30 Things Missing from the iPhone

For sure, iPhones are fun to use and accomplish the basic tasks of a multimedia phone. But when you want to do some serious handheld computing, you need a more feature-rich machine. Below is a summary of 30 basic features lacking in the iPhone. I have combined some items into a single point. For example, rather than list all the peripherals the iPhone does not support, I merely say that it doesn't support peripherals. I suppose you could call this a wish list of the capabilities I'd like to see incorporated into future versions of the iPhone.

1. It doesn't do word processing, spreadsheets, relational databases, and PowerPoint presentations.
2. It doesn't have VGA output.
3. You can't make drawings or sketches.
4. It doesn't have GPS capability.
5. You can't do MMS on it.
6. There are no expansion slots.
7. There's no flash with the camera, and it only captures 2 megapixel images.
8. You can't hook up to an external Bluetooth keyboard for serious inputting productivity.
9. You can't capture screenshots.
10. It doesn't have a second camera for video-conferencing and self-portraits.
11. There is no QWERTY keyboard or even a phone keypad.
12. There are no hardware buttons for easy control and access to built-in functions.
13. There are no text editing features. You can't highlight, cut, copy, or paste text.
14. There is only a rudimentary eBook reader utility (really just a document viewer)—you can't highlight, annotate, draw, change color/font schemes and backgrounds, or look up definitions.
15. It doesn't have infrared capability. You can't beam files, photos, tunes, text, contacts, or applications.
16. You can't control your computer or anything else remotely with an iPhone.
17. It supports Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, but not A2DP, so you can't use wireless Bluetooth headsets with it. Bluetooth capabilities are restricted in other ways.
18. It won't work with optical eyewear players.
19. It doesn't use the universal mini-USB connector for syncing and charging.
20. There are no downloadable and user-installable programs available. Existing titles are Web apps that force you to go online to use. (Apple claims that 600 Web apps are available; Windows Mobile has over 12,000 downloadable/installable programs.)
21. You can't transfer files between iPhones, and there's no peer-to-peer connectivity possible either.
22. The iPhone's battery is not removable; to replace it you have to send the unit in to Apple at your own expense and suffer downtime.
23. There are no Bluetooth peripherals such as keyboards, headphones, GPS receivers, printers, scanners, storage cards, etc. available for the iPhone.
24. There is no voice command software available for the iPhone.
25. You can't use the iPhone to control your home TV/DVR remotely and watch TV/video from anywhere in the world. (However, SlingMedia is rumored to be working on a version of SlingPlayer for the iPhone and iPod.)
26. The iPhone has no FM or satellite radio capability.
27. You can't use an iPhone as an extension of your desktop monitor or display the iPhone's screen on a desktop monitor and control the iPhone from a PC (or Mac).
28. The touch screen is not sensitive to a standard stylus, only the finger.
29. Using finger gestures on a page with many hyperlinks is problematic and causes navigation errors.
30. There's no way to create smooth animated transitions between pages.