Mrs. BP isn’t the technophile her husband is: She barely carries a cell phone (but does so at my insistence), rarely gets impressed with new gadgets, couldn’t care any less if we get the big plasma screen.
So you can imagine my surprise when, last night, as we watched the new Apple iPhone commercial (below) on TV, she let out an involuntary Holy Shit!
The commercial reminded me of that great quote by Arthur C. Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
The new iPhone looks like magic . . .
All of the iPhone ads are here
~~~
Wired reminds us that 30 years ago on this day (1977), the Apple II — the world’s first "practical" personal computer, went on sale.
At least she is married to someone that can afford one.
The I-Phone looks super awesome but there’s no way i’m going to be able to afford it !
Hey Barry,
I have the video clip of your appearance on BNN (discussing the Apple Iphone and Palm) yesterday on my blog but am unable to post a trackback!!
Gee, it is only a phone…
What is the battery life? (With all the functionalities it seems that one would need to keep it constantly plugged in and keep re-charging it every 3-4 hours)
I wish Apple would make it with replaceable battery to avoid people getting frustrated and keeping themselves attached to outlets. I see many users say: “Holy shit, I need to re-charge it again, and again, and again… I have just fully charged it a couple of hours ago”
This sounds like a piece of equipment for the other economy. The one I’m not in.
now the conundrum is: Do I sell my apple stock to buy one?
Wait until the OS gets “hacked.” By that I mean this computing platform is so rich and so deep that you’ll undoubtably see killer apps shortly. My wish list includes a media controller interface.
I don’t quite understand the 4Gb/8Gb however. 16Gb would only add $40 +/- to the cost.
The application that I hope takes advantage? dvdManager. Imagine at the store waving a DVD in front of the camera and knowing immediately if it is already in your collection.
If Steve Jobs took a dump in a paper sack people would buy it. iCrap
No texting, $599 (plus two year contract), within the year it will be more or less obsolete to the next gen. phones…..
However it has that stupid little logo of an apple on it so I’m sure it will be a big hit.
Still overhyped though…..
Anyone with balls enough to short Apple on June 30th???
Ciao
MS
~~~
BR: The Newton, the Apple Mini, the Apple Cube, the eMac, Apple TV
Not everything they do is a smash hit.
ok, I’m not rich, I won’t buy one, I actually hate iPods with a passion, and apple is great at hype.
but gee, kids, can’t you just admit that it’s pretty f***ing cool? come on. it’s cool.
p.s.– I never have been able to understand the whole texting thing. I mean, it’s a phone. you call people. if you call people so much that you can’t afford it, you’re spending too much time on the phone. trying living where you physically are at any given minute. it’s worked for ages.
Touchscreen functionality on cellphones has been a disaster so far. I say this as a thoroughly disgruntled consumer of the Chocolate, which is terrible. There’s no feedback on whether you’ve actually touched the function or virtual button you wanted. You spend so much time rekeying or cancelling out of undesired menus that it becomes seriously frustrating. No thanks.
It’s cool.
I’m sick of hearing about a fricking $600 gizmo that nobody needs but consumers in debt up to their eyeballs will get suckered into buying.
I’m peronally routing for a flop-a-rooney-mcfadden(I watch too much Cramer?).
I find it interesting that alot of people complain about the price.
People pay +$1,500 for a TV. Why not $600 for a phone?
What’s the big deal? Apple is an aspirational brand.
So what if it doesn’t have all the features of the $59 phone. When the next gen comes out, people will throw out the first gen iPhone and buy another.
I agree it IS cool….however is it $600 and $800 cool??? and two-year contract cool???
I grew up with Apple’s and had no choice but to switch to a PC when Apple all but abandoned the marketplace (at least in affordability and s/w wise) however apple is losing it’s focus on producing these phones as they will be the next “gotta have” product but that only takes you so far….making a dent in marketshare is going to be really interesting to watch as the economy “rebounds” (like we never had anything in-between a slow down and this mythical rebound that Ber”hank”ke is now spouting off about).
