Dan Romero

Shooting straight up to the top of Techmeme, Google is slowly rolling out IMAP support for Gmail. Most of the coverage seems to be focused on how users will be able to use "advanced email clients like Outlook and Thunderbird." While this is good, it's not what I am the most excited about.

What is? Well, now I can actually use my iPhone's email feature. No more endless POP3 streams of already read messages. I feel so alive.

I have now been using the iPhone for a little more than a week and it really is the most incredible piece of technology I have ever used. But that doesn't mean I don't have improvement suggestions.

• The default package of 200 SMS messages are definitely not enough. The SMS interface is so elegant, I found myself approaching the 200 message limit within 5 days. Make all plans $5 - $10 more a month and give everyone unlimited.
• Not as much an Apple problem as a Google one: Gmail support is horrible. When I log on to Gmail on my PC, I have most of my email sorted and filed using Gmail's labels and filters. On the iPhone, I get all my email lumped in a single inbox. For me, I am subscribed to a number of mailing lists that I browse occasionally, but on my phone they overwhelm my important email. I also receive email from (no lie) 7 different email addresses in my main Gmail account. Google needs to allow users to selectively choose which email should be sent to the phone. They could solve this problem by allowing IMAP access instead of POP, but I don't think that is happening any time soon.
• Make the Home button have a double-click function that allows me to instantly jump to my phone contacts.

I bought a case, DLO's Jam Jacket, in an appropriate Duke blue. I am also planning on ordering a cheap Go Phone to use when I am in iPhone-unfriendly environments (boats, beaches, ski slopes, pools, backyards, etc...).