Talk:IPhone

Back of iPhones

"The back of the original iPhone was made of aluminum with a black plastic accent. The iPhone 3G features a full plastic back to increase GSM signal strength.[39] The plastic is black for the 8 GB model, but the 16 GB version is also available in white."

Hi. I just wanted to provide some input but wasn't sure where to direct it to. I apologize if this isn't the place for it.

I have an iPhone 3G and I discovered there are two cracks on it - one at the mute button and the other at the earphone jack. I Wiki-ed this and as you guys would know, there aren't any info on this (as written above).

I later Googled this and found several forum discussions and reports that cracks on iPhones are common.

So, my input is basically, shouldn't this info be provided on Wikipedia? Thanks. - Axtlan78 (Axtlan78 (talk) 17:46, 20 May 2009 (UTC))

There'd need to be some reliable sources on this. Forum discussions don't count. --Bobblehead ^(rants) 18:43, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

It also needs to be frequently discussed as a widespread issue. Several reliable sources are required to illustrate this. Brianreading (talk) 18:55, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Yes, anyone can post in a forum or comment box. Especially for critical information (as opposed to facts), we need actual journalists ([macworld.com], [cnet.com]) or at least a lot of bloggers. (Within the blogsphere, avoid blogs run by only one person.) I'm hoping to provide a more detailed explanation soon at WikiProject Apple Inc..--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 20:46, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

"I Wiki-ed this and as you guys would know, there aren't any info on this (as written above)." That's the problem, this is an encyclopedia, not a newspaper. Wikipedia isn't and should never be the source for information. Wikipedia is a collection of already-known and verifiable information. -- Atama^chat 15:23, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

On the iPhone 3G Ss, the back of the 16GB and 32GB phones are availabel in black and white. Please update the last sentacne to reflect this change (iPhone 3Gs had black only for 8GB and Black and White for 16GBs) Solarguy17 (talk) 13:50, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Done. Thanks you.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 15:10, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Screen

"Holding a finger over a section of text brings up a magnifying glass, allowing users to place the cursor in the middle of existing text."

Does this mean you don't have to actually touch the screen? If so, this should be added to the Input section. If not, rewording is necessary. ✍ (talk) 18:47, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't know how to change it without making it unnecessarily awkward. You should know from context that since it is a touch screen that yes, you have to touch it. Taking the sentence completely out of context makes it ambiguous but a reasonable reader shouldn't have that problem. What else would you say, "maintainting finger contact with the surface of the iPhone for an extended period of time at the area where text is displayed enables a magnification feature"? I think it's fine as-is. -- Atama^chat 19:21, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps it could just be reworded to change "over" with "on". Brianreading (talk) 19:56, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps, although I think that it's clear from context.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 20:42, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

I thought about that as well. But that's just poor writing. You don't hold something "on" something else, you hold it "over" or "against" it, or perhaps "beneath" it. It would require a significant change to the sentence and there isn't really a reason for it. -- Atama^chat 00:47, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, "on" sounded off, excuse the pun, to me too. I like "Holding a finger against a section of text..." though.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 01:39, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Usually, "against" is used when the two objects are vertically aligned with one another, such as the broom and the wall, as in the broom is leaning against the wall. But, if the broom fell onto the floor, then we would say the broom is lying on the floor, and not "against" the floor. As for a finger and the iPhone, I think the context should be on the level of the iPhone sitting on a desktop, or being held with the glass surface facing up. Of course, the phone could be held vertically, but I doubt people would have that vision in mind when reading this article. Hope that helps. groink 02:20, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

I never said it was an ideal solution. Is over so bad by comparison?--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 02:27, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

The "Capacitive" section on Touchscreen says "These sensors work on proximity, and do not have to be directly touched to be triggered.", so I think "on" is least ambiguous.✍ (talk) 03:00, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Except that "on" is awful grammar and bad English, as we've agreed. Fortunately I fixed it. It's not very helpful to begin a discussion and then go ahead and unilaterally make a change that is against consensus. -- Atama^chat 06:31, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Eh, I disagree of course, but the current fix looks good to me also. Brianreading (talk) 08:28, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Okay so it was MOSTLY a consensus. :p -- Atama^chat 15:55, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Availability Map

Just a quick heads-up that the map needs updating. Bulgaria can now be coloured, and Malaysia and Indonesia need to be changed green-->blue, per [1]. I would do it myself, but unfortunately I only know how to do PNGs not SVGs. Thanks, Bernerd (talk) 01:43, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Taken to the graphics lab. Thanks!--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 02:46, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Hmm, I never knew about that part of Wikipedia. Thanks for the heads-up. Brianreading (talk) 02:56, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Battery

I am almost 100% sure the iphone 3g has a 1150mAh battery as opposed to the 1400mah mentioned in the specs list?

Does anyone else agree? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.242.116.126 (talk) 03:41, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

You are correct. Even the reference provided in the infobox[2] agrees with you. Also, the main body of the article states that the 3G iPhone has a different battery than previous models. I'm updating the infobox now, thanks for pointing this out. -- Atama^chat 15:59, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

iPhone 3G S vs iPhone 3Gs

Several places in the article the term "iPhone 3Gs" is used to describe as the plural of iPhone 3G. Because of the name of the new version "iPhone 3GS" or "iPhone 3G S" is ambiguous it makes sense to switch to using rules for plurals of symbols and initialisms. This would mean that "iPhone 3G's" would be the plural of the older version and "iPhone 3G S's" or "iPhone 3GS's" would be the plural of the newer version. PaleAqua (talk) 20:05, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure if that's how we would do it but I agree that is a problem. Can we eliminate every occurrence of iPhone 3Gs?--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 20:10, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Doesn't seem necessary, since the plural would be lowercase (iPhones, iPhone 3Gs or iPhone 3G Ss) while the newer product has a space and is uppercase. Wikipedia XP (talk) 20:12, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

"iPhone 3GS" is not the problem, "iPhone 3Gs" is since this is ambiguous especially to someone coming from a standpoint of no product knowledge. It's also a term like "Brigadiers General" where people often pluralize the wrong word. iPhones 3G is probably the correct pluralization, as "iPhone 3rd Generations" doesn't strike me as correct. If so that tells you how to fix it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.12.221.79 (talk) 20:17, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

That's probably true... Can I guess we using (for the singular) "iPhone 3G S", right?--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 20:39, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

I disagree, and I'm not sure that's an appropriate analogy. First off, the product name is iPhone 3G S, not iPhone 3GS. Second, 3G is simply part of the product name; it is understood it stands for 3G broadband (not 3rd generation) but is not an abbreviation. Similar to Mustang GT, you would not refer to more than one car as Mustangs GT. Wikipedia XP (talk) 20:54, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

First 3G in 3G broadband stands does stand for "third generation". And yes the name is "iPhone 3G S", but the presence of the space doesn't make 3Gs less ambiguous. Also if you look at the logo used for example at the [3] page, you will see that the "S" is set in a smaller type which a cap-height matching the size of the lowercase letters in iPhone. Finally these names, because they end with initializations fall into one of the rare cases where " 's " is used for plurals. I actually agree with HereToHelp, that the best approach is to side step the issue and rephrase the four or so problematic sentences. PaleAqua (talk) 21:12, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