Apple iPhone=DOA
Ciao
MS
I can’t even find my ipod. I’m not paying $500 for a phone I can’t find when I need to make a call…
iPhone has 3 things going against it
* Only available through AT&T/Cingular (ot whatever they call them these days)
* Battery seems to be an issue
* Overpriced (over $500)
Having said that iPhone is going to revolutionize the Smart Phone industry. Be prepared to see the copycats and wanna-be’s from Motorola, Samsung and Nokia.
I would wait for atleast 2 quarters to see what the demand is like for iPhone. I say sell Apple stock as the phone is over-hyped imo. But Apple is a great long term investment.
My gut tells me that it won’t flop or sell like hotcakes.
Cellphones’ physical size limitations will always keep them from being what everyone(maybe just me) REALLY wants. A slim tablet-like…internet appliance. One with has a flash-based harddrive, and is all touchscreen with a stlyus, with USB/highspeed ports. There is no need for laptops or traditional desktops. Only servers(one machine per household with NAS) and terminals(internet appliance/tablets). The way it was in the beginning.
It won’t sell as many as the iPod. Still, Blackberry is in business and I think doing quite well. And not every kid buys one of the those.
Yeah . . . Blackberry Pearl $100 w/rebate, makes a much nicer combo with my MacBook. And if I want to actually be able to store all my music, add another three hundred for an iPod.
That’s why the thing has no memory. These guys are getting much better at their marketing.
Can’t help a little plug here. The ad with the Pirates movie that then looks for seafood and finds this restaurant called Pacific Catch?
I am an investor in that restaurant. Talk about unbelievably lucky free plug. It was apple’s ad agency that found us and asked us if we would be okay with that. Duhhhh.
I loved the phone even before that. For those of you who are worried about the price. Apple is a very sophisticated marketing company. It is just not smart to bet against them.
ICrap?
Classic Michael, classic!
Yeah, way too expensive. Not. An Atari Pong console in 1975 cost roughly the same inflation adjusted in 1975. Who would want to pay $100+ back then for a stupid square that bounces around in your TV? And video games? There’s a dead end business for sure. People who refuse to learn from history are a growth sector apparently.
Barry, is your whole blog inhabited by commenters who would tout up the value of Michaelangelo’s David by the per-pound cost of marble and the depreciated value of his tools?
Jeez people.
Maybe it’s because I work in product development that I appreciate how frickin beautiful this is. Those ads made me want to cry.
(OK, maybe it made me want to cry partly because even though I don’t WANT to spend $500 on a phone, now I see that eventually I’m going to HAVE to.)
Life’s too short not to be surrounded by beautiful things. And that is one goddam beautiful thing.
Semper fubar:
I totally agree!
how anyone can talk it up OR down without touching and using one is beyond me. That’s the RDF and the anti-RDF showing through people.
“Life’s too short not to be surrounded by beautiful things. And that is one goddam beautiful thing.”
You’re quite the consumer aren’t you?
Robert-
Way oversimplified……Atari Pong vs. iPhone??
Come on….get a better example. Pong had NO hype or marketing that comes even close to the jesus-phone.
It is an over-priced, under-engineered, over-hyped status symbol.
I forsee the swinging of one’s arm who owns one to attract atention to themselves in the same way you can see ipods being flashed around in 2004-05.
It is nothing more than a phone with a well-hyped marketing program associated with it.
BR- The Newton, I remember it well as I worled at Apple at the time. We all got to see it in a meeting and almost everyone who saw it expected it to change the world much like this phone. This phone is going to be just like that. All hype.
Apple TV…..what a joke….here is the best way to watch Bio-Dome 4 on you’re computer.
Ciao
MS
I think it looks like a nifty gizmo, however I’m not sold on the touchscreen interface and I think it’s going to be a terrible phone. That screen is going to be gunked/scratched up in no time through everyday use: holding a display up to your face that you’ve just been watching a movie on or whatever also can’t be the most pleasant experience, temperature-wise.
