Briefly: Mossberg provides early iPhone review, WWDC "underwhelming"

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
The Wall Street Journal's well-known technology writer Walt Mossberg has already received his iPhone and has weighed in with some early opinions. Also, at least one analyst has called this year's World Wide Developers Conference a mild disappointment for investors, and Apple's Leopard site has revealed more about the new OS than was shown onstage.



Walt Mossberg comments on iPhone at forum



Speaking at The Chronicle of Higher Education's Presidents Forum in Washington, D.C., the journalist revealed that he had just received his sample of the Apple handset the same day. A quick public display of the device in his pocket had been enough to draw admiration from the crowd, according to one report.



Mossberg was comparatively guarded about the iPhone, saying he would reserve final judgment on the device until prolonged use had given a clearer impression.



"I can already see some things I don?t like about it," he told the audience. "[But] I see some other things that I do like a lot about it."



For him, the real focus in coming weeks would be gauging the use of a touchscreen for typing, which eliminates the tactile feedback that some demand for messaging. The predictive typing and correction work "a little better" than expected, he said, but the small amount of time spent with the finished phone was "not a very fair test" and would need more supporting evidence to verify Apple's claims about its ease of use.



Still, Mossberg has already said the iPhone would promise a real improvement over current cellphone technology because of its full Mac OS X groundwork rather than using mobile-only code.



It will succeed "not because it?s better or necessarily better than your Blackberry," he said, "but this [phone] runs a real computer operating system."



WWDC disappoints analyst



Gene Munster of financial analyst group PiperJaffray remarked that the keynote by Apple CEO Steve Jobs was a "little bit underwhelming" for financial experts keeping track of the company's product introductions, observing in an interview with MarketWatch that the event "wasn't much of a surprise" for regular followers of Apple's progress.



Investors frequently expect major new introductions at Apple's rare formal presentations, he said, but few of these were delivered in the Monday speech. It instead covered familiar territory with a few conspicuous additions.



While most attention has centered on the surprise news of Safari for Windows, which Munster agreed would be a "Trojan horse" similar to iTunes, the real focus was said to be on the integration of Boot Camp into Mac OS X Leopard. Including the Windows dual-boot support provided integration with the non-Mac world that wasn't possible in the past, he noted.



A second highlight for the analyst was Jobs' figure of 500 million iTunes downloads, which Munster said would point to as many as 200 million iTunes jukebox users instead of the 130 million PiperJaffray has estimated in the past.



Leopard site reveals extra features for Boot Camp, no ZFS



Regardless of the impact of the Jobs presentation, a few noteworthy enhancements in Mac OS X Leopard have been revealed through Apple's pages describing the software.



Significantly, in addition to Jobs' revelation Boot Camp will no longer require a separate driver CD, the dual-boot technology will include a menu option in each OS to restart in the other -- an option that will freeze the system state for each OS before rebooting, letting users pick up where they last ended rather than relaunch all their programs.



The new version of Front Row is also a near-match for the Apple TV interface, adding top 10 lists from the iTunes store as well as quicker access to TV shows and podcasts.



Other important changes include backdrop and video capture support in Photo Booth, better full-screen modes and a timeline navigator in DVD Player, and a macro recording function for Automator.



Absent, however, was Sun's ZFS file system. Company chief Jonathan Schwartz had touted that the file structure would be included, but no mention has so far been spotted in Apple's mainstream or developer feature lists.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 51
    bageljoeybageljoey Posts: 2,004member
    Thats a bit of a bummer. You expect Mossberg to say "I love it! I'll fill you in on the details in my article." not, "well, its too early to say, I'll give it some time..."
  • Reply 2 of 51
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,884member
    Mossberg is in danger of being dismissed as an Apple fanboy so he had to throttle things back a little I guess.
  • Reply 3 of 51
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    He is playing it up for all it is worth. He comes off as a pompous butt at times. This way he gets more readers on his article.