There's a related issue: with the third generation (of iPhone, not network technology) the iPhone is seeming more like a product line than a single product, much like cars are updated yearly. Should we rephrase the lead to refer to "a line of multimedia smartphones"?--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 21:26, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm very much against pluralizing the 3G as "iPhones 3G". It's simply incorrect. As was pointed out, "3G" is part of the name, not just an adjective. If we were to take such a bold step to pluralize the name in a manner different than the rest of world, why not make it even easier and replace each instance of "iPhone 3G" with "3G iPhone"? "3G iPhones" is easier to read than "iPhones 3G" and a reader is less-likely to miss the pluralizing "s". I'm totally on board with simply adding an apostrophe (iPhone 3G's). PaleAqua has even been kind enough to link a guideline that suggests we do that anyway. Or sidestep it altogether. -- Atama^chat 22:19, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

I disagree with 3G meaning 3rd generation. I think it is just sheer coincidence that the 3rd generation phone and the 3G technology support were released as the same product. Otherwise, this new phone would not be a G3 S phone, but rather a 4G S or something similar to it. The phone continues to use the 3G network, therefore the 3G is kept in the name. groink 02:32, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Huh? 3G refers to the network; the iPhone 3G was the second generation of the iPhone. The 3G S uses 3rd generation networks, as does the 3G (no S), but is also the 3rd generation of the iPhone.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 02:42, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Gomen ne, I was commenting on PaleAqua's post earlier. But you did remind me that indeed the "S" model is 3rd-generation. Thanks! groink 04:45, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

To me, this sums up the OP's argument: "yes the name is "iPhone 3G S", but the presence of the space doesn't make 3Gs less ambiguous." I disagree with this statement, and therefore don't believe there should be changes to the plural wording. Brianreading (talk) 05:09, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

I would prefer the plural of "iPhone 3G" to be "iPhone 3Gs", but that's because I'm quite a pedant with apostrophes in plurals, it's just wrong! But I suppose the plural of iPhone 3G S does pose an interesting problem, I'll see what the editors decide! (I did take the apostrophe out of one plural, I'm sure it'll get changed back!) Scottrb (talk) 12:19, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

3.4 Internet Connectivity - Source has changed

under 3.4 it says:

The iPhone 3G has a maximum download rate of 1.4 Mbps in the United States.[94]

First the source for [94] is indirect, it's a blog of a article on macnn that doesn't even exist anymore. Also, the source has corrected the blog saying that it is only an observed limit.

While what's in there now may be true, perhaps it should be changed to reference the press release from at&t or some other primary document.

here's the press release from at&t: iPhone 3g Press Release —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.221.240.193 (talk) 12:42, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Excellent! I'll add that in right now.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 16:25, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Aspect ratio

It's 2:3 (upright), not 3:2 as listed in the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.138.137.233 (talk) 19:12, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

My research conflicts, but I'll go ahead and change it. You are certainly right, portrait is the primary viewing mode.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 23:59, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

From Talk:iPhone 3G S

For archival purposes. HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 19:15, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Merge proposal

This page should redirect to the iPhone article, as the iPhone 3G article does. Expand the iPhone article to include information on the iPhone 3G S. 72.192.22.3 (talk) 19:28, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

I think we should just leave it as a separate page while the launch is current, and then merge it in to the main page. Since there are rapid developments, it's best to have a separate page. --Scott (talk) 19:33, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Why isn't this page included in the iPhone page? The 3G is part of the iPhone page, why should the iPhone 3GS be separate? Dual64bit (talk) 19:42, 8 June 2009 (UTC) Cellomaster1000 (talk) 19:43, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Merge! It's just that simple. Bentoman (talk) 19:44, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

I think iPhone article needs a major revamp, everything is like cluttered together. Webbyboy (talk) 19:47, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Let's continue this merge discussion over at User:Scottcampb/Merging:iPhone_3G_S --Scott (talk) 19:52, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Why? Dancter (talk) 19:58, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

From the other page:

Merge Almost all coverage will be duplicate, such as the interface, history, sales, and some of the hardware. Keeping everything together allows us to highlight the (few) differences instead of them getting lost in identical details. Scott has a point, though. In the short term (say, until the keynote is posted), we should keep it here.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 20:08, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Merge per much of above. 3G already redirects to iPhone, there's no reason this shouldn't - there's no significant difference between the first generation iPhone and the 3GS. Bsimmons666 (talk) 21:24, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Dancter (talk) 21:30, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Keep it separate while this is current. People will be rapidly searching for just the iphone3GS and do not want to search through the whole iphone page to find the information.MegaZega93 (talk) 20:24, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

* Agreed --Scott (talk) 20:33, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

This should be separate for the time being. There should be a link over on the iPhone page to redirect users to the separate one, especially if a major overhaul of the main iphone page is planned. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.127.253.85 (talk) 21:24, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

• There isn't. In fact I almost had it to GA and then this mess splattered in our laps. I advise keeping it separate long enough to let the anons and fanatics add their two cents. In a couple days the editors can wade through and find what needs to be added. (Is that still going to work after six product cycles?) HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 21:34, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

• I'm going to have to agree with this, but I think that what could be done is having small sections on each product on the main iPhone article, but with links to the expanded pages with more information. Opinions? --Scott (talk) 22:13, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Keep it like it is now at least for another month. People want info on this and they will have hard time finding it. 208.111.228.185 (talk) 22:40, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

A month? I would hardly say a day. If we had to we could make Comparison of iPhone models. We let the fuss die down and then integrate into iPhone. If they want to find info, anon, why not from Apple? What we provide, uniquely, is long-range comparison and analysis. HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 00:08, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Merge. If there is an issue with users searching for iPhone 3G S, create a redirect. Problem solved. Brianreading (talk) 03:27, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Merge. If people are worried about lazy people getting annoyed with having to actually read things instead of being spoon-fed everything they want, use #REDIRECT[[iPhone#iPhone_3GS]] --Veratien (talk) 09:03, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Don't Merge! There is a significant difference between the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3G S. When the iPhone 3G came out the iPhone was discontinued and thus it became the new iPhone, replacing the previous generation. However, Apple Inc. has announced that they still will be manufacturing iPhone 3G (8gb), thus this is not an iPhone which replaces the previous generation and so deserves a page of its own. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.78.84.236 (talk) 09:43, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

But there are hardly any differences, besides a few hardware improvements. I don't see why 3G S deserves an own article when all other information about the iPhone is collected at iPhone. Just include those new features into the existing article and redirect this lemma.

