Balmer discussed iPhone...he is right...frighteningly so
Steve Balmer (the guy who acctually runs MS, Billy G hasn't for years) gave an interview about the iPhone to CNBC and made a great point...it is the most expensive phone in the market, and, it isn't in any serious way aimed at business men, the only ones who spend $$$$$ on a handset outside of a few geeks.
Watch it and discuss
Watch it and discuss
Comments
"Customers in several states WILL NOT be able to take advantage of Apple's new iPhone, because of lack of a network offered by the carrier -AT&T's Cingular Wireless?
Alaska
Colorado
North Dakaota
South Dakota
Idaho
Iowa
Kansas
Maine
Minnesota
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hamphire
upstate New York
Oregon
Utah
Vermont and
Wyoming among other states!
Now these may seem like small states, or not that big of a deal to some folks, but I don't see how this can possiblie be the best way to announcing a new product. Maybe this is why Steve Jobs has said they hope to sell only 10,000,000? the contract / service doesn't offer the service to the other 30 + million buyers out there?
If, (and he had to know the coverage that is available) Steve knew this, maybe he should have had an special announcement / SelectMacExpo / just for those folks who are going to be able to enjoy, purchase and use this new phone.
Sure seems short sighted of Apple / Mr. Jobs, and a great job (but a bad one as well) - by AT&T to be the only source for the iPhone at this time.
If (and I suspect it will) - this issue comes to the for-front, I can't see Apple not adding carrieers ASAP - they can't afford the bad press? they get enough of that already.
And what about that special ad for the SuperBowl? Let's hope it isn't for the iPhone (and is for the Beatles & iTunes) - as it WOULD be a hugh waste of money to tell so many folks about something, they can't use.
Skip
Maybe this is why Steve Jobs has said they hope to sell only 10,000,000? the contract / service doesn't offer the service to the other 30 + million buyers out there?
There will be 3-400 million potential buyers in Europe.
BUT...
Are they beautiful? Are they elegant? Has the UI been scrutinized to reduce the number of clicks to do common functions. How many of those MS running phones are locked down by the carriers? Or the features are tightly tied into a revenue stream for the carrier making the features a pain to use?
Ballmer gave a feature list comparison. Jobs offers a user experience comparison.
A few quotes from a review of the Q phone Ballmer mentioned I pulled up from Google:
"discomfort is caused by the angular edges and a large ridge designed to protect the scroll wheel. The width of the phone forces you to grip it a bit more tightly and really dig in to these hard edges."
"No matter how much we used the Q, we never were able to type accurately with the keyboard for more than a few words at a time."
"The keyboard layout leaves much to be desired. Other than letter keys, nothing is where you expect it to be"
"As a warning it is very easy to activate the speakerphone mode, even when not in a call by pressing the voice dial key for a second. This can easily happen in your pocket without you knowing and can cause a bit of shock and a great deal of discomfort if you hold the phone up to your ear in this mode."
"The home screen of the Q is packed with so much data by default that you actually have to scroll down to see it all. However there is no scroll bar, arrow or any other sign to indicate you can or should scroll down to see more."
"The new message window begins with addressing the message, which is far more difficult than on the Pocket PC. Typing a name into the address field does not accomplish anything, it is not matched with the contact list. Instead you have to press select on the D-pad to be taken to the contact list, where typing a name will filter the entries. Pressing select again will add a recipient to your message. Entering the beginning of a phone number or email address instead of a name in the address field in hopes of the Q auto-completing the address does not work either."
"Unfortunately no relevant information about the shot you are taking is displayed, so it is difficult to know what the camera is capable of and what your current settings are. "
The review also had a number of nice things to say about the phone, and I'm sure the iPhone will have issues; but this is the example Ballmer pulled out of his hat to compare with the iPhone, I believe a few of those concerns above were directly addressed by Steve J. in the keynote.
- Jasen.
that said, Ballmer is a genius, genius, genius! (throws chair).
You have to remember the MS business model. Wait until someone else comes up with a great product, and then build an inferior product, you can sell at the close to the same price by selling something to the millions of microsft worshippers who will never comparison shop anything. Balmer hates Apple, because they never sell their profitable stuff, to Microsoft, and unlike a lot of smaller companies they have the resources sue his ass if he just rips them off.
A few quotes from a review of the Q phone Ballmer mentioned . . .
Two of my friends have the Q. It's actually pretty cool, but they both mention how quickly it kills the battery. Even with the extended battery pack it doesn't last for longer than two days without a charge. With the standard size pack -- the one that makes the Q roughly the same size as the iPhone -- the Q doesn't even last a day. For Apple to be able to announce 5 hours of video playback, they have done a very good job cramming in batteries.
And yes, both of them have Verizon and live and work in high signal strength areas. (all CDMA standards I'm aware of reduce output signal strength dynamically when reception is strong). So the battery drain is very severe on the Q. My two year old el cheapo LG (on Sprint) goes for four to seven days without the need for charging.
it is the most expensive phone in the market
No, it's not. Is there any point to watching the video, considering that one of his main points is completely incorrect?
No, it's not. Is there any point to watching the video, considering that one of his main points is completely incorrect?
Exactly. I can't believe the number of morons who laugh at it being a $500 phone. It's a SMARTPHONE. In that market there are loads of devices at that price, a lot of them higher. The GPS ones go up to $800-900.
