A number of iPhone reviews were released today on the net: NYTimes, WSJ, MSNBC and USAToday. All seem to agree that the iPhone is a worthy device with few flaws.
A Slew of iPhone Reviews
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSAlert.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
I’m not at all surprised that the iPhone is living up to the hype. It seems like a great device. But it seems out of character for Apple to give copies to reviewers before the actual release. Maybe Apple’s letting go of its secrecy, or maybe they’re just learning to make exceptions.
It is not out of character. The iPhone was announced months ago. If they had never announced, THEN it would be out of character to see reviews before the release.
Is it living up to the hype? To be honest, I really want one but I’ll wait and see how the 2.0 version is.
Let’s set aside the desire to write applications for the iPhone. It kinda sounds like it’s major failing at this point is that it’s not a great cell phone.
Sounds like everything else is pretty cool. I’m sure somebody I know will get one so I’ll be able to get a look at it some time in the near future.
“All seem to agree that the iPhone is a worthy device with few flaws.”
Do you think that’s going to stop them?
Stand by while the Apple-bashers get in line to to slag off a device they haven’t even used yet
***YAWN***
So, people can never have a genuine gripe against Apple, or they are Apple-bashers ?
Stand by while the Apple Fanbois think it is the best thing since sliced bread and how they will queue for 2 weeks at the shops to buy the first one on the shelves.
“All seem to agree that the iPhone is a worthy device with few flaws.”
Do you think that’s going to stop them?
Stand by while the Apple-bashers get in line to to slag off a device they haven’t even used yet
I agree, and I’m not even an Apple fanboy (don’t own a Mac, have an iPod but that’s it).
Sadly the bashers of Apple are just as stubborn as the defenders, and it’s unlikely either will budge any time soon.
Still, I don’t think people should be modding you down for what you said, as you didn’t insult anyone, and it was not off-topic.
Guys, how about following the rules about mod points, and not just modding people down because you don’t agree with them?
Personally, I still think it’s the Apple nGage. I’ll wait to pass judgement until I see some less biased sources of reviews (like OSAlert), or better yet, friend reviews.
Yes, no one at any of those place are capable of writing a non-biased review, they are all apple shills & fanbois!
I’m pleased that most reviews seem to be saying the keyboard is a non-issue. I’m also displeased that Edge sucks as much as I imagined. Overall, i think it sounds like an alright 1.0 product, I’m sure software upgrades will add a couple features and fix a few bugs. I imagine most everything else that needs fixed or features will only be in 2.0.. much like everyone else’s speculation.
For me, this is certainly an issue of “want” over “need”, I have a craptacular RAZR right now that I’ve been wanting to ditch since I got it (for free). I can afford it, but I’m also thinking about the future, how will resell with it work? I’d like to get the 4 gig to tide me over till version 2.0 comes out, and unload my 4 gig, who knows how that will work.. I imagine I can wait on this for at least a little while.
Edited for spelling
Edited 2007-06-27 00:12
“they are all apple shills & fanbois! ”
LOL… as opposed to you being an MS slug and Co**Sucker? Hummmm?
I love the fact that is new iPod-Mac-OSX cellphone thingie is standing EVERY on there head!
OSAlert didn’t write the reviews, the New York Times, Wallstreet Journal, MSNBC, and USAToday wrote the reviews. Considering all the anticipation over this device (NYT says 11,000 print articles, and 69 million hits on the site), and the fact that pretty much every reviewer says it sets the bar for next-gen phones, I would say that chances are it will be the next iPod, not the next nGuage. But thats just me…
But you can’t play any games on the iPhone, nor remove the battery to put them in :B
But even in version 1.0, the iPhone is still the most sophisticated, outlook-changing piece of electronics to come along in years. It does so many things so well, and so pleasurably, that you tend to forgive its foibles. David Pogue in the NYT.
Apple doesn’t have to produce the greatest phone in the universe by some Platonic standard, just a phone that is “good enough” by Apple’s own high standards. From the sound of these reviews, they’ve done that. Even so, the absurd hype around the iPhone is bound to return and bite Apple on the ass, imho. Their stock price is overvalued, arguably, and unless they sell huge quantities of the iPhone the naysayers are sure to claim that a falling stock price and less than stellar financials suggest a failure of some kind.
The reality is probably that Apple will do perfectly well with the iPhone by any rational, non-hype assessment, establishing the iPhone as a decent brand and protecting their dominance of the portable music market with this next-generation device. Still, the company likes to live by PR and spin, and this time Apple may end up getting hurty by them. Either way, we’ll soon find out.
“Their stock price is overvalued”
Yea… right bra! its final caught up to apples value! the only people that think is over valued are apple haters!
lets talk in 1 year…. and we will se wether is overvalued or not!
My money (literally) is going LONG on apple!
All of the flaws sound tolerable. In fact, it sounds like the perfect solution to an astounding number of my problems. Except for one thing…
I can’t write even simple application for it. It’s a dead box. If I can’t write scripts and do network(SSH) operations (I would take ANY language), then it is useless to me.
Now I’ll have to accept the Blackberry that work wants me to carry.
How can you seriously expect to write applications for it? It’s a phone.
what
What are you talking about? People have been writing applications for Windows Mobile based smartphones for a long time. Don’t tell me they are not phones.
Edited 2007-06-27 01:34
Maybe I’m missing the sarcasm..but its very conceivable for him to write apps for just about every other phone…and definately “smartphone” on the market…except this one lol. Devkits anyone? Wouldnt do much good though because the bigger issue is really how much ssh work would you want to do with a touch screen keyboard…
HOWEVER..this is Apple, the land of the perpetual device revision..I givem 6months before we see the “iBoard”..YOU Heard it HERE FIRST!! lay the phone on the top of a bluetooth keyboard in landscape mode, bluetooth enabled of course…and it will probably be clear or black with silver trimmings…
“
”
Have you even used a phone in the last decade?
BTW, It’s a smartphone (ie contending with XDAs and the lark)
Too many people confuse the iPhone as a mobile-phone competing with the bog standard Nokias, Samsungs etc
If it’s just a phone then why would anyone with a brain pay $600 for it.
I find the parallels between this and the PS3 amusing. The PS3 was bashed to death on price (it IS very nice hardware like the iPhone is by the way) with everyone trolling about showing how the (cheaper) Wii is outselling it.
But now when the reverse situation applies, the web 2.0 fart sniffing brigade no doubt won’t want to hear that it’s even more expensive than the PS3 (no contracts, no $175 termination fee if you don’t like it) and it will be massively outsold by cheaper devices.
As the Apple marketing machine has gone to great lengths to tell us, it’s not just a phone. So yeah, I expect to write applications for it. The fact that I cannot is a deal breaker.
