Dvorak on Apple iPhone: ‘I think Apple can do wrong and I think this is it’

John Dvorak, CBS Marketwatch Technology Columnist, discussed Apple Inc.’s new iPhone with Erin Burnett on CNBC-TV’s Thursday, January 11th edition of “Street Signs.”

A portion of their exchange went like this:

Burnett: The iPhone. Who cares about that?

Dvorak: Well, that was the big announcement at CES, which was the announcement at the Macworld Expo here in San Francisco which was the iPhone which doesn’t look, I mean to me, I’m looking at this thing and I think it’s kind of trending against, you know, what’s really going, what people are really liking on, in these phones nowadays, which are those little keypads. I mean, the Blackjack from Samsung, the Blackberry, obviously, you know kind of pushes this thing, the Palm, all these… And I guess some of these stocks went down on the Apple announcement, thinking that Apple could do no wrong, but I think Apple can do wrong and I think this is it.


Direct link via You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KERaBIgIYVU

The video via CNBC that doesn’t seem to work with Safari (does work with Firefox for Mac with the free Windows Media Components for QuickTime by Flip4Mac plug-in) is here: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=163459576
John Dvorak’s direct ancestor, circa 3,500 B.C., regarding the wheel, “I think it’s kind of trending against, you know, what’s really going, what people are really liking on, in transport nowadays, which are those sleds we drag around. I mean, everybody else has sleds, obviously, you know, kind of pushes the things around, everyone… I think that guy Steve with his crazy wheel thing can do wrong and I think this is it.”

Good news for Apple! There’s no stronger guarantee of success than Dvorak’s kiss of death on an Apple product.

Video of Dvorak admitting to baiting Apple Mac users for hits:

Direct link to YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAWDYaWAVQQ

Related articles:
Dvorak tries damage control – June 20, 2006
Video: Dvorak admits to baiting Apple Mac users for hits – June 10, 2006

Apple sells 450,000 of Dvorak’s ‘nutty’ Nike+iPod Sport Kits in under three months – September 13, 2006
Dvorak thinks iPod+Nike Sport Kit is ‘nutty’ – May 24, 2006

BusinessWeek explores ‘the real genius of Apple’s iPhone’ – January 12, 2007
Wired News: Steve Jobs’ iPhone shows the future – January 12, 2007
Cringely: Apple iPhone will suddenly go 3G, gain features, and be renamed ‘Apple Phone’ – January 12, 2007
Apple’s Phil Schiller gives CBS News hands-on tour of iPhone – January 12, 2007
20 unanswered questions about Apple’s iPhone – January 11, 2007
Report: iPhone could be upgraded to 3G with software update if Apple wishes – January 11, 2007
Report: Rogers Communications to offer Apple iPhone in Canada – January 11, 2007
David Pogue: hands on preview of Apple’s iPhone, ‘gorgeous and so packed with possibilities’ – January 11, 2007
PC Magazine hands-on test of Apple iPhone: multi-touch UI ‘takes the breath away’ – January 11, 2007
Mossberg’s initial take on Apple iPhone: ‘radical and gorgeous’ with ‘brilliant new user interface’ – January 11, 2007
NewsWeek’s Levy interviews Apple CEO Steve Jobs about iPhone – January 11, 2007
Why Apple’s iPhone doesn’t do high-speed mobile phone networks (yet) – January 11, 2007
RealMoney: Apple just blew up the whole damn mobile-phone supply chain with its new iPhone – January 11, 2007
ZDNet: Hands on with Apple’s iPhone: ‘elegant, ravishing, simple, sleek; impeccable & intuitive UI’ – January 11, 2007
Apple iPhone FUD campaign begins – January 10, 2007
Nine ways Apple changed the face of consumer electronics yesterday – January 10, 2007
Analysts and investors applaud arrival of Apple iPhone – January 10, 2007
Top 10 things to love and top 10 things to hate about the Apple iPhone – January 10, 2007
How Apple kept the iPhone top secret for 30 months – January 10, 2007
Hands-on with Apple’s iPhone – January 10, 2007
The only thing really wrong with Apple’s iPhone is its name – January 09, 2007
Is Apple building ‘The Device?’ [revisited] – January 09, 2007
Analyst Bajarin: Apple’s iPhone and Apple TV are industry game changers – January 09, 2007
Time: ‘iPhone could crush cell phone market pitilessly beneath the weight of its own superiority’ – January 09, 2007
Analyst: Apple iPhone should be given its own category – ‘brilliantphone’ – January 09, 2007
Cingular to use Synchronoss Technologies’ platform for Apple iPhone – January 09, 2007
iPhone photos from Apple’s Macworld Expo booth – January 09, 2007
Enderle: Apple’s iPhone is going to do very well – January 09, 2007
Apple debuts iPhone: touchscreen mobile phone + widescreen iPod + Internet communicator – January 09, 2007

