[Dark Helmet]

1) Year 2000 Apple's computer market share is poor so they ponder releasing a non-Mac product to get an Apple product in more peoples hands. 2001 iPod released Mac only.

2) 2002ish Apple realizes that keeping it Mac only isn't bringing that many new Mac users so they release a PC compatible iPod hoping it will draw PC users to Macs. It works somewhat well in bringing in new Mac converts. Meanwile iPod takes over the world in the MP3, video space and is happily in millions of PC users homes.

4) Apple switches to Intel and intro's Bootcamp allowing both Mac and Windows on one computer seamlessly. Apple sales of Mac's increase.

5) Apple creates iPhone which acts like an iPod but is NOT officially an "iPod + Phone". Is it that widescreen video iPod people have wanted? Yup. Is it that newton/PDA from Apple people wanted? Yup.
It is all those things but depending on the customers perception it is all or one of the things they want.
A new device that people think is an iPod or a phone or a PDA... but it actually runs OSX and is all those things.

6) Looking into the future.. Apple sells it's 10 million iPhones by 2008. The important thing is it didn't sell iPods to these people but a Apple device that runs OSX. Light version or not OSX and Safari just increased its install base by 10 million in a year.

• Apple created the iPod as lure to PC users try to cast out an line to reel PC users in. Somewhat successful.

• The switch to Intel chips was bait rather than a lure. Also sucsessful.

The iPhone is more Newton and Mac as it is a PDA/Smartphone. Best of all Apple is sneaking OSX into the homes of all these people who are thinking they are just getting an iPod phone. Even if they know about OSX being on it they don't really care at the time.

What happens next? A HUGE chunk of theses PC/iphone users will stop and think when it comes to wanting to get a new computer. "What, my phone runs OSX/Safari and OSX is on the computers as well? I didn't know that but I like iPhone a lot and this OSX interface so lets go to an Apple store".

That aside we can also see the support Podcasts have got creating a whole new format that has really taken off. Many media outlets, websites, bloggers etc have all offered Podcasts on thier site. What is next? How about websites designed specifically for the iPhones screen? Hit CNN and instead of viewing the full page on a small screen or getting the boring WAP version they create a very good inbetween version.

3rd party manufactures will start spewing out peripherals and making stereo's bluetooth compatible to work with the iPhone. Again, PC users with iPhones now have OSX, iphone compatible car sound system, websites catered to iPhone and Mac's have bootcamp. Why would they still want a PC with Windows as to these people it will feel like an niche NOT all the compatible Apple stuff around them.

If Apple opens 3rd party support any app that is made for OSX can be easily moved over or vice versa. OSX's application list expands quickly.

Can you imagine if the iPhone worked with any bluetooth keyboard?! Most of my day at home is just replying to emails, checking websites, RSS, weather, directory listing etc. My iPhone can do all that even without a separate keyboard. The keyboard would be great just for those long emails or even writing a word doc. In other words for some people the iPhone could actually replace a desktop computer for most things permanently or temporarily.

Microsoft has tried all this for years and hasn't succeeded as they push the "Windows CE" all over the box and the UI.

WebTV was to get Windows in peoples livingroom. Didn't work.

Windows CE was to get on everyones phone. General consumers won't touch it.

Zune. Enough said.

Xbox is to get in our living room again and is somewhat sucessful. Successful if you consider MS has only lost money from this venture for 5 years and my Xbox works with my Mac and iPod. In other words it didn't make me want to get a Windows PC or Zune and I don't see the word Windows anywhere on my Xbox.

Apple took a MUCH smarter and sneaky approach. The ipod gets into the PC users home and gets them hooked on iPods while tries to entice them to buy a Mac next upgrade. Oh and make money the whole time doing it.

The iPhone is a OSX Trojan horse that sneaks into PC users homes under the disguise as another iPod and without them really knowing it they are now an OSX/Safari user.

2007 is going to be awesome for Mac users and Apple.

[Dakar²]

Just remember: 1% of the market os 10 million people...

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Dakar² 

Just remember: 1% of the market os 10 million people...

