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When the next generation of Macs and MacOS come out there may be very little to spread FUD about. When a multi-point touchscreen Mac is announced...

The iPhone is only the beginning. Someday Windows will be relegated to POS status. Point of sale. Windows will be used like a dumb terminal.

You can count on this because those companies really hate change epecially when it's for the better and when it forces them to give the consumer a better product.

First?

Okay. Conspiratorial crackpot!

Seriously, the press has been reasonable, so far.

Less is More,

Oh, yeah? Read this hit piece from CNET and then see if you can call SteveJack a conspiratorial crackpot.

Okay, I'll start:

"[...] its Mac OS X operating system [...]"

You show me where, in the video of the keynote or where on Apple's website it says Mac OS X. It is not running Mac OS X. There is no Aqua, for example, in OS X.

yeah, i've read some really nuts shit on this.. from.. the usual suspects..

here's a real gem, Apple leaving the PC industry?

*rolls eyes

Yo Judge:

Read further on your link from CNET hit piece: http://news.com.com/Mac+Views+Does+iPhone+hit+the+spot/2009-1042_3-6148638.html

cmon peter, you didnt even try!?!

http://www.apple.com/iphone/technology/specs.html


4th spec down

WHAT?! Here's an executive summary: Anybody out there who says anything negative in any way, shape, or form about the Apple iPod is being paid by other smartphone manufacturers, is anti-Apple, wants Apple to go out of business, and is spreading FUD.

WHAT?!

Face it SteveJack... People are allowed to find FLAWS in Apple products. Yes, they exist.

Sure they might eventually come out with a 3G phone, but this doesn't have it, so it's a little inferior. Yes, there might be fingerprints on the screen and that actually is annoying. Yes, the battery life may be lower, and you can't replace it.

I, personally, have had two phones in the past few years and have kept TWO batteries for each of them. When one dies while I'm out, I can plug in the new one and keey going, then use my cradle back home to charge the one not in use. No-can-do with the iPhone. That's a problem. And I'm NOT trying to spread FUD.

Critiques will happen. No product is perfect. Otherwise there wouldn't be such thing as a SECOND-generation iPhone. So please, it's YOU that is starting the FUD. Against the people with opinions.

Duh! When yer competitors find themselves photographed drunk and lying in the alley with no clothes on waist down you bet they’re gonna cry foul. No doubt in the coming months they will strive to copy everything that Apple has done, too.

"You show me where, in the video of the keynote or where on Apple's website it says Mac OS X. It is not running Mac OS X. There is no Aqua, for example, in OS X."

Huh? The most sophisticated OS on the planet..? OS X?.. Take the bucket off your head and the earplugs out and watch the Keynote again..

Peter,

iPhone specs: Operating System: OS X
http://www.apple.com/iphone/technology/specs.html

Watch iPhone Introduction (at 8:38), Apple CEO Steve Jobs, "iPhone runs OS X."
http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/j47d52oo/event/

@ Peter

Er. at timecode 34:59 in the keynote, Steve said, with a bit of a flourish, that "iPhone runs Oh... Ess... *Ten*."

Make up stuff that harder to shoot down.

Uh, I think Peter is pointing out that it isn't running MAC OS X but rather a stripped-down version of OS X. Have we verified that it's the full operating system? He's pointing out that we don't see Aqua in the OS X on the device. Am I right?

Peter wrote:

"Okay, I'll start:

"[...] its Mac OS X operating system [...]"

You show me where, in the video of the keynote or where on Apple's website it says Mac OS X. It is not running Mac OS X. There is no Aqua, for example, in OS X."

Umm Peter you must have been asleep during the keynote mate!

Steve Jobs mentioned the fact that it ran OS X at least twice by my recollection.

Also even if he didn't, next time you want to make such emphatic statements, it may be worth checking first.

You ask where on Apple's web site it says OS X, so I went and looked, in about 30 secs I found it under "tech specs"

iPhone Tech Specs

Sorry buddy, but the egg is just dripping from your face.

Cheers,

Luke

Peter = slammed!

Mac OS X is not Aqua. Aqua is a UI for Mac OS X. You can have other UIs for Mac OS X. We already have them. For example, Dashboard. Another example is Time Machine. Expect to see more of new UIs and less of Aqua going forward in Mac OS X on full-sized Macs, too, not just on pint-sized Macs called "iPhone."

