As things go in life, if it seems too good to be true it usually is.

So David Pogue, the un-official Mac/Apple homer (aka iPogue) spent some quality time with the iPhone and wrote about it again here.

Now that the Keynote hype, and the ‘Demo-Ware’ magic has worn off, Pogue points out a few things:

Yes, typing is difficult (bleh)

Web Speed wasn’t great. Originally I had *thought* they were doing the web stuff in the prezo on-net, but being that it was wireless, then I’m really not all that impressed with the speed. If it was that _slow_ over wifi, then it’s going to completely suck on Edge.

Granted, this is a pre-release with demo/debug software so let’s hope it’s not that slow. I once hoped that Outlook 2007 would be faster once out of beta too. Boy was I wrong.

Other questions that everyone is asking were answered in a follow-up comment by Pogue:

ANSWERS TO ALL YOUR QUESTIONS:

Guys, if it hasn’t been said, then the answer is no.

Can it run Mac OS X programs? No.
Can it open Word/Excel docs? No. (Yes to PDF, though.)
Can it be used with anything but Cingular? No.
Does it run Palm apps? No.
Does it connect to iChat? No.
Does it have games? No.
Is it ambidextrous? No.
Does it have GPS, voice recognition, 3G? No.
Flash or Java? No.
Music over Bluetooth? No.
Can you change the battery? No.

Etc.

It is STILL the coolest piece of electronics to come along in years.

DP — Posted by david Pogue

So, no you can’t add stuff to it. (That’s bad, though everyone in the handheld community is expecting an SDK to be announced at WWDC). It would not surprise me in the least though if Apple kept the iPhone as a closed platform just like the iPod. Since there wasn’t a mention at the Keynote, we’ll assume for now that it is closed.

No Word or Excel viewing compatibility? That’s a big WTF? Even if some bastardized version of Doc’s To-Go was included, that would help.

Cingular blows we all know this and it’s a recurring theme. I understand the need to support GSM though.

Of course it won’t run Palm apps. Duh.

Ambidextrous? If you can’t use it with one hand, being ambidextrous is moot.

If it supports Safari, why not Flash? Java?

Ugh. It’s still an amazing device, but then again, so was the Newton.