Exactly. That is where I got the 10 million more safari/OSX users from.

by 2009 I am sure it will be 2% or higher of the phone market.

[ort888]

You also have to imagine that smartphones/internet capable PDAs are in their infancy now, but in 5 years will be EVERYWHERE.

Apple is introducing a new product that makes their competitors look ancient, and getting in right as this market is about to explode.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Apple is introducing a new product that makes their competitors look ancient, and getting in right as this market is about to explode.

the great thing is they made more than just make all other smartphones look stupid in one shot.

1) Every other video playback device looks stupid
2) Every other iPod wannabe looks stupid
3) PDA's have looked stupid for years but this made it worse
4) Tablet PC's were stupid from the get go but even the iPhone can be a good alternative
5) Every handheld UI looks stupid
6) Every consumer phone and smartphone looks stupid
7) Landlines look stupid
8) Regular voicemail looks stupid
9) WAP browsers like Opera look stupid
10) Zune. Welcome to the stupid.

I'm sure they will add more to that stupid list as they add new software features.

[::maroma::]

I agree that most people aren't seeing the iPhone for what it potentially is, and what Apple potentially plans it to be. This isn't something Apple did just to please the people crying for an Apple branded phone. Apple doesn't do that. They make decisions based on the future, not the present.

This phone blows away any other smart phone on the market today, I don't care what people are bitching about. All the nitpicking about network standards, battery life, etc will all disappear when the phone hits the shelves. That is pretty much guaranteed. This is the iPod introduction reborn. Hordes of people crying that this will fail because they think they know better than Apple. And every one of those people are eating their words today. They all own iPods and love them and would never speak ill about them. Some people never learn.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

6) Every consumer phone and smartphone looks stupid

Only if you think that consumers are going to spend $500 on a phone with a 2-year contract.

Plus, it's got some shortcomings. Supposedly, the iPhone can't sync with a computer via Bluetooth. Even my cheap-ass RAZR that I got for free can do that. And it'll be interesting to see how the people who've been bitching about the flat Motorola buttons for not feeling like buttons react to the iPhone, which has no buttons at all.

Originally Posted by ::maroma:: 

They all own iPods and love them and would never speak ill about them. Some people never learn.

Sure, I'll speak ill of them. They scratch way too easily, and they have no recording feature. In the old days with MD and even with cassettes, you could record audio with any old player, whereas with the iPod you have to buy a dedicated recording device which costs $400 and doesn't do anything other than recording very well. I don't see why some people have to act as if Apple is 100% perfect in everything it does. It's not.

[goMac]

My opinion is the iPhone is the next Macintosh.

Think about what the average consumer does on their computers. They chat, send email, view pictures, listen to music, and watch movies. The iPhone can do all that, it's always online, and you carry it with you. It's literally a convergence of all of Apple's devices. It's a Mac crossed with an iPod.

There's still a ways to go until the iPhone could replace a computer, but I'm sure this is the direction Apple is going. Obviously the iPhone still needs to be tethered to a computer, no word processor yet, etc. But this has Apple's Knowledge Navigator written all over it.

The Mac/PC will stick around. Obviously Pros don't want to be doing Photoshop on a tiny screen, etc. But for the average user, I think this is where computing is going.

I think this is why Apple spent so much time on the iPhone and left the Mac out of Macworld.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Plus, it's got some shortcomings. Supposedly, the iPhone can't sync with a computer via Bluetooth. Even my cheap-ass RAZR that I got for free can do that.

I wonder if Apple can just do a quick Firmware update (it's running OS X, afterall) and enable syncing via Bluetooth?

[Salty]

This is like saying people want linux cause they got a linux cell. They won't. The iPod has raised Apple's public image a lot. The iPhone will continue to do that, thus when people are looking for computers they'll consider the Mac and it'll be great.
Safari on the phone is a smart idea but at the same time that just means more market share for Safari which is a good thing. But Apple is behind Safari less to control or even help the net and more just to make sure the Net works well on Macs and other Apple Products. What Apple should be doing is licensing Safari for free to Nintendo for on the Wii.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Only if you think that consumers are going to spend $500 on a phone with a 2-year contract.