I will reserve judgment for later when I get to play around with the phone myself.
but.. “All of the flaws sound tolerable?”
That sounds like what somebody would say about his new boyfriend/girlfriend. I wonder though – most people who say something like this end up not being able to tolerate the flaws rather quickly.
These reviews and a relativly affordable $60 starting price for plans does have me very interested. The only really big thing is EDGE. I would really like 3G especially since I’ll be in an are with excellent Sprint coverage, but unfortuantly Sprint doen’t have many phones I’m particulary interested in(though that’s subject to change by the end of the year if Palm releases next gen Linux based Treos). I have till August befoe I get back to the states before I make a descision, but these good review are making the choice tougher. I guess I’ll have to wait until “real” people weigh in.
3g ain’t that great either — at least on AT&T’s network. It’s certainly a lot faster then Edge — when it works that is.
I have a 3G Cingular Sync (Samsung A707) and while it can be fast sometimes, usually browsing is a “connection failed. retry again?” experience.
Their network sucks.
I can’t even begin to count the number of times they’ve dropped my calls — and that’s when talking to people on AT&T’s network!
Edited 2007-06-27 00:15 UTC
That’s really the problem. Nice phone but crappy network at AT&T and good network(at least in my area) but no great phones at Sprint.
I also have a Cingular Sync (A 707), but I wouldn’t bash the network (too much). Why? My wife’s RAZR (same network) consistently has a connection when my phone sitting next to it does not. I literally have to keep my Samsung in the window of my house to get any connection at all. Yes, I live in the country, but my old Nokia (also cingular) never had any problems, and my wife’s motorola can be used just fine without any ridiculous measures. I’m sorry, but at some point you have to take the phone itself into consideration. Maybe the network sucks, but the A707 makes it suck even more. I should have got the RAZR myself. I actually miss my 4 year old cell phone, regardless of all the features on my new one.
I’m waiting for internet phones, with wi-fi or wimax transport, no more cell phone operators.
You waiting was over long ago, have a look at the Nokia N95 for example
I was living in Chicago for several months with a Blackberry Pearl and Tmobile’s EDGE network.
While it wasn’t extremely fast, I think it’s fast enough for the average user. Youtube H.264 might be a bit too much though. Google maps and AJAX applications should work pretty well. Heck, when I was waiting for Comcast I synced the phone with my roommate’s IMac and used it as a modem. No youtube, but email/osn/slashdot worked well enough
Surfing OSAlert in Opera on the train every morning and afternoon…good times, good times.
Yeah, the new Opera 4 Beta is amazing, even on my SLVR L7.
It will map a web page onto its servers, then only download the sections you want to look at.
Man, I have been lusting after this since the very first rumor when apple was buying up phone parts and people where wondering if they dare hope for an apple phone. The real kick in the pants is the AT&T-only thing, although hopefully this will give them the push they need to improve their network. A long term exclusivity deal could not have been cheap, it wouldn’t have made much sense if they didnt plan on upgrading from the worst cell network in america.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/easysetup/rateplans.html
not bad, just txt msg a bit low.
let’s bet when apple will recall the first batch of batteries.
I give them 10 month from release
Apple’s iPhone has created quite a bit of hype but it’s full of old junk technology. It doesn’t even support 3G / HSDPA data transfer protocols. In Finland, land of the Nokia, i have unlimited 3G data transfer plan (~10 dollars month). So with iPhone i can’t even listen webradio.
Here in the US, AT&T’s 3G coverage is rather weak. Right now the only widely availiable 3G seems to be from CDMA carriers, with Sprint leading the way, though Verizon seems to be working to catch up.
Hopefully by the time Apple releases the iPhone in Canada on Rogers network which will most likely be late Q4 it will be a version with HSDPA support and push email capability. Also any bugs found with the AT&T customers should be squashed by the time Canada gets the iPhone.
Except Rogers, like AT&T in the US, has a downright awful network. I’m buying out my contract with Rogers and will never look back, iPhone or no iPhone.
And what are you talking about? Push email was demonstrated on the iPhone during the keynote way back in january.
Where in Canada are you? I’ve been with Rogers for 4 years now and never had a single problem. I have a Sony Ericsson K790 right now and it works perfectly on their network, and I’m in Halifax – quite smaller province and city. Of course, EDGE is a bit slow for some stuff, and I find North American prices for wireless to be outrageous. I lived in Germany and Ukraine for 14 years in total and you can’t even compare North America to those countries.
I live out West, in Calgary Alberta. I’ve lived here most of my life, and to be honest, have used TELUS outside of AB but never Rogers. Perhaps it’s specific to this region, but I’m far from the only person I know who has switched from Rogers to TELUS for that very reason. (And this was long before I started working for TELUS).
It sounds good, but I don’t quite like the fact that I would need 6 steps to place a phone call!
I mean, this is a phone in it’s primary function.
I would understand that if someone modified an iPod to be able to call people, that might not have been to intuitive.
Okay. But in phone? 6 steps? Common!
I hope the fix that, I really do.
Most cell phones it is still 4 steps:
1. Unlock phone /Flip open phone.
2. select recent calls or contacts
3. find contact number.
4. press talk button
The iPhone has
5. Select phone app.
Unlock phone on the iphone is two steps
1. Hit sleep start button
2. slide finger to unlock
Most candy bar phones require you to do a two step process to unlock, click menu + * or some button then *
There is one extra step on the iPhone if you want to dial a number on the keypad as I see it.
Let’s not make this such a big deal.
3 steps on a p990i if you look in the address book and 2 if you have them on speed dial. The Iphone still looks cool. I am not sure if I would like a touchscreen all the time to use. I like the tactile feel of buttons and the rate plans is ridiculous. But I do like that visual voicemail feature.
The rate plans really aren’t that different for other US carriers with the combination of voice and data – although the CDMA carriers same unlimited data for ~$20 uses EVDO instead of ancient and crappy EDGE. The new rate plans are much better than Cingular/AT&T used to be. $30.00 for 10MB of data in the past – the new rate plans are less for more.
Your have a good point. However if you’re going to call something revolutionary, shouldn’t you make an effort to actually make it easier to do something?
Saying the iPhone dialing isn’t any worse than other phones also says it’s not any better.
Your have a good point. However if you’re going to call something revolutionary, shouldn’t you make an effort to actually make it easier to do something?
If all the iPhone did was make calls I can see your point. The iPhone is a convergence device and offers the best of what other phone manufacturers have failed to do with almost a decade of experience.
Visual voice mail itself is revolutionary for any cell phone on the market. How may steps does it take to parse 10 voice mails on just about any phone?