Apple dude here goin waaay back…
Me no likey 1st gen iphone. Edge network, only 16 Gig. 2 year contract with…”them”….
Me LOVE 2nd gen.
(or iphone without the, uh, phone part, whichever comes 1st;)
will wait….
advise Mrs. Picture to wait as well.
Magic? Beautiful?
It is a thing. An engineered thing understood completely by its designers.
Look! A shiny thing! Get out the credit card!
I think some people need to get out more and look at the world around them.
This culture is so toast.
You’re quite the consumer aren’t you?
No, actually I’m not. Older, small stickshift cars. No big TVs. Hate shopping, generally speaking. Crappy little cell phone – well, for now anyway. That could change… :-)
It is an over-priced, under-engineered, over-hyped status symbol.
Michael, it is pricey, it is in no way under-engineered and it is being hyped. I look forward to your Linux touch screen, web enabled cel phone announcement at a significantly lower price point. With your astute observations of the iPhone’s many fatal flaws it should be no problem to put your money where your mouth is and reap the fortunes Apple is obviously overlooking with their history of derivative technology and low cost products.
Better yet, why not forget the phone part and just show us your *ix kernel touchscreen GUI OS wi-fi enabled handheld for $200.
Apple’s marketing can be best described as this: (make of it anything you want)
“we’ve decided THIS is what YOU want”
ALl of you people who bought those neat little attachments(speakers, docks, etc) for your ipods will be signing a different tune when they are no longer compatible with that phone that you just HAD to buy because someone decided it was beautiful. Come on people this is a tool to help people communicate IT’S NOT A FRIGGIN LIFESTYLE….
But I see how you all got sucked into it by the steve jobs reality distortion field, it even worked on Gates last week……
Ciao
MS
The cell phone industry is full of copycat, brain dead products. I welcome Jobs shaking it up. I would NOT bet against this company right now. They turned another lazy, arrogant business on its ear — the music business. It’s wake up time for the hand held business now. Bring it on.
…oh and I forgot my biggest cell phone pet peave — when it makes a call sitting in someone’s pocket, or bag. (I only will buy a clamshell for this reason). We’ve all heard the nightmare stories this has caused!
Hopefully the “send” button is protected from this glitch.
Robert-
Do you practice at being a smart-ass or does it come naturally??
I’m sure you’ll be the first in line at the store to buy one.
Just because Apple “invents” it does’nt mean that there will not be a better alternative in the future. Within 3 months it will be out dated.
Linux Phone……..come on now I expected the Pong comparison at least..
Ciao
MS
Market survey on why women are a key demo for the iPhone…
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/06/05/mid_market_consumers_woman_will_trade_up_to_luxury_of_iphone_report.html
BTW, everyone should know that you NEVER BUY 1.0 of anything! (including the iPhone)
Like every other technio device, the iPhone will come down in price, have more features added, and be debugged for version 2.0 and higher.
“Do you practice at being a smart-ass or does it come naturally??”
ROTFLMAO
>>that you NEVER BUY 1.0 of anything! (including the iPhone)>>
Try telling that to the people who HAVE to buy it simply because of the logo on it….
Clueless Buyer: “I’ll send you a text when I get the iphone
“oh shit it does’nt do that?”
“ok I’ll just plug it into the set of speakers I bought for my Ipod”
“oh shit it does’nt do that?”
“ok, I’ll just upload my current presentation to it”
“oh shit it does’nt have enough memory”
How long am I locked into this thing?
Methinks there will be hoardes of people having that conversation very soon after buying it.
BUt it’s not Apple’s fault…kudos to them for creating hype that surpasses the very product’s features.
Do you practice at being a smart-ass or does it come naturally??
“Smart-ass” better descibes people who resort to “have you stopped beating your wife rhetorical questions” when beaten soundly in a technology discussion. Sad. We now return you to your regularly civil Big Picture blog (hopefully).
