After most blogs have run through both the breathy “must have at all costs!” and the gloomy “this is certainly going to fail” phase, I thought it might be time to add my own thoughts.
I perfectly understand the “must have” crowd – it’s a really nice item. If it were only priced slightly lower. However, I’m amazed by the “going to fail” guys – they’re missing what this phone is about. So, what is the point of this phone?
The way I see it, the iPhone aims to be just that – a simple phone, but with a decent interface. Anybody who has used any cell phone knows that the current generation of cells has a horrible interface. You’re always hunting through some obscure menu system, and if you’re lucky, they’ve added ugly icons that have not much of a connection with the items you’re looking for. The menu is, most certainly, inconsistent. (My Samsung, for example, alternately allows and disallows number shortcuts in submenus – with no rhyme or reason why I’m currently afforded a shortcut or not)
In short, they’re useable, but it’s not a pleasant experience. The entire point of the iPhone is to address that criticism – it’s supposed to be a phone that you like using.
And the sales strategy is the same one Apple has always employed. They create a piece of unparalleled user experience and sell it fairly expensively, targeting a small but influential market – people who care enough about style and usability to vote with their wallets. That’s inevitably the “hip” crowd. (Well, and me.)
Part two of the plan: Those key people get their friends, relatives and acquaintances excited. People suddenly realize that a pure tech item can be pleasant, too. It’s easy to use, easy on the eyes – they like it. At that point in time, Apple usually releases a new version with improved specs at the same price, while the original models get a significantly reduced price. Instantly, lots of people who already like the device are ready to buy it.
It’s almost as if somebody at Apple actually read “Tipping Point”…
That’s what they’ve done with the PowerBook and its smaller cousin, the desktop Macs and the Mac Mini, and of course the iPod. That’s exactly the way it’s going to be with the iPhone. My prediction would be that about 6 months after release (which is, coincidentally, right before Christmas!) there’s the second generation iPhone. It’ll offer 16 instead of 8 GB of memory on the high end, while the 4GB one is coming down in price. (As a guess, $349-$399 for the price range)
If that’s indeed Apples world view, most of the common complaints don’t matter at all.
It doesn’t run 3rd-Party applications.
While this is sad for me as a software developer, it will not matter a lick to the crowd that this phone is meant for. It’s about ease of use, not having the most gadgets.You can’t touch type
As far as I’m concerned, this is even a plus – it makes texting while driving or in a meeting near impossible. But either way, it doesn’t matter much to the typical phone user. SMS is not as wide spread as the media people like to think. Most people still use phones – amazingly enough! – to talk to other people. Yes, this excludes the Blackberry crowd – they don’t need a phone, they need an e-mail device. That’s not what the iPhone is.It’s expensive
Yes, but it’s supposed to address people who don’t mind expensive if it’s well-executed. The one thing that can break the iPhone is if they don’t execute on the ease-of-use front. (I know they will deliver excellent work, but the touchscreen tech seems the dicey issue.)
The one thing that I’ve heard so far that might be a serious problem for the iPhone is the fact that the touch screen only works with your skin. You can’t use it with gloves (so nobody in Chicago will have one 
, and you can’t use a fingernail.
In other words: Of course I’m still drooling, and I’ll try to get my hands on one as soon as it is out!
Expensive? I think the iPhone is a great bargain.
What people forget is that it is a full-fleged, and Apple’s best, iPod!
With the iPhone, I won’t have to purchase an iPod Nano. It is a video iPod with a phone attached.
It appeals to those who carry both an iPod and Cell Phone – which include the large majority of teenagers and a lot of adults.
One can simply take the iPhone when going to the gym – rather than both an iPod and a cell phone. It simplifies life.
I want 4.
I think the variation in “must have” vs. “going to fail” is mainly from which market you view the product.
It’s a phone: It’s extremely expensive. It’s larger than most, and it has too many extras you don’t want if you just want a phone. On the other hand, it’s got a great interface in a world of barely functional UIs. You may come to enjoy the extras, but will hate paying for them up front when you just need a decent phone.
It’s an iPod: It’s wonderful. It is the top of the line iPod, with a great screen, Wi-Fi and bluetooth (why you need wi-fi and bluetooth on a music player is beyond me. But people always complain about not having wireless sync, and I think Jobs justacts” of the existing iPods.
It’s a PDA/Internet device: It’s also exceptional. A better screen than most (all?) PDA’s out there, a better interface, better software (Versamail, Blazer on a Palm? Bleh).
There’s also the huge benefit of not having to re-purchase music for a new device. No need to pay $1.99 for music for your phone that you already have on a CD or got for $0.99 for the ipod. I’ll be glad to get off the verizon model of customer service (charge them for everything, disable and block alternative methods).
But it also appears to actually address the convergance market that Treo, Blackberry, etc. all fail to do. You get everything you need, without the need for a seperate phone, ipod, and PDA.
The iPhone will sell. It doesn’t suffer the same problem as the original iPod… everyone already knows iPods are what the cool kids have.
The smaller market will be the people who are looking to consolidate again (after getting rid of their convergence devices that failed to do anything well)… and these will by as funds and existing phone contracts expire, as long as Apple continues to show that this device really does do everything their other 2-3 devices do, better.
After that, comes the rest of the iPhone family… maybe? How do you make a cheaper version of the iPhone? I’m guessing you just keep making it better, and drop the price of the older ones, rather than dumbing down features that are just software running on OS X anyway. Hopefully, all they’ll do for the next models at the current price points is increase battery and storage.
Sadly, my contract is up in April, so I’ll be conviently able to get an iPhone in June, and able to grumble about getting a v1.0 product when the second gen iPhone comes out in the fall, with twice as much for the same price!
SMS is massive in the UK. But I suspect the group targeted by the iPhone will appreciate the qwerty keyboard an other stuff enough to deal with the lack of a physical keyboard.
I could be wrong though.