Are you saying that 1% of all phone users is too high an estimate?

If not than you've got nothing.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

the great thing is they made more than just make all other smartphones look stupid in one shot.

1) Every other video playback device looks stupid
2) Every other iPod wannabe looks stupid
3) PDA's have looked stupid for years but this made it worse
4) Tablet PC's were stupid from the get go but even the iPhone can be a good alternative
5) Every handheld UI looks stupid
6) Every consumer phone and smartphone looks stupid
7) Landlines look stupid
8) Regular voicemail looks stupid
9) WAP browsers like Opera look stupid
10) Zune. Welcome to the stupid.

I'm sure they will add more to that stupid list as they add new software features.

Nice list, it would be funny if it wasn't all true.
Heck, it is funny. Especially 'Welcome to the stupid.'

iPhone will re-define phones, PDAs and portable computing. The competition is sh*ting bricks right about now on what to do about the future.

[Salty]

Me and Casi, the other Mac geek on campus sat with his MacBook in the student centre watching that Mac Rumours feed peeing and excitedly yelling about it to all passer bys. Actually a few of the profs were excited heh. At one point I was like, Well, Microsoft, Palm, Blackberry, Motorola, Creative, and Sandisk are all banging their heads against walls screaming expletives now.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by osiris 

Nice list, it would be funny if it wasn't all true.
Heck, it is funny. Especially 'Welcome to the stupid.'

iPhone will re-define phones, PDAs and portable computing. The competition is sh*ting bricks right about now on what to do about the future.

Seriously though the Zunes only advantage was its Wifi and widescreen. The iPhone got both but 10x better as you can actually use the wifi for something other than advertising.

If Apple came out with a widescreen iPod that was like the iPhone minus the phone + more storage it would burry it for good.

I loved how a month ago Steve Balmer said "Eventually I can see the Zune becoming a phone". Better get crackin Stevie!

[ort888]

Originally Posted by goMac 

My opinion is the iPhone is the next Macintosh.

I agree. The iPhone is a true glimpse of the future. Apple is going to be on the ground floor of the next revolution in computing... which is going to be ultra-portable, all-in-one super communicator/entertainment devices.

This is going to be HUGE. Imagine what the iPhone will be in 5 years?

[ort888]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

If Apple came out with a widescreen iPod that was like the iPhone minus the phone + more storage it would burry it for good.

If? More like when. I bet we see a standard one with just the ipod and widget features, and another with the wifi stuff as well.

I also bet that we see these before the phone releases.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

Seriously though the Zunes only advantage was its Wifi and widescreen. The iPhone got both but 10x better as you can actually use the wifi for something other than advertising.

If Apple came out with a widescreen iPod that was like the iPhone minus the phone + more storage it would burry it for good.

I loved how a month ago Steve Balmer said "Eventually I can see the Zune becoming a phone". Better get crackin Stevie!

I can't wait for an iPod version of this, like you said.

Steve Balmer....gawd, monkey boy lives.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by ort888 

I agree. The iPhone is a true glimpse of the future. Apple is going to be on the ground floor of the next revolution in computing... which is going to be ultra-portable, all-in-one super communicator/entertainment devices.

This is going to be HUGE. Imagine what the iPhone will be in 5 years?

it totally is. I wasn't around for the first Mac intro (born just not a computer user yet).

The iMac felt like a last ditch effort to save Apple even though it was great.

The iPod success came slowly over time.

With the iPhone I seriously consider it as "The world before the iPhone, and the world after the iPhone".

Even with moderate sales this iPhone is going to change everything about phones, communications, data plans and computers. Every smart phone is going to try to copy it as much as they can. Websites will be built around the iPhone (Myspace iPhone anyone?). GUI's will be rethought. Music/video distribution will change even more. Watching your content using AppleTV will or some other device will change the way we watch TV. Hell many people might use it as their only email/surfing device instead of a laptop. When I travel I bring my laptop to surf, email and watch movies. The iPhone just replaced it for that.

