer. If you will:

On Jailbreaking:
From what I understand, you first need to be comfortable with the notion of hacking your device, and you trust the program of choice to do it effectively. Ok, that much I get.
Now: the sticky bit.

Yes, you CAN reset your jailbroken phone before you take it in for services... Assuming circumstances allow for it.
What if the problems/damage to your iPhone are as such that you CAN'T reset it to it's original default state?
What then?
I suppose it's a risk the individual owner will have to decide for themselves.
But I'd hate to be holding a $500 paperweight, if something went wrong.
Also, I'm assuming that even if you can reset the iPhone and have it serviced - you'll have to re-jailbreak the thing and re-install any apps you had on it prior to sending it out, if you want to enjoy everything you were doing with it before.

Sounds like a pain in the tookus to me - but again, to each their own.

Phone Cameras: Junk.
Sorry, sticking by that one - but please understand, I ment that in comparitive terms to what offerings you'd benefit from with a DEDICATED digital camera. There are a lot of "good" mobile phone cameras out there - as compared to each other, yes. But if you really want good PICTURES to save in the family scrapbook, buy a standalone digital camera, is all I'm saying.

Battery Replacement Costs:
I'm kind of confused as to why my original comment about that was "misinformation" -
I'll try to clear up what I ment, unless I'm horribly wrong on the whole thing - in which case, you may bludgeon me with a large salami.

The iPhone uses a sealed battery that requires the unit to be physically delivered to a shop capable of opening the iPhone and changing out the sodered-in cell.. and from what I gather, any cost to do this is covered under warranty, yes.
Problem:
I believe the battery life expectancy is about one year, and that is what the coverage of the warranty extends to -
But the service contract AT&T puts you into lasts TWO years.
Thus, you can expect to have that battery changed out at least ONCE during your contract term, and unfortunately for a lot of people that one-year warranty may have expired by then.

Several sites have mentioned this, example:
http://mobile.itwire.com/content/view/13376/1023

The second thing I have an issue with is where you're supposed to drop these iPhones off to, for the service.
Handing it over to the "nearest Apple store" might not sound like a big deal, if you live with one in your area, sure.

The closest one in MY area is about, oh - 4 hours drive away for me. Mmm.
I'd assume for some other folks, that travel time may be even longer depending on where in the U.S. They live.
The AT&T store however, is about a 15 minute drive from my house at the local Mall - so I would assume that a lot of the iPhone owners in my general area DO have their phones sent out from the AT&T shop, rather than battle with the traffic making a run to a place they've never been to before.

But that's just a best guess.

Bottom line for me however, and this is just me personally - I'd rather have the option to just take a jaunt down to my Verizon store (they being my carrier) which is again, a whole 15 minutes away - and buy a lousy $25 battery I can stick in my BlackBerry MYSELF in 6 seconds.

Anyhow, for the mentioned issues: I could be mistaken with some of these, or am missing some part of an equasion somewhere which may provide better illumination.
But this is what I've been lead to understand through the information gathered -

At any rate, as you yourself have mentioned (and I agree with completely) either the iPhone or the BlackBerry are nice choices and have proven popular for a lot of people.

Alrighty then, back to my coffee.

[qbnkelt]

I had an iPhone for a day shy of one month - returned it because the battery is horrible (I did the whole drain/charge thing and could never get more than a day and a half of use) and because I simply could not multitask. The camera -mah - not a deal breaker. The deal breaker was that in order to get 36 hours of battery life I had to turn off all the functionalities that I took for granted in my Bold. No multi tasking, horrendous battery life, no way to change the battery myself, no push mail, no 3G, a display so dim that I could barely see it outdoors....the one thing where the iPhone excelled hands down above anything else was the browser. Most amazing display I ever say. Only thing I miss.

I don't see how a business can run with all these restrictions. I have a government issued blackberry along with my personal Bold (thank God I still have it) and I cannot imagine how, with all its restrictions, the iPhone would be used in a business environment. Perhaps advertisement, or a small business. But not in an environment where push mail, reasonable battery life and multitasking are necessary. I cannot see a situation where personnel would have to walk to the nearest Apple store to replace a faulty battery, but I do see a case where a business may have replacement batteries on hand if case one is needed in an emergency. I read a lot about the iPhone going to business, but I just don't see how any business can accept the limitations of the device.