Merge--Totie (talk) 10:31, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

I believe that all/almost all of the don't merge votes have been cast by anons, who have minimal suffrage (if any). I think the consensus is clear and that we should start to act on it. HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 11:56, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Full ack. Some of the information is already present in iPhone.--Totie (talk) 12:41, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

I had assumed that there wouldn't be much to merge at all, and that most of the contributors to the iPhone article were editing as if there wasn't a separate 3G S article. Dancter (talk) 15:50, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Good. So can we turn this into a redirect yet? HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 16:09, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes. I checked the article as well, announcement, new camera and digital compass are included. We could enhance the article if necessary, but at least this one can be deleted/redirected.--Totie (talk) 17:24, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Done. Now on the the combined article...--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 17:37, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

• Merge per much of above. 3G already redirects to iPhone, there's no reason this shouldn't - there's no significant difference between the first iPhone 3G and the new 3G S. However I really think the page should have separate sections for the 3 models giving breakdowns on the improvements, alterations and so forth that happened on each one (1st model > 3G model > 3G S model), as well as outlining timeframes when certain things happened in a timeline somehow (model release dates, OS update dates, announcement of release dates – like 3G S being first mentioned and OS 3.0 second mentioned, both at WWDC on Mon.8.Jun.2009). Jimthing (talk) 23:22, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Worldwide view tag

Added globalise tag as only geographically-static and US-specific information is given, with no explanation or discussion of the iPhone 3G S outside of the USA. Ged3000 (talk) 00:03, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes, and it violates WP:NOPRICES, too. What a mess.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 02:17, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

I've removed the prices since they add nothing to the article whatsoever. I also support the merge proposed above, since this is just a revision of a previous model, not a new product. The sum total of revolutionary content in this model wouldn't fill one of Che Guevara's socks. --Veratien (talk) 08:57, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Only US info is verifiable at this point I believe. Rogers and Fido reps are stating it will be launched in Canada on June 19th as well but no official announcement has been made as far as I can find except that Fido will be getting it at some point (fido.ca - new iphone coming soon). 156.34.209.156 (talk) 07:03, 9 June 2009 (UTC)S

3G S proccessor

the iPhone 3G S has a new ARM Cortex-A8 CPU and the gpu was upgrade to powerVR SGX 5xx gpu .<ref>[4]</ref>

Other than being poorly formatted (sentences usually begin with capital letters) and placement (this belongs in the infobox, I cannot substantiate the link (which requires login). However, the promised speed boosts strongly suggest a faster processor. We'll know when the gadget blogs dissect the new units on the 19th, but until then, what do we do?--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 23:57, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Revert rumors posted without proper attribution, report 3RR violations when editors insist on pushing it. If it becomes prolonged maybe do an RFC or arbitration but that's really a pain for an issue that should get cleared up in a week or so anyway when we have real specs from reliable sources. Unfortunately I doubt this will be the last time someone tries to add info prematurely about the new model. -- Atama^chat 00:05, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

here is text about the gpu in the apple link [5] Quoting from the latest OpenGL ES doc on the OpenGL ES developer page

---

The PowerVR SGX is the graphics processor in Apple’s newest iPhones and is designed for OpenGL ES 2.0. The graphics driver for the PowerVR SGX also implements OpenGL ES 1.1 by efficiently implementing the fixed-function pipeline using shaders. More information about PowerVR technologies can be found in the PowerVR Technology Overview. Detailed information about the PowerVR SGX can be found in the POWERVR SGX OpenGL ES 2.0 Application Development Recommendations.

---

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Andri12 (talk • contribs) 00:19, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't think the content of the edit is the issue. The issues are 1. the information belongs in the infobox and not the body of the article, and 2. the text is poorly written. We're not scolding people who doesn't write in English as his first language. What I would've done instead is write the information the best you can in this very talk page, allow someone with better knowledge of written English to write the information, and then add the content in the proper place. groink 00:30, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

I do have a bit of a problem with the content... Well, I suspect it's true and really is there, but as always we want verifiability and we can't have that with a source we can't even view. -- Atama^chat 00:33, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

My suggestion as to what to do with the content is to assume it's accurate and add the info in the proper place with proper formatting, but with a fact tag, because we still don't have a good source. Later, when we do have one, we'll put it in. Does that work? That way we're following policy but still improving the article with new info. -- Atama^chat 00:47, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Sounds good to me.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 01:33, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

here is a good source anandtech the site famous for graphics cards has don a nich article about the iphone 3gs hardware http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3579&p=2 page 2 is about the cpu and gpu is page 3 --Andri12 (talk) 07:35, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Call For Criticisms

Why on EARTH does a device with as many imperfections as the IPhone not have a criticisms section? I would suggest that people get busy, because not pointing out obvious flaws in stuff like this leaves companies feeling all too free to continue them in future models (like battery life, as one example. That has been more criticized in EVERY model than Michael Jackson's face. You can't even talk about the IPhone to regular people without hearing all kinds of crap (and expressions of hesitation to buy) regarding battery life, internet speed, and often how choppy lots of games and high-end apps run).— Preceding unsigned comment added by Dario D. (talk • contribs)

wp:npov k thx riffic (talk) 09:51, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Your use of words does not encourage us taking you seriously. Did you read the FAQ above in this very topic? Creating a new section and dumping a bunch of information is not difficult. In fact, it's too easy! The challenge is embedding the reliably sourced information into the existing sections. Read WP:CRIT, and you'll find that what you did to the IPod Touch article was not the correct way to go about things. groink 09:54, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

I agree with the previous two Wikipedians. Please do read WP:NPOV and WP:CRIT before you continue this discussion. Brianreading (talk) 10:37, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

If the criticisms focus on the battery, put them into the battery section. I'll do that now.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 11:49, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

I still need to clean up that section, as well as look at sources for the processor.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 12:44, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Don't think that just because a few article-hawks have an opinion on keeping a PERFECT criticism section down that this will make it very far. I can smell this reaching ArbCom VERY soon, and your stone-wall against Crits is going to come crashing down.----[ Dario D. ] 20:51, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Threats aren't going to help you. Please be civil and please avoid trying to make a point with your edits. Criticism sections in general are against Wikipedia policy, you're beating a long-dead horse. -- Atama^chat 20:59, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

A long-dead horse?--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 21:48, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

By the way, Dario D. that edit regarding the battery problems, good find. All significant info for the iPhone, if properly sourced, is welcome and helps the article. -- Atama^chat 21:30, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

I'd prefer a source directly from JD Power & Associates...*grumble grumble*...but I'll go ahead and format the citations. However, I think that it is fair to let Apple state its case before we bring in third parties. Okay?--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 21:48, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

"Threats". Hilarious. Read my post below for the rest of what I was going to say. (and I *DID* cite JD Power's very website. Not sure what you're grumbling about.)----[ Dario D. ] 22:13, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes, you did and I missed it when I made that post, sorry. I am more than happy to include that information. I am leaving in the moconews source (which I've never heard of, but am assuming it's a legit company and not one person), but reluctantly.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 22:36, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Third opinion

I am responding to a request posted on Wikipedia:Third opinion. Try to remember that third opinions are intended to resolve disputes between two editors. There are more than two at work here. However, I'll throw in my opinions:

• Atama is incorrect. There is no policy prohibiting criticism sections. The policies that govern such sections are Wikipedia:Neutral point of view, Wikipedia:Reliable sources, and Wikipedia:Undue weight.
• In the context of the iPhone, a criticism section would probably be more appropriate to call Reviews or Reception or something similar. Any criticism should be from notable, reliable sources. I stress reliable here, because any poorly-sourced criticism should be immediately reverted with prejudice. This prevents disgruntled POV-pushers from expanding the section with their personal views.
• Blogs, forum comments, self-published editorials, and the like are totally not acceptable as sources.
• Dario D had the right idea, but went about it the wrong way by referencing a poor source.
• If the only notable criticism is about one aspect of the device (such as the battery), then the criticism should be incorporated into the appropriate section. In fact, a criticism section can be avoided entirely if incorporating valid criticism into other sections is done as much as possible.

