“Apple is slated to come out with a new phone. Reports say that it will have a slide-out keyboard, 4GB or 8GB of storage, and work on CDMA or GSM cellular networks. It will start at $249 before subscription rebates,” Michael Kanellos writes for CNET. “And it will largely fail.”
“Initially, of course, it won’t look that way at all. As with any Apple product release, it will be ushered into the world on a wave of obligatory gushing,” Kanellos writes.
“Sales for the phone will skyrocket initially. However, things will calm down, and the Apple phone will take its place on the shelves with the random video cameras, cell phones, wireless routers and other would-be hits,” Kanellos writes. “Why won’t the Apple phone succeed? It will be a great piece of hardware that, if I wasn’t the cheapest man in North America, I might buy. The entire strategy, however, is based on what I call ‘iPod magic.’ Apple succeeded with the iPod, the theory goes. Therefore, they can break into other categories and turn them upside down.”
“But the iPod looks like it may turn out to be a non-repeatable experience. Look at the historical record. When the iPod emerged in late 2001, it solved some major problems with MP3 players,” Kanellos writes. “Unfortunately for Apple, problems like that don’t exist in the handset business. Cell phones aren’t clunky, inadequate devices. Instead, they are pretty good. Really good.”
Fans of insipid blather can read the full article here.
The phones that the vast majority of people have today suck. Kanellos’ amazingly incongruous point that they call the Blackberry the “Crackberry,” so it must be good and therefore nobody will want the iPhone, could only have any chance of working if: a) it actually is good and b) if the vast majority of people have Blackberry smart phones, which they don’t. Kanellos also thinks that because Apple hasn’t sold 100 million Mac minis that the iPhone will be a failure. No, really, he does. With that kind of “logic” in play who needs nonsense?
While a requiem for vapor is yet another interesting way to waste bandwidth, we’ll wait for the product to actually be released before we comment further, thanks. In the meantime, you can bet your Mac that Kanellos’ article has been iCal’ed here at MDN for future reference.
How in hell does this twirp know, prior to launch, whether anything will fail? Loser!
The only way in which phones are good is in that they pack a lot of stuff in a small package. The problem is that they don’t offer a good user experience. Most functions go unused or used to a minimal extent. Where the iPhone or indeed any other product could succeed is by stripping down to what people can make use of and need and by doing it in a way that allows them to take advantage of the advanced technology being provided to them.
There is this seemingly neverending rush to make phones smaller and lighter and pack in more features but no thought as to why they’re doing it. You get to a point where an object you hold in your hand becomes too small, is too light to comfortable wield and has too many features to be bothered with. Apple succeeded with the iPod by hitting that sweet spot of features, design and usability that resonated with the public. No-one is denying that phones will be harder since it’s such an establised and unfamiliar market but to say that the competition is good is nonsense. If other phones were so good then people wouldn’t be so excited by an iPhone and would use them instead of iPods.
Hmmm, now why couldn’t THIS guy have been the one to take a trip to Oregon?
“Fans of insipid blather…”
ROTFLMFAO!
Slam something that exists in rumor alone – very good journalism, Kanellos! Trying to skip out on work early this week? Save some time by rattling off the first piece that comes to your head?
And, Des Gusting, too damn funny!!!
Cell phones are the most badly designed piece of portable hardware you can carry around with you.
This guys is speaking out his ass!
People are literally crying out for a simple you use phone that has an intuitive control method and interface.
There is NO phone on the market that has this and Apple is the only company that can do it right.
Besides – amazingly enough most people now dont give a shit about all the multi-media crap a phone can do (poorly I might add!) – people want a phone that they can make phone calls on!!
Now there IS an original concept – how about a mobile phone that is easy to make phone calls on…
Dippy. He needed something to write about and negativity sells.
People still don’t seem to understand that Apple is a profitable company, even if it sells relatively few of anything. The iPod exploded its bottom line, but they made a lot of money before the iPod. All an Apple phone/device would need to do is sell 1% or even less, and Apple will be successful.
Microsoft at work. From Seattlepi.com.
In its latest report on major electronics manufacturers, Greenpeace ranked Apple dead last on environmental issues because it still uses harmful chemicals in many of its products and because it does a poor job promoting recycling efforts for its iPods and other products.
Greenpeace states that Dell is one the good guys.
