[Apple Pro Underwear]

Everybody has a cellphone these days, and they are the same old b*llsh*t. The only phones that i think are exceptional are the Startac series and a good portion of the Nokia lines. I like some of the panasonic stuff for it's wieght and the qualcomm stuff for it's lcds and functions. Let's face it though, if they all had great reception and made their phones for all the service providers, there would still be no definitive awesome phone. ( Startac and nokia would fight it out though!)

Let's imagine that Apple made a phone though. This is truly a fairytale, but hey...i like to dream.

What i think Apple should/would do:

1. Design a masterpiece.
Let's face it, they know how to do this. it would probably not be teeny tiny but a nicely manageable size and weight. they may even figure out a way to make it open differently like startac or some sort of flip style.
2. Features
They could add a lot of things to a cellphone. I think they should avoid all of this stuff. no Mp3 player. No hard drive. No nothing. Just have a fantastic phone that has a interface that kicks but and is so easy to use, 5th graders could use em; (which will happen soon). It would be stand alone phone, that everybody can get and has nothing to do with Apple Computersat all. Except of course...my next point, which is....
3. Expandability !!!!!
This is where i think Apple could go nuts! They can have a attachment for the phone that is meant for Apple users! I'm talking about a device that clips onto the mobile phone (startac has a pda thing that clips on) and uses the phone's battery for whatever it's purposes.
Like a firewire:
1. Mp3 player
2. Hard drive
3. Extra battery
4. Mini-Pda
5. Basic Game System
(whether they have their own lcd or they share the lcd with the phone i don't know. They would all have a firewire port on the device...not the phone. I also want to adamantly point out that the devices would not be nearly as good as if you bought a device specifically meant for the same purpose, but hey, instead of carrying a mobile phone and a ipod, you can have just a cellphone (with the attachment))
All this stuff is extra for the Apple phone user to buy and they can buy whichever clip-on expansion device that fits their needs. Apple can think of this as they design the phone and they could probably make it look good. The Startac device looks like a obvious after thought to make money but apple can design it with this from the beginning!

I haven't thought this through totally but you guys can fill in the holes of why this can never happen and why it would be good or bad. It's a dream i'd like to see come to fruition. Which brings me to say, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AN APPLE I-PHONE ?

Actually, the thing you failed to mention that would really rock is to get the connectivity thing with the Mac going.

As in: most, if not all, solutions for free long distance via the net are PC specific. I myself love the PC platform and have lots of options but where does that leave you guys? This is probably better suited to a product similar to the Yap Phone than it is a cel unit. Still, with the consumers getting DSL and Cable access right and left, it's a good idea and yet another part of the digital hub that Apple should take a close look at. If there's something families like as much as music and home videos, it's talking on the phone with relatives, preferably for free.

p.s. This well-reasoned and helpful post brought to you by someone posing as wiggles, who is incapable of the aforementioned.

[nana2]

Originally posted by Apple Pro Underwear:
<STRONG>This is where i think Apple could go nuts! They can have a attachment for the phone that is meant for Apple users! I'm talking about a device that clips onto the mobile phone (startac has a pda thing that clips on) and uses the phone's battery for whatever it's purposes.
Like a firewire:
1. Mp3 player
2. Hard drive
3. Extra battery
4. Mini-Pda
5. Basic Game System

....


I haven't thought this through totally but you guys can fill in the holes of why this can never happen and why it would be good or bad. It's a dream i'd like to see come to fruition. Which brings me to say, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AN APPLE I-PHONE ?</STRONG>

clip-on mp3 player = done already


extra battery = spare batteries are already available in lithium polymer that are the thickness of a credit card, I carry my spare battery in my wallet.

mini-pda = Ericsson R380e
http://www.sonyericssonmobile.com/R3...features.shtml

basic game system = there are already some very basic games in most new mobile phones.

The main problem for Apple is that margins on mobile phones are very slim. This in unknown territory for Apple, who seem unable to produce a device with less than 20-30% profit margin. Going up against incredibly large conglomerates like Sony-Ericsson, it will fail miserably.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

Originally posted by nana2:
<STRONG>
The main problem for Apple is that margins on mobile phones are very slim. This in unknown territory for Apple, who seem unable to produce a device with less than 20-30% profit margin. Going up against incredibly large conglomerates like Sony-Ericsson, it will fail miserably.</STRONG>

Nana2,

you're right!

2 weeks ago, people said that apple making a mp3 player wouldn't happen because they would be taking on the "usual suspects", but voila...have we not been pre-ordering ipods for weeks now?

Also, as nana2 showed us....the technology is already there! Apple just needs to consolodate and make it all work easy. Sell the basic phone for 300 and each specialized expansion device for maybe 200 and maybe they can make some cash.

I think you might be misunderstanding my description too. I'll put up a link to a page on my website of sketches of what i'm talking about tomorrow.