Regardless of 3G penetration, you just simply can't buy a smartphone in Europe that isn't 3G enabled, except for American rubbish (Palms, Blackberry...)
Paris Hilton sounds funny even to Americans. The Hilton family is completely legit - they named the hotel chain after themselves, not the other way around ......
FYI, I am an "American." And, I have heard of the Hilton family.
It was meant to be, well, I guess, in jest, but I guess you missed that.....
Motorola now own GoodLinks, which is a common application that is deployed on corporate PDA devices to sync with Exchange servers. Let's see if Motorola can come up with GoodLink for the iPhone. I see 3 possibilities:
1) Motorola manages to develop a working GoodLink for iPhone despite the paltry support for third party applications on iPhone.
2) Motorola announces that they are unable to create GoodLink for iPhone, citing Apple's paltry support for third party iPhone software development
3) Motorola purposely withholds GoodLink for iPhone as a way to screw with Apple
Motorola now owns GoodLink, which is a common application that is deployed on corporate PDA devices to sync with Exchange servers. Let's see if Motorola can come up with GoodLink for the iPhone. I see 3 possibilities:
1) Motorola manages to develop a working GoodLink for iPhone despite the paltry support for third party applications on iPhone.
2) Motorola announces that they are unable to create GoodLink for iPhone, citing Apple's paltry support for third party iPhone software development
3) Motorola purposely withholds GoodLink for iPhone as a way to screw with Apple
I guess some people think that being an Apple fan is all about defending whatever action the company takes. I'm of the feeling that being an uncritical customer doesn't really help them that much. Any company is stronger when it receives honest, and tough, feedback.
Apple may feel the sting of some negative feedback, but it'll probably mostly be complaints about at&t.
at&t needs to really feel the consumer's disgust and wrath to light a fire under them.
Regardless of 3G penetration, you just simply can't buy a smartphone in Europe that isn't 3G enabled, except for American rubbish (Palms, Blackberry...)
True, but the question is, does Apple really consider the iPhone to be a smartphone, or something new and different altogether?
They may honestly believe they can get by for awhile in Europe sans 3G. I wouldn't do it, but my initials ain't 'SJ'.
at&t needs to really feel the consumer's disgust and wrath to light a fire under them.
ATT/Cingular has been feeling the consumer's disgust and wrath for many years now, and it never seems to change or improve them all that much. Mainly because, they don't have to change or improve much to do reasonably well.
The last big carrier merger (Cingular buying the old ATT Wireless) reduced the number of national carriers in the US to only four, which isn't a lot for such a big country, especially considering that there are plenty of places/markets where not all four are going to have quality coverage.
ATT, through its sheer size and better coverage, can handle T-Mobile. And Sprint has been imploding of late, thanks largely to an ill-advised merger with Nextel.
There's only one carrier that ATT/Cingular couldn't really handle, and that was Verizon. And now they've got the iPhone to beat Verizon about the head and shoulders with.
So... what reason does ATT have to really step it up? Apple yelling at them? Apple signed a five-year exclusive apparently (though one hopes for a loophole)... its not like they can just walk.
Ironically, the iPhone may give ATT less incentive to improve. Sure, they did some EDGE network upgrades primarily for the iPhone, but the cost of that was chickenfeed compared to what they spend on their overall network every year.
Don't get me wrong, ATT is definitely throwing a lot of money and resources (overall) at their problems, but it just seems like they never 'get there'. Their customer service is routinely rated in or near the crapper, and they always promise it'll get better, and it never does. They talk a good game on 3G but they lag well behind Sprint and Verizon in 3G deployment. They always get bad ratings from JD Power and Consumer Reports on their network reliability and quality. And their customer churn rate, while improving, is still is far from the best (Verizon).
ATT is basically a .500 team in a perennially weak division... they get by, and hope always springs eternal, but somehow excellence is forever out of reach. Blah. \
True, but the question is, does Apple really consider the iPhone to be a smartphone, or something new and different altogether?
They may honestly believe they can get by for awhile in Europe sans 3G. I wouldn't do it, but my initials ain't 'SJ'.
.
Ok, but even the next rung of phones down are 3G too - the SE Walkman phones, Nokia N series and even Moto phones, which incidentally all tend to have better cameras, video, MMS...
Apple could sell two cups and a bit of string though if they put their logo on it.
Europeans need 3G. That's because they are quite backward on the wi-fi deployment front. For us, on this side, it will be a non-issue, since, for applications such as email, maps, weather and such, 2.5 v. 3 speeds will probably not end up being that important.