Anyone who is thinking about getting an iPhone for their small business really needs to think about the severe limitations of the iPhone.

[Duvi]

Jailbreak: I've upgraded to illegal firmwares (betas) and jailbroken... the phone can always be put in DFU you mode. In this state, Apple would have to restore the device. If they can not, you get a new device. Jailbreaking is actually very safe and it only takes 5 minutes (literally took me less). I am a manager for AT&T and I can tell you this much, it's safe. Since jailbreaking is 5 minutes, it doesn't take that long to re-jailbreak. Also, unlike the BlackBerry process, the backup actually does a real back up. All information on the phone is restored (including your 3rd party apps). If I was on the last level of 3D BrickBreaker, I'd still be on the last level of 3D BrickBreaker when I restored.

Camera: We are comparing phone to phone, not phone to camera. I have an awesome digital camera, but it's not on my side 24/7. If you read my statements about the camera, you will see that it was only in comparison to another phone, which is valid in this instance. My statement still stands correct, whether it sucks compared to a digital camera, it still takes good pics compared to your 8330 or my 9630.

Battery: The iPhone life expectancy is not one year. I found this little article (you were probably reading one this article sites are delivering wrong information).

The truth about iPhone battery lifespan | Phones | Mac Word | Macworld

Also, the common misconception is two (2) years, not one (1), but after 400 complete cycles (completely draining the battery, a full chemical cycle), it loses only 20% of its capacity.

In other words, using a little battery and then putting your iPhone back in its dock doesn’t count as a charge cycle. If you use a quarter of your iPhone’s battery and then re-charge it, Joswiak said, that’s the equivalent of a quarter of a charge cycle.

“If you top it off, you’re not wasting a charge cycle,” Joswiak said.

Another Verizon battery is not $30, it's $40. Also, you have an option of purchasing a warranty for an extra year. I've never had a phone that long, so I never purchased it (in which you can actually purchase it on the 364th day of having the device), but if someone does want to keep it for longer, they can. I also looked at the OP's area (SoCal; South Cali) and if his friend is near, I'm sure there is at least one Apple store they can go to.

Memory card: Something I forgot to mention in my previous post... The iPhone has 32GB, why would I need to switch out SD cards. The iPhone comes with 32GB, but with the BlackBerry, I'd have to purchase to 16gb cards, which costs more than buying a new iPhone 3G. Also, I have over 40 apps installed on my device memory -- never having to worry about how much file free memory I have left.

For the record though, my device of choice, if forced to pick one, would be a BlackBerry device.

[Sooks]

As Duvi said , jailbreaking IS easy, safe, and seriously take no more then 5 min , the battery is fine, mine last 2 days , jailbroken , with heavy use. Camera , better than any berry i have owned, and as mentioned with 32 gigs of space , no need for a memory card.

[jahoobob]

Bottom line for me however, and this is just me personally - I'd rather have the option to just take a jaunt down to my Verizon store (they being my carrier) which is again, a whole 15 minutes away - and buy a lousy $25 battery I can stick in my BlackBerry MYSELF in 6 seconds.

In reality about $40 but you can also get one at those battery stores (Batteries+,etc.) you can find in most cities.
Just looked on the Apple site and they list battery replacemnet as a "Program" and answer such questions as "How do I participate in the program?" like you are joining an exclusive club. LMAO.
I see why, from the "program", the battery is not user replaceable. You loose all your data! Of course you can sync it before replacing - hope you do it before battery goes kaput. In other words the battery is the ONLY way the phone has memory. Now ROLMAO.

[digital_cataclysm]

I'm still not sure about the whole Jailbreaking-thing, Duvi. Your responses are great because it makes me want to dig around more and ask questions.

