iPhone has been announced.
- Thread starter Midnight Runner
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- murphykieran
Maybe I'm missing something here, or there's a joke that I'm not getting, but isn't the iPhone primarily meant as a telephone whereas the PSP is primarily meant as a games device?
If you're complaing that your dedicated portable games machine has been "bested" by a nifty new smartphone that has probably very limited gaming abilities (compared with something like a PSP or DS), then you're probably confused by the purpose behind both/either cellphones or handheld games consoles.
KM.
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But they will fill 2 pockets instead of one.
Only fills one pocket, I keep my keys and wallet in the other pocket.
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Well that sure didn't take long...
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Jonathan Weber wrote the following editorial for the Times that really does a very good job of revealing the darker side of Apple's business culture:
Does the iPhone sow seeds of Apple's downfall?
The remarkable resurgence of Apple and Steve Jobs has continued to accelerate in the new year with the launch of the iPhone and, to a lesser extent, Apple TV. The reviews were stellar, the stock jumped to an all-time high, and rivals were again left shaking their heads over Jobs’ ability to re-invent at a stroke even the largest and most complicated categories.
Yet Apple is exhibiting the kind of corporate hubris that is almost always damaging in the long run. Overwhelming success tends to breed arrogance and greed – especially with someone like Jobs, who is more than a little arrogant to begin with – and that in turn tends to have consequences.
Indeed, I would argue that a backlash against Apple is inevitable, though it will probably take some time before it has any effect on business. Already, there is carping in Silicon Valley and elsewhere about Apple’s closed systems, especially its insistence on locking non-iTunes music out of the iPod. There’s been grumbling about the terrible reliability record of the iPod line, and about Powerbooks with bugs. There has even been a corporate scandal, over stock option backdating, that the company has failed to explain candidly and which could result in serious legal problems sooner rather than later.
Yet somehow Apple continues to be viewed as an underdog and get a pass on issues that would subject other companies to unrelenting criticism and even government lawsuits. Dell, for example, has received an enormous amount of flak for shoddy customer service, while Apple offers essentially no customer service without the expensive AppleCare service plan.
Sure, you can take your machine to an authorised dealer if it is under warranty. But when I tried that about a year ago, one dealer would not take the machine and another said he would have to ship it back to Apple, which would take him a week or two, and I might get my computer back in a month. Apple customer service told me they would have nothing to do with me if I hadn’t bought AppleCare; this for a brand-new computer that cost more than $2,000 and had a cut-and-dried factory defect.
Similarly, the way Apple uses digital rights management software to keep iPod/ITunes as a closed system would be considered an outrage if tried by Microsoft. Apple is basically the only meaningful player in the online music business, but it has deflected criticism because it faces plenty of competition from . . . pirates!
It is true that it took Apple, unencumbered by the baggage of the record labels, to create a legal market for music downloads, and I don’t begrudge the company its success. But you could also say that it took Microsoft to create a mass market for personal computers, and its tactics bought the company a decade of damaging litigation and a reputation as a ham-handed monopolist.
When, as a reporter, I covered Microsoft in the 1990s, I always felt that Bill Gates’ arrogance had everything to do with the company’s legal problems. Gates and Microsoft insisted on extremely aggressive business practices, and that attitude helped turn a lot of people against them. While the anti-trust case ultimately resulted in only limited sanctions, it had all kinds of negative effects that a more humble company might have avoided.
Apple, in those years, was a has-been in the tech business, a bumbling firm that couldn’t figure out how to capitalise on its technological strengths. Jobs, for his part, trying to prove that his early success wasn’t a fluke, was relentlessly ingratiating in his efforts to make a go of Next Computer. (I remember a cheery unsolicited phone call at home from him one morning: “Hey Jonathan. It’s Steve. Steve Jobs.”Apple loyalists, like any proper cult followers, could still be counted on to show up and cheer at MacWorld, and to hammer any journalists who weren’t sufficiently deferential to the Macintosh. Apple was the anti-Microsoft, and that was enough to make some people proud.
Today the cult still shows up at MacWorld, but it’s a little odd to see such feverish loyalty to a company that registered $2 billion in profits last year and brazenly pursues strategies that keep its customers dependent on its very expensive gear. While still a lot smaller than Microsoft, Apple is extraordinarily well-positioned to capitalise on the transition to digital media, and its market power is growing every day. Why is critical scrutiny so lacking?
Jobs is at least the equal to Gates when it comes to holding a high opinion of himself, though he is a lot more charming. Maybe that’s an important difference. But frankly, I doubt it. Jobs might be able to steamroll even the Securities and Exchange Commission for now, but when you think you are above the law – or even above the laws of business – you eventually get taken down a peg. You read it here first.
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- YSSMAN
It does make you think, doesn't it?
I know that I've always been put-off by the occult ran by the folks at Apple, as their followers simply drive me crazy. Basically what it comes down to is that they think you have a mild form of down-syndrome if you can't operate a G5, and simply put, I'm not certain why it matters...
