All I want for MacWorld

This is getting to be old. It's the same old story. The iPhone is a great phone, and could be a great handheld computing device...but. So, all I want from MacWorld is not an iPhone Nano. It's not a new larger iPhone/iTouch Netbook. I want the things that should have been available on the iPhone when it first appeared.

Understand, I practically live on my iPhone. I can go for days without using my computer. I can track my personal and business email. I can research information on the Web, and I can take notes for later use. More often than not, I even write my blog posts on the iPhone (this is one of those exceptions). The point is that I use my iPhone a lot and I use it many times as a substitute for my laptop. With that background, here are my gripes.

After a year-and-a-half of clicking back-and-forth between applications trying to remember that 45-digit long URL, Apple give me Cut/Copy/Paste. It can't be that hard. People have applications in the AppStore with the feature enabled. It doesn't matter if you screw it up and have to redo it at a later date, just give me the damn function. My memory isn't what it used to be. Therefore, memorizing a piece of information and switching between applications and then typing is getting less productive the older I get. When I forward a message in email, I don't like to make the reader suffer through all the various forwards. As a result, doing so on the iPhone can literally take hours. It's a dumb feature to be missing and enough is enough.

Add Flash. I don't care if it's doggy, just give me the capability to view Flash content on the iPhone. Whether Steve Jobs likes it or not, Flash is a Web standard. I am finding that there are numerous Web sites that I do not have access to simply because the iPhone does not support Flash. As Adobe expands their Web application suite, this is only going to get worse. Add to this problem the fact that many sites are also now using Microsoft Silverlight and the problem gets worse. Quicktime is a Web standard; good for you Apple. However, Flash and Silverlight are also standards and the iPhone should also support them.

Bring Mobile Safari up to standard so it can be used with sites such as Google Apps. If this means an improved Java engine, so be it. While Apple may be protecting their installed base of iWork users and continuing to show appreciation for the Microsoft Office for Mac crowd, the fact is sites such as Google Apps are catching on and users want access to the presentation, word processing, and spreadsheet functions offered. Locking this capability out of the iPhone will only drive users to alternative platforms (such as the Google OS-based phones). Embrace the evolving Web and ride the wave. Otherwise, Apple may be left in the backwash of a missed wave, much as happened in the '80s.

While I would love to have the ability to rename photos on the iPhone (as has been on my gripe list for more than a year), at a minimum, let me at least pull up the image information. The information on date and time taken are available in the phone as that information is passed to iPhoto. Make it available directly on the phone for crying out loud. While you are at it, allow the photo application to capture GPS coordinates since that field is available.

Finally, Documents-To-Go, get your act together and release the package for the iPhone. I have heard rumors of this being done since the iPhone was released and I am still waiting. Is it copy/paste that's holding you up? If so, implement your own version.

What say you? While I don't mean this to be a infinite wish list, what are the absolute functions that you feel are needed to make the iPhone a true portable computing substitute?

MacWorld Prediction Accuracy

Okay, I took my guess just like a lot of other people. So how did I do? Let's see:

1. An iPhone 16 Gb. MISSED
2. Early introduction of the SDK along with the announcements of a number of new applications immediately available through iTunes (new release 7.7). MISSED Sort of. There was a new release of iTunes (7.6), but the SDK is now "late February.
3. iPhone email Exchange compatibility. MISSED
4. Update 1.1.3 (or perhaps a 1.2.0) that will incorporate the teasers seen in the leaked video of the release as well as much-needed enhancements. SPOT ON. Indeed, only the things in the leaked video were in the release.
5. Enhancements to the Wi-Fi iTunes store that will enable podcasts and videos to be downloaded wirelessly. MISSED
6. Among the videos that will be available, Apple will announce its agreement to carry movie rentals--they will be available through the Wi-Fi store or iTunes directly to a home machine or a souped-up AppleTV. GOT ALL EXCEPT THE WI-FI ACCESS.
7. Joint announcements by Yahoo!, Google, and perhaps others of significant extensions of their Web sites to accommodate the iPhone format. MISSED
8. Announcement of an agreement enabling extended Wi-Fi iTunes store usage at airports, certain hotel chains, and perhaps additional business establishments. MISSED
9. Joint announcement of the availability of the 3G iPhone along with AT&T's announcement of rapid expansion of its 3G network. MISSED

And the total is: 2 of 7 of 29%. Pitiful, pitiful, pitiful.

iPhone/Apple Goodies at MacWorld Expo

Well, since everyone else appears compelled to weigh in on what will be announced at the 2008 MacWorld Expo, I thought I might as well provide my prognostications to the pile appearing in the blogosphere. Herewith are my predictions:

1. An iPhone 16 Gb. This is logical allowing the top end of the iPhone line to be filled-in and perhaps allowing the 8 Gb to see a price drop, perhaps to $299. The phone will come standard with the 1.1.3 update. The 16 Gb iPhone will not have a replaceable battery.
   
2. No iPhone 3G. If one is introduced, it will be introduced as debuting with 3G service to Japan or a similar announcement. This will place the machine coming to market in the Spring at the earliest, Summer more likely, or Fall (before the Christmas rush) as the most likely. It also gives Apple time to determine whether to put it at a higher price point, or to retire the 8 Gb model. Either way, there will be both a 3G and a 2.5G model on the market at the same time. If the 3G model is introduced, it will not have a replaceable battery.
   
3. Early introduction of the SDK along with the announcements of a number of new applications immediately available through iTunes (new release 7.7). I would expect that many of these applications are available from installer.app developers (let's face it, some of this stuff is great, especially the games, and they pose no threat to Apple).
4. Flash availability on the iPhone. There doesn't seem to be much discussion of this topic anymore, but it would be an easy addition that would significantly extend the functionality of Safari considering how many sites use Flash. It would also be a logical early SDK-developed tool.
5. iPhone email Exchange compatibility. This one will come from either Microsoft or one of the many companies providing these capabilities to Palm and others today. Again, this is a logical SDK-developed tool.
6. Update 1.1.3 (or perhaps a 1.2.0) that will incorporate the teasers seen in the leaked video of the release as well as much-needed enhancements. Among this are: a) icon management as seen in the video; b) Google map location as seen in the video; c) custom pin placement as seen in the video; d) bookmark as icon application on the springboard as seen in the video; e) copy-and-paste; and f) flash-disk storage.
7. Enhancements to the Wi-Fi iTunes store that will enable podcasts and videos to be downloaded wirelessly.
8. Among the videos that will be available, Apple will announce its agreement to carry movie rentals--they will be available through the Wi-Fi store or iTunes directly to a home machine or a souped-up AppleTV.
9. Joint announcements by Yahoo!, Google, and perhaps others of significant extensions of their Web sites to accommodate the iPhone format. These would go far beyond what has been announced by Yahoo! and Google recently. Indeed, they may take the form of additional custom applications available as a result of the SDK.
   

These latter predictions are the result of this being Apple's show, but they will not want to leave out the content providers that make the iPhone so functional. Therefore, they will be involved in some type of joint presentation. Then there are the reach predictions. Not sure whether they are realistic at this time, but I would predict they are coming:

1. Announcement of an agreement enabling extended Wi-Fi iTunes store usage at airports, certain hotel chains, and perhaps additional business establishments. The latter would be tied to Apple's existing contracts with AT&T, O2, Deutche Telekom, and Orange.
2. Joint announcement of the availability of the 3G iPhone along with AT&T's announcement of rapid expansion of its 3G network.

Those are my thoughts. What do you think I have wrong. What have I left out?