“Life’s too short not to be surrounded by beautiful things. And that is one goddam beautiful thing.”
If you believe this about a ubiquitous gadget like iPhone, I have a beautiful bridge to sell you.
Kind Regards,
Charles Ponzi
CEO
A Sucker is Born Every Minute, Inc.
Come on, everybody. Unbunch the undies. This release is for gadget lovers and priced as such. Elegant in every way. Apple doesn’t want to know, at this point, what the mainstream consumer thinks. They want feedback from the most discriminating – and not about price.
This is a typical Apple product with the typical Apple hype. It could explode or implode…Apple products have done both, haven’t they. But I’m sure not going to bet against Apple at this point in the game.
I agree with anon that the iphone is really just Apple looking to shake up the status quo re: cellphones. Reminds me of everyone crapping on the ipod…until everyone started to copy it.
And its nice to see that MS doesn’t just get his panties in a bunch over bullish commentary, but also saves some rath for Apple products as well. LOL.
Robert-
you must be talking about the one-sided “technology discussion” you had with yourself since none of the issues brought up about you’re little pong vs. iphone comparison are addressed-just a rant about some piece of technology that does’nt exist.
But I expected that…
Ciao
MS
“Life’s too short not to be surrounded by beautiful things.”
I happen to agree with that statement. As semper fubar explained, this is not consumerism, but perhaps more akin to anti-comsumerism. Consumerism is about getting stuff, using it up, throwing it out and then getting more stuff.
iPhone innovations
1. The use of OSX – this choice empowers the device to be able to run Safari, mail and widgets. It continues to unify the Apple product line, not fragment it.
2. The use of a new consumer user interface [UI] and the deletion of so many buttons and choices (this was what we did about 16 years ago with Windows and 23 years ago with the first Mac and now we are doing it again).
3. The realization that Moore’s law scaling of silicon is continuing and this makes the possibilities of integration infinite.
These three innovations offer up the opportunity for Apple to become the laptop replacement.
Longer term Apple expands out of the Consumer segment and uses its “Ultimate Convergence Device” positioning to go after small laptops, NOT just the SmartPhones.
http://sramanamitra.com/blog/489
A bit BULKY dontcha think? Women don’t care because they just love to shove it out in front of you to show you how smart they are, and they can stow it in their purses anyway. But a bit big to slip in my pocket. On the other hand it is big enough so you shouldn’t need that separate GPS device.
Interesting too that this marvel comes with ATT Edge data at a pathetic 1/10 the speed of what’s available on Verizon or Sprint EVDO networks…
“Do you practice at being a smart-ass or does it come naturally??”
ROTFLMAO (again!)
Regarding ATT’s pathetic speed, I have to wonder if some future version would adopt the newer, better technology of Wimax? ATT has been testing the technology.
The next technology step would be AT&T’s HSPDA (UMTS), not WiMax.
I know Arthur C. Clarke. I worked with Arthur C. Clarke. Arthur C. Clarke is a fried of mine. And Barry you’re no Arthur C. Clarke. And this gizmo ain’t no magic.
The first versions will no doubt have lots of bugs, but it looks like an eventual winner if it can gain more memory (easy) and converges to VoIP over WiMAX (also easy). This limited release via ATT is for the early adopters to use to shake out the bugs of the user interface. Apple doesn’t need or want a big installed base — yet. The cell phone manufacturers will be hard pressed to meet it, because they really aren’t up to playing Apple’s game in user interfaces and multimedia, and their leverage from expertise in the radio interface is rapidly eroding due to commoditization of that technology.
It’s very cool. I would nearly buy it.
But no texting? That kills it.
And if that’s the case, I’m guessing no typing at all. So the internet on the phone isn’t much use (how would I leave comments on TBP?!). And sending emails then is out, so Blackberry remains the business choice.
Looks like my old phone and Ipod will have to do me for now.
If I was forced into a trade, I’d rather be short APPLE than long it here.
