I have a feeling Apple and Steve don't target specialized customers anymore, but go for the broader scale. A tablet like that... I don't know. I'm usually the one that says "I'd buy it" about any new Apple would be device. But a medium touch tablet.. I think the iPhone IS Apple's touch computer. A medium sized touch tablet would need e-book-screen features, become a control surface screen for your mac when you connect it, or something extraordinary to drive sales, or it could end up a minority platform.
iPhone is great because it's so much more than a phone, and it's in your pocket. It's fantastic!
An "iTablet" could fail because it can't really do all the things you'd want to do with it. For example conceptually it would be the perfect tool for digital cut out animation, but it's probably too slow to do anything serious like that. It would be the perfect musician control surface, but the latency of the multi touch technology is too high for a lot of uses, and you could probably not connect an audio card. It could be a perfect sketch companion... but does it support a pen? It would be perfect for iPhoto, but is the drive big enough to handle a lot of media? Stuff like that that I would expect when it's a bigger sized computer screen to interact with.. We'll see..
Apple could always combine it with their iMac-Styled Docking station.
But I agree, I still can't see a viable use for a Tablet which is mass market enough to warrant Apple making one - they're mainly a consumer electronics company now.
Note: I DO NOT dislike at&t or anything I was simply making an observation to a business model that doesnt make sense to me. Lets make something BAD ASS and only let 1/3 of the people use it HA HA HA!!!!! See sounds silly right?!
Well America isn't the whole world, as much as that may come as a shock, and is a minority of the world market. Apple would not support CDMA so that excludes everyone but AT&T and T-Mobile. T-Mobile is a joke as far as coverage goes so the only choice was AT&T.
The maths for share is: 451m CDMA (11.6%) versus 3418m (88.4%) according to:
But the following shows a much more detailed breakdown, which interestingly shows 3G as only having a 5.6%, which puts the original iPhone 2G decision and the new 3G phone into perspective:
Not that I'm disagreeing that Apple is unlikely to release a CDMA iPhone, but a few counter-points... The US is by far Apple's biggest market. And in the US, CDMA is not a minority player. Verizon and ATT are about the same size (not sure how Alltel affects Verizon's size). Not knowing the exact figures, I'd guess that CDMA is at least 1/3 - 1/2 of the US market. You don't simply ignore that many potential customers. And if all you have to change is the transmitter chips, exactly how much incremental cost would it be to create an iPhone that can be used by all those potential customers? All the other phone manufacturers do it for much less expense phones. So why is that a barrier for Apple?
And you are right that the 5% market share analogy doesn't apply, but not just for the reasons you cite. It's because I can plug either computer into my electrical outlet and internet connection and it will work. But there are still large areas of the US not covered by ATT and/or other GSM carriers. For those cutomers, it's CDMA or nothing.
Every Consumer Reports (and others) customer satisfaction survery puts Verizon at the top. Many of those customers (including myself) will NEVER switch (go back) to ATT, no matter how compelling an iPhone may be. And no matter how soon you predict the death of CDMA, it's much farther down the road than the expected service life of any phone that comes out this year.
If Apple doesn't make a CDMA iPhone, it won't be because of technical issues, lack of customers/market share, or near-death of CDMA. It will be because they just simply choose not do.
That's ridiculous. They are a corporation. They make all their decisions very carefully. Now if you look at the numbers they just don't add up. CDMA is roughly 10% of the world market and shrinking, it's just not worth it.
Having as few as possible models is part of Apple's business model. Why would they duplicate engineering, manufacturing, logistics, support just to capture 10% more of the market? It would mean more expense and less profit on both models. In the US it would mean abandoning their exclusive provider strategy, which may have caused them problems anyway. Putting both standards in the same case would make it much bigger and more complicated, and more costly: 2x patent fees, 2x chip costs, etc.
Apple made the right business decision. You're just sore that they don't support your favourite network.
Putting both standards in the same case would make it much bigger and more complicated, and more costly:... 2x chip costs.
I have nothing to back it up but since these CDMA/GSM combined radios seem to be very uncommon they may be considerably more than 2x the cost of a single network chip.
If Apple is producing two new devices with 4 and 7 inch screens respectively, I predict the little one will be a wireless trackpad. I am probably biased here because it's something I have been wanting for a while, but it makes sense to me.
Everyone I know that bought the MacBook Air, bought some kind of little bluetooth mouse to go with it, but everyone I know that bought an Air *also* found that they didn't actually need (or want) to use a mouse anymore.
IMO the multi-touch trackpad on the Air makes mice irrelevant for pretty much the first time ever. If Apple produced a reasonably cheap bluetooth trackpad that did the same thing I would buy one in a second and I think a lot of others would also.
How many times can you clean that silly little ball on the mighty mouse before thinking that there has to be a better way? I wouldn't put it past Jobs to actually discontinue the mighty mouse and announce "the death of the mouse" in some dramatic fashion, since Apple basically started us using mice in the first place.
I think the key is going to be how to replace the keyboard for typing. Speech is the most likely for isolated environments but when in a public place you still need that quiet method of input. If someone can find a way for it to read my mind then we'd be all set to drop the keyboard. Since I'm not keen on implanting a computer chip in my brain anytime soon I'm going to say it is likely going to be decades before we see the keyboard disappear for desktop & laptop computers.
I'm not opposed to learning to type on a touch keyboard (especially one with apple's corrective intelligent type), but not on my screen. I can not stand smudges on my computer screen, there is just no way. It will be interesting to see what direction this all heads.
