iPhone is a handheld computer
Although Apple calls their new device an iPhone, I think this is not truly what it is. First we had mainframes, then microcomputers, then personal computers, then laptops. Now we have handheld computers.
Apple started it off with the Newton but lost the lead. Palm then took over. Then various smartphones and other PDAs. But none were a full blown computer and were a pain to use for anything more than a phone and a few notes, contacts, and schedules. Apple's iPhone defines a whole new catagory of computers.
But just like the iPod didn't come into its own until iTunes, so too the iPhone will not come into its own until we have mobile always-on broadband - something like WiMax. Then the iPhone will really shine.
People need to think through the possibilities an always-connected device brings. Take a picture and it immediately gets forwarded to your home computer or server. Same for video, email, contacts, calendars, etc. Think Mapquest and Google Earth but mobile. Want to look up a word in the dictionary? Just go to the web. Want to watch tv? A few seconds and you are watching. Video conferencing? You bet. PDAs and smartphones cannot do all this. Nor do they have the interface to enable it.
Now one can do all these things from a laptop, but how many people want to carry their laptop around everywhere, pull it out of a case, sit down, turn it on, and wait for it to boot up. Then, you have to log in, start the right application, and then start your work. With a handheld, one would always take it with, and go from the pocket to start of work in a few seconds. This is huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge.
The iPhone defines a whole new class of computers. I think it will take some time and a few iterations to come into its own, not to mention the rollout of something like WiMax, but it will rule the Frontier as the quickest gun in the West.
I could even see a potential Apple commercial. One user has a laptop, the other the iPhone. Both enter and sit down on a train. Both get out their computers. The person with the laptop gets his computer out and starts booting up. However, he does not even finish by the time the commericial ends. Same thing in an elevator, a taxi, even at the golf course or ball game. Meanwhile the hip iPhone user does three or four things each time. The commerical ends with some catchy phrase and the Apple logo.
So what do you all think? Do you see what I see?
Apple started it off with the Newton but lost the lead. Palm then took over. Then various smartphones and other PDAs. But none were a full blown computer and were a pain to use for anything more than a phone and a few notes, contacts, and schedules. Apple's iPhone defines a whole new catagory of computers.
But just like the iPod didn't come into its own until iTunes, so too the iPhone will not come into its own until we have mobile always-on broadband - something like WiMax. Then the iPhone will really shine.
People need to think through the possibilities an always-connected device brings. Take a picture and it immediately gets forwarded to your home computer or server. Same for video, email, contacts, calendars, etc. Think Mapquest and Google Earth but mobile. Want to look up a word in the dictionary? Just go to the web. Want to watch tv? A few seconds and you are watching. Video conferencing? You bet. PDAs and smartphones cannot do all this. Nor do they have the interface to enable it.
Now one can do all these things from a laptop, but how many people want to carry their laptop around everywhere, pull it out of a case, sit down, turn it on, and wait for it to boot up. Then, you have to log in, start the right application, and then start your work. With a handheld, one would always take it with, and go from the pocket to start of work in a few seconds. This is huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge.
The iPhone defines a whole new class of computers. I think it will take some time and a few iterations to come into its own, not to mention the rollout of something like WiMax, but it will rule the Frontier as the quickest gun in the West.
I could even see a potential Apple commercial. One user has a laptop, the other the iPhone. Both enter and sit down on a train. Both get out their computers. The person with the laptop gets his computer out and starts booting up. However, he does not even finish by the time the commericial ends. Same thing in an elevator, a taxi, even at the golf course or ball game. Meanwhile the hip iPhone user does three or four things each time. The commerical ends with some catchy phrase and the Apple logo.
So what do you all think? Do you see what I see?
Comments
You get it - take a bow.
<That's not meant to be sarcastic, btw.>
I am so excited about the iPhone. It was more than I was expecting in a device, and I will be first in line to get one. It is brilliant.
Now that I have said that, let me tell why I am so goddamn frustrated with the Steve. This is a device that deserves an entire Mac World. And then some. But the original spirit of the Macintosh (remember the 1984 commercial please), personal computing freedom for everyone, is just gone. Sure it's brilliant. But it is a closed platform. It just makes me sick. Fucking sick. No choice.