Steve Balmer (the guy who acctually runs MS, Billy G hasn't for years) gave an interview about the iPhone to CNBC and made a great point...it is the most expensive phone in the market, and, it isn't in any serious way aimed at business men, the only ones who spend $$$$$ on a handset outside of a few geeks.
Watch it and discuss
I watched...
1) It's not the most expensive phone in the market, and it goes for about the same price as a phone and an iPod, which people buying anyways even though say... the Motorola Q or the Blackberry Pearl, in the words of Ballmer... "...does email, does music..."
There is currently an article on AI about one Chicago reporter who said that he typed faster on the iPhone's Keyboard then on any other Phone. Those "smartphones" may do Music, but nowhere near as well as an iPod.
2) In the same interview, he said that the Zune "took about 25%, 20% of the market"
You are using Ballmer, as a credible source?
Now you see that link in my Signature that says "Best Article Ever!"
Click it and read it.
Sebastian
Not to mention, that ALL of those folks who might be in line to purchase this phone, may not if they live in any of these states?
"Customers in several states WILL NOT be able to take advantage of Apple's new iPhone, because of lack of a network offered by the carrier -AT&T's Cingular Wireless?
Alaska
Colorado
North Dakaota
South Dakota
Idaho
Iowa
Kansas
Maine
Minnesota
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hamphire
upstate New York
Oregon
Utah
Vermont and
Wyoming among other states!
Now these may seem like small states, or not that big of a deal to some folks, but I don't see how this can possiblie be the best way to announcing a new product. Maybe this is why Steve Jobs has said they hope to sell only 10,000,000? the contract / service doesn't offer the service to the other 30 + million buyers out there?
If, (and he had to know the coverage that is available) Steve knew this, maybe he should have had an special announcement / SelectMacExpo / just for those folks who are going to be able to enjoy, purchase and use this new phone.
Sure seems short sighted of Apple / Mr. Jobs, and a great job (but a bad one as well) - by AT&T to be the only source for the iPhone at this time.
If (and I suspect it will) - this issue comes to the for-front, I can't see Apple not adding carrieers ASAP - they can't afford the bad press? they get enough of that already.
And what about that special ad for the SuperBowl? Let's hope it isn't for the iPhone (and is for the Beatles & iTunes) - as it WOULD be a hugh waste of money to tell so many folks about something, they can't use.
Skip
Why more FUD??? Seems like there's cingular coverage in all those state.
a_greer, go to your room. No ice cream for you.
Why more FUD??? Seems like there's cingular coverage in all those state.
As a resident of one of those states (Montana), I've been looking into it a bit, and it's not clear if all those areas in orange will be able to buy the iphone. Many of those areas are covered by Cingular "partners" and from what I've read, therefore might not be able to buy the iPhone.
As a resident of one of those states (Montana), I've been looking into it a bit, and it's not clear if all those areas in orange will be able to buy the iphone. Many of those areas are covered by Cingular "partners" and from what I've read, therefore might not be able to buy the iPhone.
Either way, the list was inaccurate and accurate at the same time, also known as being misleading.
There are areas in about every state that Cingular doesn't cover, however, Cingular has coverage in just about every state.
Sebastian
...why didnt they sell more Zunes?
would i take advice from that man?
NO
Ballmer has a good point: currently millions of phones are sold with MS software. Many of those phones have most of and even more features than the iPhone.
BUT...
Are they beautiful? Are they elegant? Has the UI been scrutinized to reduce the number of clicks to do common functions. How many of those MS running phones are locked down by the carriers? Or the features are tightly tied into a revenue stream for the carrier making the features a pain to use?
Ballmer gave a feature list comparison. Jobs offers a user experience comparison.
Agreed, but bear in mind that ease of use and such matters exactly -0- too corporate or even small business markets if they can not, in a native way, get push e-mail from a private server on a private company domain (what would you think if your dr or lawyer or investment banker started e-mailing you from yahoo, would you take him seriously?), also, the ability to look at spreadsheets, word docs and so on,
And MS has the 800LB gorilla locked up... biggie, use all of the features of outlook with an exchange 2003 backend from anywhere in the world.
Apple is banking on a consumer market, a market that already carry ipods, have phone contracts, and, most importantly cant justify spending $$$ on a mobile communicator as easy as a business...and the push e-mail thing: it is useless to me as a consumer if I cant use my gMail accounts with it, and what about all of the bloggers/web site enthusiasts that want ([email protected]) pushed... Also, no downloading of content via wifi SUCKS...What if I am on the road and want to get the latest Diggnation or TWIT, or some new music at the coffee shop?
The iPhone is years ahead of anything we now have. And if Apple hadn't done it, cell phones would have continued to be as they are now.
Get a clue and give credit where credit is due Mr. Balmer and company.
The iPhone is years ahead of anything we now have. And if Apple hadn't done it, cell phones would have continued to be as they are now.
Kind of like a race car, years ahead of its time, just not too usefull as it isnt street legal...
Exactly. I can't believe the number of morons who laugh at it being a $500 phone. It's a SMARTPHONE. In that market there are loads of devices at that price, a lot of them higher. The GPS ones go up to $800-900.
Unlocked maybe...surely not $500+ AFTER contract discount...Cingulars MOST expensive handset is $549 BEFORE contract, and the Treo 750 (VZW only at the moment) is aprox $699 before contract...
I say "no thank you" to the iPhone. A very good start though.