I was thinking about this last night... what would happen if you mated an iMac with an iPod Touch...
Envision a device that's "all screen," and about the size of a MacBook display.
Now imagine that this "screen" had complete multi-touch capabilities, as well as bluetooth, allowing connection with an optional bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Also throw in WiFi and FireWire and USB ports.
A final component of the package would be an easily detachable mounting stand, to allow the screen to be viewed while using a keyboard & mouse.
Such a "hybrid" device would nicely function as both a mobile tablet, and also as a basic desktop computer.
I am not trying to come across as a dick or anything but here is my rebuttal.
Quote:
If you do, that is fine. If you only want limited capabilities that is fine too. I've used MetroPCS for a good duration while waiting for the iPhone to come out. While they do have an all inclusive call/sms plan they charge you for making a payment in person or over the phone. And, as stated they charge you full price for the device which excluded you from a contract because you've already made them money.
It's not a bad racket if you just want a simple device with "good enough" coverage and asimple billing cycle. But most US customers obviously are looking for more. This is especiialy true for iPhone owners.
Okay if you didnt read the artical I used as an example then let me dial you in on the fact that I was trying to show.
"It also yielded somewhat surprising results that reveal how little people move around in their daily lives. Nearly three-quarters of those studied mainly stayed within a 20-mile-wide circle for half a year."
My point I was trying to get across is THE MAJORITY of people don't leave there regions so why pay for coverage you don't need.
I am not part of that 75% of people, and the occasions I am out of town (or country) I expect to pay for it and I budget accordingly or I just get a disposable phone for the area I am in. I worked the math out one day and I save HUNDREDS of dollars a year.
Also if you can see appleinsider.com I am guessing you can see metropcs.com where you can pay your bill for FREE. I own my own company and I can sympathize with A LOT of companies for having the practice of a fee for in person payments or over the phone because these are EXPENSIVE methods of payment. You are taking a salesmen off the floor to make your cell phone payment that you can do easier from your home computer. If you don't have a debt/credit card (to make payment online) I find you VERY suspect as you are obviously actively trying to stay off grid or really pissed of a bank that black listed you.
I don't know what region you are in that you thought you just had "good enough" service. I live in the DFW area and in over a year of service I have had less than a dozen dropped calls.
My last rebuttal to your first portion here is that yes I did pay full price for my phone but so does everyone that buys an iphone (usa anyway).so your argument there was very poorly thought out.
Quote:
Faster internet isn't the only gain. There is more coverage, better coverage, better customer service, more options in services and in hardware.
No, you can't replace T-Mobile for Verizon in your argument, but you can replace it with Sprint. T-Mobile and AT&T are GSM-based networks while Verizon, Sprint and MetroPCS are CDMA-based networks. This means that the radio HW can't be used across these two networks as it's different technologies. It also means that a GSM phone will work in pretty much every developed country in the world while a CDMA won't. It's confusing stuff but a few Wikipedia pages and you'll be right as rain. Anyway, this makes a GSM carrier more beneficial to US customers who tend to travel.
PS: Can MetroPCS phones be unlocked to work on other CDMA networks? I thought they were hardcoded.
I don't think I ever argued the point that at&t had more coverage but okay that is an advantage for rural citizens and heavy travelers I well give you that. More HW choices does not make them better just means they have more of the same crappy phones to choose from.
The second part of your argument here makes no sense at all. Reread what you wrote here. T-mobile is GSM like At&t so why cant I replace Verizon as the example company with T-mobile? You contradicted yourself here. I can understand the argument for not making two sets of hardware for the costs apple would accrue but they are still ignoring the other GSM network providers.
Costumer Service Ranks as such for Cell Phone Carriers.
As for the more services could you elaborate on that. It is a very broad statement that seems to be used just to make your argument look stronger.
p.s. I have no clue if you can unlock the metropcs phones. Didn't have a burning desire to try.
Also of note the RCA which represents 80 of the countries rural providers has petitioned the FCC examine the practice of these "exclusive deals".
Opps one more thing just read and artical that stated that its at least not illegle anymore to unlock your cell phone AFTER you have completed your contractual obligations. (DMCA was updated saying this practice was okay) and there is a case at the Supreme Court that may require that the companies unlock them for you!!! Very cool!!!
Well America isn't the whole world, as much as that may come as a shock, and is a minority of the world market. Apple would not support CDMA so that excludes everyone but AT&T and T-Mobile. T-Mobile is a joke as far as coverage goes so the only choice was AT&T.
The maths for share is: 451m CDMA (11.6%) versus 3418m (88.4%) according to:
But the following shows a much more detailed breakdown, which interestingly shows 3G as only having a 5.6%, which puts the original iPhone 2G decision and the new 3G phone into perspective:
Where in my post did I reference that I was using the WHOLE WORLD as an example?!?! I think the use of American cell phone carriers pretty much summed up that I was using America for my numbers and examples. Att does indeed provide a great service I never said they didn't and I never said any other provider was better. I am trying to portray the effects of exclusive deals and why it is anticompetitive and trying to show that BIGGER ISNT ALWAYS BETTER!!!!!
But okay lets look at your numbers shall we. Even if only 10% of the 451 Million people on the CDMA network bought the phone at a sale price of only $299 that is still 134 Million dollars!!!! That is a SHIT LOAD of potential money to ignore.