On the iPhone getting to the most important message is the same number of steps everytime. On traditional phones getting to any message in a sequential fashion is always tedious.
Saying the iPhone dialing isn’t any worse than other phones also says it’s not any better.
As phones have evolved making a call has always involved more steps.
The first gen land phones were pickup -> dial (rotary or keypad)-> hangup.
Cordless phones now require you to pickup->dial->push talk->push end-> hangup up or putdown.
Cell phones require-> pick up->flip/unlock->dial/ lookup number->press talk/green button->press red button->lock/close flip.
The more phones evolve the more steps is takes to make a call. Phones now are no longer phones but are now internet terminals, music video players, GPS units, etc. etc…
If you really care about how easy it is to dial stick to fixed landline phone with a basic keypad. Wireless is not for you.
Well, not exactly.
Wireless is about convenience, not necessarily about features. I know few people who use it as just a phone. I agree though, that iPhone is not just a phone, but still…
Well, not exactly.
Wireless is about convenience, not necessarily about features. I know few people who use it as just a phone. I agree though, that iPhone is not just a phone, but still…
You are missing the point.
Wireless adds an extra step to make a call for the added convenience, over a traditional land line phone.
Most smartphones that have touch screens with QWERTY have an on screen numeric pad and need an extra step.
Edited 2007-06-27 20:17
The iPhone is too expensive, it is not worth what Apple is charging for it.
That’s only one of the problems. I certainly ain’t buying a $500+ phone where I can’t replace the battery. It’s unacceptable.
“That’s only one of the problems. I certainly ain’t buying a $500+ phone where I can’t replace the battery. It’s unacceptable.”
i bet you 100 bucks, with in 1 week there is a how too on opening the iPhone and removing the battery! i’ll bet you another 100 that with in 1 month… you’ll be able to send the iphone to newer or some one similar, and they will replace the bat!
Shame about the limited txt msgs in a month. But why can’t you just use meebo.com and send msgs that way. Then your just using data and not sms..
That’s the only thing that lets me forgive Apple’s lack of IM, the full Safari web browser that will allow a meeboish(though hopefully iPhone tailored) IM client. Actually it may be for the best since an iPhone version of iChat would probably be AIM and Jabber only.
The built in AJAX support means you’ll probably see a few iPhone apps tailored just for this purpose…
Plus there’s always the chance of the iPhone being hacked, and lots of homebrew apps being available.
Geeks make the world such an interesting and fun place – especially those a lot smarter than me
Don’t worry, if you can code, you can do iPhone. Its going to be very open and very full of functionality. Anyone on the iPhone bash list is just a moron. The closed arch phone of yesteryear is about to take it on the chin numerous times.
Ummm, the iPhone doesn’t include flash. And considering the iPhone runs on one of the worst networks in the US, web apps are far from ideal.
I think, even if Apple had to forgo things like visual voicemail (so that they didn’t need to work directly with a carrier), they should have offered a CDMA version of the iPhone (I’ve already ruled the iPhone out up here in Canada because I’m in the process of buying out my Rogers contract).
You’d better be prepared to rule out many, many, many more phones once you leave the Rogers-exclusive world of GSM. You’re moving to betamax in a VHS world.
Rogers isn’t perfect, but when I compare the service to my corporate-issue Bell phone, it’s miles ahead. I actually have dead spots in my own condo with Bell, yet Rogers holds a signal in my elevator all the way down to my underground parking. Absolutely no comparison. And for Rogers’ flaws, at least they’ll let me use whatever the hell phone I want on the network, whenever I want. SIMs are just brilliant.
But then again, while I have no interest in getting one, I still shudder to think of the data plan rates when they release the iPhone. I already feel violated every month on my puny 60MB bbconnect plan.
I guess it depends on where you live. Since you’re naming Bell, I’m guessing you live out east. I live in western Canada, so my main options are TELUS and Rogers, and it’s the other way around. Rogers is pathetic in comparison. Their internet is much slower, their non-urban coverage is awful, etc etc.
Bell has been available all the way on in BC for going on two or three years. It’s even available in the puny town of Kamloops. And there’s even Fido out here. It’s not just Telus and Rogers.
Rogers has the better network when it comes to cities and phone selection.
Telus has the better network when it comes to rural areas, now that Rogers has killed their TDMA network.
Bell is just crap no matter where you try to use it.
It all comes down to where you live. And how much you rely on customer support, since Rogers’ now sucks beyond belief. If you are not a new customer, they don’t care about you. They used to have the best CS esperience around.
Ummm, you do realize that Bell in BC and AB (and SK?) is actually leased from TELUS (and vice versa out east), right? TELUS and Bell share a network, with TELUS running it in the west and Bell running it in the east. So I didn’t include Bell because it’s the same service and I don’t get an employee discount (I work for TELUS). I also, despite being a TELUS employee, don’t include them when talking about cell service out east for the exact same reason. (Rogers land-line service is also leased from TELUS fyi).
As for Rogers having the better network, in Calgary at least, that is far from being true. There are spots all over Calgary where the coverage is so bad you’re lucky if you receive or can send your phone calls.
FINALLY, now maybe in a few months I can stop reading iPhone spam on every blog and gadget page. Don’t get me wrong, but I think it severely over-hyped. There are VERY few thing the iphone can do, that other phones havent been doing for years. Apple just did what Apple does best…put on the tux and tophat for the public.
Lets face it, apple is a marketing machine, and a damn good one. This phone is proof positive of that. It’s a kewl device, but far from being the end all be all standard upon which all others are judged!!! I’m so sick of OMFG it can do everything!!..it’s a OK device. Not as good at video and music as an ipod, not a good media player AT ALL (only apple formats), and a piss poor “pda”…its a smart-phone…nothing more…nothing less…
And come on guys…$600 plus a 2yr contract? for that amount you could take you pick of any of the SIGNIFICANTLY more flexible and powerful gsm phones I’d from overseas…with lack of 3G, its got feature new for some people in the states..but everything has been covered before in the GSM arena longa ago…I could do full html with page saving and such on a nokia E61 2-3yrs ago lol…I think before I drop $5-600 on this I would just get a Nokia N95 lol..I heard it comes with a kitchen sink!!
No thanks…but for some I’m sure its a perfect, just not for me.
You’re on OSAlert….you’re far from this phone’s primary market.
I personally think it would be great because of the interface, which the vast majority of smart phones do horribly. I have yet to try out Windows Mobile 6, but if it’s anything like 5, thanks but no thanks.