Those are my opinions. ~Amatulić (talk) 21:44, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Criticism sections are discouraged inasmuch that they generally tend to violate the policies you cited. But I agree strongly with your last point - this isn't about criticism, it's about the battery. The point is to regurgitate neither Apple's rosy publicity nor a blogger's unsubstantiated rant. Ideally, Consumer Reports or JD Power would have done their own lab tests...it appears that they have not.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 21:52, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

You're saying criticism sections are against Wikipedia policy? Read the Wikipedia:CRIT page. Aside from ONLY stating the contrary, it says: "Evaluations in a "Criticism" section: A dedicated section can make dealing with criticism easier by keeping these aspects compartmentalized, as criticisms may be similar and can be combined in a fashion that will reduce repetition." Even Jimbo Wales is quoted saying they're legit and needed. - Btw, the current disassembling the Crit section and stuffing it into sections all over the article sounds like some form of of Wikipedia:Content_Forking, or something else even more deliberately ill-natured and in (very) bad POV tastes. I naturally agree with Amatulic, and regarding citations, took the time to dig up several better sources (CNet, and JD Power's actual website). Oh, and by the way, I need to point everyone's attention to that giant FAQ at the top of the page, that says Criticisms Sections are discouraged. That's coming down, right? When it was put there, it already contained that text. I think it comes from a template of some sort.----[ Dario D. ] 22:13, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

First of all, WP:CRIT is an essay, not policy or guideline. Secondly, I am not saying that criticism sections are forbidden, I am saying that they are discouraged. In many cases they are not appropriate, and this is one of them. The page says that criticisms may be "[i]ntegrated throughout an article." There is nothing wrong with putting battery criticism in the battery section; in fact, it helps to keep Apple's numbers in perspective. We want third party sources to be in close proximity to Apple's statements. (Keep your friends close...) The criticisms of the iPhone are not similar, as the essay suggests criticisms in a section should be; they relate to a specific feature, and every notable feature is mentioned somewhere. As for Wales, unless you can provide a link I assume he is referring to criticism in general, not in sections.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 22:34, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Nobody (in this section at least) is saying that criticism sections violate Wikipedia policy. WP:CRIT isn't a policy, it's an essay. The problem is, criticism sections left to themselves tend to accumulate all sorts of cruft from biased editors, and that junk does end up violating the policies I mentioned in my opinion above. The key to having a good criticism section (if such a section must exist and not be incorporated into other sections) is to be sure that every statement references a verifiable, reliable source, and that the criticism isn't given undue weight. Also, the sources shouldn't be misrepresented.

Content forking is where you separate criticism into a whole separate article, not where you incorporating criticism into different sections.

There is also a problem with incorporating criticism into sections: you run into the danger of making the article sound like a point/counterpoint debate. The Prem Rawat articles have had a huge problem with this, where criticism is presented in one sentence and then refuted in the next sentence, over and over again. That isn't what we want here. ~Amatulić (talk) 22:36, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

As per violating the guidelines, I've removed the FAQ item on this page (and the IPod Touch page) saying basically 'No Criticism Sections'. (most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life) And thus, I've put my IPod Touch crit section back up, because it is supported by the guidelines, cited to kingdom-come and back with powerful sources, and extremely relevant. I'm going to put the IPhone crits back up once I've worked on them more, and added important things.----[ Dario D. ] 22:47, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Amatulic, read the article. Is there a point/counterpoint tedium? No, there isn't, because this article was written by good editors who have put a lot of work into it over the years. You're making a straw-man argument, we're not talking about the Prem Rawat articles or any article other than iPhone. And to Dario D., why are you making these changes before the discussion is even finished, or barely started? -- Atama^chat 22:52, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Also, Amatulic, your comment that "a criticism section can be avoided entirely if incorporating valid criticism into other sections is done as much as possible" has been done here already and done for a long time. The article is full of negative information about the iPhone, all properly sourced. If you disagree that it hasn't been done properly your opinion on how to improve it would be appreciated. Thank you for your input on this matter. -- Atama^chat 22:56, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

WP:CRIT IS NOT A GUIDELINE. It is an essay, and it is not binding. You are being unreasonable, and the opinions of one blogger, or even one author of backwater journalism site, is not notable. Try Macworld; they have a print publication and some respect among Apple aficionados. (Amatulić: Thanks, I'll watch out for point/counterpint, but I think they way we have it right now works.)--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 22:57, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

HereToHelp, no, it doesn't work in the slightest, because there are enormous criticisms surrounding the IPhone/IPod Touch, and these prominent ones belong in the Crit section. -- And Atama, that argument against Amatunic is the weakest, most paper-thin argument I've ever heard. Meaning to say, I'm not even going to refute it, because it doesn't make any significant claims about anything; it just kicks up a cloud of fluff telling Amatunic to... I dunno... reconsider on a bunch of barely functional points. - And I'm making the changes because I'm plenty convinced enough that your side of the argument has ALL of the explaining to do, seeing as 1) Wikipedia policy is on my side to such a huge degree (are there significant crits from significant sources? Yes. So put them in a significant Crits section. (mostly referring to the IPod Touch at the moment)) that I don't even have a burden of proof here (I don't know why I'm being so lenient, waiting AT ALL to put the crits up), and 2) your side of the argument hasn't even stated a valid case yet against having a Crit section; ie, you're not saying what it violates, you're not saying how policy blocks MY edits, and you're resorting to kicking up fluff that means close to nothing. (your most valid argument is this petty "we like it this way, with the crits stashed in other sections, so we should keep it like that")----[ Dario D. ] 23:12, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

I must ask this question because I think I know what the answer will be... What's more important? Having the Criticism section, or having the criticism (without its own section) added the article? As I said earlier, regardless of Wikipedia rules, categorizing opinionated information is a lazy and poor method of writing. We feel that it is more important to have all information regarding the battery to be in one place - and that's how we expect our readers to look for information about a specific topic. We don't want readers to come to this article and immediately search for the criticism section - bypassing everything else. As others have written earlier, each section should have counterpoints to balance the section, if necessary. You do NOT save the criticisms for its own section. I would expect something like that to be done in a high school term paper. groink 23:24, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