And secondly, Apple has forced me to do business with another company to even have one. And the Telco corporate assholes are the worst. Apple could have utilized their legal right to lease from the Telco's and start their own MVNO. Never before have I been forced to pay one particular company for the pleasure of using an Apple device. Awful. Just Awful.
If nothing else, sell them unlocked! It's not like Cingular is subsidizing the phone! Apple wants the price high so it doesn't eat into iPod profits. It also makes the phone exclusive during the launch. [As a side note, Cingular has to kick something to Apple for this deal. Let's hope it's service discounts for iPhone customers].
Verizon rips you off, but CDMA is the only access that I have here in SW Colorado. Verizon or Alltel. And our EVDO connection is worse than dial-up. That's it. There is Cingular access downtown (I don't even think data), but if you leave that area that's it (and I have to go to Denver or Albuquerque to get Cingular service, because I can't sign-up here).
Did I have high hopes for an iPhone? YES! Does the current iPhone exceed those hopes? YES. But only in terms of the device. The spirit of Apple Computer and the Macintosh seem gone. In it's place is iTunes DRM, locked-in Telco taxes, and a closed platform. Throw in stock option back dating, and the corporation seems to overtaken Apple Computer.
RIP
I know that I am ranting, but there is one more thing that is really bothering me. And that is the lack of DVR functionality in the Mac. I hate saying this, but my roommate just installed Vista and it's right there. Beautiful and built in. I am in favor of paying artists for their work, and I already do. I pay $80 per month for HD cable and movie channels. I am never going to pay iTunes rates on top of that just for the pleasure of watching a low-res show on my iPhone. Apple TV and iTunes should be built with this functionality in mind. I already pay for cable (as does virtually everyone I know), and I just want to watch it when I want to watch it.
Please Apple, I love the Macintosh. I love the products. Don't force me into something. Give me freedom. Give me options.
Think Different.
"the iPhone will not come into its own until we have mobile always-on broadband"
It's called 3G, and it covers the whole of Europe.
It's called 3G, and it covers the whole of Europe.
What??? It doesn't even cover the whole of my kitchen! Have you actually used 3G? Or even seen a 3G coverage map
What??? It doesn't even cover the whole of my kitchen! Have you actually used 3G? Or even seen a 3G coverage map
Where do you live? Besides you need a 3G receiver.
What??? It doesn't even cover the whole of my kitchen! Have you actually used 3G? Or even seen a 3G coverage map
Where do you live? Besides you need a 3G receiver. I can go anywhere in my country with a laptop and a 1.5Mb wireless connection.
Where do you live? Besides you need a 3G receiver. I can go anywhere in my country with a laptop and a 1.5Mb wireless connection.
Ireland, like yourself. Clare, to be more precise. What provider are you with that you can get 3G anywhere in the country?
Here's Vodafone's coverage map: http://www.vodafone.ie/roaming/domes...work/index.jsp
nowhere near 100% 3G coverage
3 claim to have 75% population 3G coverage - which with Ireland's population distribution probably translates to 15% geographic coverage.
I don't think O2 are even offering 3G yet, but I could be wrong...
Where do you live? Besides you need a 3G receiver. I can go anywhere in my country with a laptop and a 1.5Mb wireless connection.
I suspect that most of your mobile access is actually 2G access. Full 3G access is relatively rare outside populated areas but because of the poor 3G coverage providers/phones switch your access to 2G where required.
For example 3(Three) the 3G provider in the UK can't cover the Uk so they have an agreement with Orange to provide 2G services for it's users elsewhere. I suspect many 3(Three) users believe they can get 3G everywhere infact it quite limited.
Reference
You'll only get the full speed if no-one else is using that cell too.
Ireland, like yourself. Clare, to be more precise. What provider are you with that you can get 3G anywhere in the country?
Here's Vodafone's coverage map: http://www.vodafone.ie/roaming/domes...work/index.jsp
Vodafone!! The lying cunxx!!
Vodafone!! The lying cunxx!!
Who, then? 3?
Being not a Mac, even though it runs OS X, means that there's not much point in opening it up. It will just go the way of the Palm platform eventually, being yet another platform.
It makes more sense to keep it closed but instead ensure that its web interface and technology is top notch, including support for all popular Internet apps and plug-ins.
But what about Skype for example? iPhone seems perfectly suited to use Skype for phone calls when within reach of a wifi hotspot. But Internet telephony is not supported on the iPhone. Simply because it means lost sales for Cingular. Cingular would be stupid to allow it.