I disagree and i wanted one at “first” sounded like a great devide, until I started finding out all the stuff it was missing. AND it’s being marketed as a Jesus Phone and the new standard, end all be all solution…therefore NO ONE should actually be out of it’s market. But again, thats part of the marketing machine..so i disagree with your first statement…and I think it’s safe to say probably alot of others here wanted one until the details started coming out of the passing weeks/months.. Come on look at this updated list of NOT Included features…
o Songs as Ringtones
o Games
o Any flash support
o Instant Messaging
o Picture messages (MMS)
o Video recording
o Voice recognition or voice dialing
o Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Streaming (A2DP)
o One-size-fits-all headset jack (May have to buy an adapter for certain headphones)
Stuff we already knew it didn’t have
o 3G (EV-DO/HSDPA)
o GPS
o A real keyboard
o Removable battery
o Expandable Storage
o Direct iTunes Music Store Access (Over Wi-Fi or EDGE)
(ala gizmodo)
a high end media devide with no A2DP?? thats probably the silliest one of all..IM, Flash, Ringtone songs???? this is stuff that the free phone you get for signing up can do lol…
“I disagree and i wanted one at “first” sounded like a great devide, until I started finding out all the stuff it was missing. AND it’s being marketed as a Jesus Phone and the new standard, end all be all solution…therefore NO ONE should actually be out of it’s market.”
From what I can tell, the only “hype” has been coming from the PUBLIC. Apple is successful at marketing, TRUE. I say good for them. You’ll find most companies aren’t, and it really puts a damper on their business. As far as it being marketed as a “Jesus” phone, get real. As for a new standard, I would have to agree…. I think it WILL be.
By the way, Apple has never stated / implied / or marketed the iPhone as a smartphone. Never. It’s not intended to be a Smartphone.
“Come on look at this updated list of NOT Included features…”
Do me a favor, and list ONE phone that has ALL the features the iPhone has and is missing… (buy it… if you can find one). All phones have their pros and cons. Most are tied to certain networks, AT&T, Verizon… some lack features, some features are poor, etc.
If I bought a Pearl I’d be tied to AT&T too (with a two year contract). I’d have a sub-par music / video player… a small screen… a 1.3 mpixel camera and lame web browser. Not to mention a battery that lasts half as long (but I could replace it!!!). Same goes for the Treo, and it’s closer in price to the iPhone, but it’s Cingular exclusive just like iPhone.
Take your “Expandable Storage” for example. How much memory does your phone have natively? 60 MB? 64MB? I can’t store ANYTHING on 60 MB. So now I need to buy a sim. How much is it going to cost to bump that up to 4 or 8 GIG? I think an 4 GIG sim is something like $100?
Removable battery? Honestly, I’ve had three phones in the last 5 years. I’ve never NEEDED to REPLACE a battery. Even if I did, they’re not FREE. It’s FUN to pull the battery out and toss it around though. I guess that’s the only reason I’ve ever taken it off the phone.
Video recording? Are you serious? It’s not a camcorder. Hell even my 2 year old digital camera can’t do decent video recording… why *should* my phone?
MMS is interesting, but I’d rather have FULL email than squirting pictures. I’ve heard of support from 3rd parties though for those that really want MMS. I don’t think I’d personally use this feature. To each his own.
I can’t see that purchasing directly from the phone has any advantage whatsoever… maybe I’m missing something. I buy off iTunes and I have my collection in one place (or at least try to). Sometimes I purchase from multiple machines… having it strewn across multiple devices already makes it hard to keep track of. I’d hate to lose music I paid good money for.
Games will come… guaranteed. Flash support will be along shortly as well. Software upgrades will certainly bring NEW features.
Faster network… wifi in the home and in the office will certainly be nice.
Apple certainly is lacking a few features. Others will have those features BUT YOU’LL FIND THEM LACKING.
Apple is great at identifying what the CORE public wants and delivering. There will always be people that want more out of ANY device. Apple is delivering product that MOST people want. And they do it better than most.
When’s the last time you’ve heard of people camping out for a PHONE? It’s not hype…. it’s EXCITEMENT.
The phone isn’t for everyone. Nobody is forcing you to buy one. If you like it, get one. If you don’t, get something else. Either way vote with your dollar.
Don’t be suprised to see lots of others voting with their dollar and picking up iPhones.
Just FTR. One phone…Nokia N95…2 phones, Nokia E90…one OLD phone…Nokia E61…and thats without even breakign out of nokia…most modern pda/smart phones can perform all of those functions..OR they can be added with simple 3rd party apps….
edited …minus the itune sstore access of course…everywhere else, many phones meet and exceed…
Edited 2007-06-27 04:56
Nokia’s N95/N90…
1) No touchscreen
2) 320×240 (half the resolution of iPhone)
3) 64 / 128 MB internal memory
4) Supports only 2gig sd
#1 is the biggie.
But those phones do everything he listed, and that’s all you asked.
1) Not really that important
2) Eh? Who really cares. It’s a phone. You don’t need that high of a resolution
3) SD
4) But you can use as many SD cards as you want. Just swap them out.
“But those phones do everything he listed, and that’s all you asked.”
Having a bit of trouble reading I see… here’s my original quote.
“Do me a favor, and list ONE phone that has ALL the features the iPhone has and is missing…”
See. My point is still valid.
Your 1-4 responses are as valid as my reasons why some of the features he named don’t matter to me. #1 it is for *me*, #2 – I said the same thing about his video capture, #3 – SD adds extra cost, #4 – Try playing that 3 GIG video. I’m only pointing out everyone has their own *must haves* and that two people will most certainly have different ones.
There isn’t a single phone on the face of the planet that can satisfy everyone. That’s the point I’m trying to drive home here.
I can’t see that purchasing directly from the phone has any advantage whatsoever
I see that as a huge advantage and quite an untapped market and I’m actually quite shocked that Apple didn’t include it. When I’m listening to music I often make associations to other music and think oh I’d like to listen to that. If i could download it directly via my mp3 player I know I probably would on many occasions.
Or when you’re sitting around in a pub talking music with your friends and someone mentions a song it would be really cool to be able to listen to it a few minutes later.
After a few beers I can happily see many songs being downloaded in an evening that might never get downloaded if I’m sitting sober and alone in front of my computer. Lots of lost revenue for apple.
As for keeping tracks on multiple machines, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to set up something where you tie your iPhone to a computer and any song you download to your phone can be re-downloaded for free to that computer.
You’ve just been ripped off, and then dugg
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/apple/what-the-iphone-doesnt-have-272571…
Quality blogging-I mean plagiarism, from Gizmodo.
The bit is that, how many non-geeks would be willing to pony up $500-600 for an iPhone? It lacks 3G, MMS, etc. – all Apple has going for it is its user interface and the nice Apple logo.