(Unindent) Dario D., please read WP:NPOV. It states, "A more neutral approach may result by folding debates into the narrative rather than "distilling" them into separate sections that ignore each other." That is what has been done here. No, a criticisms section is not forbidden, but Wikipedia policy states that it is not preferred. You don't have a leg to stand on by demanding to unilaterally change the structure of the article because you personally like criticism sections. -- Atama^chat 23:30, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

(replying to Groink, 2 posts above - and also Atama here) Please point out why your POV here should be considered more weighty than the common sense of having a Criticism section in an article so long, that someone would have to read the WHOLE THING to decipher what's WRONG with the IPhone (or IPod Touch). ("what's wrong" is an ENORMOUS reader question that is CENTRAL to any technology product, and it's article) Your logic in thinking it is somehow CLARIFYING to the reader to scatter all criticisms throughout the article implies that we are looking at a VERY short article. In order to be taken seriously, you would also have to explain how scattering ANY section throughout an entire article would give readers a better impression of the dismantled topic (the topic here being "what has been criticised with the IPhone/IPod Touch". That's probably the #1 most asked reader question on Wikipedia ("what's wrong with X") and there's nothing you can do explain away the fact that a product article needs SOME form of very visible defect/criticism list. Nobody can say a product doesn't deserve a CLEAR list of criticisms. Nobody. It's a PRODUCT.)----[ Dario D. ] 23:40, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

See, you're 100-percent WRONG about Wikipedia readers. They do NOT come to Wikipedia hunting for information on all the problems with a device. They come here looking for information about a specific component, such as the battery. They'll then see the pros and cons about the battery. THAT'S how a properly written article works. But let's take your argument about the current information being erroneous seeing you're putting so much emphasis on it. FIX IT!!!!!!!!! Don't write a totally separate criticism section, and leave the existing erroneous information sitting there. I know that Wikipedia is not an encyclopedia, but we should still strive to write articles like we were writing a college term paper. If you really study what you've said in this talk page, you keep conflicting yourself. You say the information is erroneous, yet you don't fix them. You create a criticism section, yet you have information in other parts of the article that, using your logic, would conflict with what you just added. groink 23:53, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Dario D., if you think that we need to say what is "WRONG" with the iPhone then you don't understand WP:NPOV at all. We don't judge the subject of an article. We shouldn't be trying to show that anything is good or bad. We provide information in an unbiased way and let them draw their own conclusions. If you choose to write in the article "this is why the iPhone is bad" then you're inserting opinion. It's fine, not even fine but important that we include information both negative and positive, but to openly declare that this is what's "wrong" with the iPhone is to push a point of view and that is not fine. -- Atama^chat 00:00, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

That's not what I'm doing. 1) These products are surrounded by a CLOUD of reputable sources criticizing them, 2) readers look for these criticisms (and not by reading the entire article, trying to fish them out), and 3) you haven't even gotten to refuting the bulk of my main points in above posts yet. Why don't you go ahead and do so? Your argument is buried to the dirt, and now you're just kicking up whatever random muck you can get your hands on.----[ Dario D. ] 00:08, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

(Unindenting again, hopefully it sticks this time) There is nothing wrong with including criticisms. In fact, the one you provided already regarding the battery was helpful. So point 1) is accepted, nobody is arguing against you there. As to point 2), it is wrong to guide the reader toward what you feel is bad about the iPhone, such is at least against the spirit ofWP:NPOV. As to point 3), I can't respond to something non-specific. If you feel I've ignored a point please let me know what point it is instead of just saying I've ignored something. Thank you. -- Atama^chat 00:16, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Agreed. As I stated in my original opinion, if the criticism can fit into sections other than a dedicated section, then that's what should be done. My only caution was to make sure to avoid a point/counterpoint style of writing, which I have seen elsewhere but isn't the case here.

I suggest to Dario D, if you believe a dedicated criticism section is needed, then write what you believe is a good criticism section that warrants being its own section, and post it on this talk page first, or on a sub-page of your userpage, for others to review and discuss. ~Amatulić (talk) 00:43, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

It seems the bulk of this debate stems from "People mostly look for criticism sections", which has no backing or research. What you are basically proposing is that we put a gallery of pictures of Jessica Alba right at the top of her page because I could state the opinion that "that's what people are really looking for." Maybe that is what they are looking for. But that's not what we cater to, we're an encyclopedia attempting to write an article about a subject. We have all the information and criticisms of the iPhone in appropriate sections which fit our layout. Facts are not being left out or given undue weight.

If someone wants to find what is a pro or con about a product, they can read the article. We're not going to make a listing for them, especially when what you propose is a listing of just the cons while leaving those who "look mostly for the pros" to having to search the article, which Dario D seems to think is such a huge problem. ^IIIV_IX (Talk) 01:17, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Dario D.: If "[t]hese products are surrounded by a CLOUD of reputable sources criticizing them," how about you give us some specifics? Instead of WP:WEASEL, you can provide links to reliable sources, like you did with JD Power & Associates. And I would like to ask you your own question, please "explain how scattering ANY section throughout an entire article would give readers a better impression of the dismantled topic." The topic is not what is wrong with the iPhone, but rather, what is its battery like? Removing third party criticism of the battery life from Apple's numbers does not serve the reader.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 01:17, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Answering Amatulic: The crit section for the IPod Touch (which I'm most concerned with right now, though I will be wanting to put up the one for the IPhone later, and thus need an open door) is here (link - this goes to an edit, not the actual article). I believe it's nearly impossible to find flaw with its content, and the only measure of dispute is whether or not these points are important enough to be highlighted here. Owning an IPod Touch 2G (16gb) I can tell you how prominent and significant the issues that these criticisms point out are, and the reason I wrote the section in the first place was because when I came to the article for the first time, I was shocked that I couldn't find these points anywhere. (apparently they were buried in various sections, which makes for a terrible article about a product - products are a realm where pros and cons are of PRIME importance, and mixing such important criticisms into random sections on an article 10 miles long is so anti-N:POV, it's ridiculous. The impression I had when first seeing the article was almost that there WERE no cons)

Pros and Cons are prime points for reviews of products, not encyclopedic and informational articles on a product. We can't make every piece of information or opinion easy to find, but we can group sections in an appropriate way in order to not only be information, but neutral.

Criticisms are not buried. They exist. The same as "pros", they exist within the article and are not an emphasis, but you seem to ignore this point. Therefore claiming that this layout is "anti-N:POV" seems to show a lack of understanding of NPOV. ^IIIV_IX (Talk) 01:52, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Answering IIIVIX (The359): Wow, what a weak statement. This is a Product article. You're saying you want readers to discover a product's criticisms by reading all 10 miles of the article. Good thing you didn't write the rest of the product articles on Wikipedia. And regarding people not coming to Wikipedia looking for criticisms, you can't prove that any more than I can, except that nobody believes you. Nuff said about that. By the way, my edits don't draw any undue attention to under-cited product flaws, any more than any other tried-and-true Crit section for any other product. Why should this article be any different? That's why I'm arguing this out: because it makes no sense.

