For an article on the best new applications for the iPhone (I was looking for a bit of guidance), the author spends an incredibly small amount of time actually pointing out which applications are worth a look. There is a lot about why certain applications are disappointing, but I would like a good comprehensive look at which applications might come in handy or be entertaining.

To be fair to the author, the title of the piece is "The iPhone Makeover: Will third-party programs push Apple's handheld over the top?" I'm assuming someone else titled the page "How good are the new applications for the iPhone?"

Given that most of the apps cost something to install, and that there is no way (of which I'm aware, anyway) to try them out before installing them, I agree it would have been very helpful to highlight more worthwhile apps. And to be honest, four paragraphs detailing the emergence of the App Store and the procedure for installing apps is overkill, considering that anyone with an iPhone who has updated to 2.0 already knows how apps are installed - again, I think it's clear the article was not intended to review the best apps, although the author did spend a generous 4 paragraphs describing Pandora. Not to be a jerk, but I thought the site was already pretty well-known, so much so that it probably would have been enough just to describe it as 'Pandora for the iPhone, a streaming mp3 service that plays music geared to your tastes, based on your own selections.' Anyway.

Now if I could just get my stupid iTunes/Vista to allow me to sync up the apps I've installed, I'd be happy. Every time I sync, all my installed apps become nonfunctional. Which would kind of blow if I'd paid for them.