Which in effect means that the iPhone is not a top notch Internet device. It's a crippled Internet device. And it's not a Mac either. It could very well end up lost in the middle.
I hope Apple realises this danger and will eventually support Skype or other such Internet technologies - at the expense of Cingular - but in the interest of the iPhone as a revolutionary device.
Apple can thus say our customers want this feature and we are all about the customer experience.
Who, then? 3?
No the girl in Vodafone lied. I said do you Vodafone have the whole country covered 3G-wise?
She replied, oh why yes of course, and she seemsed like she knew her stuff. Her commission must have gotten the better of her.
Also, try lugging around a laptop all day - and I mean carry it all day. Every ounce counts. Not to say laptops are bad, they just cannot and will not go places a handheld computer will. If you do not have your computer with you, you cannot use it. The iPhone is meant to be carried all the time. This is a computer first.
Yes, PDAs and smartphones are designed to be carried but they are not full blown computers. Regardless what version of OS X runs on the iPhone, I bet it is pretty close to the full OS X. Burning the OS into ROM is small and cheap. There is little reason to skip due to memory. The big limitation is the CPU. As CPUs increase in speed, they will someday soon allow the full OS X on an iPhone. However, CPU info is slim on the iPhone. Same with the actual OS info. I will reserve final judgment until I know more facts.
Just because Apple doesn't allow full OS X apps on the iPhone doesn't mean this can't change this tomorrow or someday down the road. Apple is just protecting their market right now and trying to maximize their return on investment.. Gee, the iPhone hasn't even come to market yet. I think at some point they will be forced to open it up or else competitors will steal the market. I think that point will be sooner they most people think.
However, look at the iPod. Apple has kept this market closed and they are doing quite well. We might not like this closed DRM but when viewed through a businessman's eye, you can't blame Apple.
Also, most apps are memory hungry. We don't know how Apple is handling RAM usage in the IPhone. Maybe RAM is the main limiting factor. Also a lack of a HD might negatively impact regular apps running on the iPhone. Where would one even install MS Office? So I think there are good reasons why Apple is doing what they are doing.
Like I said before, I think Apple views this iPhone as a connector to the internet and maybe even one's base computer at home or at work. Think tablet if you want. While the iPhone has some apps onboard, it mainly is just a device to connect us to the mothership, so to speak. Mobile high speed internet connection will enable this.
As for 3G, what kind of upload and download speeds are we talking about? 3G only goes up to 2 Mbit/sec as far as I know. Real work speeds are far, far lower - some just barely over dial up speeds. I would hardly call this broadband. In contrast, WiMax is talking aobut 70 Mbits/sec at the top end. While real world speeds will be lower, still this is an improvement of 35 times. Who knows what AT&T and Apple have up their sleeve.
I think Apple and Jobs are smart enough to craft devices, strategies, and relationships that will take advantage of these new technologies. That is why he quoted Gretzky and "going to where the puck will be." People want Apple to go to where the puck is now or just a little ways off. I think Apple is looking farther down the road. I think the iPhone is just a small foretaste of what is to come.
Even if somebody were to create a iPhone clone, it would be impotent without the internet connection, software, and strategic partners. Apple is starting off with Google, Yahoo, Cingular/AT&T as partners- this is a great start. I wonder if they have exclusive agreements. That means any competitors would have to find somebody equivalent to these companies. This is no easy task.
Also, who would do the software design? What about bugs, security, viruses, GUI, etc? What company can compete with Apple? Imagine the security nightmare wireless devices will be exposed to in the future. What about multimedia? Having a UNIX and OS X base is a great start.
As technology advances, the solutions we want start to become more like a jet aircraft. You can assemble your own and hack together a kit with mods, but I think most people would rather buy a complete solution. Heck, most people do not even get under the hoods of their cars any more. We want solutions that work and that we can use, not build our own from various parts.
PCs may be easy to do this when form factors are not that limiting. Whether your PC weighs 30 pounds or 50 pounds makes little difference. However, the miniturization required in a laptop locks geeks out of this territory. How much more a handheld.
Same with many software writers. Unlimited RAM, HD space, and CPU cycles are not available on a handheld. Same with bandwidth. Like the coders of old, handheld programmers will have to do more with less. Not to say smart programmers couldn't manage all this. However, Apple might want to keep much of their hardware and software secret so competitors cannot duplicate what they are doing.