And considering all of the reviews say Multitouch takes some time getting used to, I don’t imagine a lot of non-geeks, non-fanboys making an impulse purchase at their nearest AT&T store.
QUOTING Rajan R : “how many non-geeks would be willing to pony up $500-600 for an iPhone?(…)I don’t imagine a lot of non-geeks, non-fanboys making an impulse purchase”
The guy (already) in front of the Apple Store in New York (Greg Packer) doesn’t look like a geek or a fanboy to me. XD
QUOTING Rajan R : “It lacks 3G, MMS, etc.”
I love the “etc” like if it is really lacking a lot of technologies.
Why do people insist that no MMS support is a big deal? Just send an email for crying out loud… Everyone has an email address but I honestly don’t know many people that send MMS or even have their phones properly configured to read MMS messages.
I can understand people complaining about the lack of 3G although I still expect the european and asian versions of iPhone to support it but I can imagine myself mainly making use of the Wifi support on a Starbucks.
QUOTING Rajan R : “all Apple has going for it is its user interface and the nice Apple logo.”
You lost all your credibility there. If you think that’s all, you are more naive than what I thought.
I guess you said the same about the iPod when it was presented?
Edited 2007-06-27 09:53
Firstly, I implied that not many mass consumers would shell out that much money for something that’s pretty and little more.
On MMS, it may not be very popular in the United States, but I don’t see why it should be left out. Pointing to email as an alternative does not make this gap go away – how many phones are able to read emails – emails with pictures, that is?
As for 3G, it’s the same principle — while not many people use it, I would say a $500 phone ought to have that feature.
As for the user interface, I’m afraid you missed my point. Scroll up (or flick up, if necessary), and click on those review links. Despite all being puff pieces (Apple’s PR chose well), consider this:
USA Today: “Finger-tapping takes getting used to.”
NYTimes: “Then there’s the small matter of typing. Tapping the skinny little virtual keys on the screen is frustrating, especially at first.”
MSNBC: “It took me a couple of days to get used to hitting the right keys using a single finger.”
Consider this: how many people would be willing to sign up for a two-year contract and spend $500-600 on a phone that they find frustrating and difficult to use at the first go? I’m sure Apple is targeting more than the fanboys that are willing to queue up outside an Apple or AT&T store for a phone – and remember, those are the *minority*.
First impressions count.
So, for me, all Apple has going is the eye-candy (which is very, very nice), marketing and its brand. Those may be sufficient to make iPhone a market success, but that success would not be guaranteed.
And I get annoyed at people bringing up iPod to anyone having the audacity to be skeptical at the iPhone. Consider the differences:
* MP3 players are new, phones and smartphones have been around for decades and the market is well saturated. Many buying iPods would be buying their first digital audio players, but as for cellphones – iPhone looks more like a replacement. And it is hard to say iPhone is in a niche of its on because of multi-touch.
* The players in the market when iPod first came in weren’t interested in their customers. Creative’s CEO famously boasted that his company didn’t need to invest in marketing. Compared with the likes of iRiver and Creative, Apple was a behemoth that has a bunch of people who know a thing or two about marketing. However, you can’t claim that against other phone companies. After the hype dies down – how would Apple’s marketing fare against more seasoned competitors like Motorola and Nokia?
* iPod was actually easy to first use. iPhone takes time to get used to. For the average consumer, I would imagine the willingness to part money for an iPod rather than the iPhone, which the average Joe would find difficult to do phone stuff initially. Yes, they may get used to multi-touch, but Apple is taking a much bigger risk than iPod here – that people would get too caught up with the looks and the marketing behind iPhone to bother seeing if they could use it.
* iPod was, for the most part, replacing mass-consumer Walkmans and Discmans, not competing against other MP3 players. So having those little things other MP3 players have like voice recorder, FM tuner, kitchen sink, et al, didn’t really hurt it. iPhone is not competing against a landline phone. It is competing against pre-existing cellphones, which has features people have become accustomed to like games and a keypad.
* iPod didn’t require people to go through the hassle of switching carriers. iPod played people’s MP3 libraries, where else, for iPhone, 72% of the market don’t use AT&T. Reasonable as AT&T exclusivity may be (otherwise stuff like secrecy and random-access voice mail wouldn’t be possible), it is still a hindrance to Apple.
To argue that just because Apple proved naysayers wrong with iPod therefore they would do the same with iPhone smacks a bit of fanboyism and delusion.
And as a disclosure, I’m buying a MacBook and a iPod nano in August. I’m not a knee-jerk, anti-Apple, reactionist.
”
USA Today: “Finger-tapping takes getting used to.”
NYTimes: “Then there’s the small matter of typing. Tapping the skinny little virtual keys on the screen is frustrating, especially at first.”
MSNBC: “It took me a couple of days to get used to hitting the right keys using a single finger.”
”
You failed to quote the rest of the sentences about the keyboard. Initially it took time to get used to… then the found it worked well for them… on par with a tactile keyboard on the Treo as one reviewer said. Keyboarding on a touchscreen versus actual keyboard became a non-issue is the conclusion of all reviews I’ve read.
”
Consider this: how many people would be willing to sign up for a two-year contract and spend $500-600 on a phone that they find frustrating and difficult to use at the first go? I’m sure Apple is targeting more than the fanboys that are willing to queue up outside an Apple or AT&T store for a phone – and remember, those are the *minority*.
”
The simple fact is that according to the reviews I’ve read, that people are definitely willing to do this. Case and point – the people lining up to wait until Friday… they all don’t look like Apple heads to me. PSST… and there’s LOTS of them. If that’s the minority, then Apple is going to do WELL.
“* MP3 players are new, phones and smartphones have been around for decades and the market is well saturated. Many buying iPods would be buying their first digital audio players, but as for cellphones – iPhone looks more like a replacement. And it is hard to say iPhone is in a niche of its on because of multi-touch.”
MP3 players weren’t new when Apple jumped into the market. Creative, etc had been in the market for at least a few years. Apple didn’t invent the MP3 player by any means, just made one of the best.
“The players in the market when iPod first came in weren’t interested in their customers. Creative’s CEO famously boasted that his company didn’t need to invest in marketing. Compared with the likes of iRiver and Creative, Apple was a behemoth that has a bunch of people who know a thing or two about marketing. However, you can’t claim that against other phone companies. After the hype dies down – how would Apple’s marketing fare against more seasoned competitors like Motorola and Nokia?”
The same could be said of the phone market. There are only a handful of makers that are marketing their products… Blackjack, Chocolate… After all the hype dies down Apple will continue to impress. Anyone in their right mind should worry about Apple marketing. Hell it even has Gates on the ropes and in hissy-fits at times. Do you honestly think Apple hasn’t PLANNED for this?
