iPhone OS 4: Why It's Time to Choose a Different Phone
Last week, Apple announced the newest iteration of its iPhone operating system, in case you missed the news. Sure, there are some interesting goodies in OS 4, like multitasking, which promise to improve the iPhone experience for many people. But one of Apple's new features threatens to do such horrific damage that this is a superb time to jump ship to a new phone.
My advice: Get a Palm Pre, an Android, or a Windows Phone 7 (when it is available later this year). But think long and hard before you welcome OS 4 onto your handset.
The problem is iAds, a platform for displaying banner advertisements, built right into the new iPhone operating system. Think of iAds like the banner ads you see in Web browsers today, except that they appear within your apps. Start up your favorite iPhone app, and there's an excellent chance that you'll come face-to-face with an advertisement every time.
Sure, some free apps already have their own advertisements, but iAds is a an ad engine at the platform level, designed to make it easy to put ads in every app that finds its way into the App Store. Revenue gets split between Apple and the app publisher.
I've got some real problems with iAds.
First of all, the iPhone has pretty limited screen estate to begin with. Slap a banner ad across the bottom of every app, and you've effectively reduced the size of the iPhone's display. It's like iPhone OS 4 is able to shrink the size of your iPhone's screen without your permission.
And wait a minute -- didn't I already pay for my iPhone? I gave $200 to Apple, and another $100/month to AT&T. Why does Apple now deserve additional revenue on an on-going basis just because I run apps on my phone? You might say, "but wait, Dave -- this is designed to help developers continue to release free apps." If that's true, why are paid apps also allowed to use iAd? Mark my words -- in a year or so, pretty much all apps will use banner ads. Not just free ones.
Apple has found a way to turn their mighty iPhone into a ghetto of banner ads and reduced usability. Way to go, Apple. For the rest of us: My advice is to step over to a different phone before iAds melt your brain.
Update: Check out my follow-up, based on reader feedback to this post.