I think a phone should be functional first and “beautiful” second.
Is iPhone functional? Noooooooo!
Power-guzzling 3.5-inch display kills the battery within 2 hours of continuous use. Even worst, you cannot take a spare battery (no removable battery) and it only has 5 hours of talk time without audio, much less with audio. (The charge will not last a day and no spare batteries)
No memory expansion slot (Apple is like memory Nazi – only 8 gigs for $600 for you)
No 3G (iPhone is not out yet but it is already technologically outdated. As Nokia said: “What, no 3G? Haah?”)
Useless 2-megapixel camera when most others have 4-5 megapixels
Flat and ergonomically uncomfortable to use it as a phone
No GPS functionality (several other phones have it)
Fingers (and your ear) constantly smudging the screen
In short, iPhone is more like a white elephant than a functional phone. I do not find it as a beautiful phone at all. On the contrarily, it is an ugly with multiple problems gadget.
Maybe Apple can improve it with time, maybe or maybe not…
nevertheless, every kid will want one, lot’s of people will buy millions of them, and apple will make a ton of money off it.
“The application that I hope takes advantage? dvdManager. Imagine at the store waving a DVD in front of the camera and knowing immediately if it is already in your collection.”
Yes, the perfect application for the typical consumer of this product: a tool for ppl who have so much crap, they need software to keep track of it.
“lot’s of people will buy millions of them”
Bob A,
I thought that Apple initially will only make one million of iPhones (ten million over a few years). It will be somewhat hard to sell millions this year when you only have a million in stock.
P.S. Nokia sold 40 million high-end mobiles last year.
Friends who frequent this blog: YOU ARE A BUNCH OF GRUMPY BASTARDS TODAY.
I like my iPod Nano. One of my favorite devices ever. The form and function are superb. The display is like a gem.
The iPhone is currently out of my price range (as are most LUXURY items … you spoiled brats) but it will come down due to the miracle of the DEFLATIONARY effects of competition, technology and blah, blah, blah. Plus this thingy is only v.1.0 so get the hell over the missing features. They leave something to look forward to.
The iPhone is an engineering marvel and a piece of art. Do you have any idea how many man hours have been put into this thing? Apple took a risk on this and they have done a damned good job. Sales will end up telling the story in the end.
And when a woman becomes excited over an electronic device, we should all take notice. The are graduating in greater numbers from university than their male counterparts … and just might have a few dollars of discretionary income to spend :-0 Maybe Apple is onto something making these things fashion statements. It isn’t like women spend money on such things or “accessorize” or anything.
After hearing B.R.’s significant other’s reaction, now I’m curious to see how mine will respond. Maybe you fellers could post your results.
Geez, people sure are uptight over a new gadget – you would think this is a debate over the shortcomings and pros of universal health coverage or immigration reform. Ah, the moral dilemmas of the new iPhone.
Telling from the tone and number of comments here, at the least iPhone has the attention of many people.
I agree with the minority of comments above – Apple is trying to shake things up, this is a first run, and aesthetically it looks great. Yes there are many improvements to be had (especially text capability), but for those people who can truly afford it, $600 or $800 makes no difference at all.
I’m a little short on MEW.
Could ya help an old alter boy, Fada?
Apple is pretty obviously aiming at an urban, 30ish, tech aware, early adopter, style setter type of person with the initial launch. The interface is clearly Star Trek Next Generation. In some respects, this puts Apple on a similar plane (no pun intended) as Virgin.
This is a modus operadi of Apple. Macs came back from the dead for two reasons.
1. They looked cool.
2. They ran Unix (which actually does what it’s supposed to do without crashing).
3. Suits didn’t get it.
The relief from grey boxes running Windowsxx was positively orgasmic. (Then) 20ish geeks knew fugly. Grey boxes are fugly. Windows is fugly. Sun got fugly.