“* iPod was actually easy to first use. iPhone takes time to get used to. For the average consumer, I would imagine the willingness to part money for an iPod rather than the iPhone, which the average Joe would find difficult to do phone stuff initially. Yes, they may get used to multi-touch, but Apple is taking a much bigger risk than iPod here – that people would get too caught up with the looks and the marketing behind iPhone to bother seeing if they could use it.”
iPhone does a lot more than play music. It’s definitely more complicated. From what I’ve seen – videos, and read-reviews, it’s by far the easiest to learn. It’s been said (forget where) that you don’t need a manual to figure out how to use it.
“* iPod was, for the most part, replacing mass-consumer Walkmans and Discmans, not competing against other MP3 players. So having those little things other MP3 players have like voice recorder, FM tuner, kitchen sink, et al, didn’t really hurt it. iPhone is not competing against a landline phone. It is competing against pre-existing cellphones, which has features people have become accustomed to like games and a keypad.”
I hate to differ here, but once again there were other MP3 players on the market. There WAS competition in this area already. And iPods are STILL missing features the competition has natively (to this day)… and it SELLS better than them.
“* iPod didn’t require people to go through the hassle of switching carriers. iPod played people’s MP3 libraries, where else, for iPhone, 72% of the market don’t use AT&T. Reasonable as AT&T exclusivity may be (otherwise stuff like secrecy and random-access voice mail wouldn’t be possible), it is still a hindrance to Apple.”
Yes, but iPod has a proprietary closed format. As I remember the iPod only worked on Macs initially. Any purchases you make in iTunes require an iPod to play (until a few months ago).
As for switching carriers (for me) – a non-issue. I have to have a carrier, regardless of the phone. When my contract is up, I’ll switch. Simple.
“To argue that just because Apple proved naysayers wrong with iPod therefore they would do the same with iPhone smacks a bit of fanboyism and delusion.”
Agreed -> iPod != iPhone. But, the market conditions, and competition are similar – you can’t discount that. According to reviews Apple should have no problem taking market share – they’ve got a winner… AND this is Apple’s ENTRY into the market.
The fact that we are comparing high-end Nokia’s, Samsungs, Blackberries to the iPhone is actually pretty interesting.
This phone, in it’s FIRST, version is a worthy contender to the market. It will get MUCH better. It’s got enough features, is as easy to use or is easier to use than anything out there. How many versions of the iPod have there been?
It will take market share. It will have other versions. It will be joining in the world-wide market.
iPhone will be a huge player… regardless of missing features or differences… just like the iPod.
There’s a monumental difference. When the iPod was released, the mp3 player market was fragmented and niche. Diamond and Creative were probably the closest to market leaders, but the market was still relatively new. Nature abhors a vaccuum, and so do market segments, so when you have a fragmented market like that, it’s natural that an aggressive and strategic player can rise to the top. You can’t even reasonably compare it to the mobile market.
There will be 170,000,000 cell phones sold in North America this year. About 1/3 of them will have a Nokia label on them. Maybe a quarter or so will have a Motorola label. If Apple manages to move 2,000,000 iPhones by year end and captures slightly more than 1% of the market in terms of units sold, that will be noteworthy but hardly paradigm shifting.
I think Apple made a strategic mistake with the iPhone. They designed it exclusively for the US market, which is quite frankly, much of a backwater in the global mobile space. The market is utterly controlled by the carriers, network features lag the rest of the world, and mobile consumers in the US market are driven far more by value/plan benefits than they are by carrier or handset preference, hence the requirement for hefty phone subsidies.
I suspect the phone would enjoy better success in markets where mobile tech is more ubiquitous and non-voice functionality is a proven draw. But then Apple would have a harder time drawing on their marketing machine mystique and brand value outside of their home market, so there’s that to consider I suppose.
Will the iPhone be a success? In the sense that Apple will move units and make money, sure it will. But it will play to a very fractional component of a small segment of a very huge market, with massive well-funded and entrenched competitors that are not going to sit by and allow Apple to gain any sort of momentum. Assuming radical shifts of market share is premature, to say the least.
If there are comparisons to be made, it is not to the iPod in terms of bringing ubiquitous technology to the masses, because the masses already have that technology. Apple didn’t just take market share in the music player market, they expanded that market far beyond it’s scope at the time Apple entered. That simply won’t happen in the mobile market.
The comparison should be made to the Mac. With the Mac, they have established brand value and a highly succesful and profitable niche market segment despite being up against much larger competitors in a brutally competitive market. But like the Mac, it will by design appeal only to a certain segment of the market. There’s nothing wrong with that, and as long as that’s Apple’s strategy they will do well. But even more so than with the Mac and the computing market, there measure in terms of share will be almost negligible in global statistics.
But nothing is a guarantee, and the reality distortion field needs to be kept in check. Regardless, the success won’t be measured in terms of how many units are sold in the first month, it will be measured in terms of how many are still selling 12 months from now. There’s no doubt we’ll see a huge spike at launch, that will gain a lot of press, but you can bet the real analysts will not be swayed by that.
“You failed to quote the rest of the sentences about the keyboard. Initially it took time to get used to… then the found it worked well for them… on par with a tactile keyboard on the Treo as one reviewer said. Keyboarding on a touchscreen versus actual keyboard became a non-issue is the conclusion of all reviews I’ve read.”
You completely missed my point. The point I was trying to bring across is that most consumers would try the phone out, either at the store or a friends, before actually deciding to blow $500++ on it. Even more so considering the price tag.
If people immediately say, “Oh, this is frustrating, but I’m so sure that I would get used to it, I’ll spend $500 on it plus that 2-year contract with AT&T”, good for Apple.
“The same could be said of the phone market. There are only a handful of makers that are marketing their products… Blackjack, Chocolate… After all the hype dies down Apple will continue to impress. Anyone in their right mind should worry about Apple marketing. Hell it even has Gates on the ropes and in hissy-fits at times. Do you honestly think Apple hasn’t PLANNED for this?”
Apple’s marketing isn’t full-proof, and there’s plenty of failed and semi-failed product down Apple’s history. I’m saying that Apple’s marketing gurus, God bless them, may not be able to make the iPhone as successful as Jobs aims it to be.
“I hate to differ here, but once again there were other MP3 players on the market. There WAS competition in this area already. And iPods are STILL missing features the competition has natively (to this day)… and it SELLS better than them. ”
Here’s the difference, Jim, go to any random dude, the chances of him/her not knowing the existence of most of those competitors. Contrast that with, say, the phone market. How many people do you know *don’t* know what’s a Motorola, a Nokia, a Sony Ericsson, etc.?
iPod entered a playing field dominated by a Korean company who thought a porn star as a company spokesman would be a terribly good idea. You can’t say that of phone companies.