Yes, it is a product article. Yes, people might have to search to find specific things. No, we don't break the article up to cater to opinions of the product, we break it up to cater to factual information about the product itself. People who would want criticisms OR praise would have to search for it, but it seems to me that you only want to exploit criticisms of these products.

Answering HereToHelp: I've always been talking mostly about the IPod Touch Crits section (for the IPhone, I'm going to post the similar Crit section later, but I need an open door - so yes, that too is also part of this).----[ Dario D. ] 01:26, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

As for who comes to Wikipedia for what or what you think people believe, it carries no weight here. This is a discussion of Wikipedia's style, not a discussion of what the reader wants. And per WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS, the existance of criticism sections on other articles does not make it inherently right for this article. The inclusion of criticism in an article is not a problem, but dedicating an entire section to it in order to pander to your flawed beliefs of what "people use Wikipedia for" is a problem. ^IIIV_IX (Talk) 01:43, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Except that all I'm doing is what all the other article editors on Wikipedia are doing with THEIR Crit sections: posting weighty, relevant crits, when described thus by the cited sources.----[ Dario D. ] 02:16, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Firstly, a criticism section makes a disruptive point, especially if you are venting about how you feel upset about your iPod Touch (boo hoo - it's wp:original research). And if I may: "Wow, what a weak statement. This is a Product article. You're saying you want readers to discover a product's criticisms by reading all 10 miles of the article. Good thing you didn't write the rest of the product articles on Wikipedia. And regarding people not coming to Wikipedia looking for criticisms, you can't prove that any more than I can, except that nobody believes you. Nuff said about that. By the way, my edits don't draw any undue attention to under-cited product flaws, any more than any other tried-and-true Crit section for any other product. Why should this article be any different? That's why I'm arguing this out: because it makes no sense." I think I found all of the logical fallacies in there, but I'm not sure.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 02:20, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Wow, for all that linking, I certainly don't see how the power of the argument is reduced any. That could be because you didn't actually argue/disprove anything: you just hoped the linking would do it for you. Well, since you didn't actually counter anything, I'm still waiting for answers to those points. What's a counter-argument without a... you know... counter-argument?----[ Dario D. ] 02:41, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

If you "don't see how the power of the argument is reduced any" by all the fallacies you used, you must be blind (figuratively). My counterargument, in case I was not clear, was that in one post you used eleven logical fallacies. Your argument is so poor in its construction that there is barely anything to refute. You have established nothing. But we'll try, below, to illustrate that just because criticism sections are permitted does not mean they are encouraged or necessary. That is what it comes back to, and you have no real argumentative tools to fall back one. HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 22:51, June 10, 2009 (UTC)

Dario D., let's take your argument to its logical conclusion. "Most people" don't really want a list of criticisms about a product either. They want to know if it's good or bad. So, let's just cut out all of this other useless information and just say whether or not the iPhone is a good product. We can make the article a single paragraph so our readers can know whether or not it's worth owning. Because really, who'd want to actually read an encyclopedia? They just want a buying guide, and Wikipedia is the best there is! -- Atama^chat 03:26, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm going to get to this above later (but Atama, your statement of "Most people" don't really want a list of criticisms about a product either," is the saddest, most desperate statement in this discussion to date... I congratulate you). On a speculative note, I really think Apple would be making a SERIOUS mistake to let the ITouch update release with the fee, because, since I think it's so highly likely that a Crit section will end up on the page (both pages, actually), they will have to live down the black marketing that everyone spits upon with grave, long-lasting consequences, and risk an epidemic of word-of-mouth complaints regarding all things IPod (and consequently IPhone). Anyway, like I said, I'll be back soon. --[ Dario D. ] 04:47, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Good god that's a screwed up sense of reasoning. Why can you not grasp that nobody is with you on just about everything you're attempting to add? Give up your agenda, and get with the true spirit of Wikipedia. It's an encyclopedia, not a soapbox. Brian Reading (talk) 08:59, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Request for Comment

(trying to maintain neutrality here) The issue is that I (Dario D.) think this article (and IPod Touch, in an almost identical situation) have criticisms that warrant a Crit section (actually I'm only focusing on the IPod Touch article at the moment, because I haven't finished the IPhone Crit section yet (I posted this IPod Touch crits section (this is an edit, not the actual page)), but a few other editors think the Crits section (for both pages) should be dissolved into snippets scattered across the article, because having a Crit section would draw undue weight, and imply that we want readers to see flaws. I argued that any article about products more than warrants a Crits section if there are the sources to back it (and if they themselves say the issues are weighty), but they argued (not sure if they still do - they never mopped up on many of their refuted points) that Wikipedia policy is against having Crit sections, and posted a self-edited FAQ at the top of both the IPod Touch and IPhone discussion pages (see top of this page) that says: "Why isn't there a criticism/controversy section in this article? While reliable sourced criticisms and controversies can be included in this article, criticism sections themselves are generally discouraged." This was later proven to be a false statement, but the war rages on. See the discussion on this page for more details (Call For Criticisms section, and Third Opinion section below it). --[ Dario D. ] 02:00, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

I am wondering why the main contributor of this page is fully protecting this page from editing? This is a major conflict of interest. Instead, he or she should get a neutral administrator to protect the page. miranda 02:02, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

"not sure if they still do - they never mopped up on many of their refuted points" - Buh? Refuted? Calling them "weak" doesn't make them refuted.

"This was later proven to be a false statement, but the war rages on." No it was not. Criticism sections are discouraged because of several Wikipedia policies. ^IIIV_IX (Talk) 02:14, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

(just squeezing a quick comment in here) IIIVIX, do a word-search for "Evaluations in" on this page.----[ Dario D. ] 02:24, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes, what about it? You seem to not understand the difference between "Discouraged" and "Not allowed". Criticism sections are allowed, but discouraged. Just as editing an article about yourself (Wikipedia:Conflict of Interest) is discouraged, but is allowed under certain circumstances. ^IIIV_IX (Talk) 02:35, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

"Criticisms may be similar" (emphasis added). A Criticisms section can be viable in some cases. It is not viable here, because it is easier to group criticisms categorically, by what they criticize. Just because it an be done does not mean it should be.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 02:37, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Miranda - huh? I have never fully protected this page, in fact I just de-semied it yesterday. Yes, I left move on sysop, but that doesn't count. Anyone can edit.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 02:19, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

My fault. miranda 18:42, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

No problem. Since we haven't heard from Dario in a while, I'm closing the RfC (which was his idea anyway). HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 14:19, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

What, I'm not allowed to go to bed, and then be busy for an afternoon? Re-open it! Nobody has even joined the discussion yet! (update: I re-opened it)--[ Dario D. ] 16:16, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, you're more persistent than I thought. But I have nothing to hide; if you want an RfC, go ahead.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 16:18, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

So far I've seen 7 different editors who disagree with a proposed criticism section as the article stands now and only one person who wants it. At what point can it be considered that a consensus is reached? Just curious. -- Atama^chat 16:23, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Seven? I count Amatulić, Groink, The359, you (Atama), and I (HereToHelp). Who am I missing?--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 16:28, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