And on top of everything else how dare you insinuate that I and others on this post ignore the world around us and think the only thing that matters is the USA. Other countries are going to have multi carrier deals with Apple so why shouldn't the USA. Exclusive deals are anticompetitive and are an injustice to many people who don't happen to live in a market that sells that product. RCA has taken note of this as has the Supreme Court and FCC.
p.s. Take a close look at my name here "Texadian"
Tex = Texan
adian = Canadian
I was born and raised in rural Manitoba where my home town holds records for the coldest place on the planet for a week strait (it was in the -60s C ). I was raised so far north that we only got 2 tv stations in the summer and 3 in the winter (cold air boosts TV signals) we were to far away for FM radio and AM was a poor signal. I am only 25 years old too so its not like it was back in 50s when this took place. The first time I came to Texas (1990s) was the first time I had heard any music other than oldies and oldies country music. So again how dare you make comments like that when you don't even know a persons history. You are a truly arrogant person with a narrow mind towards other peoples actions. Let take into scoop what you did hear with you comment now. You took a VERY SMALL excerpt from a long post and used it for your own agenda of making all the Americans on this site look bad and narrow minded. I am not even an American citizen!!! I still belong to Canada baby!!!!! But you know what that didn't stop me from joining the United States Air Force or talking to my congressmen about issues that I feel strongly about. I keep an open mind towards new ideas and at least have an open mind to others opinions, but you have singel handedly taken word that I wrote and manipulated them in a negative way to portray YOUR obvious views about Americans. If you are American and don't like how things are around here then I suggest you get up off your ass and do something about it rather than sitting around on this site attacking people.
p.s. I don't ignore world markets!!! I trade stock on three different continents!!!
Where in my post did I reference that I was using the WHOLE WORLD as an example?!?! I think the use of American cell phone carriers pretty much summed up that I was using America for my numbers and examples. Att does indeed provide a great service I never said they didn't and I never said any other provider was better. I am trying to portray the effects of exclusive deals and why it is anticompetitive and trying to show that BIGGER ISNT ALWAYS BETTER!!!!!
But okay lets look at your numbers shall we. Even if only 10% of the 451 Million people on the CDMA network bought the phone at a sale price of only $299 that is still 134 Million dollars!!!! That is a SHIT LOAD of potential money to ignore.
And on top of everything else how dare you insinuate that I and others on this post ignore the world around us and think the only thing that matters is the USA. Other countries are going to have multi carrier deals with Apple so why shouldn't the USA. Exclusive deals are anticompetitive and are an injustice to many people who don't happen to live in a market that sells that product. RCA has taken note of this as has the Supreme Court and FCC.
p.s. Take a close look at my name here "Texadian"
Tex = Texan
adian = Canadian
I was born and raised in rural Manitoba where my home town holds records for the coldest place on the planet for a week strait (it was in the -60s C ). I was raised so far north that we only got 2 tv stations in the summer and 3 in the winter (cold air boosts TV signals) we were to far away for FM radio and AM was a poor signal. I am only 25 years old too so its not like it was back in 50s when this took place. The first time I came to Texas (1990s) was the first time I had heard any music other than oldies and oldies country music. So again how dare you make comments like that when you don't even know a persons history. You are a truly arrogant person with a narrow mind towards other peoples actions. Let take into scoop what you did hear with you comment now. You took a VERY SMALL excerpt from a long post and used it for your own agenda of making all the Americans on this site look bad and narrow minded. I am not even an American citizen!!! I still belong to Canada baby!!!!! But you know what that didn't stop me from joining the United States Air Force or talking to my congressmen about issues that I feel strongly about. I keep an open mind towards new ideas and at least have an open mind to others opinions, but you have singel handedly taken word that I wrote and manipulated them in a negative way to portray YOUR obvious views about Americans. If you are American and don't like how things are around here then I suggest you get up off your ass and do something about it rather than sitting around on this site attacking people.
p.s. I don't ignore world markets!!! I trade stock on three different continents!!!
I don't really care where you were born or where you trade stock. What I do know is that you can't add up and you certainly don't understand anything about business, which makes my think you probably lose money on 3 continents too.
You asked why Apple released something that only one third of people can use, I pointed out that only 10 or so percent of people use CDMA and that in your calculations you seemed to ignore the whole world except the US. Since the rest of the world is pretty hard to miss if you're not congenitally stupid, I suggest you dial back your outrage. 450 million users is only a small fraction of the 3.5 billion users of cell phones out there. Go, try it out on your calculator (or maybe your fingers since you don't seem to have a good calculator), check my maths.
A bit of a Ouroboros. Analysts seems to read these forums after we praise or condemn their predictions, of which we speculate further (and more thoroughly), which become the basis for their next forecast which AI will then report on.
They were right. The whole Internet is an echo chamber! Hello!--hello!---hello!
Pop-out, rear rest for when placing it on a table.
Multiple, swipe-able docks (not home screens).
You place your finger on the dock and swipe in any direction to go to a new dock you made earlier with a different set of apps in it, except the leftmost app, no matter how much swiping you do and no matter what direction you go in Finder.app remains on the left of the dock for when you need it. The time is up top centre and you can go into the clock app by touching it. Spotlight up on the right of the menubar, just like a Mac. And the Apple logo does its thing too, for shutting down etc.
Yes I have thought about this product a little bit. And maybe I am a genius
For the iTablet thing its going to require an update for multi touch
*cough* *snow leopard* *cough*
Snow leopard wont be a full Point upgrade but an expansion to Leopard with multi-touch features, more wallpapers, screen savers, little small features and more eye candy.
