Almost two weeks in, the novelty of the social, cultural and technological phenomenon known as the iPhone is fading and reality is starting to bite. A million new users are waking up and looking at their purchase with a more critical eye, and some are not liking what they see. Aside from a few glaring design and OS shortcomings, there are an alarming number of other things coming to light.

It’s not all bad news, like the previous hullabaloo in the media about the battery only lasting for approx. 400 charges – not true; after 400 charges, it’ll work at 80% capacity or lower, but will still work fine, like most other gadgets. But there are other gotchas, though, big and small.

For example:

• It’s got an onerous Battery Replacement Policy. See this previous post.
• You can’t use an existing AT&T SIM in an iPhone. (Oddly, the new SIM that comes with the iPhone can work in other phones.)
• If you buy it and use it outside the USA on roaming for two months straight, Apple/AT&T will brick your iPhone. It’ll have to come home every now and then to renew its citizenship/residency status. Meaning, if you are one of those tourists who bought one and activated it in the US but plan to bring it home, you’d better pony up the US$175 termination fee, or else be the proud owner of a US$600 paperweight beginning September. (Which begs the question, will iPhones activated outside of the AT&T/iTunes procedure automatically brick themselves after two months? Hmm. Food for thought.)

There’s lots lots more in the fine print. Look here for the rest.