“Agreed -> iPod != iPhone. But, the market conditions, and competition are similar – you can’t discount that.”
No! iPod entered a new market. iPhone is entering a saturated market. iPod had no major competitors known by mass consumers. iPhone has competitors with wildly popular products.
Yes, there isn’t Cover Flow you can flick through on LG Chocolate, or random access voicemail in Razr, but you would be lying if you say that is analogous to a time when the MP3 players were the likes of iRiver SlimX – nobody outside of Gizmodo heard of.
Unless, of course, you are suggesting iPhone is entering an untapped market of people willing to pay $500 for an iPhone. If so, be the first to describe this target market.
And finally, “How many versions of the iPod have there been?”
It’s completely different. The first iPod was great – if you consider the alternatives most consumers thought of (old Discmans that can play MP3s from CDs and the like). Few consumers heard of Creative Nomad or Rio or SlimX or Archos Jukebox, so while iPod isn’t that great on the feature list in comparison to its immediate competitors, to alternatives consumers know about, it was a sweet deal.
…
“No! iPod entered a new market. iPhone is entering a saturated market. iPod had no major competitors known by mass consumers. iPhone has competitors with wildly popular products.”
I see your point. The market is a lot bigger with more competitors. We’ve had mobile phones longer than MP3 players.
I think we both agree that it’ll be a different market for Apple to get into. It’ll probably be tougher since its already crowded.
Someone made a good point earlier that to be successful Apple doesn’t need to go to iPod market share levels… they simply need to get established as a player. I have little doubt they’ll manage to pull that off.
Thanks for the post!
To continue
“The simple fact is that according to the reviews I’ve read, that people are definitely willing to do this. Case and point – the people lining up to wait until Friday… they all don’t look like Apple heads to me. PSST… and there’s LOTS of them. If that’s the minority, then Apple is going to do WELL. ”
People lined up for PS3 – the fact that there are a few fanboys willing to buy a phone that they haven’t even touched, with a service plan that just was revealed. Does not mean the general market would make it successful.
And also, you’re basing your opinion on a bunch of reviews whose reviewers have been carefully handpicked by Apple’s PR?
“iPhone does a lot more than play music. It’s definitely more complicated. From what I’ve seen – videos, and read-reviews, it’s by far the easiest to learn. It’s been said (forget where) that you don’t need a manual to figure out how to use it. ”
You’re conflating user interface with the input device. I’m saying most consumers would be turned off by trying to type with the keyboard. Its probably fast to get used to and the user interface may be the next best thing since sliced bread, but you’re completely underestimating or ignoring consumer inertia.
People are used to typing on tactile keys. Maybe they would warm up to using virtual buttons, but that’s a huge risk.
“As for switching carriers (for me) – a non-issue. I have to have a carrier, regardless of the phone. When my contract is up, I’ll switch. Simple. ”
Considering you’re defending the iPhone at the bottom of some OSAlert thread pretty much puts you outside of the mass consumer market. Switching carriers *is* a hassle, even if you keep the number.
i will say, regardless of what I think…the phone will sell like hotcakes, which is the end goal for any company like Apple…on fanboyism (warranted or unwarranted) it will sell out, and continue to be the must have item…but i smell a Razr effect coming on strong…
Let us not forget, when they were first introduced, they too cost a loft $399-499…and now what…free in most cases w/contract? …i call BS…wait for version 2 and then place your bets… i say iPhone Rev1.x even beats vista sp1 out the gate lol
Ill put it in my wait and see pile along with the Palm Foleo.
Edited 2007-06-27 05:05
What I see in this commentary appears to be 90% Linux fanboy hatred of Apple. Many of you will be eating crow in a year IMHO.
Interesting reviews of the iPhone. The general consensus seems to be that the iPhone, despite its flaws, lives up to the hype; the only really sour grape is the slow AT&T EDGE network. Of course, this is all in America.
In Europe (esp. in The Netherlands, my country), the iPhone is going to hit two major problems.
There’s no word yet [1] on what type of SIM card the phone eats; in fact, people aren’t even sure if you can replace the SIM card at all. Since you can’t open the phone up, and there appears to be no slot anywhere on the device, it could very well be that you need to actually open up the iPhone to reach the SIM card – and knowing Apple’s engineering records, that’s going to ruin the device (Apple doesn’t use screws, they glue everything in place), and ruin the warranty as well.
The problem with this is that in some European countries, SIM locking is bound by laws and rules. In Belgium, for instance, SIM locking is not allowed at all, while in The Netherlands, network providers must unlock their phones for free after 12 months (before that, they can charge a fee, but they may not refuse to unlock). This does not fit into Apple’s business plan.
The second big problem is the lack of EDGE networks. While in other countries there are EDGE networks, in The Netherlands, the only EDGE network will be gone in July 2007; customers are ‘transferred’ to UMTS instead. Currently, the iPhone does not support UMTS (only EDGE), so as it stands now, you won’t be able to do any of the fancy data stuff on an iPhone in The Netherlands. Some will say ‘use Wi-Fi’; well, great, but apart from your own home and university (and a few rogue hotspots in Amsterdam), there is no public Wi-Fi in this country. And if you’re at home, why not browse the internet and do email on your real computer, with a normal screen and keyboard?
Four options [2] are now available to Apple.
I. A special EDGE network will be set up for the iPhone. Unlikely, since no network operator will set up a special network just for those lucky few who can afford the iPhone.
II. Apple will adapt the iPhone to use UMTS. This seems likely, but do not forget that many other European countries do have EDGE. In other words, Apple will have to make an UMTS version specifically for us and a few other small countries, which financially, doesn’t really make sense. If Apple makes an UMTS iPhone, it will be a worldwide device; i.o.w., early adopters of the EDGE iPhone are bending over. The crux here is how easy it will actually be to adapt the iPhone to use UMTS.
III. Apple will release the iPhone in The Netherlands – with or without EDGE. So, no fancy data stuff in my country. Kind of likely, but it will render the iPhone a useless brick, mostly.
IV. The iPhone will not go on sale at all in The Netherlands. The original author of these 4 scenarios thinks this is in fact not at all unlikely, but personally, I don’t think this will happen.
Whichever way you look at it, it won’t be straightforward at all for Apple to release the iPhone in The Netherlands.
[1] http://www.everythingiphone.com/forum/iphone/iphone-sim-card-1965.h…
[2] Sixth comment: http://macwereld.nl/nieuws/2007/06/eerste_reviews_iphone_is_revolut…
It seems the slot for the SIM card is at the top and it works much the same way like changing the battery in Apple Remote.