So, I think there are good reasons why Apple is doing what they are doing. I have no inside information other than what everybody else knows. However, a good analysis of all available info seems to be leading down a specific path that looks promising for Apple and us. I'm sure Apple will stumble a few places and we will be frustrated by what they do. Heck, don't we all have a gripe or two now about some current Apple product. Nobody's perfect. But Apple seems to have many of the right pieces right and I am thankful.
I will support the innovator and right now Apple is it.
Most people tend to look and plan only a few months into the future. Your roadmap on the other hand is probably a 5-10 year affair. Until WiMax is widely available, an ultra-ultra-low power Intel chip, Flash storage prices per GB drop to the point where 100GB is small and easily affordable, all that will take a few years.
By that time we'll likely also have super-thin, high-res OLED screens and better battery technologies (nano-tube capacitors perhaps) and the iPhone will be 1/2 or even 1/3 its current thickness charging in a matter of seconds rather than hours.
As bright as this future looks, it's intangible today. It's a dream and does not solve any user's current problems. So what do we do?
Buy a cheap cellphone and stick it out until the bright future finally arrives in a few years? Using the time to prepare your life for it.
Or do we jump on the band wagon be a 'consumer pioneer' riding at the forefront of this new wave? Which often means you'll be troubled with initial limitations, bugs and end up buying every product iteration for the first 5 revisions until you have something that is somewhat right - spending a lot of money on the way. And time as you'll be fiddling about a lot to get things right.
Do we accept the many compromises of the first iPhone iteration - keeping the long term outlook in mind?
Do we just not buy into this new technology until the time is right and most of the long term benefits become reality?
Is there a third way?
Does it matter?
Perhaps do whatever your wallet can support... And your time.
Explicit in the campaign is a promise that the iPhone will be the easiest to use iPod ever, easiest to use cell phone ever, and the easiest to use mobile internet communicator ever. They say they are 5 years ahead. With such a promise, they better pull through on that promise.
It's true that no mobile device puts it all together in one easy to use package, with too many compromises at every level. Apple's got a real challenge here. In the near term, all their efforts should be going towards ensuring the music/video/media playing, cell phone, and email/web experience is the best available. That has to be their one and only priority.
Other stuff such as changing the way USA wireless carriers do business (this will take an act of Congress) and fulfilling our dreams of the ultimate handheld, well, that's a tough road to travel. You fill a need, not a dream. Apple sees that all these high feature, smart cell phones are difficult to use; all they are trying to do is turn that into an advantage and a market.
If my analysis is right, then we need to start thinking where this is all heading. I think Jobs has the best view of all this and am guessing he is putting his ducks in a row. However, we too need to shift our thinking to this new paradigm and this is not easy. That is why I throw this all out there to see collectively what we can arrive at. We stimulate each other to see what is possible.
Who knows, maybe Apple hasn't even realized the full potential of what they can do. We might see opportunities they don't see yet. Maybe we can help them. Apple users are bright people and if we help set expectations, then it gives Apple somthing to fulfill.
Now some people set some astronomical wishes and I am not talking about those. I mean realistic, down-to-earth things that make a difference. I think the Apple of old was stubborn and didn't listen. However, I think their track record of late is different - we have a headless Mac, a smartphone/PDA/tablet. Then throw in Intel switch, iTunes, iTV, and others. Many of these things consumers begged for. With others Apple surprised us.
What surprises me is how some of the big things got their start late. Take iTunes for example. By his own admission, Jobs almost missed the boat. Remember Gates almost missing the web at Microsoft? Even the smartest people can have tunnel vision.
What I see is not an open source movement as much as an open source think tank. We help give insight and direction and low and behold, Apple fulfills our wishes. As long as we are reasonable and give good info, Apple might listen. That is why rumors and insider sights like these are important. They provoke us to think differently and see where things could go.
They can also be used wrongly and set expectations so high that people get disappointed with Apple. But with reason, the sites have a purpose. I have to think and hope Apple execs visit the sights and read their own ink. Especially if we can keep the dialogue reasonable and thought provoking. Jobs is brilliant and has a lot of inside info, but he doesn't have a monopoly on smarts.