    After seeing what I have seen, I couldn't imagine how you could say anything negative other than, where's the plastic clip case that makes my blackberry a ninja weapon.
  • Reply 4 of 51
    delfoniqdelfoniq Posts: 95member
    Couldn't help but agree 100% with Gene Munster...Safari for WinXP is an excellent move by Apple and a real breath of fresh air to Windows users who until now have been doomed to use the slow and more importantly unsafe IE. His statement describes my sentiments exactly -- Safari will be a very effective "Trojan horse" maybe even more so than iTunes -- think about it, it makes sense it appeals to more people than music downloading. I have been using it for about 10 minutes and I already noticed its blazing speed and intuitive UI....More to come, maybe Mac OS X 'on the fly' (e.g., see Knoppix, etc) ? The people over in Redmond should be really panicking .
  • Reply 5 of 51
    ebrunnebrunn Posts: 75member
    Another person that gives his initial reaction using the keypad. Give the thing a damn change first. More than a damn hour.
  • Reply 6 of 51
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aplnub View Post


    After seeing what I have seen, I couldn't imagine how you could say anything negative other than, where's the plastic clip case that makes my blackberry a ninja weapon.



  • Reply 7 of 51
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Delfoniq View Post


    Couldn't help but agree 100% with Gene Munster...Safari for WinXP is an excellent move by Apple and a real breath of fresh air to Windows users who until now have been doomed to use the slow and more importantly unsafe IE. His statement describes my sentiments exactly -- Safari will be a very effective "Trojan horse" maybe even more so than iTunes -- think about it, it makes sense it appeals to more people than music downloading. I have been using it for about 10 minutes and I already noticed its blazing speed and intuitive UI....More to come, maybe Mac OS X 'on the fly' (e.g., see Knoppix, etc) ? The people over in Redmond should be really panicking .



    The most important things people use today are phones and email. Steve is right to focus on those things for Windows (and Mac) users.
  • Reply 8 of 51
    delfoniqdelfoniq Posts: 95member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    The most important things people use today are phones and email. Steve is right to focus on those things for Windows (and Mac) users.



    Exactly! I am sure more apps for Windows will appear soon. Safari is pretty smooth, and it's only a beta . Strong statement for Apple. How about Mail for Windows following that, or even iChat? Next up maybe Front Row for Windows (Windows Media Center sucks -- slow and unstable), and also the very cool new Finder with the Cover Flow view. Can't wait to see the total number of downloads today for the Safari beta .
  • Reply 9 of 51
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aplnub View Post


    He is playing it up for all it is worth. He comes off as a pompous butt at times.







    I agree. The guy is good. But he's so full of himself (in a somewhat passive-aggressive way, of course).



    I prefer Pogue -- smarter, infinitely more humorous, and a tad self-deprecating, to boot.
  • Reply 10 of 51
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ebrunn View Post


    Another person that gives his initial reaction using the keypad. Give the thing a damn change first. More than a damn hour.



    Angry are we? You talk like someone who has tried it.
  • Reply 11 of 51
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Delfoniq View Post


    Exactly! I am sure more apps for Windows will appear soon. Safari is pretty smooth, and it's only a beta . Strong statement for Apple. How about Mail for Windows following that, or even iChat? Next up maybe Front Row for Windows (Windows Media Center sucks -- slow and unstable), and also the very cool new Finder with the Cover Flow view. Can't wait to see the total number of downloads today for the Safari beta .



    A few of us here on these boards have been saying iChat for windows is a guaranteed certainty, well not a few, maybe a couple
  • Reply 12 of 51
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post






    I agree. The guy is good. But he's so full of himself (in a somewhat passive-aggressive way, of course).



    I prefer Pogue -- smarter, infinitely more humorous, and a tad self-deprecating, to boot.



    You are definitely using the words I couldn't get out of my head. Good job. I don't really care for the dude after watching the D5 pod cast. He was totally rude to that lady with him. You could tell he wanted to be on Gates and Jobs level, and I have a better chance of that happening and that is not saying much.



    It's too bad we need those famous people to get the Mac free publicity but I think now he can turn it down.
  • Reply 13 of 51
    louzerlouzer Posts: 1,054member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Delfoniq View Post


    Couldn't help but agree 100% with Gene Munster...Safari for WinXP is an excellent move by Apple and a real breath of fresh air to Windows users who until now have been doomed to use the slow and more importantly unsafe IE. His statement describes my sentiments exactly -- Safari will be a very effective "Trojan horse" maybe even more so than iTunes -- think about it, it makes sense it appeals to more people than music downloading. I have been using it for about 10 minutes and I already noticed its blazing speed and intuitive UI....More to come, maybe Mac OS X 'on the fly' (e.g., see Knoppix, etc) ? The people over in Redmond should be really panicking .



