“There’s hype. There’s hysteria. And there’s history,” May Wong writes for The Associated Press.
“The hype around Apple Inc.’s upcoming iPhone is abundantly clear. So is the hysteria. But how the iPhone will leave its historical mark after Friday’s launch is to be seen,” Wong writes. “Will the gadget — which triples as a cell phone, iPod media player and a wireless Web device — be as ‘revolutionary’ as Apple CEO Steve Jobs has claimed?”
“People want more now. There are plenty of slim, ultra-thin options out there, but not many make finding photos, saving phone contacts, picking up voice mail and selecting ringtones insanely easy,” Wong reports. “‘This is the most anticipated phone since Alexander Graham Bell did his,’ said Michael Gartenberg, an industry analyst at JupiterResearch. ‘Part of it is the fascination with Apple’s products and how well they design them, but it’s also about how poor the design in software is in cell phones now, and how much time Apple has spent working on this.'”
Wong reports, “‘A few handset makers have been trying to make the phone simpler without having to refer to a manual that’s 18 times the size of the phone,’ said Richard Doherty, president of The Envisioneering Group, a research company. ‘But Apple is going for the moon here.'”
Wong reports, “With its iPod players and Macintosh computers, the Cupertino-based company has already cemented a reputation for making products that are intuitive and easy to use. Other electronics makers have admitted that Apple has set the bar there for those product categories… The proof will come once the iPhone gets into users hands.”
Full article here.
Mr. Schiller—Come here—I want to see you”
The iPhone is…
…the best thing since sliced bread
MW: since
Dr. Bell’s telephone was NOT anticipated. After it was shown, the public reaction was “So what?” At one time, it was envisionedthat youy would have a phone in your home so that you could listen to concerts, lectures, and other entertainments. Person-to-person communications came later – and that has its own history.
I hate it when anal-ysts get their history wrong.
And just like Alexander Graham Bell, not many people out there see the significance. But, in a few years, they will.
Let the Star Trek era begin!
Three items on the iPhone, none on the iPod and none on the Macintosh. When will there be another split-off – iPhoneDailyNews? I’m not really all that interested in the iPhone, won’t be getting one … (yawn) … looking for Mac News, and can get through “Apple News” not Mac-related.
DLMeyer – the Voice of G.L.Horton’s Stage Page Pod Cast
qka, I thought about including a similar remark but declined because it appeared they were going for a time-based benchmark rather than an anticipation-based benchmark. You are correct that Bell’s invention was not anticipated, nor its implications understood, in its early years. Heck, it’s still evolving!
Right on QKA, you beat me to it.
And after watching the “How To” video on the iPhone, I don’t really need to get one in my hands to get a good feel on how easy that thing is going to be to use.
But for me, I really can’t justify it. I don’t listen to music on the go except in my car. I have no real need to browse the net or get email when away from my home/office; on a long trip I’d take my MacBook to do that. And for my phone I use an LG8600 (Alltel) and I can make & receive calls on it, take pics, make movies, and transfer to/from my Mac via Bluetooth. As for the teenager in the house, well, that’s a different story entirely…. I think her next boyfriend will be the first one she sees with an iPhone.
“…but it’s also about how poor the design in software is in cell phones now”
You said it sister, THAT”S going to be the difference. The phone will be a pleasure to use. If it’s easier to navigate THEN people will use it more often for more things.
It’s use will grow. Sales increase and market share spreads. I won’t go so far as to say the notebook will then lose out to the all-in-one phone like the desktop computer is losing to the notebook but it’s a small possibility, depends on peoples habits in 10 years. I’d like to see Apple work a deal with MySpace and include it on the iPhone.
Get the most popular web sites to work nice with the phone? Priceless.
Sorry DL, but no way around it…
Anybody that does not want to hear about the iphone or is fed up with the hype, please stop reading any news for a week! take a hike or visit the moon. Even Paris and Hillary will be jealous of the attention the iphone will get the next few days.
“If Alexander Graham Bell knew what blunders men would make with his invention, he would have scrapped the whole idea.”
Doc Love
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” – A memo at Western Union, 1878 (or 1876).
“The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.” – Sir William Preece, Chief Engineer, British Post Office, 1878.
“It’s a great invention but who would want to use it anyway?” – Rutherford B. Hayes, U.S. President, after a demonstration of Alexander Bell’s telephone, 1877.
