In his review of the iPhone, Wall Street Journal writer Walt Mossberg, along with Katherine Boehret, gave the device a glowing review, claiming that it was a “beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer.” “Our verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer,” Mossberg said.
“Its software, especially, sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry, and its clever finger-touch interface, which dispenses with a stylus and most buttons, works well.” Mossberg, who had previously expressed concern over the device’s virtual keyboard, found it to quite usable.
“The iPhone’s most controversial feature, the omission of a physical keyboard in favor of a virtual keyboard on the screen, turned out in our tests to be a nonissue, despite our deep initial skepticism… It isn’t for the average person who just wants a cheap, small phone for calling and texting.