My 3210 (10 years ago!) you were able to program your own ringtones (in the little beeps that it could produce)
Most other nokia's (my 6110) - to use a ringtone it was a case of put an mp3 file on the phone - then select the mp3 as the ringtone.
Do you know what you have to do to get a ringtone on the iPhone?
It's sort of the same for the iPhone now. People think it's great because they are used to phones with limited functionality, openness and usability. Compared to those phones that iPhone is a breath of fresh air. Apple's just playing a game of, "what they don't know can't hurt them." People don't sit down and think about exactly what their ideal device is like. They see the iPhone/iPad and thing that it's neat and mold their expectation around what they see (especially if their expectations were lower to begin with).
I would like to point out this is an American phenomenon. At least in India, the mobile market is completely open.
Yep. They're free. Just download them as podcasts. http://macmost.com/free-iphone-ringtones
Or even use iTunes to make them out of music on your computer: http://www.ehow.com/how_2160460_custom-iphone-ringtones-free...
Or there's a 17 step process.
The way the iPhone handles it's ringtones is a step back from how most normal phones did. (// Note to American readers - if your carrier blocks a function - it means you have a bad carrier - not a bad phone)
The iPhone excelled in having a great browser. And looking gorgeous. As far as Phone parts go (crap reception/quality, struggles with group sms, ringtones, etc) it was a step backwards from most phones on the market. Now that might be an acceptable trade-off, but it still needs to be stated.
I distinctly remember being able to install software I downloaded (or made) on my Sony Ericsson P-800 a good couple years before the iPhone was announced. In fact, digging a little back, I am sure you could install PalmOS apps on your Treos since the first day they were launched.
And anyone could develop for both platforms (actually, there was Java ME too), anyone could host the file you would have to download to install and specify how, and if, you would pay for the download. In fact, many application stores appeared hosting zillions of smartphone apps you could download and install.
Apple's market is not open at all. Apple decides if you will be able to sell the fruits of your development work.
What Apple did is to corner both users and developers. And that's bad.
They made things one level free-er, which is the best they could have done given the constraints of the market and the technology. There are issues. They aren't villains for having issues.
