The thing about the iPhone is, its an amazing device with the coolest interface EVER. Problem is, thats what it is. Its a device with an amazing interface but doesn’t fulfil its very basic need first. The iPod Touch however, does what its suppose to do very well, AND comes with all the bells and whistles that the iPhone has. I’m guessing we already know what the iPhone lacks out of the box, so I’m not going there again.

The N95 is one such device that does what its supposed to do and more. It does its job of being a phone, but it comes packed with all these other features that make it more like a computer-in-pocket. I was blown away with all the things I could do with it. This is what I use my N95 8GB for on a day-to-day basis:

- Check my emails with emoze push email
- Download files using Symella
- Connect to MSN using IM+
- Use Truphone for free phone calls and SMS
- Watch Divx or Xvid videos and movies WITHOUT ANY CONVERSION using Coreplayer
- YouTube videos with Mobitubia
- Edit and view Office documents using OfficeSuite
- Browse the web on Opera Mobile (not mini)
- Give my colleagues free wifi with JoikuSpot Premium
- GPS to guide me around when I’m lost

The list goes on, but the point I’m trying to make is I rarely need to go back to a computer and do most of the things I usually do. The iPhone does alot of those things to, and with a jailbroken iPhone, the limits are really stretched too. But I’ve always wondered to myself: Why did Steve Jobs not include all the little things that every other phone in the market has? Sure, it is possible to add these features on later, but isn’t better to come right out of the box? For me, that was the deal breaker. That made the N95 the obvious choice for me.

I’m not here to argue about the differences between the N95 and the iPhone. Cos’ thats what they are: Different. I use my iPod Touch together with my N95, and man, that kind of combination rocks my ass off. Even though I could view the web in my N95, surfing using the Touch is like 100 times better. For me, the iPhone is a waste of time. I’ll rather go with the best of both worlds and leave the excess baggage behind.

It’s kind funny how many of the N95 advocates sound like shallow adolescent dolts with comments like "iPhone is for people who’s mental capacity is limited."

And Mo Hoyt, you’re going to argue that Symbian is a good OS? That it is ahead of OS X? Now Apple may have crippled OS X on the iPhone, but the underlying BSD/Mach based OS is head and shoulders above Symbian OS.

You also forgot to mention the amazing screen on the N95 in comparison to the iPhone, and of course the OS – isn’t the Symbian OS far ahead these days!

It is also a total pain to use. The settings options are difficult to navigate and don’t work very well. They never do what you wanted and if you are trying to capture something dynamic, by the time you’ve put the thing in camera mode and made the adjustments, the moment has usually passed.

It is fine (pretty good actually) for static outdoor scenery and that’s about it. Because it is so hard to use, it doesn’t even work well for snapshots because of what I said above — by the time you take the picture, the kid’s expression is gone, or they refuse to pose that long.

On the other hand, the iPhone camera has NO settings at all and therefore is ONLY useful for quick snapshots of well lit subjects.

IOW, both cameras are pretty limited and the N95 may actually be worse in practice because it wants to be a real camera, but isn’t, making it less practical and less effective. At least the iPhone knows what the camera is for and doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not.

bunch of non hacked/jailbroken/unlocked iphone owners – LOVE it

i’ll give you everything but the camera and video capability..

everything else there are apps for
here is jsut one source for apps, and there are more and more popping up everyday
http://iphone.exploit.org/pxl/

having used a N95 i can say its good, but some of the comparisons and claims of what the iphone cant do are funny.. i admit apple doesnt want you to do most (yet – or without paying them) but with a little patience and some googling you’ll be amazed at what the community is doing

Specifically:

WIFI
The iPhone wins hands-down for practical use by ordinary people. Selecting and managing WIFI networks on the N95 is a crap experience.

Bar-code reader
Really? You’re going to list that one? Nobody I know has ever been able to get this app to work on any of my Nokia phones.

Camera
The specs on the N95 are clearly better. However, in terms of using the camera, the iPhone wins again, hands down. I disagree that the N95 takes "stunning pictures" day and night – it’s good for a phone (maybe near "stunning" in bright light) but pretty terrible in low light conditions.

Speakerphone
I would say the iPhone speakerphone is better than the N95. And overall the basic call handling is much slicker (call waiting etc.)

Sexiness
Your comment "Viewed as THE phone of a technologically competent professional" makes technologically competent professionals sound like fifth graders. Give me a break. Somebody with an N95 is not going to score points in the "technologically competent" department with me nor is someone with an iPhone going to lose points.

You also fail to mention Visual Voicemail (a big name for a fairly basic feature), but it’s something the iPhone has that the N95 does not.

Overall, I hope Nokia and Symbian OS take something away from the iPhone in terms of user interface lessons. I think your statement that "it takes months just to get a handle on the capabilities of an N95" sums it up pretty well. People want to start using their phone without making that kind of a commitment and the iPhone UI makes it possible to hit more features faster for the average user. So even if the N95 has more features, regular people will perceive the iPhone has having more because they can actually find them and use them.