The Ipod was an MP3 player that
1. Looked cool
2. Did what it’s supposed to do.
3. Suits didn’t get.
Our prototypical geek, now pushing 30, owned a Mac, ripped his music, and bought an Ipod. (S)he personified cool.
An Iphone is a phone that
1. Looks cool
2. Does what it’s supposed to do (maybe)
3. Suits have figured out.
Our prototypical geek is now 30something, has a mortgage, dog, wife, etc. Is the Iphone the object of desire the Mac and Ipod were? I don’t know. Is our prototypical geek still cool? I don’t know. Apple doesn’t know either.
The “kids” (20ish) and “old farts” (40ish+) don’t figure in this yet. Whether the Iphone succeeds or fails will depend on the reaction of the target early adopters. If they evangelize it, Apple will make it work price and feature wise up and down the age/income matrix. If that market rejects the product, it walks the plank.
Why does everyone keep saying no texting? It has internet, Safari and OS X. That means it can text.
Sunsets are beautiful. Music is beautiful. Art is beautiful. Gizmos are not.
One possible explanation why someone might think a gizmo is beautiful is that their ability to reason has been compromised by the anti-Christ, who happens to be fond of wearing black mock turtleneck sweaters.
We need Tipper Gore to save us and go on an anti I-Phone crusade like she did with heavy metal albums back in the ’80s.
i swear to freakin gawd i’m gonna write a greasemonkey script to remove:
“ciao
MS”
New iPhone marketing, check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xXNoB3t8vM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4VieMjZYfI
JD…I’ll fund that script R&D.
JD…I’ll fund that script R&D.
LOL.
regretfully agree.
Ciao is weird Michael.
Kill ciao now.
Michael Schumacher wrote: “ALl of you people who bought those neat little attachments(speakers, docks, etc) for your ipods will be signing a different tune when they are no longer compatible with that phone ”
Yeah, because lord knows Apple never put out an iPod with a different shape before.
Estragon wrote: “The “kids” (20ish) and “old farts” (40ish+) don’t figure in this yet. ”
The 20-somethings are key. They’ll spend $600 on a phone because they don’t have kids, or a mortgage, and maybe they still live with Mom & Dad, and some aren’t paying off their college loans yet.
Just think how many college grads are going to use their graduation money and/or signing bonuses and/or first paychecks to buy an iPhone in a few weeks.
Even teenagers will be saving up for one. When I was in high school in the 80s, I worked, saved, bought an early Sony Discman, a $400 Proton receiver and some $200 Advent tower speakers. (Not that great, but probably better than most teens would buy then.) Nowadays, component stereos aren’t in much demand, and teens are more likely to buy expensive phones (especially since they have them stuck to their ears all the time.)
Teens are status-oriented and a kid with an iPhone will blow away the plebes with $200 Sidekicks.
“how anyone can talk it up OR down without touching and using one is beyond me. That’s the RDF and the anti-RDF showing through people.”
Reviewers I respect have had hands-on time with the iPhone.
“Is iPhone functional? Noooooooo!
Power-guzzling 3.5-inch display kills the battery within 2 hours of continuous use. ”
You speculating or do you have real data?
“No 3G (iPhone is not out yet but it is already technologically outdated. As Nokia said: “What, no 3G? Haah?”)”
Who cares? 3G is still not widely implemented in the US, and it does have 2.5G. As carrier capabilities improve in the States, so will the iPhone. Nokia is “toast”.
“We need Tipper Gore to save us and go on an anti I-Phone crusade like she did with heavy metal albums back in the ’80s.”
Her hubby, and Apple board member, might have something to say about that.
<<<"Is iPhone functional? Noooooooo! Power-guzzling 3.5-inch display kills the battery within 2 hours of continuous use." You speculating or do you have real data?>>>
The power consumption of 3.5” screens is between 2-3 Watts (average 2.5 Watts); researched 9 different 3.5” screen gadgets.
