Edible Apple

In the ongoing race to determine which tech pundit lacks the most brain cells, Rob Enderle and Scott Moritz are not surprisingly neck and neck. But seeing as we consistently give Enderle a tough time, we thought we’d give him a break and focus on the latest drivel spewing from the pen of the Moritz. And lest you think Enderle is on hiatus, his most recent article articulates, for lack of a better word, why Apple is in trouble now that Microsoft has 86’d the Kin project. So yeah, Enderle is still up to his old tricks.

But enough about Enderle because today it’s all about Moritz and his asinine attempt to discuss Apple in an objective manner.

Per usual, Moritz penned an article on June 23rd outlaying 5 reasons why the iPhone 4 isn’t all that. As you might expect from an analyst with no discernable analytics skills, Moritz has a bad habit of reviewing products before he’s even gotten a chance to use one. And as was the case with the iPad, Moritz dismissed its chance for success before Apple even announced the device existed. But more on that later.

So without further adieu, here are the 5 reasons why Scott Moritz believes the iPhone 4 isn’t all its cracked up to be.

No. 5: A Skimpy Camera

As smartphone challengers like HTC, Motorola and Nokia embrace the megapixel race with 8-megapixel and 12-megapixel cameras, Apple’s new iPhone keeps it cheap with a 5-megapixel model.

Yes, it’s quite shocking that Moritz fails to grasp that picture quality is dependent upon a lot more than megapixels. As a matter of fact, the iPhone 4’s 5 megapixel camera has been generating absolutely rave reviews, and has outperformed 8 megapixel cameras on the Droid X and the HTC EVO 4G.

No. 4: No Swype

If you’ve seen Swype or used it, you know why this omission makes the list. Typing on a touchscreen is a challenge as the flat glass surface offers few clues to where your fat fingers are precisely making contact. It’s an error-prone process that gives one a longing for the raised keys of the BlackBerry keyboard from Research In Motion.

But the Swype keypad software helps tame the new medium. Swype follows the pattern of your finger movements to type words or predict words without the usual hunting and pecking.

Swype is actually working on a version of its typing software for the iOS, but still, lack of Swype support is really scraping the bottom of the barrel when looking for a reason to criticize the iPhone 4.

No. 3: Video Calling

Okay, it’s not totally bait and switch, but Apple’s hot new iPhone video calling feature, FaceTime, comes with lots of asterisks and a limited applicability.

Say you want to video chat with someone using the Apple iPhone 4. That someone has to have a WiFi connection and he has to use the same application on his own iPhone 4. You’re looking at a small club of people — not exactly an application of global Skype-like proportions.

Small club of people as in 1.7 million iPhone 4 users in just 3 days? For as dimwitted as Moritz is, he simply compounds things by making bold assertions before products even launch. On a related note, Facetime on the iPhone 4 is by far the most intuitive implementation of video calling ever released on any smartphone. Perhaps Moritz should familiarize himself with the bevy of negative reviews surrounding the same feature on the HTC EVO. Lastly, given the numerous complaints about AT&T’s service, restricting the feature to wi-fi only is truly a necessity.

No. 2: iPhone 4 Shortages

Strong demand is only half the story for Apple’s iPhone sales debut. Limited supply is the other. A shortage of in-plane display panels, the crucial part of Apple’s touted retina display screens, has forced Apple’s contract manufacturers to cut production rates in half to 1 million iPhones a month.

This means there won’t be enough iPhones on hand to meet the presumably high demand. Though it’s not a terrible problem to have if you are a gadget maker, sellouts and delivery delays will mar Apple’s big iPhone 4 debut. The frustration could push buyers toward other phones.

So let me get this straight. One of the iPhone’s top 5 blemishes is that it’s so popular that Apple will struggle to meet demand. Okay, if you say so.

No. 1: No Verizon iPhone.

Apple’s exclusive partnership with AT&T has been a point of discord among iPhone owners and it has tarnished the public perception of both companies…

So Apple fans who want the new iPhone have to lock in for another two years with AT&T. This scenario is not particularly pleasant considering that AT&T’s new subscriber plans put penalties on people (like iPhone users) who happen to be heavy data users.

Wow, it only took Moritz 4 tries before he finally had a point that made sense. That .200 batting average is unusually high for the strike-out prone Moritz. Well done Scotty!

But seriously, the timing of Moritz’s article underscores just how blinded by anti-Apple sentiment he is. If he would have waited, oh I don’t know, 1 or 2 days, he could have beefed up his flimsily put together article with some substance regarding the iPhone 4’s antenna problem. Alas, writing an article with substance has never been Moritz’s forte.