Not that I have any interest in picking up an iPhone myself - however, the subject of Jailbreaking has been mentioned by a couple of my friends, who do own iPhones. What should I say to them?

It's all the rage? - it opens up a bunch of cool s**t you can do on your iPhone - "It's totally safe". Yadda yadda.

But if it's so safe to do, then why are there jailbreaking forum-help sites out there filled with people who now have various issues with their iPhones after jailbreaking them?
One of my friends who was contemplating jailbreaking his phone sent me this a while back, along with "check out the comments below the article - not sure if I want to do this now".

http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2008/10...phone-restore/

Yeah. That'd probably make me nervous too.
I can see the appeal - I totally agree that Apple should have built in a lot of the features that jailbreaking gives you afterwards, right off the bat.

But I'm still not quite convinced yet that jailbreaking, for everyone, everytime, is 100% safe and easy.

I'm not fully buying Apple's excuse that having a plethura of Jailbroken iPhones will devastate AT&T cell towers, or cause massive hacker attacks over the network either... But neither would I be surprised if in the near future, jailbroken iPhones with their altered security parameters are involved in some issue reguarding privacy information or theft/mischief at some level.

Again, if people are comfortable with tampering with their device OS and don't mind a more, um - "open" security with it, if that doesn't bother you a bit - sure, jailbreaking may have a strong appeal for you.

For those of that persuasion, I'm at least happy to hear it only takes 5 minutes and your backup restore covers you nicely.

The original post was on the question of the iPhone for a business setting, though. In that regard, I'd be slightly hesitant to give a jailbroken iPhone the thumbs-up if security was a priority for me.

Camera, erm...
** That glow coming off the iPhone that allows you to take pictures in darkened rooms must be something new. Does it get brighter if you whisper sweet nothings into its mic while stroking the screen gently? ** Lol.
But seriously, how much would a flash cost next time, Apple?

http://www.techradar.com/news/photog...ighting-323895

Ah, that would explain it then. Why use a flash when you can have night-vision.
Sweet.

Battery:
If anything, this issue alone provided me with a good deal of reading material - and how much conflicting information might be had.
One site says this, another that - opinions weighed in from users, test reports, evaluations, so on.

"Your individual mileage will vary" is probably all I can say for day-to-day recharging needs. If you're a mad internet, email, 3G-fiend, you can expect to plug your iPhone into a wall socket pretty frequently.

As a side note, several writeups mention that because the AT&T network uses 3G for both data and voice, even calls made on the device will tax the battery faster than calls made on other carriers like Verizon and Sprint, their networks handling voice and data seperately.

The trade off is that iPhone users can communicate using voice and data simultaneously.

It will be interesting to see in the future, when VZ gets its next-gen 4G network operating, how the battery life for devices like the BlackBerry will fare, if simultaneous voice and data is supported.

At any rate, for the battery longevity of the iPhone, it seems neither no better or worse than other mobile devices using similar technology, from what I could find out.

It still kills me though you have to have a shop crack the thing open to replace said battery, but Duvi's suggestion to get the extended warranty if you think you're going to keep the device for more than a year, is a good one I feel.
I know I myself would be super-P.O.'D if a year and 5 months into ownership, the battery started acting weird and needed to be replaced...but because of the warranty having expired, it would cost me some bucks to get it sorted.

As for that memory card, possibly a litle tounge-in-cheek, but it was something I was reflecting on for those people who didn't want to jailbreak their iPhones, having a memory card slot might have been another way to exchange files and data if the USB or Bluetooth wasn't an option.

Of course, if Apple isn't about to allow you to exchange data with something as simple as a plug-in USB cable, why would they allow it to happen with a memory card?
Consider it a musing.

It would be kind of nice though, to be able to upgrade your iPhone's memory by sticking in a high capacity SD card, as opposed to having to buy a whole new phone.
Call me weird.

[armedtank]

I'm still not sure about the whole Jailbreaking-thing, Duvi. Your responses are great because it makes me want to dig around more and ask questions.

Not that I have any interest in picking up an iPhone myself - however, the subject of Jailbreaking has been mentioned by a couple of my friends, who do own iPhones. What should I say to them?

