Tim O'Reilly 2008/07/19

On twitter, @mparekh (Michael Parekh) lamented the other day:

Had my 3G iPhone Crash 5 times so far, hanging up on boot screen. Full Restore every time, each taking 2 hours. On 6th restore. Anyone else?
...
On 3G iPhone crash (cont.), using Mobile Me sync, and have over 60 paid and free Apps installed. Last hang up was while on-air App upgrade.

There are lots more folks with similar complaints on twitter or getsatisfaction.

Meanwhile, over on Dave Farber's IP list, Lauren Weinstein wrote:

Given the iPhone's expensive to replace (for non-hackers) "permanent" battery, I'm interested in reports of rapid battery decline associated with the rash of new iPhone applications, many of which involve keeping the display lit, long-period data streaming, etc.
Question: Will the new applications make the non-user-replaceable battery much less palatable than previously, given that many users may burn through its available cycle life much more rapidly than before?

But at the same time, how can you not love this device? Also on IP, Linda Stone wrote:

Nearly everyone who had an iPhone at the TED Conference this year, also had a Blackberry. I had the STRONG feeling that the Blackberry was the wife and iPhone was the mistress.....

(I'd reverse that: I've seen lots of blackberry users who've added an iphone, but not lots of iphone users who've added a blackberry.)

I'm wondering if this is a trend: devices and services that people love so much that they even love to hate them. We've seen this with twitter. People are so passionate about it that they put up with problems that would kill a lesser product.

Meanwhile, at the Web 2.0 Summit preview dinner the other night, former Yahoo EVP Jeff Weiner was raving to me about his new iPhone, urging me to write something that explains why the iPhone is such a paradigm-shifting device. He hit on themes that we've talked about on radar: incorporation of sensors into the UI, sweet integration with the cloud, design as competitive advantage. But he's right. I need to write more on this topic.

Disclosure: O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures is an investor in GetSatisfaction.