I was reading a story today regarding the iPhone and how folks should wait until the 2nd generation of the unit is released. While the first generation might not have everthing we want. The fact of the matter is that we really don’t know what the final product will look like.

Like everyone else we are basing our information on the presentation that Steve Jobs gave in January as well as a few first hand accounts of folks that have used the engineering units. Does the device have shortcomings? Well I guess that all depends on what you use it for. I, for one, do not think that this is geared toward the enterprise or corporate customer.

My initial impression is that this is geared more toward the casual user who wants to combine an iPod and cell phone so they don’t have to carry two devices. If you talk to most people today they don’t know the difference between 3G or EDGE. They want a device that they can make calls on. This is the perfect device for that. Think about this, how many people do you know that have devices that have data capabilities and they don’t have a data plan or even know that their devices are capable of these services. I bet that number is high.

As an example, I have two teenagers and they could care less if they can surf the net at breakneck speeds. They want to be able to take pictures, talk on the phone, listen to music, and send text messages. This is what they, as well as their friends,thrive on. BTW they both carry iPods too!

I’ll go one better. The company that I work for has a very large sales force and most of these folks just want a device that they can  use to get their mail, schedule, and make calls. They are not concerned with the speed they just want it to work. Of course there are always the power users out there but they are the exception to the rule and they are in the minority. I know that this is hard for some reviewers because they have never worked in a corporate setting but this is the fact of the matter.

As tech writers I believe that we lose site of what the average consumer is looking for. We are used to reviewing and using the latest and greatest technology and forget that most people are not like us. We tend to grade these device more harshly because they don’t have the power or the features that we like or are accustomed to.

The bottom line is we don’t know what the final device will look like from a feature standpoint and we can speculate all we want until the device is released. But in the end it really does not matter what we think about the device. The success or failure of the device will be determined by the number of units sold.