USA Today writer: Apple iPhone is an ‘ordinary, average product’ at heart – January 12, 2007
FUD Alert: Analyst – I am pretty skeptical Apple’s iPhone can succeed – January 11, 2007
The Register’s Ray: Apple ‘iPhone’ will fail – December 26, 2006
Analyst: Apple iPhone economics aren’t that compelling – December 08, 2006
CNET editor Kanellos: ‘Apple iPhone will largely fail’ – December 07, 2006
Palm CEO laughs off Apple ‘iPhone’ threat – November 20, 2006

94 Comments

  1. This guy is an idiot, no one likes those little keyboards, plus the web surfing on those phones is crap

    Web surfing is the big thing here, being able to surf the web like you do at home is huge, access to info on the web is what its all about, and with applications going web based, like from google, you dont need stupid proprietary software like that found on every other “smart” phone.

    This is way better because if it handles web pages the way our regular browsers do then it can handle all those web based apps. Thats the big deal.

    Plus, i watched the full demo, this thing is easy to use, much easier to use than my current phone with less than HALF the features.

    MSN word “LAW” as in Apple laid down the LAW this week.

  2. Dvorak gets it. Thanks for telling it like it is, John.

    Consumers want the variety that a multitude of creative partners can bring to the table. Microsoft has this, Apple doesn’t. It’s about choice, and Blackjack, Blackberry and Treo are super-fantastic choices. Some of them run Windows Mobile, which is even better. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Back to the drawing board, Apple. Again.

    Your potential. Our passion.

  3. You know, although doubtful .. if it should somehow amazingly turn out that, after the actual introductory iPhone product release, there somehow continues to be a strong market for thumb-pads just because people are hooked on them, I would wager that somebody will be pretty quick to release a thumb-pad iPhone accessory.

  4. That’s what I hat about CNBC; many times they are just after sensationalism. Look, they can’t even expect their guests to put together a coherent sentence (let alone a paragraph). I guess John relies on software to correct his English at his “journalism” side job.

    No facts to back up the statement, just flinging shit against the Apple to see if it will stick.

    Most people are stupid enough to buy such trash. Just look at the circulation for the New York Times.

    GO Steve Jobs…GO Apple,
    by: another Mac Fanboi

  5. “This iPhone… it’s not… you can’t just make a call you have to… it’s not something you can just dump on the market… it’s not a big truck, it’s a series of tubes! And you’ve… listen, when you make a keypad, then you loose the keys, and then what happens to your personal keys? I got an iPhone the other day… my staff called me Friday, and I GOT IT MONDAY… and they get… kinda, they get all tangled up, this iPhone…”

    Hey Dvorak, I have a bridge to nowhere I’d like to sell you.

  6. Back in the 80’s, many analysts saw the mouse and the GUI as nice toys.

    Back in the 70’s, many people saw the personal computers as toys.

    Most people don’t understand the iPhone.

    The fact that it has OS X inside makes a big difference, and makes it not only a phone but a platform.

  7. I don’t like MDN Takes, but I have to admit, this one was really funny. If Dvorak’s stance on Apple won’t turn you off, his command of English will.

    Apple fans: In order to make a compelling case, don’t follow Dvorak’s example. At all times, strive to be coherent and elegant.

  8. He thinks users like the little keyboards at the expense of screen size? What a freaking fool. Besides, the iPhone has virtual keyboards tailored to each app. His nonsensical, bonehead tirade reaks of Microsoft. How this fool ends up giving interviews to anyone is behond me. He’s in good company of idiots with Enderle and emBallmer.

  9. If you want to stick out, swimm across the stream. Say the opposite of what everybody else is saying and you get attention. Yes, he wants to get more hits. It’s just his strategy and he doesn’t care that this makes him look like a fool. Just ignore him.

  10. Welcome back Zune Tang! Took you a few days to get your breath back, huh?

    “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

    Yep. Just like mp3 players we’re broken. That is why the iPod failed.

    True enough. The thing is, one has to be able to see when it is broken. Web browsing on my Treo is broken, so I hardly ever use it. Texting is broken. Voice mail is ackward. Apple sees that the so-called smart phones are broken. MS and others do not. I don’t know if the iPhone is the one that will succeed, but it has shown what is possible and cell phones will never be the same.

  11. I remember a long time ago, when I was in college, Apple came in and showed us this new QuickTime that they had. And they showed us a crappy looking little video and we laughed the guy out of the room. Guess we should have invested in the company instead.

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