Open WiFi is just plain insecure and interceptable by everyone.
So are lots of other technologies. People can also intercept communications on your personal DSL line.
This doesn't mean you shouldn't use these technologies. You just have to remember to only use SSL-secure connections for any communication that involves sensitive information (like passwords and credit card numbers.)
I really don't care if somebody intercepts the fact that I read Dilbert every morning. I do care if someone intercepts my web-mail login.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TBaggins
Microsoft, Dell, Creative etc are the ones who need apologists/defenders now... not Apple.
But you need products distinctive enough and good enough to create that kind of grass-roots support. It's been a long time since mass-market cloners managed to release any product like that.
Microsoft's Surface is probably the first product to come from them in years that I think might create such a strong following, but MS has cultivated (and continues to cultivate) so much bad-will among their customers that no product may be cool enough to create a genuine grass-roots-support movement.
Tell me about it. "Breakthrough Internet device" + dialup-speed browsing = Huh?!?
WiFi helps, but isn't a full solution, because it's not helpful if you're on the move or away from the local Starbucks.
So then we're back to "EDGE isn't... THAT... bad." Or even, "3G... isn't... THAT... good."
I guess some people think that being an Apple fan is all about defending whatever action the company takes. I'm of the feeling that being an uncritical customer doesn't really help them that much. Any company is stronger when it receives honest, and tough, feedback.
So, along those lines, they really need to get a 3G version out, no later than next year. And it should also be able to record video, voice dial, and do MMS- all really obvious and common features that iPhone 1.0 currently lacks. If they can get some of those holes filled via software updates to iPhone 1.0, awesome, more power to them.
It's a good phone, even breakthrough in some ways, but there's always room for improvement.
.
Great post, you are obviously quite sane
The iPhone is a great product and I 'WANT' one but there is some major room for improvement.
That said, I can't help but think they made some 'great' business decisions.
For a start...
* The iPhone has 'enough' features to carry it through at launch (as you can see).
* It uses the 'safest' option for network coverage in the USA. (Mixed with WiFi Coverage = Nice)
* Plus they now have room for evolution. Competitors are going to rush products out the door to try and kill this thing (minus 6 months ago) but Apple will be in the labs tightening the screws all the time and working on the software updates, the 2nd gen models and all the cool stuff that will keep on eclipsing the competition anytime they get close. They are going to slap them from pillar to post.
Europeans need 3G. That's because they are quite backward on the wi-fi deployment front. For us, on this side, it will be a non-issue, since, for applications such as email, maps, weather and such, 2.5 v. 3 speeds will probably not end up being that important.
Not exactly a non-issue. Even Jobs admits that for web-browsing, EDGE is not ideal. From the Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Jobs acknowledged that the company's new iPhone won't surf the Internet as fast as he would like on the network, called "Edge," but added that the device's ability to connect to Wi-Fi hotspots would give consumers a speedier alternative for Web browsing.
And of course, the reviews have been tearing the iPhone a new one over this (though they like the iPhone overall).
The thing is, the iPhone makes you want to actually web-browse on your phone. So ironically, the iPhone being so good as a 'breakthrough Internet device' actually contributes to the irritations over the issue. If it was like other phones that had the 'baby Internet', prolly no one would care how slow EDGE is. \
Europeans need 3G. That's because they are quite backward on the wi-fi deployment front. For us, on this side, it will be a non-issue, since, for applications such as email, maps, weather and such, 2.5 v. 3 speeds will probably not end up being that important.
I'm pretty sure that's not the case. There was a report a while back that said the UK at least had the most hot spots per square mile anywhere. France and Germany are pretty good too.
If anything I think we've gone through the hotspot high water mark and as more phones have wifi, the number of free hotspots is shrinking. There's quite an extensive T-Mobile and BT OpenZone network in the UK but they cost a small fortune. With almost blanket 3G coverage for £7.50 a month, it's not that we need 3G, it's just more available.
* Plus they now have room for evolution. Competitors are going to rush products out the door to try and kill this thing (minus 6 months ago) but Apple will be in the labs tightening the screws all the time and working on the software updates, the 2nd gen models and all the cool stuff that will keep on eclipsing the competition anytime they get close. They are going to slap them from pillar to post.
Yes, it will be very amusing if the first wave of touchscreen-enabled 'iPhone killers' show up, going on about how they 'have 3G, record video, do MMS' etc etc and basically play directly against the iPhone's feature set (i.e. have all the important things the iPhone does not)... and then, only a few weeks later, Apple releases an iPhone 2 which has 3G and other said missing iPhone 1 features.