It's all the rage? - it opens up a bunch of cool s**t you can do on your iPhone - "It's totally safe". Yadda yadda.

But if it's so safe to do, then why are there jailbreaking forum-help sites out there filled with people who now have various issues with their iPhones after jailbreaking them?
One of my friends who was contemplating jailbreaking his phone sent me this a while back, along with "check out the comments below the article - not sure if I want to do this now".

http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2008/10...phone-restore/

Yeah. That'd probably make me nervous too.
I can see the appeal - I totally agree that Apple should have built in a lot of the features that jailbreaking gives you afterwards, right off the bat.

But I'm still not quite convinced yet that jailbreaking, for everyone, everytime, is 100% safe and easy.

I'm not fully buying Apple's excuse that having a plethura of Jailbroken iPhones will devastate AT&T cell towers, or cause massive hacker attacks over the network either... But neither would I be surprised if in the near future, jailbroken iPhones with their altered security parameters are involved in some issue reguarding privacy information or theft/mischief at some level.

Again, if people are comfortable with tampering with their device OS and don't mind a more, um - "open" security with it, if that doesn't bother you a bit - sure, jailbreaking may have a strong appeal for you.

For those of that persuasion, I'm at least happy to hear it only takes 5 minutes and your backup restore covers you nicely.

Jailbreaking is IMO safe, and does not alter the core functionality of the phone, it enhances it. I have jailbroken over 20 3GS iPhones since June not a single hiccup to speak of. I am more technically savvy than most, but if any of the myriad of available tutorials is followed, the possibility of doing any type of permanent damage to your iPhone is minimal. It is far simpler to jailbreak an iPhone than it is to install a leaked OS on a BB, just have a look at the Storm OS forum for examples of things going wrong for a great many users.


As far as being for everyone, I would disagree with that. One should have an idea of what functionality they would like to enable by jailbreaking. For instance, I needed multi-tasking and the ability to save email attachments to my phone. Two clearly defined goals that were made possible by jailbreaking. I'm not big on themes and the like so I don't have winterboard installed, I don't run themes on my BBs either. If you have a good reason, jailbreaking is a relatively safe means to that end and if things go wrong, you are just a restore away from a fully functioning stock iPhone.

The original post was on the question of the iPhone for a business setting, though. In that regard, I'd be slightly hesitant to give a jailbroken iPhone the thumbs-up if security was a priority for me.

Security is a priority for a great many businesses that have migrated to the iPhone, my small business included. Jailbreaking an iPhone does not alter the security of the device in any way nor does it make the device more open to attack. Not sure where that misconception came from.

Camera, erm...
** That glow coming off the iPhone that allows you to take pictures in darkened rooms must be something new. Does it get brighter if you whisper sweet nothings into its mic while stroking the screen gently? ** Lol.
But seriously, how much would a flash cost next time, Apple?

Digital camera sensor loves low lighting | News | TechRadar UK

Ah, that would explain it then. Why use a flash when you can have night-vision.
Sweet.

No argument from me here, but I rarely use the camera on any of my smartphones. I carry a SLR with me just about everywhere. Apple should have added a flash a long time ago however the camera itself takes far better photos than any of my BBs given adequate light. I wouldn't use any of them in low light if it was a memory I cared about capturing for the long term.

Battery:
If anything, this issue alone provided me with a good deal of reading material - and how much conflicting information might be had.
One site says this, another that - opinions weighed in from users, test reports, evaluations, so on.

"Your individual mileage will vary" is probably all I can say for day-to-day recharging needs. If you're a mad internet, email, 3G-fiend, you can expect to plug your iPhone into a wall socket pretty frequently.

As a side note, several writeups mention that because the AT&T network uses 3G for both data and voice, even calls made on the device will tax the battery faster than calls made on other carriers like Verizon and Sprint, their networks handling voice and data seperately.

The trade off is that iPhone users can communicate using voice and data simultaneously.

It will be interesting to see in the future, when VZ gets its next-gen 4G network operating, how the battery life for devices like the BlackBerry will fare, if simultaneous voice and data is supported.

