I joined the legions of enthusiastic iPhone owners last week when I powered-up my brand new smartphone.  This week I join the chorus of iPhone owners who wonder about how, in entering the smartphone market with a much anticipated product, Apple went so far without going the distance.

• No way to Copy/Cut/Paste  - Probably the best known of the iPhone’s shortcomings is the absence of functionality that’s so basic and expected, it’s analogous to having a laptop permanently fixed to a desk.

• Notes that don’t synchronize - The Notes interface in the iPhone is great.  Somehow, Apple overlooked the ability to synchronize Notes with Stickies on Mac computers.

• To-do list… where is it? - This one is also shocking.  It’s a smartphone and PDA and (forget synchronizing) there’s no application to track to-do lists.

I had a Palm Pilot some time ago.  It was a fraction of the appliance the iPhone is and still managed to have the core features of a basic PDA.  I hope that Apple addresses these gaps, soon, or that the community steps up and covers for Apple.

All that said, I love my iPhone.  I find the interface to be second-to-none and I’m grateful to be able to synchronize it with my Mac (something that my Blackberry gave me grief with).  Knowing that the three issues I identified are probably only software issues, I’m confident that they can be addressed in an upgrade.

Three years ago, I proudly announced to everyone who asked that I did not own an iPod, nor did I intend to ever own one. I was a supporter of the underdog, the iRiver, thank you very much.

In August 2006, I realized that interface and integration was everything and bought a Video iPod.

There was balance in my life, though. I was still a PC user and, while the idea of owning a Mac was appealing, I was more than happy with my HP Pavillion laptop.

In September 2006, my laptop was stolen during a break-in at our home. That next week I replaced my HP with a MacBook Pro. While I still use PCs, I must admit that computing is more fun on the Mac.

Yesterday, after a frustrating run trying to get my Blackberry to sync properly with my Mac, I received and unwrapped (those of you with one will know that the packaging is a huge part of the experience) an iPhone.

Convergence is a good thing. For the first time, when I leave the house with my portable media player, personal data assistant and portable phone, I’ll carry only one thing.

Try as I might, I have not been able to sync my Blackberry’s calendar with my computer for over a week. I’ve even wiped my Blackberry clean and started fresh.

Accepting defeat, I decided it was time to call Rogers Wireless for some help and just like it was seven and eight months ago (see here and here) Rogers is experiencing higher than normal call volumes. This time the wait is reportedly in excess of thirty-five minutes so customer service has actually continued its disintegration.

Perhaps the delay in bringing the iPhone to the Rogers network has to do with Apple’s concern about the inadequate customer service.

Photo: watz