It will still be 10.5 and leopard, with and expansion.
Actually, there's always a 100% chance that SOMETHING will happen!
True, but there is always a 50/50 chance that one of two or more things will happen.
Point, there is a 10% chance it will rain today. Well if there is a 10% chance, then it's a 50/50 chance, because either it is going to rain, or it isn't. It doesn't matter of it's a 10%, 20%, 30% 41,2,3,% or any other percent. If there is any chance, the it's a 50/50.
Now if there is a 100% chance it won't rain, well then ?
If there is a 20% chance that Apple will announce something new, then it's really a 50/50 chance, because either they will or they won't.
I guess this is what I was trying to say, and probably still didn't say right or well
Has anyone considered that if they do a 2G and 3G phone that the 2G well be unlocked for any carrier and the 3G be exclusive to AT&T. How can Apple keep ignoring Verizon; especially now that they have acquired Alltel? This makes them the LARGEST and Apple doesn't want part of that? How is this good business for us stateside? AT&T charges more than double for their all you can eat plan (minus SMS ) than my all you can eat plan with MetroPCS.
Any thoughts?
Largest in what country? Yes, with the purchase or Altel they become the largest in America, but the fine folks at Altel, will like switch to AT&T at some point in time, so they can get an iPhone, then we will have a different leader
I have been a Verizon customer for about 8 years + -, and I'm looking forward to switching over and getting an iPhone. Now IF apple allows Verizon to carry the iPhone, well then, I'm not sure if I'd switch.
Now if #2 buys 3rd or 4th place, then they will become number 1
___________________
China Mobile (GSM) - 158.6 million
Vodafone* (GSM, UMTS) - 151.8 million
China Unicom (IS-2000, GSM) - 100.1 million
T-Mobile1 (GSM, UMTS) - 65 million
Cingular (IS-136, GSM, UMTS2) - 49.1 million
Orange (GSM, UMTS) - 49 million
NTT DoCoMo (PDC, FOMA) - 45.9 million
Verizon Wireless (IS-2000) - 42.1 million
Mobile TeleSystems - MTS (GSM) - 34.22 million
Vivo (IS-2000, IS-136) - 26 million
Turkcell (GSM) - 23.4 million
Sprint PCS (IS-2000) - 22.2 million
mmO2 (GSM) - 21.3 million
TIM (GSM, UMTS)
1 109 million including subscribers to companies where T-Mobile has a minority stake. 2 UMTS network currently being tested in six U.S. cities * 350 million including subscriers to companies where Vodafone has a minority stake.
_____________________
Canada
Rogers Wireless - 4.2 million (5.5 million with Fido)
These are the largest mobile phone companies in the United States, by number of subscribers. The primary cellular technology used by each carrier is shown in parentheses.
Cingular (IS-136, GSM, UMTS)(Joint venture: 60% owned by SBC, 40% owned by BellSouth) - 50.0 million
Verizon Wireless (IS-2000) (44% owned by Vodafone, 56% owned by Verizon Communications) - 44 million
Sprint PCS3 (IS-2000) - 22.2 million
T-Mobile (GSM) - 17.3 million
Nextel3 (iDEN) - 15.3 million
ALLTEL4 (IS-2000) - 8 million
US Cellular (IS-136, IS-2000) - 4.8 million
Virgin Mobile USA (IS-2000) - 3 million
Dobson Communications (IS-136, GSM) - 1.6 million
Cricket Communications (IS-2000) - 1.5 million
Western Wireless4 (IS-136, IS-2000, GSM) - 1.2 million
Centennial Wireless (IS-136, GSM) - 0.5 million
3Sprint PCS and Nextel have agreed to merge. Together they will have nearly 37.5 million subscribers.
4As of Jan 2005, ALLTEL is buying Western Wireless. Together they would have 9.2 million subscribers.
In North America, IS-2000 is commonly known as CDMA. IS-136 is known as TDMA. However, CDMA and TDMA are general terms that can refer to several different technologies.
For the iTablet thing its going to require an update for multi touch
*cough* *snow leopard* *cough*
Snow leopard wont be a full Point upgrade but an expansion to Leopard with multi-touch features, more wallpapers, screen savers, little small features and more eye candy.
It will still be 10.5 and leopard, with and expansion.
Pop-out, rear rest for when placing it on a table.
Multiple, swipe-able docks (not home screens).
You place your finger on the dock and swipe in any direction to go to a new dock you made earlier with a different set of apps in it, except the leftmost app, no matter how much swiping you do and no matter what direction you go in Finder.app remains on the left of the dock for when you need it. The time is up top centre and you can go into the clock app by touching it. Spotlight up on the right of the menubar, just like a Mac. And the Apple logo does its thing too, for shutting down etc.
Yes I have thought about this product a little bit. And maybe I am a genius
Really? You really just did that? Cos it seems familiar.
Comments
Haha.. yeah
I have a feeling Apple and Steve don't target specialized customers anymore, but go for the broader scale. A tablet like that... I don't know. I'm usually the one that says "I'd buy it" about any new Apple would be device. But a medium touch tablet.. I think the iPhone IS Apple's touch computer. A medium sized touch tablet would need e-book-screen features, become a control surface screen for your mac when you connect it, or something extraordinary to drive sales, or it could end up a minority platform.
iPhone is great because it's so much more than a phone, and it's in your pocket. It's fantastic!