    Right. Because Windows users had no other choices but IE. Finally an alternative for Windows users! We mac users have been so lucky, to have choices like OmniWeb, Safari, Firefox, Camino, iCab, etc. Now the Windows users can finally use something other than IE!
  • Reply 14 of 51
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aplnub View Post


    He was totally rude to that lady with him.



    Yeah, I agree. Her name is Katie Boehret, and she seems really nice (altho her reviews are OK).



    But he projects the sense that she doesn't quite rise to his level of stroke-the-beard gravitas!
  • Reply 15 of 51
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Significantly, in addition to Jobs' revelation Boot Camp will no longer require a separate driver CD, the dual-boot technology will include a menu option in each OS to restart in the other -- an option that will freeze the system state for each OS before rebooting, letting users pick up where they last ended rather than relaunch all their programs.



    Hmm, not quite the quick switch I was hoping for (ie. as fast as putting the computer to sleep and awaking it again), but still better than how Bootcamp currently works. I'll have to try it and see.
  • Reply 16 of 51
    physguyphysguy Posts: 920member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by auxio View Post


    Hmm, not quite the quick switch I was hoping for (ie. as fast as putting the computer to sleep and awaking it again), but still better than how Bootcamp currently works. I'll have to try it and see.



    Actually this sounds like exactly what they are doing. When you put the MacBook to sleep now a file (/var/vm/sleepimage) equal in size to your RAM is written out. This is read in on wake. Sounds like there will now be two files and you choose which one to load. Pretty nice.
  • Reply 17 of 51
    I was hoping to see something with the ZFS file system.



    By the way, does the new Finder interest all of you who shout FTFF? I have a feeling I'll be using it mainly in Cover Flow.



    Of all the keynotes I've seen Steve give, this one didn't have much RDF. The whole "One More Thing" and then a "One Last Thing" wasn't cool. He's a far better spokesman than that. It kinda felt like he was off his A-Game.
  • Reply 18 of 51
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Brian Green View Post


    The whole "One More Thing" and then a "One Last Thing" wasn't cool. He's a far better spokesman than that. It kinda felt like he was off his A-Game.



    It's possible they may have had some problems and had to drop some announcements... you're right I think we were all a bit underwhelmed.
  • Reply 19 of 51
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tundraboy View Post


    Mossberg is in danger of being dismissed as an Apple fanboy so he had to throttle things back a little I guess.



    I was actually wondering if Apple would WANT some bad reviews. There's been a lot of hype and high expectation.



    Okay... I don't really mean BAD reviews - I mean really clear, realistic reviews saying what it does great and what it doesn't do (and what it does badly). Then again, I've always preferred those kinds of reviews



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Significantly, in addition to Jobs' revelation Boot Camp will no longer require a separate driver CD, the dual-boot technology will include a menu option in each OS to restart in the other -- an option that will freeze the system state for each OS before rebooting, letting users pick up where they last ended rather than relaunch all their programs.



    That sounds excellent. Especially if you combine it with flash ram disks in future Macs - you could switch between OSes at very high speed.



    The other unmentioned thing so far seems to be full-screen Quicktime. Steve demoed a quick view of a quicktime film and made it full screen - something which we can't do at the moment unless we have Quicktime Pro.
  • Reply 20 of 51
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    It's possible they may have had some problems and had to drop some announcements... you're right I think we were all a bit underwhelmed.



    That might bring clarity to what we all saw. If there were features that were scrubbed at the last minute before the keynote, I could understand how even Steve would be off his A-game. Something just wasn't right. I'd like to think that there are more interesting features than the ten listed out of the 300. I know that most are under the hood and won't be recognized by us mere mortals, but I'd like to think that there's more to Leopard than what we saw. Most of what was saw was already revealed to us in the last keynote about Leopard, so it felt like all Steve was doing was telling us what we'd already known.



    I wish he'd have picked ten things we didn't already know about.



    The new Safari beta seems to be working well for me though.
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