In the run up to the UK launch of the iPhone, The Times newspaper attempts to stick the metaphorical knife in with an article titled “50 reasons not to buy an iPhone“.  Compiled by Ali Hussain, far be it from us to accuse anybody of lazy journalism but after several reasonable points the list does degenerate into a mass of random YouTube links, asides unconnected to purchase and commentary seemingly designed to rile the Apple faithful into commenting.

So what’s good?  Well, the obvious hurdle for the iPhone – in a country where even high-end rivals such as the Nokia N95 are given away free with a new contract, remember - is the asking price of £269 ($548); the reliance on EDGE (which currently only 30% of the UK can access, thanks to sole carrier O2 previously having concentrated on building high-speed 3G capacity) is another obvious issue and of course the non-user-replaceable battery is less than ideal.

However, what with the tech world being so fast paced, points the October 15th article makes – such as support for third-party apps, or lack of - have already been countered by official announcements from Appleor advances in the iPhone hacking world.  Yes, it’s unfair to expect all copies of the printed newspaper to be rounded up and edited, but when the online version is still linked by an eye-catching banner ad on the Times Online homepage you’d expect at least an update setting out what’s changed since original publication.

Don’t get me wrong, while naysayers over in the article’s comments have been accused of fanboyism and “defending this expensive telephone as if it were their granny”, I share Ali’s disappointment with the slow data connection, high price and low camera resolution.  I don’t intend to pick up this first-gen handset when it launches here in the UK, because I think there’s a better version around the corner.  However a drawn-out, meandering list that lacks editorial focus is certainly not the best way to educate a cellphone-hungry public who want to know whether the iPhone is worth flexing their credit card for.