At one point the Cingular Motorola Rokr E1 was a pretty popular phone. It was the first phone widely available that worked with iTunes. And yes, it was available as a " free cell phone deal" and was also promoted as being free after rebate to existing Cingular Wireless customers who wanted a cell phone upgrade.
However, in the rush to buy the Rokr it soon became apparent this wasn't a great phone. It was the first to offer a valuable feature and it was cheap. Sometimes that is good enough.
You can always look back later and say something was overhyped. And that's what Switch.com decided to do when they named it one of the "Worst Gadgets of All-Time."
They noted that it took a very long time to load songs and playing songs made the Rokr very sluggish. This probably true, but perhaps we just have the luxury now of having the iPhone and looking back at the problems of its precursors. At the time, this phone was a big deal and many people were happy to have it. Believe me.
