iPhone Duo

John Gruber has an extensive review of the iPhone Duo that is exactly what I needed to read.

The Duo name is perfect. It truly is like having two devices in one. The outer device is, by far, the worst iPhone Apple has ever made. It’s a miserable fat little thing. The inner device is a splendid, joyful, beautiful tablet, with a UI that out-iPads the iPad. For me, by far, it’s my favorite tablet experience ever. I prefer it to any iPad or Kindle-like reader I’ve ever used.

So I’ll cut to the chase. The decision of whether you might want to buy a Duo is not easy, because only one of its two selves is good. You might be delighted, despite its clear compromises, if what you value most is a pocketable small tablet and are ambivalent about your iPhone. You might be endlessly frustrated if you love your iPhone, and use it extensively, often for quick interactions throughout the day, every day.

What I want is a foldable iPad mini with no outer screen. Apple should make this immediately and add it to the iPad Mini lineup. It would sell like crazy.

An iPad Mini is $800 for 256GB. An iPhone Duo with 256GB is $2,000. Why on Earth would anyone get the Duo?

In the meantime, I still think the iPad Mini is the best tablet form factor.