To Greenpeace- “I’ll buy only Apple compatible products from now. Go hug a tree, but look out for metal spikes that your lot have hammered into them.”
“Hmmm, now why couldn’t THIS guy have been the one to take a trip to Oregon?” That is just wrong. I would never wish someone to die because of reporting on some non-existent imaginary product.
I appreciate somebody finally saying something bad about Apple. Having used Macs for over 15 years, I’m not used to the good news.
If it makes that rotary noise when using the click wheel to dial, I’ll buy it.
I’m first poster, I’m first poster, I’m first poster, I’m first poster, I’m first poster, I’m first poster!!!1
It’s called the “Crackberry” because it is a forced addiction in the corporate environment. I know. That’s what most of our field folks call it, and they resent every bit of it.
BTW, MDN, good takes.
He wants it to fail so he can say “I told you so” if does. CNET are notorious for attention grabbing headlines as well. We must give him hell if he’s wrong.
If the phone is pulled off well I’ll no doubt be a success. How many people carry around an iPod, mobile phone and a PDA? The Blackberry / Motorola Q / Samsung Blackjack are too big to cram in your pocket. How good would it be to have one little package that does it all. Add the Apple interface and you’ve got a winner.
the other Mark: lighten up, mate, it’s commonly known as ‘politically incorrect humour’!
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The moon is truly made of cheese and we never landed there – it was all done on a movie set.
The world is really flat – the pictures of the world as a big blue ball are all done on a movie set.
Cell phones aren’t clunky, inadequate devices. Instead, they are pretty good. Really good.”
Sheesh… this guy is the best example of eating ones own dog food I have ever seen. Cell phones SUCK!! They offer 1001 “features” that all suck because they aren’t implemented well or offer horrid user interfaces. The cell phone industry is the best poster boy for selling worthless features at the expense of real usability I have ever seen. Hopefully the iPhone – if it ever exists – will change all that.
MDN Magic word “likely” as in: This guy is likely to take the clueless FUDmeister award away from Rob Enderle.
Mark – DG is not really wanting him to die. It’s… a joke.
Yet, how is this different than MDN’s take on the Zune before it was released?
Yeah, let’s all call him a moron for bashing an unreleased product. But keep in mind nobody asked MDN for restraint in their takes on the Zune before its release.
Are y’all sure he wasn’t really talking about the Zune? Maybe it was just a typo.
MW:maybe, as in “Maybe”.
“Granted, Apple will use contract manufacturers to assemble their phones, but designing these phones takes experience and talent. And the cell carriers are far deeper into it here.”
Last time I checked carriers such as Sprint, Cingular, T-Mobile, etc. don’t make phones.
This guy has no idea what he’s talking about.
He has a point – there is no need that is not being catered for that Apple will serve with its phone. It will be just like the Apple base stations – nice but not esssential.
“While a requiem for vapor is yet another interesting way to waste bandwidth, we’ll wait for the product to actually be released before we comment further, thanks.”
Hey, what are you talking about? You and lots of others said a bunch of times way before it came out that the Microsoft Zune would be a big piece of poop and now that it is actually out… well… umm…
So that proves… ummm… that…
actually an “iPhone” would be a very difficult thing to pull off. Articles like these are necessary to keep the pressure on to execute at all levels.
possibly Apple could simultaneously license Mac OSX Mobile to Motorola.
How the Hell MDN knows that the iphone is going to be a smashing success?
I’ve had a number of cellphones and they vary between out and out dreadful and adequate. My current Sony Ericsson 750 is the best one I’ve had, but it’s still very clunky to operate and there are aspects of it’s operation that infuriate me, so it’s no better than adequate.
If anybody comes out with a phone that suits me better, I’d swap that day. If anybody comes out with a phone that better integrated with my Macs, I’d pre-order it ahead of release.
I have every confidence that if Apple manufacture a phone, it will be quite different to the phones we are used to and the first one may have fewer features than many others. Some will inevitably hate it because it isn’t what they’re familiar with, but you can be quite certain that it will have been designed to do a great job of the things that Apple reckons that it’s users will be doing with it. Their needs will doubtless be different to those of the geeks who always end up reviewing them and just as the iPod was initially met with a lukewarm reception, the iPhone will prove it’s worth by actually doing what people really want it to do.