You missed Brianreading and Riffic. Riffic referred Dario D. to WP:NPOV in opposition to a criticism section, and Brianreading stated that he agreed with Riffic and Groink in opposition to a criticism section. I'm all for a discussion, and I have no problem with it continuing if Dario D. is not satisfied. -- Atama^chat 16:42, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Good, so am I. I'm sorry I closed the RfC early, I honestly thought he had given up, but in the face of (rather abundant) evidence, I have gladly reinstated it. I was getting bored.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 16:48, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Um, if you look at my writings above, my position is rather neutral. I'm not entirely opposed to having a criticism section, but I am not in favor of it either, and lean toward not having one if the criticism is easily incorporated into other sections (which has its own pitfalls as I pointed out earlier). A stand-alone criticism section that references notable, verifiable, and reliable sources, could work too, although I feel it wouldn't be optimal for this article. ~Amatulić (talk) 17:15, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Fair enough. Most of the criticism presented centers on the battery, so put it in there. Separating it is un-NPOV because readers might read one side without the other, and think either that Apple's numbers reflect the average user experience, or that the battery is abysmal. Also, a cricism section on just the battery implies that it is the only thing wrong with the iPhone.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 17:24, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

HereToHelp defends his edits

Dario D. reverted, saying that he would discuss the inclusion of moconews on the talk page. I gave him 45 minutes and he has not replied. That doesn't mean he won't, but I think it's fair to say he isn't doing it immediately. I reverted. My version is superior in a number of ways. (1) Criticism is placed after Apple's purported numbers. They have the right to make their claims before they get torn down. In formal debate, the affirmative always goes first. It's the same idea here. (Amatulić: This is not tit-for-tat sentences but two opposing paragraphs, and then we move on.) (2) It specifically criticizes the battery for "draining too quickly," instead of the vague "source of much criticism". (3) J. D. Power and Associates is linked. Their webpage, as cited, indicates that 2 stars/balls/whatever is the lowest rating; there is no one star rating. Therefore, "2 out of 5" is misleading. (4) My version omits useless blogs (iphonefreak.com, I am lookibng at you!) analyzing JD's results; they do not have a citation template and do not belong before the primary source. (5) My version does not cite Moconews. The merits of this publication I leave to debate, but I want to get this post up now.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 17:42, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

I'd like to comment on the Moconews reference. It can be debated whether or not the site as a whole could be considered a reliable news source, it certainly claims to be a news site and they have many articles that are presented as standard journalism articles. But the reference that Dario D. was attempting to insert, and which I had removed, was an opinion piece that consisted of a person saying they don't like the battery life of the iPhone. The person anecdotally stated that he felt it didn't last as long as other phones. This kind of information is not at all helpful to the article. -- Atama^chat 18:25, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

That's exactly what I was going to say when I got edit conflicted. (Don't worry about it, it happens.) Anyway, here's what I was going to say:

As for moconews: It does appear to be a legitimate publication. The question, though, is whether that specific post is legitimate, or whether, as one person's opinion, it counts as a blog, or at least an editorial. This may be something we can ask the reliable sources noticeboard, but I think that a real source can sometimes be a blog.

The converse is also true. Scanning moconews, I found an article about iPhone user demographics. I traced the source back to the Nielsen Company, a very respectable source. However, the page's URL begins with blog.nielsen.com. And yet it is not ascribed to a single person but rather to the company. The blog format allows other users to comment - I don't trust them - but Nielsen's content, I argue, is acceptable to use.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 18:33, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

WP:RS doesn't state not to use blogs, just to differentiate between an opinion and news when using a reference. WP:V states that blogs are "largely not acceptable". It also states that a blog can be an acceptable source when it is part of a professional news organization. It should also be considered that WP:EL discourages linking to blogs except under "very limited" exceptions. I'm not objecting because it's just a blog, I'm objecting because the entry is literally a person who had an iPhone for a week and didn't like it; he is giving his own personal opinion and is up-front about that. He stated that he didn't like the battery life and said it didn't last as long as other phones, yet gave no objective analysis and no specifics at all. I see no value in saying that someone doesn't subjectively like the battery, even when correctly attributing it as an opinion. It seems like an attempt to insert a negative POV about that aspect of the iPhone. -- Atama^chat 18:46, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Okay, I have to agree that the Moconews reference, although a reputable news source, is not a proper article to be using. Of course the iPhone freak source is not reputable at all. It should also be pointed out that Dario D.'s wording is "much criticism", and therefore requires much referencing to back that up. As far as I'm concerned, he has not done that. Horrible researcher. Brianreading (talk) 19:05, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm going to wait until the other dispute is resolved before bothering with this. I can site 5,000 reliable sources complaining about the IPhone battery in a heartbeat.--[ Dario D. ] 20:13, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

No one's debating the battery problems, and the article still states the battery problems. The concern here is over what sources are used. ^IIIV_IX (Talk) 20:19, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

If you can cite that many sources, Dario, why don't you? Give me a URL and I'll prepare the citation template and add it to the appropriate, existing section of the article - assuming it really is a reliable source.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 20:22, 12 June 2009 (UTC).

Yes, I'm interested in seeing you cite 5-10 of the best ones you know. That should do for your claim about "much criticism". Shouldn't be so difficult with 5,000 on your list, and citing the best sources that you know of would help to satisfy all the other Wikipedians who are having issues with your edits. Brian Reading (talk) 21:30, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Sorry but I ask that people please look closely at the sources that are presented here. I have to object to the statements here that Moconews is a reputable news source. If I start a weblog, cover it with adverts and pay a couple of people to regurgitate press releases with a smattering of personal opinions, have I created a reputable news source? Please let us have higher standards than that. AlistairMcMillan (talk) 22:27, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Moconews is run by Contextnet Media:

"ContentNext Media is a media and information company owned by the Guardian News and Media Limited. Based in Santa Monica, California and New York City, the company covers the business of digital media, operating paidContent.org, mocoNews.net, contentSutra.com and paidContent:UK.

Founded by journalist Rafat Ali in 2002, the company's news sites chronicle the economic evolution of digital content that is shaping the future of the media, information and entertainment industries. Our belief is that in the near future, all media will be digital media, and we are helping define sustainable business models and innovation within this sector."

"Guardian News and Media Limited" is the same company that publishes The Guardian and The Observer. Does that make Moconews a reliable source and a respectable news organization? I don't know but it's enough on the surface for me not to dismiss the entire web site as a blog. -- Atama^chat 22:43, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Is the Sun automatically a respectable news organisation just because it is published by the same company as the Times? Or do we judge them on their own merits?