In that scenario, 'blown out of the water' would be an understatement.
But you need products distinctive enough and good enough to create that kind of grass-roots support. It's been a long time since mass-market cloners managed to release any product like that.
Exactly. Apple and Google keep releasing cool stuff and Microsoft... keeps not, for the most part. This is sapping their image and their support among consumers.
Look at Vista. It was the culmination of several years of effort and several billions dollars of investment by Microsoft, and it gets met with kind of a yawn, largely because Tiger got there two years earlier. Then you look at Web services and apps, and MS is playing catch-up there too.
They're basically becoming like IBM in the '80s... the big 'moneybags' company that somehow is always a couple of steps behind. Their bottom line isn't really hurt, but their image is. Hence the need for apologists and defenders.
Quote:
Microsoft's Surface is probably the first product to come from them in years that I think might create such a strong following, but MS has cultivated (and continues to cultivate) so much bad-will among their customers that no product may be cool enough to create a genuine grass-roots-support movement.
You know that Surface is just a $10,000 kiosk right now. Its supposed to come to computers in a few years, but the 'bathtub and five cameras' design could make that a bit difficult.
Meanwhile, Apple's revolutionary UI is already here, as of today, via the iPhone. No doubt it'll spread to other products as well (UMPCs-style Macs? Subnotebook?), likely well before Surface can get there.
So, it seems like it'd be the Vista scenario all over again. As in "Hey, that's cool... but didn't Apple already do that?".
Yes, it will be very amusing if the first wave of touchscreen-enabled 'iPhone killers' show up, going on about how they 'have 3G, record video, do MMS' etc etc and basically play directly against the iPhone's feature set (i.e. have all the important things the iPhone does not)... and then, only a few weeks later, Apple releases an iPhone 2 which has 3G and other said missing iPhone 1 features.
They're already out BEFORE the iPhone, I've had a touch screen phone for almost 3 years now, but bring it on. Competition in the mobile phone market is exactly what is needed. Before Apple, Symbian were getting complacent with only Microsoft, Palm and Blackberry to compete against. Symbian OS9 and UIQ3 or S60 were worse than the preceding versions IME. Still miles better than the competition but not brilliant.
Comments
She wasn't named after Paris, France --- that would be SILLY!! No.... She was named after Paris, Texas.
Or maybe after Paris of Troy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_(mythology)
Paris Hilton sounds funny even to Americans. The Hilton family is completely legit - they named the hotel chain after themselves, not the other way around ......
FYI, I am an "American." And, I have heard of the Hilton family.
It was meant to be, well, I guess, in jest, but I guess you missed that.....
Moon Unit, "Ian Donald Calvin Euclid" aka Dweezil, "Ahmet Emuukha Rodan", "Diva Muffin" and those are all from just one guy!!!
Dave
One of the great composer/musicians of the 20th (or any other) century.......
1) Motorola manages to develop a working GoodLink for iPhone despite the paltry support for third party applications on iPhone.
2) Motorola announces that they are unable to create GoodLink for iPhone, citing Apple's paltry support for third party iPhone software development
3) Motorola purposely withholds GoodLink for iPhone as a way to screw with Apple
1) Motorola manages to develop a working GoodLink for iPhone despite the paltry support for third party applications on iPhone.
2) Motorola announces that they are unable to create GoodLink for iPhone, citing Apple's paltry support for third party iPhone software development
3) Motorola purposely withholds GoodLink for iPhone as a way to screw with Apple
I guess some people think that being an Apple fan is all about defending whatever action the company takes. I'm of the feeling that being an uncritical customer doesn't really help them that much. Any company is stronger when it receives honest, and tough, feedback.
Apple may feel the sting of some negative feedback, but it'll probably mostly be complaints about at&t.
at&t needs to really feel the consumer's disgust and wrath to light a fire under them.
Regardless of 3G penetration, you just simply can't buy a smartphone in Europe that isn't 3G enabled, except for American rubbish (Palms, Blackberry...)
True, but the question is, does Apple really consider the iPhone to be a smartphone, or something new and different altogether?
They may honestly believe they can get by for awhile in Europe sans 3G. I wouldn't do it, but my initials ain't 'SJ'.
.
at&t needs to really feel the consumer's disgust and wrath to light a fire under them.
ATT/Cingular has been feeling the consumer's disgust and wrath for many years now, and it never seems to change or improve them all that much. Mainly because, they don't have to change or improve much to do reasonably well.
