Balmer discussed iPhone...he is right...frighteningly so

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
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
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 47
    nceencee Posts: 857member
    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
  • Reply 2 of 47
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ncee View Post


    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.
  • Reply 3 of 47
    jasenj1jasenj1 Posts: 923member
    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.



    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.
  • Reply 4 of 47
    sandausandau Posts: 1,230member
    its not even here yet, i don't get the comparisons or downplay. until it's in a reviewers filthy little hands with 'insert cell provider here', i don't think it merits discussion beyond the stated functionality. i think you need a shipping product to compare to the Q or any other model, things change greatly in a few months.



    that said, Ballmer is a genius, genius, genius! (throws chair).
  • Reply 5 of 47
    Who cares what Balmer thinks? Balmer will do every thing he can to limit iPhone sales while at the same time working to develope someting else for MS to sell. Why doesn't he critique all the holes in Internet Explorer? Oh because that might cost him money, not someone else. Next time, pick a reviewer who doesn't stand to profit from his negative assessment. He's just a retard. How many people had expensive portable music system's before iPods? iPhone is the same way. The fact that right now only business men use expensive phones doesn't mean it has to be that way. And Balmer knows it as much as anyone else.





    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.
  • Reply 6 of 47
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    You guys are quoting Balmer as a credible source on the potential of the iPhone. He only knows what we know and we all know what Steve wants us to know for right now.
  • Reply 7 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jasenj1 View Post


    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.
  • Reply 8 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by a_greer View Post


    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?
  • Reply 9 of 47
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by audiopollution View Post


    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.
  • Reply 10 of 47
    slewisslewis Posts: 2,081member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by a_greer View Post


    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
  • Reply 11 of 47
    physguyphysguy Posts: 920member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ncee View Post


    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.



  • Reply 12 of 47




    a_greer, go to your room. No ice cream for you.
  • Reply 13 of 47
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by physguy View Post


    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.
  • Reply 14 of 47
    slewisslewis Posts: 2,081member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BRussell View Post


    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
  • Reply 15 of 47
    if Ballmer is so smart....



    ...why didnt they sell more Zunes?



    would i take advice from that man?



    NO
  • Reply 16 of 47
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jasenj1 View Post


    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?
  • Reply 17 of 47
    ipeonipeon Posts: 1,122member
    People who can only crunch numbers are just too dense to understand "innovation". These people do not have the capacity to envision a good product/idea, let alone judge one. The Mac, the iMac, the iPod, to these people, each and every one of these where doomed to fail. Yet, the innovations that these products introduced into the market are all the standard today. I recall Bill Gates saying something to the effect that no one would ever want to use a mouse and drop down menus because it was just to slow an UI. Well, why didn't he stick to his blind vision? One can say that Windows lives because the Mac was born. The iMac revolutionized computer design. Most of the MP3 players today are trying to be like the iPod.



    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.
  • Reply 18 of 47
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iPeon View Post




    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...
  • Reply 19 of 47
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    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...
  • Reply 20 of 47
    The iPhone is very aesthetically pleasing, but $500 for a phone with 5 hours of battery life, an easily scratchable surface, and Cingular only is kind of...disapointing. I was in awe for the first couple days after the announcement, but then I came to a realization. Balmer is right about the price--you can get phones that have much longer battery life and are much more durable for less price.





    I say "no thank you" to the iPhone. A very good start though.
Sign In or Register to comment.