David Pogue reviews the iPhone.

All the expected positives, all the expected negatives. Reinforces two negatives that kill my buzz, both of which are AT&T's fault:

The bigger problem is the AT&T network. In a Consumer Reports study, AT&T's signal ranked either last or second to last in 19 out of 20 major cities. My tests in five states bear this out. If Verizon's slogan is, "Can you hear me now?" AT&T's should be, "I'm losing you."

Then there's the Internet problem. When you're in a Wi-Fi hot spot, going online is fast and satisfying.

But otherwise, you have to use AT&T's ancient EDGE cellular network, which is excruciatingly slow. The New York Times's home page takes 55 seconds to appear; Amazon.com, 100 seconds; Yahoo, two minutes. You almost ache for a dial-up modem.

In other words, that 1 bar I get in my basement from Verizon probably means no signal on an iPhone, and that unlimited data plan probably isn't useful. Here's hoping the Google Maps app knows how to cache driving directions, so it doesn't have to access the server at each turn. I wasn't planning on using cellular data that often, but I was planning on using it for phone calls.

Another quote from Pogue, spun as a positive: "Apple points out that unlike other cellphones, this one can and will be enhanced with free software updates." I don't doubt that Apple will push bug fixes, but their track record with iPods implies no new features without paying full price for an upgrade. That makes me wonder: With the 2 year plan commitment, does this mean that most of Apple's core customers won't be willing to upgrade their phone if a new one comes out before mid-2009? Does that mean Apple won't release a hardware upgrade until mid-2009?

Walt Mossberg's review is more optimistic about the virtual keyboard, and equally pessimistic about AT&T's inability to perform. "And the initial iPhone model cannot be upgraded to use the faster networks."

"There's also no way to cut, copy, or paste text." Wrr.

Steven Levy chimes in with about the same verdict, and adds that he was able to fill up his 8GB fairly quickly.