Apple advertises that when you talk on iPhone (use it as a cell phone only) it automatically turns off the screen and other functions (to save power)
In addition, Apple advertizes that the fully charged iPhone battery life is 5 hours of continuous talk mode (with all other functions turned off). Talk mode alone power consumption is 0.5 Watts (average for most cell phones)
Here comes your second grade math: if 0.5-Watts power consumption gives you 5 hours then 2.5-Watts power consumption should give you 2 hours. This is with a brand new battery, after a few months of use battery life gets shorter and you cannot replace it (you would need to buy a new phone for $600)
Also, the idea of touch-screen was a revolutionary dumb idea (waste of power), typing by using a touch-screen consumes 6-10 times more power than typing by using the simple keys.
<<<"No 3G (iPhone is not out yet but it is already technologically outdated. As Nokia said: “What, no 3G? Haah?”)" Who cares? 3G is still not widely implemented in the US, and it does have 2.5G. As carrier capabilities improve in the States, so will the iPhone. Nokia is "toast".>>>
I care and other 3G users care. It means limited markets for iPhone – if you want 3G or GPS do not buy iPhone. 3G is implemented 90% in Europe and it is also implemented in most major US cities. It is also very popular in Asia.
How Apple can make claims that they have the most “revolutionary” phone when the technology that they use in it is nothing new and outdated? In addition, the battery life is a big problem. The phone is nothing more but clever marketing tricks and pure hype by the media.
I coveted the TI-30 (late ’70s Texas Instrument scientific calculator) to move away from the slide ruler for electronics class, but at a $150 price point I had to join the Army before I could afford.
Today it sits on my museum wall with the rule and a abacus (no formal training).
Good Analysis V L. Bad 2nd grade math though – happens to most of us – products of the great american education system.
If a power drain of 0.5 watt gives you five hours then a drain of 2.5 watts will get you a theoretical max of one hour! And, almost certainly, in practice, less than an hour. Something’s not quite right with the 2hr display/5 hour talk figures/assumptions.
The
Ugh. More useless crap that people don’t really need.
Really. This is the kind of junk that 2/3 of the entire US economy is based on. Not sustainable and ultimately worthless in a collapse.
Bluzer,
The math is correct; I did not finish the sentence with “from 2 batteries”. (Pardon me; I was typing it late at night).
Subconsciously, I assumed that most people know that iPhone has two batteries. (iPhone uses only one battery for cell phone functions and both batteries when you use the screen related functions).
The sentence should read:
“Here comes your second grade math: if 0.5-Watts power consumption gives you 5 hours (using one battery only) then 2.5-Watts power consumption should give you 2 hours from 2 batteries.”
“Her hubby, and Apple board member, might have something to say about that.”
Apple might take back the three 30″ Apple Cinema Display LCD monitors he has on his office desk at home.
“Ugh. More useless crap that people don’t really need.”
Well, at least it’s more functional than high-fashion clothing, bad art, and bad plastic surgery.
Gryphon – Could you enlighten us why this consumer driven economy is worthless? Isn’t that the great thing about this country that people have choices and willing to take risks and adapt to changes unlike other places? Or would you rather prefer that we live in a communist state?
“Ugh. More useless crap that people don’t
really need.
Really. This is the kind of junk that 2/3 of the entire US economy is based on. Not sustainable and ultimately worthless in a collapse.”
I’m fond of this jungle tribesman statement I saw on NatGeo “why do you travel with so much stuff?”
My answer – cause it makes me comfortable, but I understand your point man, … cause diamonds and rust I’m already there.
(cue up Best of Joan Baez on the turntable)
Why Apple is ripe for short sellers
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/time-short-apple/story.aspx?guid=%7BF6C9F6DD%2D3173%2D456F%2D9FAB%2DF30B9A2D6647%7D
Some of the folks that post on this forum are, for lack of a better description, uninformed. Iphone text messages, battery life is 5 hours continuous use, 16 hours playback, has a full safari browser, here is a sales manual from AT&T to help you get caught up on what is and what isn’t correct. Please stop posting non-sense, text messaging BS for example.
