[Miniryu]

My brother is trying to make the argument that the iPhone has no new technology, that it is the portable equivalent of a scanner/copy/fax machine, which does a lot of little things, but does none of them well.
Two of his arguments are that the multi-touch screen has been done before by Nintendo (on the DS), and that the Accelerometer (which can sense the iPhone's orientation and switch the display to match) already existed on the tablet PC.

Not knowing enough about existing technology- how much of it really is new?

[Dark Helmet]

Very little and it doesn't matter. Point is they are the first to do it right.

[Goldfinger]

The interface, that's it.

[OreoCookie]

Innovation is not only made by inventing new things, but putting known things together in a novel fashion. I also have to contradict your brother, there are all-in-ones which do everything well. Back in the good-ol' days, copy machines were analog. Then, `digital copy machines' were brought to market. You could say `hey, wait a second, those are only scanners and a printer', and you'd be right. Nowadays, all of the copy machines that are sold are digital. If he bases his opinion on 200 Euro models, he'd be myopic. Our copy machine (which is in the 1000 Euro-class) does a lot of the things very well: it has a speedy printer, network connectivity, Postscript, a decent scanner (excellent for text) and can scan to pdf -- by far the most useful feature!

To make the arch to the iPhone again: most of the components are not new, but the way they are integrated to make a whole is. And the gorgeous interface … 

[Calimus]

Originally Posted by Miniryu 

My brother is trying to make the argument that the iPhone has no new technology, that it is the portable equivalent of a scanner/copy/fax machine, which does a lot of little things, but does none of them well.
Two of his arguments are that the multi-touch screen has been done before by Nintendo (on the DS), and that the Accelerometer (which can sense the iPhone's orientation and switch the display to match) already existed on the tablet PC.

Not knowing enough about existing technology- how much of it really is new?

The DS can't detect multiple touches on the screen. The proximity sensor that turns the screen & touch features off when it's near your face is new, at least in how it's used. The "technology" isn't really new, it's how they have applied it.

Having technology for technologies sake means nothing. When you have put a lot of thought into WHY and HOW you are using that technology, that's where the difference really comes in. The biggest "technology" of the iPhone is the software and the interface, plus minor details like the texture of the touchscreen surface. The article in Time says they tried many, many different screen materials looking for the one with just the right balance between texture(not too smooth, not too rough) and "smudgability"(how easily your fingers leave streaks on the screen). Apple puts way more thought into the details than other companies, and that is why their products usually feel "right".

[Gossamer]

[Peter]

winner.

[osiris]

About as new as a Zune - only much, much cooler, and with a touch screen and motion sensors and lots more cool stuff.

[Super Mario]

Jefferson Han and fellow uni students invented Multi-touch and the pinch gestures. Apple must have bought the patent from them.

This was posted on NN Lounge two years ago or some time ago around then

Multi-Touch Interaction Research

[rickey939]

Visual Voicemail.

[turtle777]

I dunno, but this is the first cell phone evar that I've been drooling over. New technology or not.

-t

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Gossamer 

[img]http://kefka.ag.iastate.edu/iphoneopinion.jpg[img]

What has happened to the mods around here? There are far too many iPhone threads. I will address this in the feedback forum.

[Miniryu]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

What has happened to the mods around here? There are far too many iPhone threads. I will address this in the feedback forum.

Hey! My thread addresses a specific topic that I could not find discussed in any other iPhone threads. I had a very specific question: I didn't start a general discussion, and certainly not for the sake of starting my own thread.

In addition, we all know that when a thread is more than 5 pages long and growing, it is typically 4 guys engaged in an argument that sprawled off topic (which is why I didn't even look at the "main general" thread, and I'm sure why most other people don't even look at it as well).