“A man has been arrested in New York for attempting to extort funds from ignorant and superstitious people by exhibiting a device which he says will convey the human voice any distance over metallic wires so that it will be heard by the listener at the other end. He calls this instrument a telephone. Well-informed people know that it is impossible to transmit the human voice over wires.” – News item in a New York newspaper, 1868.
“Transmission of documents via telephone wires is possible in principle, but the apparatus required is so expensive that it will never become a practical proposition.” – Dennis Gabor, British physicist and author of Inventing the Future, 1962.
So…. What is the possibility of Apple doing a license on OS X (for the Phone) to other phone makers. Clearly the only other alternative would be for phone makers to go with Microsoft – or is this strictly another Hardware sale for Apple?
With all of the patents that Apple has for protection?? What is up Steve Jobs’ sleeve now?
Iphone will sure be better because it’s a real Apple’s own invention. Do not compare it to Alexander Graham Bell’s because this last one was a thief. Antonio Meucci was the real phone inventor. Bell just stolen the meucci idea and presented it as himself’s idea. He just had the crowd of glory because Meucci died before the trial was over. The American congress paid tribute and justice to Meucci as the REAL phone inventor – http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:H.RES.269:
Sorry but I like historical justice not thiefs.
… Well some form of Linux could also make it’s way to phones. But is hasn’t done a great job of it so far. Who is going to build it?
Then there is the Apple patent issue.
There was, at one time, a pay phone on every corner. Now thew are hard to find. This device, and others like it, will replace the PC.
Should say “they” are hard to find.
you must be interested…you read the article. You know you want one…and bad.
@ larry
Thanks for the quotes. Very interesting reading!
I am waiting for the next generation. Too much of an innovation to go for it now, although it is extremely tempting. I saw the video on Apple’s website, an outstanding piece of marketing. It actually made me think about breaking my Verizon contract early and chucking my BlackBerry.
Problem is if I go to the iPhone, I will lose my MS Exchange email capabilities (I think). I think our IT admin has to support the iPhone with MS exchange even if it does work. With the volume of iPhones that could potentially be gigantic, this may not be an issue in the future, but for now….
Any thoughts? Thanks.
But nothing was as anticipated as my morning Graham Cracker.
“It’s a great invention but who would want to use it anyway?” – Rutherford B. Hayes, U.S. President, after a demonstration of Alexander Bell’s telephone, 1877.
“A man has been arrested in New York for attempting to extort funds from ignorant and superstitious people by exhibiting a device which he says will convey the human voice any distance over metallic wires so that it will be heard by the listener at the other end. He calls this instrument a telephone. Well-informed people know that it is impossible to transmit the human voice over wires.” – News item in a New York newspaper, 1868.
“Transmission of documents via telephone wires is possible in principle, but the apparatus required is so expensive that it will never become a practical proposition.” – Dennis Gabor, British physicist and author of Inventing the Future, 1962.
‘ Transporting the molecular structure of a human being from one place to another is and will always be science fiction ‘; – 2962
“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.”
— Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
— Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
“I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.”
— The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957
“But what … is it good for?”
— Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968,commenting on the microchip.
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”
— Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
heres a neat link link, we will see the fud writers here in a few years , concerning the iPhone
http://www.westvegas.com/bad_techno_predictions.html
Problem is if I go to the iPhone, I will lose my MS Exchange email capabilities (I think).
Which is why Apple must, MUST open the iPhone to developers! The current “Safari as SDK” idea is no answer.
Just think… there could already be third-party answers available for issues like this. Apple could endorse or even buy these solutions.
It’d be a true shame to see the 1984-1995 era repeat itself, this time on phones…
Personally, I found Apple’s iPhone video demo very eye-opening. The interface, which must operate in a really tiny space, is very innovative and is sure to have an impact on the design of desktop computer apps—not to mention cell phone interfaces. I agree with the author that “Apple is going for the moon here.” Steve Jobs wants to take us to the next quantum leap in computer interface design, and right now he’s the only one who really sees where that leap might take us. The comparison between the iPhone and Alexander Graham Bell’s original telephone is very appropriate in the sense that no one (except Bell himself, perhaps) foresaw how huge the telephone would be, just as no one (except Steve Jobs, perhaps) sees where the iPhone is going. Happy trails to us all!