The last big carrier merger (Cingular buying the old ATT Wireless) reduced the number of national carriers in the US to only four, which isn't a lot for such a big country, especially considering that there are plenty of places/markets where not all four are going to have quality coverage.
ATT, through its sheer size and better coverage, can handle T-Mobile. And Sprint has been imploding of late, thanks largely to an ill-advised merger with Nextel.
There's only one carrier that ATT/Cingular couldn't really handle, and that was Verizon. And now they've got the iPhone to beat Verizon about the head and shoulders with.
So... what reason does ATT have to really step it up? Apple yelling at them? Apple signed a five-year exclusive apparently (though one hopes for a loophole)... its not like they can just walk.
Ironically, the iPhone may give ATT less incentive to improve. Sure, they did some EDGE network upgrades primarily for the iPhone, but the cost of that was chickenfeed compared to what they spend on their overall network every year.
Don't get me wrong, ATT is definitely throwing a lot of money and resources (overall) at their problems, but it just seems like they never 'get there'. Their customer service is routinely rated in or near the crapper, and they always promise it'll get better, and it never does. They talk a good game on 3G but they lag well behind Sprint and Verizon in 3G deployment. They always get bad ratings from JD Power and Consumer Reports on their network reliability and quality. And their customer churn rate, while improving, is still is far from the best (Verizon).
ATT is basically a .500 team in a perennially weak division... they get by, and hope always springs eternal, but somehow excellence is forever out of reach. Blah.
.
True, but the question is, does Apple really consider the iPhone to be a smartphone, or something new and different altogether?
They may honestly believe they can get by for awhile in Europe sans 3G. I wouldn't do it, but my initials ain't 'SJ'.
.
Ok, but even the next rung of phones down are 3G too - the SE Walkman phones, Nokia N series and even Moto phones, which incidentally all tend to have better cameras, video, MMS...
Apple could sell two cups and a bit of string though if they put their logo on it.
Open WiFi is just plain insecure and interceptable by everyone.
So are lots of other technologies. People can also intercept communications on your personal DSL line.
This doesn't mean you shouldn't use these technologies. You just have to remember to only use SSL-secure connections for any communication that involves sensitive information (like passwords and credit card numbers.)
I really don't care if somebody intercepts the fact that I read Dilbert every morning. I do care if someone intercepts my web-mail login.
Microsoft, Dell, Creative etc are the ones who need apologists/defenders now... not Apple.
But you need products distinctive enough and good enough to create that kind of grass-roots support. It's been a long time since mass-market cloners managed to release any product like that.
Microsoft's Surface is probably the first product to come from them in years that I think might create such a strong following, but MS has cultivated (and continues to cultivate) so much bad-will among their customers that no product may be cool enough to create a genuine grass-roots-support movement.
One of the great composer/musicians of the 20th (or any other) century.......
I don't disagree, he's 'my era' but that doesn't make him any less of a loon when it comes to naming children...
Dave
Tell me about it. "Breakthrough Internet device" + dialup-speed browsing = Huh?!?
WiFi helps, but isn't a full solution, because it's not helpful if you're on the move or away from the local Starbucks.
So then we're back to "EDGE isn't... THAT... bad." Or even, "3G... isn't... THAT... good."
I guess some people think that being an Apple fan is all about defending whatever action the company takes. I'm of the feeling that being an uncritical customer doesn't really help them that much. Any company is stronger when it receives honest, and tough, feedback.
So, along those lines, they really need to get a 3G version out, no later than next year. And it should also be able to record video, voice dial, and do MMS- all really obvious and common features that iPhone 1.0 currently lacks. If they can get some of those holes filled via software updates to iPhone 1.0, awesome, more power to them.
It's a good phone, even breakthrough in some ways, but there's always room for improvement.
.
Great post, you are obviously quite sane
The iPhone is a great product and I 'WANT' one but there is some major room for improvement.
That said, I can't help but think they made some 'great' business decisions.
For a start...
* The iPhone has 'enough' features to carry it through at launch (as you can see).
* It uses the 'safest' option for network coverage in the USA. (Mixed with WiFi Coverage = Nice)
* Plus they now have room for evolution. Competitors are going to rush products out the door to try and kill this thing (minus 6 months ago) but Apple will be in the labs tightening the screws all the time and working on the software updates, the 2nd gen models and all the cool stuff that will keep on eclipsing the competition anytime they get close. They are going to slap them from pillar to post.
