iSore
Since Arlo wasn't quite up to a proper posting, I'll pop my LYRC cherry and make up for it.
Big news -- Apple finally made a public announcement about the much-rumored iPhone today, its iPod/cell phone/Mac PDA, effectively the first device to run any variant of a Macintosh operating system since the Newton. Yes, Apple is typically a company of great vision but I'm afraid they're doing what my dad would call "trying to jam ten pounds of shit into a five pound bag".
I'll keep my criticism brief and only attack its most painfully obvious shortcoming, the lack of a keyboard. Mac fanatics have a tendency to believe that His Steveness commands other-worldly powers, exempting him from known laws of physics, economics, and, in this case, ergonomics (most of the time he can be counted on for two of the three). But Steve, what would ever make you think that people want to bang out text messages on a touch screen? Ever heard of tactile feedback? Keep the touch screens in mall kiosks where they belong.
Given the absolutely monstrous brand power of Mac, coupled with Cingular, the iPhone will likely make the PS3 look like a sales flop. A few months later, millions of angry customers will demand their money back, ditching the phone for a more traditional handset. A few hundred thousand devoted Mac heads will continue using it, too embarrassed to admit that really liked their good ol' Nokia better as a phone until they develop advanced arthritis in their index finger and win a class action lawsuit.
7 Comments:
Thanks for finally rearing your head on the blog.
I actually started a post on the iPhone, but you beat me to it.
Let me get one thing out of the way: If you want to complain about the Apple TV -- no DVR, no video on demand, requires too many steps to get content on it seeing as how I'm on my damn couch and I don't want to get up -- go right ahead.
However, as far as the iPhone goes, I think Apple is going to print money with this thing.
Not because of the network -- it runs on EDGE, not the 3G network that's a lot faster.
Not because of the phone features -- visual voicemail is nice, but we've all gotten along just fine without it for years.
Not because of the iPod features -- a RAZR and an iPod nano duct taped together are smaller than this thing.
Not because of the Web capabilities -- that's what many of us have a laptop for.
No, the iPhone will be a huge success for four reasons:
1) We both agree -- we've both discussed it before -- that mobile phone operating systems suck. Hell, I'll take ANYTHING that's better than my Motorola, and I've heard a lot of people say the same about their Treos.
2) The cool-factor. The RAZR was ridiculously expensive when it came out, and we all coveted it. But when enough people realized it was a shitty phone with a shitty interface -- actually, people still bought it. (See number 1.)
3) Computer interaction. That where everyone agrees Apple excels. The reason the iPod was successful was not because of the iPod's inherent features. There were and still are players with more gizmos. No, the success is because Apple made it easy to load the thing up with music. If Apple makes the iPhone as easy to load up with data as they have with the iPod, I can imagine a few Treo and Blackberry users would see the value in switching.
4) Openness. This is conjecture, but I don't think it's just marketing that Apple refers to the applications as Widgets. If the iPhone runs WebKit (the HTML rendering engine that powers Safari), then the Widgets may be tiny web pages like Mac OS X's Dashboard widgets. That means the iPhone will be the first mainstream cell phone that even hobbyists can develop applications for. Leaving the phone open to experimentation means developing uses that even Apple hasn't thought of.
So while your preference for tactile response is heard, I think it's a small price to pay for a mobile device with a decent OS, smooth computer interfacing, easy extendability, FREE ringtones, and being super cool for having an iPhone.
I guess I can sum up your response this way:
"Cingular Wireless. No manual keyboard. Lame."
And I can zoom in on a photo using two fingers? NEAT!
fuckin mac nerds.
How's the Zune selling?
Oh, and Sean, I know you own an iPod, and I know you love it.
Since everyone is probably dying to know what my thoughts on the subject are, I'll offer this:
All I want in a phone is something that feels good on my fucking ear and muffles peripheral noise (this is why my home phone is a replica of an Enlish Victorian-era device). Ear buds, cold and thin squares, flat shit. Please. Isn't there a techie out there somewhere who's willing to look backwards for a few minutes and rediscover the GODDAMN HUMAN EAR!?
Only time will tell if your predictions come true but I have to call bullshit on your claim of openness and refer to the engadgetmobile post that surfaced shortly after the announcement. Basically, they declare that whatever this thing is actually running (which is clearly no more "Mac OS X" than WinMo 5 is XP) is NOT going to be very expandable.
"...hungry power-users... won't be able to extend the functionality of their phone any more than Apple (but thankfully not Cingular) dictates"
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/01/09/the-iphone-is-not-a-smartphone/
I also have to take issue with point #2. The RAZR was overpriced, yes, but the cool factor luckily appealed to people with money. I think the audience this device appeals to (people who already have a 60 GB iPod Video) will balk at the drive capacity and not see the price being justified.
Finally, consider this: Simple, compact phones still dominate the market. The reason? People want a small cell phone. Period. I know a lot of people. I even know of a lot of technologically inclined people and hardly any of them are carrying around smartphones (Gabe, you just keep doin what you're doin man).
Manufacturers are looking to make the ultimate convergence device but the technology isn't there yet to make it practical. I have a cell phone, an MP3 player, and a portable video game console (I'm intentionally leaving out the brands and model names). If the screen on my cell phone was big enough to provide a pleasurable gaming experience, it would be too big for me to carry in my pants pocket. All of these devices do a great job but we're just not ready to put them all in one package... At least not yet. The day will come and I'll be a happy little boy when it does.
Yeah, I mentioned that the openness thing was conjecture, and I was wrong. I bet the thing will eventually open up -- this is a computing platform, not a media player -- but for now, I would doubt Cingular wants you to install Skype software on an iPhone.
Their "Mac OS X-based" marketspeak is inflated, but is probably more akin to embedded Linux. The iPhone probably runs a kernel very similar to what my Powerbook runs. But "Darwin-based" won't make as much sense except to the nerds.
I think they're entering this market the way they entered the iPod market -- testing the waters with the Apple faithful and the hardcore geeks. The first iPod only worked with the Mac. The first iPhone will only work for hardcore geeks, Apple fanboy and otherwise. Once the kinks are worked out, maybe we will see a price drop and an iPhone nano.
Meanwhile, here's 10 things to hate about the iPhone.
I don't know what you're talking about. Did you like the dope spiders? Funniest thing I've seen in a while. Apart from Kelly's toe fungus.
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