1.) Although Apple calls their new device an iPhone, I think this is not truly what it is. First we had mainframes, then microcomputers, then personal computers, then laptops. Now we have handheld computers.
2.) Apple started it off with the Newton but lost the lead. Palm then took over. Then various smartphones and other PDAs. But none were a full blown computer and were a pain to use for anything more than a phone and a few notes, contacts, and schedules. Apple's iPhone defines a whole new catagory of computers.
3.) But just like the iPod didn't come into its own until iTunes, so too the iPhone will not come into its own until we have mobile always-on broadband - something like WiMax. Then the iPhone will really shine.
4.) People need to think through the possibilities an always-connected device brings. Take a picture and it immediately gets forwarded to your home computer or server. Same for video, email, contacts, calendars, etc. Think Mapquest and Google Earth but mobile. Want to look up a word in the dictionary? Just go to the web. Want to watch tv? A few seconds and you are watching. Video conferencing? You bet. PDAs and smartphones cannot do all this. Nor do they have the interface to enable it.
5.) Now one can do all these things from a laptop, but how many people want to carry their laptop around everywhere, pull it out of a case, sit down, turn it on, and wait for it to boot up. Then, you have to log in, start the right application, and then start your work. With a handheld, one would always take it with, and go from the pocket to start of work in a few seconds. This is huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge.
6.) The iPhone defines a whole new class of computers. I think it will take some time and a few iterations to come into its own, not to mention the rollout of something like WiMax, but it will rule the Frontier as the quickest gun in the West.
7.) I could even see a potential Apple commercial. One user has a laptop, the other the iPhone. Both enter and sit down on a train. Both get out their computers. The person with the laptop gets his computer out and starts booting up. However, he does not even finish by the time the commericial ends. Same thing in an elevator, a taxi, even at the golf course or ball game. Meanwhile the hip iPhone user does three or four things each time. The commerical ends with some catchy phrase and the Apple logo.
So what do you all think? Do you see what I see?
I understand what you are thinking and I can see your vision, but the fact is (and this is a FACT)...the almost every feature on the iPhone is similiar to ALL the PDA phones out there.
I broke down your paragraphs by number for easier response.
1.) Yes, we have handheld computers, today. It's called Palm Treo, Motorola Q, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Symbian, etc....
2.) iPhone is not a full blown computer. It's an extremely light version of OS X just as Windows Mobile is a light version of MS Windows. Product such as Treo 700w carry Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint, Access.
3.) The iPhone cannot be like the iPod because by wedded itself to Cingular for 5 years. Cingular (I believe) has 30% marketshare of the wireless public. That means a whopping 70% will not be able to obtain the cel-phone. It's pretty much a proven theory that People do not switch Wireless Carriers because of Phones, especially for a very expensive phone such as the iPhone.
4.) Very nice vision....but neither can the iPhone. When the iPhone CAN do it.....you can sure bet that the latest Motorola, Palm, Samsung, etc.... product can do it as well. The feature Steve Jobs demonstrated at MacWorld (The Google Call), I can do that using Verizon Superpages.
5.) Nice vison, but nothing new. The iPhone brings nothing new to the table.
6.) It does not bring a whole new class of computers. Every Smartphone is already a computer. PLUS......with Smartphones (Windows Mobile, Palm/Garnett, Symbian) you can add SD memory cards that are now going up to 8gb. The iPhone cannot. PLUS.......
With every computer you can add software applications. With Smartphone you can do this. With the iPhone, you Cannot.
7.) In regards to your elevator scenario, all smartphones power up easily....pretty much instantly.
Your vision of the iPhone is too big, way too big. Believe me, if Apple meets that vision you can safe bet that Palm, Motorola, Sony, Microsoft, will meet it as well......and cheaper.
Perhaps the ichat app will feature wfi voip calling.
Apple can thus say our customers want this feature and we are all about the customer experience.
I guess that depends on the agreement of freedom Cingular gave to Apple.
It's already old news that Apple went to Verizon Wireless first to which they got turned down. Reports say that Apple was asking for just too much control over the iPhone.
What I am trying to say is, if the agreement between Cingular and Apple is one that grants plenty of unrestrictions, then Apple could probably go ahead and develop a special iChat App with WiFi VOIP Calling. LOL....we all know Apple is legally fearless, except when it comes to DRM issues.