Europeans need 3G. That's because they are quite backward on the wi-fi deployment front. For us, on this side, it will be a non-issue, since, for applications such as email, maps, weather and such, 2.5 v. 3 speeds will probably not end up being that important.
Not exactly a non-issue. Even Jobs admits that for web-browsing, EDGE is not ideal. From the Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Jobs acknowledged that the company's new iPhone won't surf the Internet as fast as he would like on the network, called "Edge," but added that the device's ability to connect to Wi-Fi hotspots would give consumers a speedier alternative for Web browsing.
And of course, the reviews have been tearing the iPhone a new one over this (though they like the iPhone overall).
The thing is, the iPhone makes you want to actually web-browse on your phone. So ironically, the iPhone being so good as a 'breakthrough Internet device' actually contributes to the irritations over the issue. If it was like other phones that had the 'baby Internet', prolly no one would care how slow EDGE is.
.
Europeans need 3G. That's because they are quite backward on the wi-fi deployment front. For us, on this side, it will be a non-issue, since, for applications such as email, maps, weather and such, 2.5 v. 3 speeds will probably not end up being that important.
I'm pretty sure that's not the case. There was a report a while back that said the UK at least had the most hot spots per square mile anywhere. France and Germany are pretty good too.
If anything I think we've gone through the hotspot high water mark and as more phones have wifi, the number of free hotspots is shrinking. There's quite an extensive T-Mobile and BT OpenZone network in the UK but they cost a small fortune. With almost blanket 3G coverage for £7.50 a month, it's not that we need 3G, it's just more available.
Great post, you are obviously quite sane
My handlers at the asylum and I thank you.
* Plus they now have room for evolution. Competitors are going to rush products out the door to try and kill this thing (minus 6 months ago) but Apple will be in the labs tightening the screws all the time and working on the software updates, the 2nd gen models and all the cool stuff that will keep on eclipsing the competition anytime they get close. They are going to slap them from pillar to post.
Yes, it will be very amusing if the first wave of touchscreen-enabled 'iPhone killers' show up, going on about how they 'have 3G, record video, do MMS' etc etc and basically play directly against the iPhone's feature set (i.e. have all the important things the iPhone does not)... and then, only a few weeks later, Apple releases an iPhone 2 which has 3G and other said missing iPhone 1 features.
In that scenario, 'blown out of the water' would be an understatement.
The USS iPhone-killer
.
But you need products distinctive enough and good enough to create that kind of grass-roots support. It's been a long time since mass-market cloners managed to release any product like that.
Exactly. Apple and Google keep releasing cool stuff and Microsoft... keeps not, for the most part. This is sapping their image and their support among consumers.
Look at Vista. It was the culmination of several years of effort and several billions dollars of investment by Microsoft, and it gets met with kind of a yawn, largely because Tiger got there two years earlier. Then you look at Web services and apps, and MS is playing catch-up there too.
They're basically becoming like IBM in the '80s... the big 'moneybags' company that somehow is always a couple of steps behind. Their bottom line isn't really hurt, but their image is. Hence the need for apologists and defenders.
Microsoft's Surface is probably the first product to come from them in years that I think might create such a strong following, but MS has cultivated (and continues to cultivate) so much bad-will among their customers that no product may be cool enough to create a genuine grass-roots-support movement.
You know that Surface is just a $10,000 kiosk right now. Its supposed to come to computers in a few years, but the 'bathtub and five cameras' design could make that a bit difficult.
Meanwhile, Apple's revolutionary UI is already here, as of today, via the iPhone. No doubt it'll spread to other products as well (UMPCs-style Macs? Subnotebook?), likely well before Surface can get there.
So, it seems like it'd be the Vista scenario all over again. As in "Hey, that's cool... but didn't Apple already do that?".
.
Yes, it will be very amusing if the first wave of touchscreen-enabled 'iPhone killers' show up, going on about how they 'have 3G, record video, do MMS' etc etc and basically play directly against the iPhone's feature set (i.e. have all the important things the iPhone does not)... and then, only a few weeks later, Apple releases an iPhone 2 which has 3G and other said missing iPhone 1 features.
They're already out BEFORE the iPhone, I've had a touch screen phone for almost 3 years now, but bring it on. Competition in the mobile phone market is exactly what is needed. Before Apple, Symbian were getting complacent with only Microsoft, Palm and Blackberry to compete against. Symbian OS9 and UIQ3 or S60 were worse than the preceding versions IME. Still miles better than the competition but not brilliant.
They're already out BEFORE the iPhone, I've had a touch screen phone for almost 3 years now, but bring it on.
3 years? Does it have 3G?
.