An "iTablet" could fail because it can't really do all the things you'd want to do with it. For example conceptually it would be the perfect tool for digital cut out animation, but it's probably too slow to do anything serious like that. It would be the perfect musician control surface, but the latency of the multi touch technology is too high for a lot of uses, and you could probably not connect an audio card. It could be a perfect sketch companion... but does it support a pen? It would be perfect for iPhoto, but is the drive big enough to handle a lot of media? Stuff like that that I would expect when it's a bigger sized computer screen to interact with.. We'll see..
Apple could always combine it with their iMac-Styled Docking station.
But I agree, I still can't see a viable use for a Tablet which is mass market enough to warrant Apple making one - they're mainly a consumer electronics company now.
Note: I DO NOT dislike at&t or anything I was simply making an observation to a business model that doesnt make sense to me. Lets make something BAD ASS and only let 1/3 of the people use it HA HA HA!!!!! See sounds silly right?!
Well America isn't the whole world, as much as that may come as a shock, and is a minority of the world market. Apple would not support CDMA so that excludes everyone but AT&T and T-Mobile. T-Mobile is a joke as far as coverage goes so the only choice was AT&T.
The maths for share is: 451m CDMA (11.6%) versus 3418m (88.4%) according to:
http://www.eetimes.com/rss/showArtic...leID=208401843
http://3gamericas.com/English/index.cfm
But the following shows a much more detailed breakdown, which interestingly shows 3G as only having a 5.6%, which puts the original iPhone 2G decision and the new 3G phone into perspective:
http://www.wcisdata.com/newt/l/wcis/...echnology.html
Not that I'm disagreeing that Apple is unlikely to release a CDMA iPhone, but a few counter-points... The US is by far Apple's biggest market. And in the US, CDMA is not a minority player. Verizon and ATT are about the same size (not sure how Alltel affects Verizon's size). Not knowing the exact figures, I'd guess that CDMA is at least 1/3 - 1/2 of the US market. You don't simply ignore that many potential customers. And if all you have to change is the transmitter chips, exactly how much incremental cost would it be to create an iPhone that can be used by all those potential customers? All the other phone manufacturers do it for much less expense phones. So why is that a barrier for Apple?
And you are right that the 5% market share analogy doesn't apply, but not just for the reasons you cite. It's because I can plug either computer into my electrical outlet and internet connection and it will work. But there are still large areas of the US not covered by ATT and/or other GSM carriers. For those cutomers, it's CDMA or nothing.
Every Consumer Reports (and others) customer satisfaction survery puts Verizon at the top. Many of those customers (including myself) will NEVER switch (go back) to ATT, no matter how compelling an iPhone may be. And no matter how soon you predict the death of CDMA, it's much farther down the road than the expected service life of any phone that comes out this year.
If Apple doesn't make a CDMA iPhone, it won't be because of technical issues, lack of customers/market share, or near-death of CDMA. It will be because they just simply choose not do.
That's ridiculous. They are a corporation. They make all their decisions very carefully. Now if you look at the numbers they just don't add up. CDMA is roughly 10% of the world market and shrinking, it's just not worth it.
Having as few as possible models is part of Apple's business model. Why would they duplicate engineering, manufacturing, logistics, support just to capture 10% more of the market? It would mean more expense and less profit on both models. In the US it would mean abandoning their exclusive provider strategy, which may have caused them problems anyway. Putting both standards in the same case would make it much bigger and more complicated, and more costly: 2x patent fees, 2x chip costs, etc.
Apple made the right business decision. You're just sore that they don't support your favourite network.
Putting both standards in the same case would make it much bigger and more complicated, and more costly:... 2x chip costs.
I have nothing to back it up but since these CDMA/GSM combined radios seem to be very uncommon they may be considerably more than 2x the cost of a single network chip.
Here's a prediction for you...
If Apple is producing two new devices with 4 and 7 inch screens respectively, I predict the little one will be a wireless trackpad. I am probably biased here because it's something I have been wanting for a while, but it makes sense to me.
Everyone I know that bought the MacBook Air, bought some kind of little bluetooth mouse to go with it, but everyone I know that bought an Air *also* found that they didn't actually need (or want) to use a mouse anymore.
IMO the multi-touch trackpad on the Air makes mice irrelevant for pretty much the first time ever. If Apple produced a reasonably cheap bluetooth trackpad that did the same thing I would buy one in a second and I think a lot of others would also.
How many times can you clean that silly little ball on the mighty mouse before thinking that there has to be a better way? I wouldn't put it past Jobs to actually discontinue the mighty mouse and announce "the death of the mouse" in some dramatic fashion, since Apple basically started us using mice in the first place.
I think the key is going to be how to replace the keyboard for typing. Speech is the most likely for isolated environments but when in a public place you still need that quiet method of input. If someone can find a way for it to read my mind then we'd be all set to drop the keyboard. Since I'm not keen on implanting a computer chip in my brain anytime soon I'm going to say it is likely going to be decades before we see the keyboard disappear for desktop & laptop computers.
I'm not opposed to learning to type on a touch keyboard (especially one with apple's corrective intelligent type), but not on my screen. I can not stand smudges on my computer screen, there is just no way. It will be interesting to see what direction this all heads.
I was thinking about this last night... what would happen if you mated an iMac with an iPod Touch...
Envision a device that's "all screen," and about the size of a MacBook display.
