Darryl.net

Recently, I’ve noticed how often my Apple iPhone decides not to ring, but merely notifies me that I have new voicemail. There I am on a busy sidewalk, waiting for a call that I know is coming, holding my cellphone in the air while a passerby gives me one of those “you’ve lost it” looks. Wait for it, wait for it… hmmm, she said she’d call… new Voicemail! D’oh!

I wondered if I was the only one. Did I have a dud? Should I return it? Judging by the Apple Support Forums, CNET reviews, and AT&T Support Forums, it seems I am not alone.

Then the thought came to me – maybe the Apple iPhone team noticed this problem during some beta testing. They debugged and searched and stayed up way too late trying to figure out what was causing this. And they gave up. “We’re not a mobile company!” the engineers complained. “But we do think differently and make cool software,” someone piped up. “That’s it! We’ll make a one touch voicemail, so if you do miss your call – you’ll see who you pissed off and can click on it and listen to it right away! No holding down the ‘1′ button anymore. Oh oh – and we’ll put a big ‘Call Back’ button right under it.” And so it was done.

I have used that ‘Call Back’ button extensively – and honestly, the line-item voicemail feature is one of the coolest innovations on the phone. So – if this is true Apple, I’d like to know. And kudos for managing to placate what could have otherwise been a stop-ship issue: “Um, boss, the phone just doesn’t ring.”