In a couple years I can EASILY see a HUGE number of people watching TV shows as downloads and not live broadcasts.

Right now my main show is BSG which i tape with my PVR and usually illegally download so I can watch it on my PSP on the subway or sent it to a friend who missed it.

If I could subscribe to iTMS to automatically download each show every week for $xx and have it automatically upload to the iPod each day I would be in heaven. I can even take it to a friends house and hook it up to a TV there to watch together. Since I watch so few shows it might be cheaper to cancel monthly satellite TV and just download the shows I do want and have them commercial free and portable. If I want better quality I can get the DVD of the shows and even convert it to iPhone size.

yes I know you can do that today but the iPod video's screen was too crappy for me to even consider it. Plus I didn't want to carry a large iPod and smartphone at once.

This is the ultimate convergence for me. If it eventually takes 3rd party apps it is close to perfect and honestly change my life in significant ways for the better.

[Fett]

I agree that it is a good strategy, starting expensive. It's what they did with the iPod. The iPhone is going to be a huge deal for Apple.

[wolfen]

Getting dreamy-eyed about it...

Imagine something like an 8x10 picture frame. The iPhone is inserted into its back so that its little camera peeks through a hole in the frame toward the user. The "picture frame" is actually an LCD screen. Attach a foldable keyboard with its own touchpad. The whole thing weighs maybe a pound. The screen and keyboard slip into a very slim leather case. This is a very cheap evolution and overflowing with potential.

Viva la Revolucion.


Alternately, you could have the phone sit in the keyboard and used as the trackpad/multifunctional interface with the video piped to the larger screen via a keyboard wire. Putting a camera into the LCD screen's frame and utilizing the phone this way is a slightly more expensive form factor, but the programmability of the phone's interface used this way has lots of potential in other directions.


(FYI, if no one has done it yet you could patent these ideas and possibly make a lot of money. Me, I'm a social worker. I don't care.)

[Dark Helmet]

For a few years Nokia (And Palm with the lifedrive) has been trying hard to get people to use the phone as a daily blogging device with little success.

The iPhone could easily do this. First, it has a camera. Take picture during your day and either upload it right way to flicr, blogwhatever using edge or wait till you hit home or open Wifi.

The screen size is big enough that you can properly view and edit a photo. The web access is there so you don't have to hit a special WAP blog to update it.

The keypad is nice enough to write things easier than using multitap.

[macintologist]

Hopefully the mobile Safari will have an option to not download images or plugin media.

[TETENAL]

Originally Posted by Salty 

What Apple should be doing is licensing Safari for free to Nintendo for on the Wii.

They did.

[Salty]

I'd imagine it would.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Originally Posted by ort888 

If? More like when. I bet we see a standard one with just the ipod and widget features, and another with the wifi stuff as well.

I also bet that we see these before the phone releases.

It's just a matter of time. But it won't come out before the iPhone because that would cut into the iPhone sales. Personally, I want the iPhone. But I would get an iPod with touch-screen and all the other features (iPhone sans phone) instead if it were available. Apple knows this.

People primarily want everything else the iPhone has, except the phone part. At least that's the impression I'm getting. Plus, how would they price it? If the iPhone is $499 and $599 for 4 and 8 GB, respectively, how would you price a 30, 60, 100 GB HD-based touch-screen iPod that has everything the iPhone has except the phone? If it's less, people will buy it instead of the iPhone unless they REALLY want the phone capabilities. If more, I don't know. Would you pay $699 or more for a 100 GB iPod? Hell, the 8 GB iPhone costs as much as a PS3 already.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

People primarily want everything else the iPhone has, except the phone part. At least that's the impression I'm getting. Plus, how would they price it?

http://forums.macnn.com/89/macnn-lou...t-will-become/

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

Are you saying that 1% of all phone users is too high an estimate?

If not than you've got nothing.