The iPhone isn’t available in the Netherlands, or anywhere else in Europe. Apple would be a rare phone company if it didn’t have a version adapted to the region when it releases the phone in Europe.
But the fact is that Apple is, for now, focusing on America. Which isn’t the smartest thing; America isn’t that important a market for phone companies. By time iPhone reaches Asian shores, the competition would have probably caught up.
That, and Asians seem to text far more often than Americans; multitouch may not be that popular this side of the world.
“That, and Asians seem to text far more often than Americans;”.
No kidding. People here (Philippines, SMS capital of the world, Hurrah!
) are addicted to SMS but I can’t say I see much MMS and 3G here. I could be wrong about MMS and 3G though.
Not exactly a big market for $600 phones here.
Edited 2007-06-27 12:26
I don’t know about Asia in general (which is a huge place, needless to say) but for example in one of the most cellphone and portable music player-ridden countries (South Korea), iPods don’t seem to very popular at all (as far as I can see). They have a lot of their own flashy devices, and the Apple’s KISS design principle is not necessarily the way to go in Korea. So the “catching up” there is up to Apple, not the competition.
1. Edge
Is a software upgrade for a carrier. The fact you can’t use EDGE in The Netherlands (after Telfort switches it off), doesn’t mean there isn’t any EDGE network out there. I agree it is highly unlikely that VF will switch it on just for one type of phone, but we have seen stranger things coming from VF.
2. Adapting to UMTS
Edge pretty much uses normal GSM components, which are small. UMTS is a bit bigger en needs more juice. I don’t see this happening on the battery part. Switching to HSDPA makes more sense as it is more sensitive (connectivity wise), which means it eats less power (relatively speaking). But the bigger part problem remains as HSDPA uses the same gear as UMTS.
3. Releasing in Holland without a fast network
Not an option. I foresee a scenario in which Apple launces an EDGE version in EDGE countries slightly early (September?) and a faster one (v. 1.5) later on, just before Xmas.
4. Not in Sale in Holland
Apple skips Holland with the Edge version. If no fast version before xmas, than no iPhone in Holland this year.
—
To my knowledge in Holland a carrier has to sell it’s gear without subscription (for sure in Belgium). It might be expensive, but can certainly be bought without a SiM Card.
Btw. Simcards in the US are not standard, so it makes sense to ship a US only version without a SIMcard.
editorial comic:
http://www.nutcase.net/fark/jobs-moses-iphone.gif
I didn’t expect anything else. Itunes must be one of the slowest mediaplayers I have ever used yet it gets excellent reviews wherever I look, iPod is a great device but it still has poor batterytime and lacking in support of different fileformats, still get excellent reviews (some of them it deserves, not all though).
I just want to recommend anyone to watch David Pogue’s NYT video of the iPhone. it’s very entertaining
http://video.on.nytimes.com/index.jsp?fr_story=caed76f16c6132710db5…
(I had to click low quality video to get it to play, though)
Few Flaws!?!?!?!?!?1
http://www.nextechnews.com/PermaLink.aspx?guid=a902d3ad-f1fb-42a2-8…
Any other phone with these flaws… ESPECIALLY a microsoft phone would have been castrated by every one of these reviewers… But instead apple gets unending praises because the phones pretty, has a pretty theme, and comes with a browser that im sorry MS DeepFish and Opera Mini do the same thing…
Not to mention a high pricepoint for a phone tagged to a rediculous contract.
lol i love that “its targetted at fanboys”
“ya tell that to the people standing inline already for fridays release”
Umm standing in line days ahead of a release…. is a fanboy
People can be the first customers for something without being fanboys.
Personal experiences:
1) Getting a Wii for my kids. I’m not particularly a fan of Nintendo, but my kids want one. I’m certainly not a Nintendo fanboy. They love the games. As for Nintendo as a company – we don’t care.
2) PS2 I wanted one… supplies were short. I got one first day. Game system was good. I still hate Sony. PSP is a piece.
Buying products the first day doesn’t qualify as a fanboy. People responding that a company can’t do anything wrong, ever – YES that qualifies.
There are certainly FANBOYS and BASHERS here on this board.
How can anyone take the opinions of someone who doesn’t have the strength to stand by their own views? “I hate Sony, but I bought their product anyway” <– how much credibility can be found in that sentence?
Everyone has an opinion. This is a perfect place to share and discuss. I doesn’t bother me one way or another if anyone hear agrees or disagrees.
“How can anyone take the opinions of someone who doesn’t have the strength to stand by their own views?”
Just goes to show that sometimes ones’ views should be OPEN to new ideas, doesn’t it. Sometimes peoples stubborness gets in the way of making sound judgment calls. That’s actually what a fanboy doesn’t see.
“I hate Sony, but I bought their product anyway” — “how much credibility can be found in that sentence?”
I was discussing how it’s quite possible for others to buy products during their debut and NOT be a fanboy. But…
Credibility? Ok, if you want to go there… you caught me. I must really love Sony and be a fanboy SIMPLY because I bought a PS2.
According to that logic nobody can possibly hate a company and still find they have a product that they need or want.
I’m not a Microsoft fanboy either, but I managed to find the XBOX a solid game platform and I’m glad I bought it. I’ve bought lots of XBOX games… each time knowing that Microsoft is profiting from me. I’d rather not support Microsoft in any way, but they do make an incredible machine. I’m not sure I hate Microsoft, but I really don’t like them.
I will continue to support PRODUCTS I like, no matter WHERE they’re made.
I’m here listening to others and contributing to an interesting discussion. I’ve learned quite a bit about the competition and what lies ahead for Apple.
I haven’t replied to all posts. I’ve heard some VERY good responses / counter points to some of my comments. Unfortunately your post doesn’t qualify as such.
I don’t own any Apple products (though I hope to buy a Mac in the future). But I admire them for trying to produce products that are functional and sexy. They may not be perfect but they help to move the market along as Microsoft did for the early desktop PCs.
I would still rather go with a Samsung F700…
The OCD in me shudders at the thought of the fingerprints all over the iPhone screen. Besides, Hardware keyboards like the F700’s, always feel more natural.
The iPhone does seem like a viable competitor in the business world though, which is a market apple never really seems to have a hold on…
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2150922,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03129TX…
The iPhone, as Jobs proudly dubbed the device to thunderous applause, will be three devices in one: a cell phone, a wide-screen iPod with touch controls, and an Internet communications device
http://www.mp4-converter.net/zune-converter/
the iPhone looks amazing, and it probably feels amazing in the palm of your hand, too. It’s sleek, curvy, shiny, and sexy,with on-screen icons and buttons that just ooze and drip class.
http://www.mp4-converter.net/iphone-converter/dvd-to-iphone/