Before filing my iPhone review for The Chicago Sun-Times, I had one final conversation with Apple. We made our stately way through a list of questions and clarifications that I’d been assembling since I first signed for my iPhone on Saturday morning.

To address some of the popular misconceptions about the iPhone I’ve spotted over on message boards and other warehouses of sensible, reasoned discourse, I’m presenting some highlights from the conversation. I spoke with Greg Joswiak and Bob "Yes, I’m that guy from the iPhone videos" Borchers. Quotes are theirs. Things not in quotes are the overall jist of what they said, based on my notes and recollections.

On features "missing" from the iPhone:

"Simplicity and reliability are guiding principles." That is, it’s not that Apple doesn’t believe that a feature like a system-wide Search feature is a bad idea (to make up an example). It’s just that for now, they haven’t determined a way to put that in without making things more complicated.

On adding features to the iPhone:

"We’ll be sending out not just bugfixes, but new features." In fact, in a report to shareholders Apple announced that they didn’t intend to make users wait for new hardware in order to get new features. So definitely expect an iPhone to do more things as the months roll by...and for those features to arrive in the form of free updates.

On that (damned) recessed headphone jack:

(You know, the reason why you need to buy a Belkin adapter to make your existing headphones or car adapter work.)

"The only way to accommodate the full variety of headphones would be to make the iPod thicker, or change its contours. And you know we don’t like to do things like that." On the plus side, they’ve spoken to headphone and headset manufacturers and found strong industry support for changing the jacket molded around their plugs so that they’ll fit the iPhone without any adapters. Expect to be able to buy some of those same old same headphones with new, slimmer plugs by the fall.

On third-party iPhone software:

"Independent developers should be able to create very iPhone-like AJAX apps that run through Safari." This interface gives developers deep access to the iPhone’s features without compromising the security or the stability of the device.

I wanted to know if Apple intended to exert any sort of control over the kinds of Web 2.0 apps they could create. "So if someone wanted to create a chat client," I asked, "not only could they do it, but there’s nothing Apple could do to stop them?"

Nope; Apple can’t do boo about it. Clearly, any concerns that Apple had agreed to block instant-messaging in favor of AT&T’s SMS service are bunk.

(Rev2.org has posted a page of 25 AJAX-based iPhone apps. Take a look; they seem a little bit bare, but show some of the potential here.)

On the virtual keyboard’s auto-correct:

"It ’learns’ as you go. If you reject a spelling correction a few times (like a street name) it’ll understand that this wasn’t just a fluke and it’ll add the word to the user dictionary. And all of the names in your Contacts are automatically part of the user dictionary, too."

On Safari support for embedded media:

"It supports most QuickTime-compatible formats, but not all of the video codecs." That is, MP3 & AAC audio, yes. H.264 video, yes. Not every embedded QuickTime movie file will play, though.

On battery longevity:

"Early reviews reported that the battery is rated for 400 charges. But that’s wrong: after 400 charges, the battery can still be charged to 80% of its ’new’ capacity." So the hardwired battery really isn’t nearly as big a drawback that some message-board posters insist. If the battery does give up the ghost, Apple will replace it for $79 and lend you a phone to use while they perform the swapout.

On the iPhone’s SIM card:

"It’s a standard SIM, and it’s not locked to the iPhone. So you can use it with any phone, and use any features that the other phone supports." So it seems that any Cingular/AT&T or unlocked phone will function, including SMS, conventional voice mail, and Internet access via AT&T’s EDGE network. So if you wish, you can hang on to your old GSM handset and use it as a "beach" phone, for those environments where you don’t want to introduce a $500 gadget.