You said that this makes every consumer phone look stupid. Well no, I don't think a $500 (with contract) phone that has a lot of features makes a $50 (with contract) phone with fewer features look stupid. For 10 times the price, the iPhone had better have more features than the $50 consumer phone. I'm not going to estimate how many people will buy this, but if 1% of all phone users bought it, and 99% bought a consumer phone instead, then the consumer phone isn't looking stupid, sorry. In fact, for a basic user who isn't going to do anything except make phone calls, spending $500 for a phone that has a whole bunch of features he/she'll never use is what looks stupid.

Similarly, the iPhone does not make MP3 players that cost half the price and have four or five times as much storage stupid, it doesn't make voice mail that comes free with the cellular service stupid, it doesn't make landlines which have free incoming calls, a feature that businesses need, stupid - I'm sure you get the point. Heck, it doesn't make anything look stupid for users that are on providers other than Cingular and thus can't use the thing anyway.

I'll refrain from saying that all the "stupid" comments do make someone look stupid.

[brapper]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

10) Zune. Welcome to the stupid.

hahahaha

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

I'll refrain from saying that all the "stupid" comments do make someone look stupid.

11) CharlesS. Welcome to the stupid.

[Stogieman]

You're not seeing the big picture here Charles. This is Apple's first step in the cell phone market. I'm sure Apple will offer cheaper models within the next 2 years. iPhone nano anyone?

All of this complaining about the iPhone's price is giving me Deja Vue. I clearly remember back in 2001 people would baulk at the iPod's $399 price tag and say no one would ever pay that much for an mp3 player.

I guess I don't understand why everyone bitching about the price. Early adopters have always ended up paying more. That's a fact. Just give it some time. And if it turns out to be a flop (it won't) at least it will force the iPhone's competitors to produce better products.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

11) CharlesS. Welcome to the stupid.

Well, that was a great rebuttal.

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

You're not seeing the big picture here Charles. This is Apple's first step in the cell phone market. I'm sure Apple will offer cheaper models within the next 2 years. iPhone nano anyone?

Oh, I'm sure they will. If nothing else, the first generation iPhone will become cheaper a couple of years after it's announced when it gets superseded by a newer model. And when it does, I'm sure it will pick up a lot more users than the first one. They'll also have to introduce a CDMA version at some point, which will help because probably a majority of the US cellphone-using population is on CDMA, and that's a lot of users. After all, the iPod didn't become the phenomenon that it is today at its original $400 price point and its status as a Mac-only device. But to say that this thing makes products which are drastically better suited to their respective markets stupid is just annoying fanboyism. It would make consumer cell phones look stupid if this phone was so much better and it cost the same amount. Then there would be no reason to buy the consumer cell phone, and it would indeed look stupid. But this is a different product, in a completely different market altogether. It's insulting - I would never be able to spend $500 on a cell phone - I guess that makes me stupid, huh?

I'm not trashing the iPhone. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've already said a few times it was a great idea for Apple to do this. I'm just getting sick of this rah-rah fanboyism that seems to go on around here every time Apple releases something new, and I'm as much of a Mac fanatic as anyone. Is the iPhone a good idea? Yes. Is it this giant end-all, be-all that will completely destroy the rest of the cell-phone industry? Obviously not.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Well, that was a great rebuttal.

The best. Ever.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

You said that this makes every consumer phone look stupid. Well no, I don't think a $500 (with contract) phone that has a lot of features makes a $50 (with contract) phone with fewer features look stupid.

I didn't say the iPhone has awesome VALUE next to cheap phones. What I mean is that its interface, hardware and strategy is what makes all other phones look stupid.

It is also not 10X the price of similar phones. The only phone that comes close is the high end Sony w950 and it isn't half of what the iPhone is and is $1000 - $1200.

If you know anything close to the iPhone out today please let me know where I can find it and especially for the 10x cheaper you mentioned.

[Troll]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Apple is introducing a new product that makes their competitors look ancient ...

You guys are drinking too much Kool Aid! Either that or you're ignoring anything that happens outside the US. Does anyone living in a country that has 3G GSM think this phone makes others look stupid?

The iPhone has a great interface but it hardly makes the competitors look ancient. Most 3G phones (like the Nokia N Series for example) are way ahead of the iPhone technologically.