Now imagine that this "screen" had complete multi-touch capabilities, as well as bluetooth, allowing connection with an optional bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Also throw in WiFi and FireWire and USB ports.
A final component of the package would be an easily detachable mounting stand, to allow the screen to be viewed while using a keyboard & mouse.
Such a "hybrid" device would nicely function as both a mobile tablet, and also as a basic desktop computer.
I'd call it the "iPAD".
I'd call it the "iDunnoaboutthat" -
If you do, that is fine. If you only want limited capabilities that is fine too. I've used MetroPCS for a good duration while waiting for the iPhone to come out. While they do have an all inclusive call/sms plan they charge you for making a payment in person or over the phone. And, as stated they charge you full price for the device which excluded you from a contract because you've already made them money.
It's not a bad racket if you just want a simple device with "good enough" coverage and asimple billing cycle. But most US customers obviously are looking for more. This is especiialy true for iPhone owners.
Okay if you didnt read the artical I used as an example then let me dial you in on the fact that I was trying to show.
"It also yielded somewhat surprising results that reveal how little people move around in their daily lives. Nearly three-quarters of those studied mainly stayed within a 20-mile-wide circle for half a year."
My point I was trying to get across is THE MAJORITY of people don't leave there regions so why pay for coverage you don't need.
I am not part of that 75% of people, and the occasions I am out of town (or country) I expect to pay for it and I budget accordingly or I just get a disposable phone for the area I am in. I worked the math out one day and I save HUNDREDS of dollars a year.
Also if you can see appleinsider.com I am guessing you can see metropcs.com where you can pay your bill for FREE. I own my own company and I can sympathize with A LOT of companies for having the practice of a fee for in person payments or over the phone because these are EXPENSIVE methods of payment. You are taking a salesmen off the floor to make your cell phone payment that you can do easier from your home computer. If you don't have a debt/credit card (to make payment online) I find you VERY suspect as you are obviously actively trying to stay off grid or really pissed of a bank that black listed you.
I don't know what region you are in that you thought you just had "good enough" service. I live in the DFW area and in over a year of service I have had less than a dozen dropped calls.
My last rebuttal to your first portion here is that yes I did pay full price for my phone but so does everyone that buys an iphone (usa anyway).so your argument there was very poorly thought out.
Faster internet isn't the only gain. There is more coverage, better coverage, better customer service, more options in services and in hardware.
No, you can't replace T-Mobile for Verizon in your argument, but you can replace it with Sprint. T-Mobile and AT&T are GSM-based networks while Verizon, Sprint and MetroPCS are CDMA-based networks. This means that the radio HW can't be used across these two networks as it's different technologies. It also means that a GSM phone will work in pretty much every developed country in the world while a CDMA won't. It's confusing stuff but a few Wikipedia pages and you'll be right as rain. Anyway, this makes a GSM carrier more beneficial to US customers who tend to travel.
PS: Can MetroPCS phones be unlocked to work on other CDMA networks? I thought they were hardcoded.
I don't think I ever argued the point that at&t had more coverage but okay that is an advantage for rural citizens and heavy travelers I well give you that. More HW choices does not make them better just means they have more of the same crappy phones to choose from.
The second part of your argument here makes no sense at all. Reread what you wrote here. T-mobile is GSM like At&t so why cant I replace Verizon as the example company with T-mobile? You contradicted yourself here. I can understand the argument for not making two sets of hardware for the costs apple would accrue but they are still ignoring the other GSM network providers.
Costumer Service Ranks as such for Cell Phone Carriers.
#1 Verizon
#2 is a tie between At&t and T-mobile (att was third)
#3 Sprint
As for the more services could you elaborate on that. It is a very broad statement that seems to be used just to make your argument look stronger.
p.s. I have no clue if you can unlock the metropcs phones. Didn't have a burning desire to try.
Also of note the RCA which represents 80 of the countries rural providers has petitioned the FCC examine the practice of these "exclusive deals".
Opps one more thing just read and artical that stated that its at least not illegle anymore to unlock your cell phone AFTER you have completed your contractual obligations. (DMCA was updated saying this practice was okay) and there is a case at the Supreme Court that may require that the companies unlock them for you!!! Very cool!!!
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/200...e-court-o.html
Well America isn't the whole world, as much as that may come as a shock, and is a minority of the world market. Apple would not support CDMA so that excludes everyone but AT&T and T-Mobile. T-Mobile is a joke as far as coverage goes so the only choice was AT&T.
The maths for share is: 451m CDMA (11.6%) versus 3418m (88.4%) according to:
http://www.eetimes.com/rss/showArtic...leID=208401843
http://3gamericas.com/English/index.cfm
But the following shows a much more detailed breakdown, which interestingly shows 3G as only having a 5.6%, which puts the original iPhone 2G decision and the new 3G phone into perspective:
http://www.wcisdata.com/newt/l/wcis/...echnology.html
Where in my post did I reference that I was using the WHOLE WORLD as an example?!?! I think the use of American cell phone carriers pretty much summed up that I was using America for my numbers and examples. Att does indeed provide a great service I never said they didn't and I never said any other provider was better. I am trying to portray the effects of exclusive deals and why it is anticompetitive and trying to show that BIGGER ISNT ALWAYS BETTER!!!!!
But okay lets look at your numbers shall we. Even if only 10% of the 451 Million people on the CDMA network bought the phone at a sale price of only $299 that is still 134 Million dollars!!!! That is a SHIT LOAD of potential money to ignore.
