I didn’t queue up in the rain for my iPhone, but that’s the acid test for cool new mobile products. Will we queue in the rain to get one? Even more telling, how itchy will we be for the next software release - iPhone 2.0?

The experience is unusual. Who gives a shake about the next fix/update to anything? Firefox seems to forever be telling me to restart for the latest fix and I ignore it until I happen to close the browser. Who cares? I don’t even know what these updates do - some security wotsit or another.

But the next iPhone software update. Can’t wait!

The phone can be updated. I get a more robust platform and extra features! New goodies. It’s like unwrapping a present.

Now, I loved my Blackberry (RIP), most definitely, but it took me a determined search and a half online to find a software update, especially as Vodafone, my supplier, never bothered to tell me about one. Dig hard enough on the RIM site, and you’ll find the updates (albeit with non-obvious obscure names). With iPhones, the iTunes player just prompts me to do it! No messiness.

Here’s the thing. Most mobiles today can’t be updated. This actually causes a lot of the fragmentation problem that we moan about. iPhone doesn’t have this problem.

For wireless innovation to flourish, we need to fix the update problem. Ideally it needs to be done over the air, but that’s a joke on today’s networks….unless…we all get femtocells some day soon. Now, how far should femtocells form part of the mobile computing ecosystem? That’s an interesting question. It’s also interesting that Google are an investor in this space!

Technorati Tags: iPhone, iPhone 2.0, Blackberry, femtocells

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