[TETENAL]

It's just that nobody gives a crap about UMTS.

[fhoubi]

Originally Posted by Troll 

Most 3G phones (like the Nokia N Series for example) are way ahead of the iPhone technologically.

And hardware wise? My girlfriend's N70 crashes a lot, and ALL paint got off the cheap plastic front- and backcovers. Within a year it looks and handles like crap.

[Troll]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

... it doesn't make landlines which have free incoming calls, a feature that businesses need, stupid ...

That is an insanity in the US that I cannot fathom. It's the only country I've ever been to where you pay to RECEIVE calls and sms. As if you could control that.

[Troll]

Originally Posted by fhoubi 

And hardware wise? My girlfriend's N70 crashes a lot, and ALL paint got off the cheap plastic front- and backcovers. Within a year it looks and handles like crap.

See, she's had a phone that can do everything the iPhone can do and more for over a year. My point was that the N70 doesn't look stupid compared to an iPhone. And it's not the only one. My local phone shop has a dozen smart phones that can do everything the iPhone does. Interface aside, the iPhone is 3-5 years behind the N70. Not saying that some people don't want less tech. I'm just saying that calling other phones stupid is not fair. The iPhone is not bleeding edge (geddit?) by any stretch of the imagination.

Now as far as it scratching and crashing goes (which is unrelated to how smart the phone is), can we really say anything about the comparison of those features right now? We don't know how crash-resistant or scratch-resistant the iPhone is. It doesn't look very scratch resistant to me. I would think that anyone who manages to scratch the paint off an N70 is going to do an iPhone in pretty quickly. My girlfriend is also notoriously hard on phones (partly because she throws it in her bag with keys and make up and change and shakes it up). She destroyed a Startac in a month. I give the iPhone a life expectancy of 3 weeks tops in her hands!

BTW, maybe the Nokia needs a firmware update. My colleague's doesn't crash.

[xi_hyperon]

Having glossed over many of the comments here, it seems the lot of you are arguing past each other:

a) The people here arguing that the iPhone is well behind other phones are obviously speaking from a communications technology standpoint. This may be true, but it's safe to say that Apple will get there and its only a matter of time.

b) Those stating the iPhone makes the other phones out there look ancient, are speaking chiefly from a user interface standpoint. This is also true.

The UI is where Apple's advantage lies. People will buy this out of the gate in June because of the leap forward in usability, not because someone's drinking the Kool-aid (although many will be carrying a flask in their pocket ). It's a valid advantage.

The question is, given that Apple can eventually match the features of other phones out there, can the other phone makers match Apple's UI kung fu? Even if they start working on it now, it's going to be some time before they have something even close.

Having said that, my own personal long term prognosis is: Apple ftw.

[Troll]

I agree Xi although I don't think some of the people calling other phones stupid were just referring to interface. There seem to be a lot of people who believe that Apple has invented the Smartphone.

I think it is a leap in terms of what is available on the US market and so I have no doubt that it will sell well in June. For me, the real test is when it goes on sale in the rest of the world. Like in Europe where the market is more than 10 times bigger than the US and where there are quite a number of more capable phones available. The question then will be whether people are prepared to pay $500 for a phone with fewer features than many others but a better interface. And once the iPhone has caught up technologically, the question will be what value people put on that cool interface. I love Apple products and quite frankly I don't want TV on my phone or video calls or most of the other 3G services other than the bandwidth. However, I don't think I'll be putting $500 down for that interface.

[xi_hyperon]

My guess is (and this is based partly on what Steve said in a CNBC interview), as the iPhone becomes pervasive in the market, prices could start to come down. I would also guess we'll eventually see this kind of UI on simpler variances of the iPhone (think iPod --> iPod mini --> iPod nano).

For those reasons, I'm going to wait a year, or maybe even two, before I allow myself to give in.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Troll 

The iPhone has a great interface but it hardly makes the competitors look ancient. Most 3G phones (like the Nokia N Series for example) are way ahead of the iPhone technologically.