And on top of everything else how dare you insinuate that I and others on this post ignore the world around us and think the only thing that matters is the USA. Other countries are going to have multi carrier deals with Apple so why shouldn't the USA. Exclusive deals are anticompetitive and are an injustice to many people who don't happen to live in a market that sells that product. RCA has taken note of this as has the Supreme Court and FCC.
p.s. Take a close look at my name here "Texadian"
Tex = Texan
adian = Canadian
I was born and raised in rural Manitoba where my home town holds records for the coldest place on the planet for a week strait (it was in the -60s C ). I was raised so far north that we only got 2 tv stations in the summer and 3 in the winter (cold air boosts TV signals) we were to far away for FM radio and AM was a poor signal. I am only 25 years old too so its not like it was back in 50s when this took place. The first time I came to Texas (1990s) was the first time I had heard any music other than oldies and oldies country music. So again how dare you make comments like that when you don't even know a persons history. You are a truly arrogant person with a narrow mind towards other peoples actions. Let take into scoop what you did hear with you comment now. You took a VERY SMALL excerpt from a long post and used it for your own agenda of making all the Americans on this site look bad and narrow minded. I am not even an American citizen!!! I still belong to Canada baby!!!!! But you know what that didn't stop me from joining the United States Air Force or talking to my congressmen about issues that I feel strongly about. I keep an open mind towards new ideas and at least have an open mind to others opinions, but you have singel handedly taken word that I wrote and manipulated them in a negative way to portray YOUR obvious views about Americans. If you are American and don't like how things are around here then I suggest you get up off your ass and do something about it rather than sitting around on this site attacking people.
p.s. I don't ignore world markets!!! I trade stock on three different continents!!!
Answer: This purchase now makes Verizon the largest carrier in the country.
Where in my post did I reference that I was using the WHOLE WORLD as an example?!?! I think the use of American cell phone carriers pretty much summed up that I was using America for my numbers and examples. Att does indeed provide a great service I never said they didn't and I never said any other provider was better. I am trying to portray the effects of exclusive deals and why it is anticompetitive and trying to show that BIGGER ISNT ALWAYS BETTER!!!!!
But okay lets look at your numbers shall we. Even if only 10% of the 451 Million people on the CDMA network bought the phone at a sale price of only $299 that is still 134 Million dollars!!!! That is a SHIT LOAD of potential money to ignore.
And on top of everything else how dare you insinuate that I and others on this post ignore the world around us and think the only thing that matters is the USA. Other countries are going to have multi carrier deals with Apple so why shouldn't the USA. Exclusive deals are anticompetitive and are an injustice to many people who don't happen to live in a market that sells that product. RCA has taken note of this as has the Supreme Court and FCC.
p.s. Take a close look at my name here "Texadian"
Tex = Texan
adian = Canadian
I was born and raised in rural Manitoba where my home town holds records for the coldest place on the planet for a week strait (it was in the -60s C ). I was raised so far north that we only got 2 tv stations in the summer and 3 in the winter (cold air boosts TV signals) we were to far away for FM radio and AM was a poor signal. I am only 25 years old too so its not like it was back in 50s when this took place. The first time I came to Texas (1990s) was the first time I had heard any music other than oldies and oldies country music. So again how dare you make comments like that when you don't even know a persons history. You are a truly arrogant person with a narrow mind towards other peoples actions. Let take into scoop what you did hear with you comment now. You took a VERY SMALL excerpt from a long post and used it for your own agenda of making all the Americans on this site look bad and narrow minded. I am not even an American citizen!!! I still belong to Canada baby!!!!! But you know what that didn't stop me from joining the United States Air Force or talking to my congressmen about issues that I feel strongly about. I keep an open mind towards new ideas and at least have an open mind to others opinions, but you have singel handedly taken word that I wrote and manipulated them in a negative way to portray YOUR obvious views about Americans. If you are American and don't like how things are around here then I suggest you get up off your ass and do something about it rather than sitting around on this site attacking people.
p.s. I don't ignore world markets!!! I trade stock on three different continents!!!
I don't really care where you were born or where you trade stock. What I do know is that you can't add up and you certainly don't understand anything about business, which makes my think you probably lose money on 3 continents too.
You asked why Apple released something that only one third of people can use, I pointed out that only 10 or so percent of people use CDMA and that in your calculations you seemed to ignore the whole world except the US. Since the rest of the world is pretty hard to miss if you're not congenitally stupid, I suggest you dial back your outrage. 450 million users is only a small fraction of the 3.5 billion users of cell phones out there. Go, try it out on your calculator (or maybe your fingers since you don't seem to have a good calculator), check my maths.
A bit of a Ouroboros. Analysts seems to read these forums after we praise or condemn their predictions, of which we speculate further (and more thoroughly), which become the basis for their next forecast which AI will then report on.
They were right. The whole Internet is an echo chamber! Hello!--hello!---hello!
Could somebody please throw together a mockup?
Just did this right now:
Right now..
- 10" display
- Pop-out, rear rest for when placing it on a table.
- Multiple, swipe-able docks (not home screens).
