Great launch .... but but... somethings left out!

Well well, so there we have it, we finally have an iPhone carrier in Uganda. If you already own an iPhone, you are probably wondering...."So what!?!".

Well...so many things, afew of which are if you make the switch to an official carrier you get the benefits folk world over get...u know, after sales services and the like. I won't go into all the benefits ...mostly because this is not an advert!! haha. But there are quite a number and I must say before the conference I didn't have much mind to get rid of my old phone, as it still serves its purpose.

But somehow I feel swayed, especially after I actually understood the pay plans, which I might add on he website seem alittle daunting. But thats just because as a Ugandan, we don't think in terms of call minutes or sms'es sent. It all comes down to "airtime" and when they mentioned airtime worth...then it made the past 2millio price tag understandable. But most in part because if you are anything like me, you consider yyour iPhone as a minicomputer that can make calls and not a phone that is a mini computer. So in my world, calls come second. Functionality comes first.
Enough of that...let me delve into the purpose of the blog:

The Launch:

Started an hour late .... no points for that, but in Uganda u kindda get used to it. we had the mandatory speeches from Orange officials trying to explain to (from my observation) a predominantly Nokia crowd why the need to move with the times and switch from the national symbol of Finland to the soon-to-become national symbol of the US. haha

There was a live demo, as a sales attendant tried to extract gasps from the crowd present. Although he did a good job, in my opinion (hoping Bonita doesn't get fired! haha) he left ALOT out. ALOT!!!

The iPhone is indeed an amazing gadget that can only be proven by a select few applications, some of which he didn't show case.
Apart from the basics of calling, sms'ing and basic phone functions .... the iPhone is PACKED with functionality. Enough to have made the press GASP in adoration and start planning how to save to buy one.

Very little was said about Business apps which was odd considering the businessman is best suited to afford this phone. What a pity. Some brilliant apps that I personally use constantly to record meeting minutes, edit word/excel/powerpoint/pdf docs while stuck in traffic? Nothing. Nothing. Easy integration with MS Outlook that everyone uses? Nothing said. What a pity.

Entertainment. The iPhone is a killer entertainment gadget. The ability to have your music, games, novels all stored together for those times of boredom. Again, nothing if anything was mentioned.
I could go on, but won't. All in all, even though I was dismayed by those things, I was impressed with many others. When he launched the youtube app, It loaded some local song REAL FAST!!! I was only imagining if the network had failed at that moment how embarrassing it would have been! haha. If anything, a good job was done with showing the iPhone's supreme internet capabilities from browsing the web, social networking and even a funny moment when some odd reporter got a video clip of his taken and emailed to him, right there. That was sleek. You could see that the reporter guy was keen on getting back to his studio, opening his mail and showing that clip to everyone at the office. More demonstrations like that would have left the reporters talking about the iPhone all the way to the office!

Great job Orange, and thanks for bringing the iPhone to Uganda. My only suggestion is to have more direct demonstrations to the public at specific events. Two things are true about the iPhone.

1 - It's Expensive. No denying that fact.

2 - It's expensive for many many reasons. Its an very very incredibly useful and state of the art

"gadget". People need to understand that they are buying more than a phone for calling smsm and picture taking. There is sooooooooooo much that an iPhone can do. THIS can only be shown through demonstrations to the public. At select event or area's. Need ideas? Contact me and I'll show you how to do it!!!

For starters, Orange needs to work out a scheme with companies so that staff like me who are DYING for a 3GS can get the phone after the company pays for it then we make monthly payments that are taken off our paychecks. Like a car loan.

Okay, enough for now. And thanks for the lovely breakfast!! In the meantime, I need to figure out how to save for white sexy shiny new 3GS. Hmm.....