Answers to Some of Computerworld's 20 iPhone Questions
Mike Elgan asks some very good questions about the iPhone in his opinion piece for Computerworld (one of our IDG sister publications). I can't answer them all, but the day after Steve Jobs' iPhone demo my colleague Eric Dahl and I got a chance to play with a prototype and pose some of the same questions Elgan had to Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of worldwide iPod marketing. Here's the scoop, as I see it:
1. The iPhone looks as striking up close as it did from afar during Jobs' demo. The quality of the display is terrific, the lines are clean and simple, and the skinny profile impressive. The phone was a little warm when I touched it, but not alarmingly so.
2. The touchscreen technology worked, but not as perfectly as it did in the demo, at least in my brief experiment with the prototype. In particular, I had real problems with the software keyboard: My thumb-typing was consistently hitting keys adjacent to the ones I targeted. The iPhone has auto-correcting text entry technology that's supposed to figure out what word you were trying to enter, but there's a limit to its second-guessing skills after you've entered three or four incorrect characters in a row. Joswiak kept telling me to stop trying to backtrack and correct the typos ("Have faith," he said repeatedly), but it just wasn't working for me.
In fairness, however, I was impressed by the finger-swipe scrolling. And the pinching technology, which zooms in on an area of a Web page or other graphic that you identify by literally pinching the display, is truly amazing.
3. You probably won't be able to get an iPhone anytime soon without committing to a two-year Cingular contract: Joswiak didn't say how long Cingular will have exclusivity, but if you want this phone close to launch you will have to pay $500 (for the model with 4GB of storage) and $600 (for 8GB) and commit to both voice and data services that right now cost a minimum of $80 a month. If you recently locked yourself in to another carrier, you'll have to resign yourself to paying an early termination fee.
Joswiak said that by announcing the iPhone six months before it ships, Apple at least had given people early warning so they can plan their phone purchases accordingly. I might, for example, hang on to my Cingular Treo 650 longer than I'd planned to wait for the iPhone--my contract ends next month.
4. Elgan wonders about what it means to say the iPhone runs OS X, and I do too. What it doesn't mean, apparently, is that developers are free to create iPhone apps the same way they can create Palm OS or Windows Mobile apps. The iPhone is not an open platform, Joswiak says: Apple will maintain control over what you can run on the device. And we didn't hear anything about productivity apps for the iPhone, which suggests this isn't a business device. (No big surprise here since a lot of what make the iPhone so appealing is its capabilities as an entertainment gadget.)
5. In a related software issue, Joswiak said Apple does not plan to offer an iPhone VoIP client (for Skype or any other service). This doesn't bother me too much since Cingular's voice plans (like those of most carriers) support nationwide calling. However if you were hoping to use the iPhone's Wi-Fi support to make lots of VoIP calls overseas, you'll probably be disappointed.
6. Elgan wonders how sturdy the iPhone is. I asked Joswiak whether I'd be able to toss it in my purse the way I now throw in my Treo 650 without damaging the touchscreen. He said I probably could as long as I didn't have broken glass or the like in my purse. I don't carry broken glass around--but I do sometimes put earrings or other jewelry in the bag. On the other hand, I have put my iPod Nano in my bag, usually in a side cloth-lined compartment, without problems. I imagine a cottage industry of iPhone covers will quickly sprout, similar to the thriving one for iPods.
7. Jobs views the iPhone as a breakthrough on the order that the Mac was in 1984 and the iPod was in 2001. I'm not so sure about that. The Mac and the iPod created completely new product categories and industries; the iPhone, while clearly a tour de force in design, basically marries two existing product categories. As innovations go, it's more reminiscent to me of the way Handspring's first Treos combined a Palm PDA with a cell phone (although the iPhone executes with more flair). Achievement, yes. Paradigm shift? We'll see.
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Did everyone forget that it is a phone? How about reviewing the actual phone features?? The images look PDA-like, basically a flat rectangle without contours. Holding a PDA up to my ear to talk into it would be awkward, leave cheek prints all over my touch screen. Does the microphone position line up with the speaker so that you can listen and talk without shifting the phone up and down on your face? How is the sound quality when you make a call? How about the speed dialing and voice recognition features are any of the fancy gadgets voice activated? Most phone users will be driving at least 50% of the time that they are using the phone it would be great if you could voice activate which song you want playing...etc
Does anyone know what the plans are for Europe? We use 3g and UMTS and Cingular is not present in Europe. Is Apple going to make an exclusivity agreement with an operator or...? This would be much appreciated to know!
I'm in. I want it. I trust it.
I read that article and I thank you for your answers. In fact the only answers that mattered, since some of them really don't (who cares how it's going to be called in the end?). Some of those questions can be answered with common sense. Apple wants to control everything on the iPhone, but with a full-browser, perhaps running java, you think they can? Hello?
One thing writers are missing is that iPod sales WILL slow down. It was a matter of time cell phones were seriously going to take on the iPod. The iPhone will be Apple's marquee product a few years from now. Apple HAD to do the iPhone.
The other questions about pricing, etc. Come on. New technology is purchased by early adopters at a premium price. The price then lowers down and it's taken by the masses. Those people paying $600 for a PS3, $2000 for a HDTV now, and $400 for the first-gen iPod, know what I'm talking about. Right?
It's a GSM 2.5g device, NOT 3g. It's also quadband, which means it will work pretty much anywhere, assuming no network locks are present, but of course no 3g features.
Just another over rated, over priced Apple piece of crap. But on the bright side, it will keep a Chinese sweat shop busy.
The way I see it.. Is that another attempt by Jobs to create another monopoly. The phone looks sleek but it has no keyboard! Ever tried to use a touch screen only dialing on the existing touch screen phone? I personnaly miss have of the numbers with my fat fingers!
In other words, it's not a new Mac, it's a new LIsa ;)
P.S. If I only new how to spell rite!
comment 4 has a big point "Apple HAD to do the iPhone" because of the copy cats and alternative products.
The success of the iPod set a precedent. and you can bet that blackberry, Motorola, Sony Erickson, Nokia will be working 24/7 to bring out a product that will properly compete whit the the iphone. So if Jobs dos not move fast he will be far from dominating the market
Ipod = at least 2+ yeras old technology. What about camera? does it even have one?
Yes, it has a 2-megapixel still camera, but no flash or zoom and--somewhat surprisingly at this stage of phone-camera development--no video capability.
For the poster who asked about Europe: Jobs said the iPhone will appear in Europe by year's end, with Asia to follow in '08.
Yardena Arar
well in the us and in europe, you can worry about all these contract issues from/with the service provider, but in other countires, handsets dont come with the contract, u have to buy it seperatly. so some of these worries are not of mine. all i care about is that this phone will have none of the faults i'v always been encountering...