You place your finger on the dock and swipe in any direction to go to a new dock you made earlier with a different set of apps in it, except the leftmost app, no matter how much swiping you do and no matter what direction you go in Finder.app remains on the left of the dock for when you need it. The time is up top centre and you can go into the clock app by touching it. Spotlight up on the right of the menubar, just like a Mac. And the Apple logo does its thing too, for shutting down etc.Yes I have thought about this product a little bit. And maybe I am a genius
*cough* *snow leopard* *cough*
Snow leopard wont be a full Point upgrade but an expansion to Leopard with multi-touch features, more wallpapers, screen savers, little small features and more eye candy.
It will still be 10.5 and leopard, with and expansion.
peace.
Actually, there's always a 100% chance that SOMETHING will happen!
True, but there is always a 50/50 chance that one of two or more things will happen.
Point, there is a 10% chance it will rain today. Well if there is a 10% chance, then it's a 50/50 chance, because either it is going to rain, or it isn't. It doesn't matter of it's a 10%, 20%, 30% 41,2,3,% or any other percent. If there is any chance, the it's a 50/50.
Now if there is a 100% chance it won't rain, well then ?
If there is a 20% chance that Apple will announce something new, then it's really a 50/50 chance, because either they will or they won't.
I guess this is what I was trying to say, and probably still didn't say right or well
Skip
Has anyone considered that if they do a 2G and 3G phone that the 2G well be unlocked for any carrier and the 3G be exclusive to AT&T. How can Apple keep ignoring Verizon; especially now that they have acquired Alltel? This makes them the LARGEST and Apple doesn't want part of that? How is this good business for us stateside? AT&T charges more than double for their all you can eat plan (minus SMS
Any thoughts?
Largest in what country? Yes, with the purchase or Altel they become the largest in America, but the fine folks at Altel, will like switch to AT&T at some point in time, so they can get an iPhone, then we will have a different leader
I have been a Verizon customer for about 8 years + -, and I'm looking forward to switching over and getting an iPhone. Now IF apple allows Verizon to carry the iPhone, well then, I'm not sure if I'd switch.
Now if #2 buys 3rd or 4th place, then they will become number 1
___________________
China Mobile (GSM) - 158.6 million
Vodafone* (GSM, UMTS) - 151.8 million
China Unicom (IS-2000, GSM) - 100.1 million
T-Mobile1 (GSM, UMTS) - 65 million
Cingular (IS-136, GSM, UMTS2) - 49.1 million
Orange (GSM, UMTS) - 49 million
NTT DoCoMo (PDC, FOMA) - 45.9 million
Verizon Wireless (IS-2000) - 42.1 million
Mobile TeleSystems - MTS (GSM) - 34.22 million
Vivo (IS-2000, IS-136) - 26 million
Turkcell (GSM) - 23.4 million
Sprint PCS (IS-2000) - 22.2 million
mmO2 (GSM) - 21.3 million
TIM (GSM, UMTS)
1 109 million including subscribers to companies where T-Mobile has a minority stake. 2 UMTS network currently being tested in six U.S. cities * 350 million including subscriers to companies where Vodafone has a minority stake.
_____________________
Canada
Rogers Wireless - 4.2 million (5.5 million with Fido)
Fido (Microcell) 1.3 million
Bell Mobility - 4.5 million
TELUS - 3.9 million
Virgin Mobile - too early to determine
___________________
USA
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...#United_States
These are the largest mobile phone companies in the United States, by number of subscribers. The primary cellular technology used by each carrier is shown in parentheses.
Cingular (IS-136, GSM, UMTS)(Joint venture: 60% owned by SBC, 40% owned by BellSouth) - 50.0 million
Verizon Wireless (IS-2000) (44% owned by Vodafone, 56% owned by Verizon Communications) - 44 million
Sprint PCS3 (IS-2000) - 22.2 million
T-Mobile (GSM) - 17.3 million
Nextel3 (iDEN) - 15.3 million
ALLTEL4 (IS-2000) - 8 million
US Cellular (IS-136, IS-2000) - 4.8 million
Virgin Mobile USA (IS-2000) - 3 million
Dobson Communications (IS-136, GSM) - 1.6 million
Cricket Communications (IS-2000) - 1.5 million
Western Wireless4 (IS-136, IS-2000, GSM) - 1.2 million
Centennial Wireless (IS-136, GSM) - 0.5 million
3Sprint PCS and Nextel have agreed to merge. Together they will have nearly 37.5 million subscribers.
4As of Jan 2005, ALLTEL is buying Western Wireless. Together they would have 9.2 million subscribers.
In North America, IS-2000 is commonly known as CDMA. IS-136 is known as TDMA. However, CDMA and TDMA are general terms that can refer to several different technologies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...#United_States
For the iTablet thing its going to require an update for multi touch
*cough* *snow leopard* *cough*
Snow leopard wont be a full Point upgrade but an expansion to Leopard with multi-touch features, more wallpapers, screen savers, little small features and more eye candy.
It will still be 10.5 and leopard, with and expansion.
peace.
Echo, echo, echo!
Just did this right now:
Right now..
- 10" display
- Pop-out, rear rest for when placing it on a table.
- Multiple, swipe-able docks (not home screens).
You place your finger on the dock and swipe in any direction to go to a new dock you made earlier with a different set of apps in it, except the leftmost app, no matter how much swiping you do and no matter what direction you go in Finder.app remains on the left of the dock for when you need it. The time is up top centre and you can go into the clock app by touching it. Spotlight up on the right of the menubar, just like a Mac. And the Apple logo does its thing too, for shutting down etc.Yes I have thought about this product a little bit. And maybe I am a genius
Really? You really just did that? Cos it seems familiar.