At any rate, for the battery longevity of the iPhone, it seems neither no better or worse than other mobile devices using similar technology, from what I could find out.

It still kills me though you have to have a shop crack the thing open to replace said battery, but Duvi's suggestion to get the extended warranty if you think you're going to keep the device for more than a year, is a good one I feel.
I know I myself would be super-P.O.'D if a year and 5 months into ownership, the battery started acting weird and needed to be replaced...but because of the warranty having expired, it would cost me some bucks to get it sorted.

Another pet peeve of mine, but I do understand how adding a battery door would alter the profile of the iPhone. Battery life has been poor for some but I have no problem going all day on a full charge and well into the night depending on how heavily I use the device and my phone is jailbroken running several apps in the background for a good part of the day. Many don't take the appropriate steps to allow the phone to run all day. Turn off 3G when not in use, as it is not necessary to make or receive calls, only for data. Turn off location services if you aren't using GPS, etc. There is a reason you are able to turn these things on and off. If you are getting very poor battery life out of the box, Apple will be happy to replace your device. As a comparison, I get roughly the same battery life on my Storm as I do on my iPhone if i use them in the same way. Actually Pandora will kill my Storm in 4 hrs flat as compared to 5-6 hrs on my iPhone. Your mileage may vary.

Apple tested the waters for non-removable batteries with the iPod they found users would still buy without a removable battery. If people refused to buy a phone without a removable battery Apple wouldn't sell them. It's just not the huge problem many people on these forums make it out to be. I have been a BB user for several years and have never had the need to swap out a battery or keep an extra.

As for that memory card, possibly a litle tounge-in-cheek, but it was something I was reflecting on for those people who didn't want to jailbreak their iPhones, having a memory card slot might have been another way to exchange files and data if the USB or Bluetooth wasn't an option.

Of course, if Apple isn't about to allow you to exchange data with something as simple as a plug-in USB cable, why would they allow it to happen with a memory card?
Consider it a musing.

It would be kind of nice though, to be able to upgrade your iPhone's memory by sticking in a high capacity SD card, as opposed to having to buy a whole new phone.
Call me weird.

A memory slot would be helpful in that situation, but a jailbreak solves the problem just the same, there is also mobile me which offers alot more than just file transfers. Again I understand why a slot was excluded, the 3GS has more onboard storage than pretty much any device with or without an SD card slot. To get a 32GB card to equal the storage built into an iPhone would be cost prohibitive for most people anyway.

The iPhone has it's share of shortcomings, but so does every other smartphone on the market. I find the iPhone platform more than adequate for my small business needs and due to it's excellent exchange and sharepoint integration as compared to the BB BIS platform. I also find it MORE secure than a BB on BIS because I can remotely wipe any of the iPhones I have out in the field if it is lost or stolen. I have 10 employees using jailbroken iPhones and I have no reservations about the security of the devices. If you compare a BB on BIS to an iPhone in a business setting with enterprise email not gmail, yahoo or hotmail. But exchange or lotus notes, the decision is fairly clear as to which will offer the most functionality to your enterprise without paying extra..........

[Zipster]

[snip]
The iPhone has it's share of shortcomings, but so does every other smartphone on the market. I find the iPhone platform more than adequate for my small business needs and due to it's excellent exchange and sharepoint integration as compared to the BB BIS platform. I also find it MORE secure than a BB on BIS because I can remotely wipe any of the iPhones I have out in the field if it is lost or stolen. I have 10 employees using jailbroken iPhones and I have no reservations about the security of the devices. If you compare a BB on BIS to an iPhone in a business setting with enterprise email not gmail, yahoo or hotmail. But exchange or lotus notes, the decision is fairly clear as to which will offer the most functionality to your enterprise without paying extra..........[/snip]

Remote wipe provided that the guy isn't smart enough to pop out the SIM card right?

And BBs on BIS have SmrtGuard, which has the exact same features as MobileMe for iPhone and at roughly similar prices too, if I'm not mistaken.

Just saying...