Keep your shitty iPhone; I’d rather have the Nokia N91

I know it’s been nearly a year since the Nokia N91 hit the states, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s probably one of the coolest MP3-playing cell phones out there. Of course, there are dozens of mobiles out there that are capable of playing music. The thing is, only since Apple decided to validate the category with their announcement of the iPhone are people really willing to consider using such a device.

Don’t get me wrong, Apple has a way of taking things that other companies are already doing and lowering the barrier to entry: read iPod. That said, since it’s no surprise to anyone that I’m a bona fide iPod hater, I’m more willing than most to explore other – non Apple – ways to listen to music on my smart phone. For a while I was using the Samsung BlackJack. With its microSD slot I was able to pack up to 2GB of multimedia content in this skinny little thing. And since it’s a Windows Mobile 5.0 device, replete with Windows Media Player, I could play any manner of DRM protected content on it: that includes Rhapsody-to-Go content. Holler! The only real drawback with the BlackJack is that it’s primarily a Cingular device. So users are dealing with a device that’s been hobbled at the carrier level. Of course, fully unlocked BlackJacks (also known as the Samsung SGH-i607) are available, they’re just expensive and difficult to find.

This all brings me back to the Nokia N91. This thing is packed with features: a 4GB hard drive (3000+ songs), FM radio, support for Windows Media DRM files, it’s a GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz handset with EGPRS/GPRS support, it’s Wi-Fi enabled, has a 2-megapixel camera, and has a 3.5mm audio jack.

Basically, I’m inclined to temper any excitement for the iPhone until the thing actually comes out and people get their hands on it. We know it’s gonna have shitty battery life, be prone to scratching, and it won’t support DRM-protected files. So before you jump aboard the Steve Jobs hype wagon, just know that there are plenty of phones already on the market that currently do what the iPhone claims it will do.