...His points about comparing what Apple is doing and if Microsoft was the one who is doing it is indeed a valid point; Most people accuse Microsoft of doing everything wrong, or bad, evil, whatever in the industry, and yet Apple dodges the bullet because they are Apple. The DRM crap on iTunes does drive me crazy, but Microsoft's crap is just as bad.
Back on the issue of the phone, I get the feeling that Apple is either going to make a gazillion dollars for themselves with this thing, or they are going to fall flat on their face. My reluctance to go to Cingular is so strong, added to the fact that this new thing will cost $500 with a contract is enough to put me off for good. I've already got an iPod (mini), so the music-player stuff isn't a big deal, and as far as web-browsing and composing goes, my guess is that most of the others out there (Blackberry, Q, Blackjack, MDS or whatever T-Mobile's is, etc) would fare better as a daily-use smart phone.
To be honest, I'm looking into the Motorola Q pretty hardcore now, if not, maybe the Blackjack. I don't need the iPhone... It will probably end up being "too cool" and thereby exactly what I don't want in 2007...
I know that I've always been put-off by the occult ran by the folks at Apple, as their followers simply drive me crazy. Basically what it comes down to is that they think you have a mild form of down-syndrome if you can't operate a G5, and simply put, I'm not certain why it matters...
...His points about comparing what Apple is doing and if Microsoft was the one who is doing it is indeed a valid point; Most people accuse Microsoft of doing everything wrong, or bad, evil, whatever in the industry, and yet Apple dodges the bullet because they are Apple. The DRM crap on iTunes does drive me crazy, but Microsoft's crap is just as bad.
Back on the issue of the phone, I get the feeling that Apple is either going to make a gazillion dollars for themselves with this thing, or they are going to fall flat on their face. My reluctance to go to Cingular is so strong, added to the fact that this new thing will cost $500 with a contract is enough to put me off for good. I've already got an iPod (mini), so the music-player stuff isn't a big deal, and as far as web-browsing and composing goes, my guess is that most of the others out there (Blackberry, Q, Blackjack, MDS or whatever T-Mobile's is, etc) would fare better as a daily-use smart phone.
To be honest, I'm looking into the Motorola Q pretty hardcore now, if not, maybe the Blackjack. I don't need the iPhone... It will probably end up being "too cool" and thereby exactly what I don't want in 2007...
Heh, hypocrisy is everywhere.
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Looks like iPhone may have some tough competition:
SAMSUNG Ultra Smart F700
SAMSUNG Ultra Smart F700
- 3.5G Smartphone
- Tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz
- UMTS 2.1GHz w/ GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA 7.2Mbps
- 5 Megapixel Camera w/ Auto-Focus & Flash (back of phone)
- Video Camera w/ Video Conferencing Support (front of phone)
- MPEG4/H.263/H.264/Real MP3/AAC(+)/eAAC+/Real
- 3” 440x240 (262,744 pixels) TFT Display
- Full Touch Screen
- QWERTY Keypad w/ VibeTonz (vibrating feedback)
- MMS / E-mail / JAVA / WAP 2.0
- Bluetooth® / USB
- Flash UI / Document Viewer
- Full HTML Browsing
- Multimedia Software
- Offline Mode, BGM
- microSD™
- Size - 104 x 50 x 16.4mm
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Don't forget the Chinese-made Meizu:
Click the picture for the article. Notice the exact placement of the Phone, Mail, Browser, and Music Player icons on the bottom. Not surprisingly, they also make this:
Click the picture for the article. Notice the exact placement of the Phone, Mail, Browser, and Music Player icons on the bottom. Not surprisingly, they also make this:
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The F700 isn't out yet, so no need to jump to any conclusions... however, Samsung has not comitted to an opertating system yet for the F700, and early specualtion is that it will be Linux, not Windows.... and Samsung has at leastto this point said that the F700 will have live video conferencing as well as visual voicemail.
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Oh, good to know.
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The part about visual voicemail is good news. It might seem like a minor feature, but I find my voicemail very annoying and time consuming, so I'm pretty excited about it.
Also, I hope visual voicemail makes its way into more (no wait, all) phones, since I doubt I will be getting the iPhone immediately after it comes out.
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livemusic
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Robin
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China's answer to the iPhone...... The M8
Its probably going to be cheaper, runs some kind of windows OS, has a camera and all the other stuff, looks just like it! may get this one then!
http://www.mobile-review.com/fullnews/main/2007/January/30_eng.shtml
Its probably going to be cheaper, runs some kind of windows OS, has a camera and all the other stuff, looks just like it! may get this one then!
http://www.mobile-review.com/fullnews/main/2007/January/30_eng.shtml
Robin
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Check the previous page, Robin ///////.
hahaha, opps sorry, I did check to see if it had been posted, I guess it looked so much like the iPhone I didnt see it!
Also on another note, its funny that in industry they copy a design just because apple makes it, if some normal company made the i phone people would say it looks bland and boring, I know apple is the bench mark but lets see some individually from some other manufactures.
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Click pic for some nice video guides to the upcoming iPhone:
I'm still not sold on the on-screen keyboard, but I really like their video voice mail system!
I'm still not sold on the on-screen keyboard, but I really like their video voice mail system!
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