I've scanned through everything that MocoNews has published for the last two months, and I mean no offence to the people employed by ContentNext Media, but I can't see any actual journalism. Just regurgitated press releases, echoes of news on other sites and the occasional opinion piece. AlistairMcMillan (talk) 22:58, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm sure your question was meant to be rhetorical, but no, obviously the Sun isn't reliable because it's a tabloid. WP:RSN would probably be a good place to resolve the question, since there's clearly a dispute over whether it's reliable or not. I'm on the fence but leaning toward "not". -- Atama^chat 23:13, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

So, I'm guessing as it stands, the information is possibly not sourced or possibly not well-sourced, and therefore won't be added for the time being. Brian Reading (talk) 19:29, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

iPhone 3GS

I think that a new section should be made for the 3GS, now that sufficient information is known about it. Xtermin8R645 5:33, June 10, 2009

There is very little difference between the 3G and 3G S. We're adding information regarding the few differences in appropriate locations when that information becomes available and verifiable (such as the new processor speed in the hardware section of the article). -- Atama^chat 21:41, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Exactly - although it does make the infobox pretty crowded.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 21:53, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Iphone 3G S

[6] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Joshmarino (talk • contribs) 00:05, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but that link is invalid. And just because a blogger says so does not make it so.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 01:18, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

3G S separate page!

Are you all suggesting that when a 4th, 5th, 6th iphone comes out we just keep adding to this page until it becomes a cluttered mess??

If people looking on wikipedia (like i was) for specific information on th iPhone 3G S, it is extremely difficult to sift through the various information pertaining to the First and second generation iphones. I would highly recommend from a simpleton's point of view that the articles be separate so it is easy to distinguish between the functions of the various devices.

Using an example, there are many similar nokia and RIM mobile phones that seem to have their own pages and descriptions. Given the iphone is such a popular device in terms of research and consumer appeal, you would think putting them on separate pages would be a wise (not to mention helpful) move. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.242.116.126 (talk) 03:23, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

A separate page, to avoid redundant information, would be a permanent stub because there isn't enough to differentiate the iPhone 3G S from the previous models. There was a different article, and it was recently merged to this article because there was no justification for keeping them separate. The entire discussion is listed above on this same page. -- Atama^chat 03:31, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

You're both right. Neither approach is scalable to when, as you suggest, there are (hypothetically) six models of iPhone. Six pages in one is not the answer. Six permanent stubs is not the answer, either. Which gives me an idea...--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 11:33, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Looks like a good bit of information there. Brianreading (talk) 01:38, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

To address this I have created List of iPhone models, modeled after List of iPod models. HereToHelp, I hope you don't mind, but I added your comparison table into the article. - Epson291 (talk) 12:31, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

iPhone should be a seperate page from the iPhone 3G and 3G S (3G and 3G S should be one page)

Newton

In the interest of being a good boy and not edit-warring I'd like to open the discussion to the Newton. We've had that article in the "See Also" section for some time now, and I feel that it's justified because it was Apple's first attempt at a handheld computer (predating other PDAs in fact) and the iPhone/iPod Touch are just the modern evolution of that initial device. The connection between the iPhone and the Newton should be obvious and I think it's reasonable to expect that someone trying to learn about the iPhone might be interested in the Newton as well. WP:ALSO suggests that integrating links from the See Also section into the body of the article is preferred, however considering the length of the article I'd think it's better to simply have the article linked below as it was before (rather than shoe-horning it into some place like the History section). An anonymous IP believes that the Newton has nothing at all to do with the iPhone. Thoughts? -- Atama^chat 20:40, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

In your edits summaries, you called the Newton the "predecessor" to the iPhone. This is not true; the iPod mini preceded the iPod nano, and the PowerBook preceded the Mac Book Pro. But that's a technicallity. It belongs in the see also section.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 21:24, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Bah, it was late when I did that summary, so I wasn't very clear. It is a "predecessor" if not a direct one. It certainly preceded the iPhone as a handheld computer from Apple. But your point is taken. -- Atama^chat 21:46, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

damages?

can they get damaged if the shower vapor is a common thing? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.227.176.12 (talk) 04:40, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't know if this is supposed to be a joke, or if it is a sincere but confused question, or just something way above my head, but I have no clue what you're talking about. There is no mention of "shower vapor" anywhere in the article, and as far as I know none of the iPhone models are capable of acting as a shower head attachment. -- Atama^chat 15:54, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

I think the "shower vapor" is an effect where the phone was somehow exposed to moisture, and somehow the moisture got into the phone, and therefore creates this fogged, mist effect underneath the glass. Anytime someone drops his cell phone in water, this is the kind of thing that usually occurs. I've seen cell phones survive for long periods of time, but I think that's just sheer luck. So my answer would be that shower vapor is not a common thing if you treat your iPhone properly; leaving it out in the rain, dropping it in the toilet, etc. is not proper treatment for anything electronic. Also, the iPhone is not water resistant. I think that even just using the phone while out in heavey rain might be a bad thing. This does, however, bring up a question: does the iPhone have one of those moisture sensitive decals that shows whether or not the phone made contact with water? I've seen this on other phones. groink 22:58, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

iPhone OS beta releases

The reason I removed the mention of jailbreaking beta software is that it is illogical on two levels. First, beta software is supposed to be unstable. Someone bragging that he hacked beta software is not that elite in the hacking business. It just tells people that the beta software wasn't secured enough to prevent jailbreaking. And, the developer may secure the software even more by the final release. I've seen Microsoft do this sort of thing with their beta releases. Second, just because 3.0 beta was jailbroken, it does not mean that 3.0 final will be jailbreakable exactly the same way. We're 99.999999999 percent sure that 3.0 will be jailbroken within hours to days after release, but purely on an achievement basis the 3.0 final - or any final release is the epitome of the jailbreaking movement - and that is the version that is worth mentioning. The eagerness of the jailbreaking does not have to be demonstrated in this article. As I explained in my edit comments, the iPhone jailbreaking article took care of mentioning both the beta version hacking and the mood of the hackers who do it. That's my train of thought - the iPhone jailbreaking article was created to focus on the details of the movement, and the jailbreaking section within the iPhone article should be treated like an introduction section: keep it somewhat vague, but at the same time encourage the reader to jump to the jailbreaking article. groink 09:24, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

I suppose that's true.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 12:05, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Cleaning up the History and availability section

This section is too long! Because this section is an introduction to the History of the iPhone article, this section shouldn't be more than two or three paragraphs. I think only the most recent availability information should be in this section, delete everything else, and use the history article as the archive. groink 22:18, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

That's called recentism. But granting that the amount of history never decreases, we do need to find some form of summary. I'll go through it and try to make some easy cuts. If anyone protests them, they can revert - but please, do so in part, by sentences, instead of the whole edit.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 22:27, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

How's this?--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 22:41, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

It's a great start! Thanks! I just have a huge problem with this article being over 91KB, and I'm looking for ways to shorten it. I tried looking in the special pages to see where this article ranks in terms of size; the list doesn't go beyond 1000 pages, but it appears that this very article is in the top 1500, out of nearly 3 million articles. And it isn't even about a person or politics - it's about a cell phone! Thanks! groink 23:12, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

It's one-and-a-half times as long as Macintosh, but it doesn't feel as long. Part of it is all the references (more than twice as many as the Mac article, all with citation templates). 172 references * 100 characters per reference (estimate) = 17.2 KB.--HereToHelp ^{(talk to me)} 03:10, 14 June 2009 (UTC)