You think because it is G3 that it doesn't make your Nokia N look stupid? Honestly I'd rather have Wifi.

I mean Apple never has the highest technical specs with computers or iPods but everything else has no comparison overall.

[fhoubi]

Originally Posted by Troll 

BTW, maybe the Nokia needs a firmware update. My colleague's doesn't crash.

Just find the option "write SMS directly to memory card" and nurse hundreds of SMS's . MY gf does. I can not count how many times she sent her previous 6210 and 3650 back, losing everytime her data.

What if a Mac not only syncs the iPhone, but also does firmware upgrades? A winner here.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by xi_hyperon 

hose stating the iPhone makes the other phones out there look ancient, are speaking chiefly from a user interface standpoint. This is also true.

As does the large quality screen, form factor and the fact that it is not "convergence device" that does everything half assed and master of none. The iPhone uses its whole ass and is master of all!

[davesimondotcom]

The day the iPhone was introduced, the world changed. Big time.

I'm not going to say that the iPhone is perfect, or that it is going to be an instant success.

But what I do know is that my wife called me from work to make sure I'd seen it (I had). Some of my PC-lovin' Mac-hatin' contacts sent me messages saying, "Wow, that iPhone is cool. I want one."

The phone market had been stagnant and boring, and now I can't even look at a phone ad on TV without laughing. Especially, the "enV" from Verizon. I'm pretty sure nobody will be envious of an enV when they are holding an iPhone.

It will be just a matter of time before other carriers are begging to get on the iPhone train. Cingular got on at the beginning. But a few stops from now, other carriers will want on - T-Mobile, Alltell, Verizon. In that order, probably.

Verizon will stick to its "take the customer for all they are worth" strategy for as long as they can.

Fifty years from now, years after his death, people will look back at Steve Jobs as one of the greatest businessmen and creators of products ever. He isn't selling sugar water. He's changing the world!

[Dark Helmet]

Honestly. This is as big as when the radio was introduced, the TV, the first Mac, the internet.

The iPod and iMac are nothing in comparison.

[Troll]

Originally Posted by fhoubi 

Just find the option "write SMS directly to memory card" and nurse hundreds of SMS's . MY gf does. I can not count how many times she sent her previous 6210 and 3650 back, losing everytime her data.

What if a Mac not only syncs the iPhone, but also does firmware upgrades? A winner here.

I backup my 6230i to my MBP via bluetooth using a $20 shareware off versiontracker.

[Troll]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

You think because it is G3 that it doesn't make your Nokia N look stupid? Honestly I'd rather have Wifi.

Rather than ... wi-fi??

Methinks someone who is calling all the other phones stoopid doesn't actually know what the other phones are capable of. How many smart phones have you actually used?

Nokia already sells phones with wi-fi, 3.5G, a 5MP Zeiss camera with 3x optical zoom, email push, etc. etc. Heck, you can even get a Nokia 3G phone with GPS (real GPS) built in. And that's just Nokia. Those are not "stoopid" phones. Their interface is maybe not as good as the iPhones, but they are more capable technologically than iPhone. Apple are hyping this phone when they talk about how far ahead the technology is. The interface technology is ahead of the pack but the rest of the package is actually behind the competition.

Nokia | Nseries

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Troll 

Rather than ... wi-fi??

Methinks someone who is calling all the other phones stoopid doesn't actually know what the other phones are capable of. How many smart phones have you actually used?

"Rather than Wifi"? Stupid

I said wifi is WAY more important to me than 3G as TODAY 3G is not common, it is expensive and not a standard.

With WiFi I can be anywhere in the world and surf etc for FREE. Even sitting at home or in the office to have the iPhone switch to WiFi on the fly is great.

3 years from now 3G will be nice.

Oh and I have had 2 smartphones. I currently have a pearl which i love but the iPhone beats 95% of it.

[davesimondotcom]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet 

Honestly. This is as big as when the radio was introduced, the TV, the first Mac, the internet.

The iPod and iMac are nothing in comparison.

I agree. It sounds like platitude, but it's true.

Years from now, we'll know it for sure. But this is a big deal.