Forgot the AT&T link: http://iphonegod.blogspot.com/2007/06/33-pages-of-iphone-training-manual.html
“Some of the folks that post on this forum are, for lack of a better description, uninformed.”
Bern,
Is it self-criticism? Are talking about yourself?
Did you read this manual before spreading your misleading propaganda?
I have read the entire IPhone Manual for Salespeople. There is no evidence supporting your claims about 16 hours playback time in this manual and 5 hours of continuous use.
Is it when you turn off all other features and use $600 phone as iPod? (Maybe but I still doubt it can.)
Don’t you think if it were true, Apple would mention it in their manual on how to exaggerate the product so they can push more units? The manual completely does not mention the battery life. Why?
(People from sales know why – never mention anything negative about a product)
In addition, your preposterous claim that “battery life is 5 hours continuous use” is misleading.
There is an astronomical difference between 5 hours of continues talk (using it as a cell phone with other functions turned off) and 5 hours of continues use (using all features).
Get you facts straight Mac-fan-boy(girl or he-she) before accusing others of being “uninformed”!
More of “revolutionary” iPhone shortcomings (in addition to no memory slot, non-replaceable battery, etc.)
Revolutionary smart-phones have3G and HSDPA (3 times faster than 3G). iHypePhone does not even have 3G.
Revolutionary smart-phones use 5-megapizels camera with DVD like quality video. iHypePhone has only 2-megapixels iCamera.
Revolutionary smart-phones have GPS mapping. iHypePhone has no GPS (only iHypeGoogle Maps)
Revolutionary smart-phones have Java (over the air download of ubiquitous Java based applications). iHypePhone can only dream about it.
Revolutionary smart-phones have exchange and MS Office support (for corporate users). iHypePhone can only dream about it.
Revolutionary smart-phones have e-mail with document viewers to view attachments (Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel for corporate users). iHypePhone can only dream about it.
Revolutionary smart-phones have a digital music player and a stereo FM radio. iHypePhone has only a digital music player.
Revolutionary smart-phones are unlocked (can be used with multiple carriers). IHypePhone is locked and can only be used on outdated AT&T networks with a 2-year contract.
iJobs should be embarrassed to call his handicapped creation as a “Revolutionary Phone”
Disclaimer: I use no “i” Nokia N95 that is much more revolutionary than iHypePhone (aka iPhone). Note N95 has all those mentioned above features and more.
P.S. Nokia N95 is $700 and Nokia N80 is $500 without any contracts (they are much less expensive with contracts)
Jobs and the media are insulting our intelligence with their iPhone hype.
Something about a ITC decision, QCOM, concerning 3G phones. Hmmm, I wonder what that was about.
Batteries: http://esdat.ucsd.edu/~dpani/esdat/battery/battery_vlsi01.pdf
I think Fred has it right:
“The cell phone industry is full of copycat, brain dead products. I welcome Jobs shaking it up. I would NOT bet against this company right now. They turned another lazy, arrogant business on its ear — the music business. It’s wake up time for the hand held business now. Bring it on.”
The entire telephone business has seen just a tad over ZERO innovation since the Ma Bell breakup. I can’t think of a product on sale now that wasn’t available then, though in a larger, clunkier, more expensive package, and that goes for internet access which dates to the early 70s and texting which dates to the 50s. It is almost pathetic having waited THIRTY years and the phone companies have still not rolled out any of those neat products and services that were PROTOTYPED in the 1970s and will probably be patented as non-obvious innovations in the next five or ten years.
The phone companies are strangling on their own closed systems. Ironically, Ma Bell was just being forced to open its system to innovation when she was split up. Of course, at the rate things are going, we’ll start seeing innovation again when Ma Bell finishes coalescing. Once again the discredited New Deal theory of natural monopolies will be validated.
By letting a non-phone company under their technological umbrella, AT&T is taking a gamble that they will be the survivor to lead the new telephone empire.