I was with this piece, but I think there's an unintended mis-statement at the end: "keep this in mind whenever you read about Apple's iPhone and you see an article slanted against the iPhone". . .

So anything slanted against the iPhone is FUD? That's not right or fair, and in fact use of the term "slanted" is probably yellow journalism.

Let me hasten to add that I understand this is an opinion piece, and further that I agree with most of it. I think I agree with the intent of the last line, but I sure wish you hadn't written it that way. There are going to be criticisms, many of which are valid (even if not shared by all).

Heh. MW: problem

OS X is modular. If they build a different UI layer for the mobile (and of course they would) why would this not just be OS X with an alternative UI? Isn't that the whole point of building the systems the way they did?

@ Judge Bork

Uh yeah, the CNET piece does have some critiques. Most of them valid. What's wrong with that? Why is it OK for tons of articles against the Zune, but not OK for ONE on the internet to find a flaw in the iPhone?

Because the Zune really does blow chunks. We all knew that ages ago.
And no one had any *CLUE* how cool the iPhone would turn out to be.

Step,

SteveJack obviously knows how to write very well.

From the Oxford Dictionary:
slanted: to present or view (information) from a particular angle, esp. in a biased or unfair way

SteveJack's use of "slanted" is actually excellent. SteveJack also wrote above, "You will see articles that go way beyond legitimate reviews that will attempt to call into question every aspect of Apple's iPhone..."

SteveJack was very clear. He's talking about "articles that go way beyond legitimate reviews."

So Steve Jack, Do you mean that people will start writing FUD pieces about the iPhone before it's released?

Do you mean like MDN did to the ZUNE way before any details about it were eveb announced?

Huh. Interesting.

Your such a prophet Steve Jack.

Like most things from Britain. (why is that?)

@ Journo

What is a "legitimate review?" How far do you have to go before you're no longer "legitimate?" Like someone above called that CNET article a hit piece. But it seems to raise some valid concerns, even though it's not specifically a "review." I'm sure you can find a Zune article out there that critiques it without being a "review." So no, SteveJack wasn't very clear, imho.

MW: present. I really do want an iPhone as a present. I just think this article is a little over the top.

@ Isaih

He said the Zune would suck and it sucks.
It hardly took a prophet to come to that conclusion.

In one of the MSM interviews Phil Schiller or somebody says it's a stripped down (subset) of OSX, not the full monti. And it's not open to ouside development because a bad app could take down the whole cell network, concession to Cingular.

I like stevejack's examples.

If he didn't have examples he would be just another rabid mac looney. But he has examples!

Hint to MDN: articles like this sound defensive, scared, and weak. Mac users have nothing to be so defensive about.

It's funny how much Steve Jack/MDN hates the likes of Enderle and Cringley. Even though they are on opposite sides they both do the exact same thing. There is always a middle ground, MDN can rarely seem to find it.

Source link?

Hint to MDN: articles like this sound defensive, scared, and weak. Mac users have nothing to be so defensive about.

-------------------

Overly defensive people have a lack of self confidence. That's not an opinion, it's a fact.

Check out the always-reliable-and-entertaining Daniel Eran's latest Roughly Drafted blog- "Macworld: Ten Myths of the Apple iPhone"

This is his summary of the top ten iPhone FUD myths he expects to see.

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/4DD0941D-9097-4FAE-A3BB-29DA5CA07199.html

Myth Three: The iPhone should be sold unlocked, not tied to Cingular service.
"Shortly before the iPhone’s release, Dean Hall, a seven year software engineer for Motorola, explained in an email the limited usability of an unlocked phone: "When a phone is unlocked it loses its privileges on a provider's data network. An unlocked phone can make GSM calls and send basic SMS. No MMS, no Internet, no iTS. Apple would either have to reverse engineer a method to gain access to the data network (unlikely as most data networks require SSL-level security to access) or it would have to offer something different." - "But as Hall points out, even if Apple were to sell the iPhone unlocked (or users were able to unlock it without authorization), the unit would only be able to make basic calls. It couldn't do remote web, push IMAP, visual voicemail, and various other services that are key features of the device."

"Myth Five: The iPhone is just a phone with features lots of other phones already have.

This will be popular among the Thurrott crowd, who like to downplay innovation by saying something vaguely similar has already been done.

Yes, the iPhone is a phone, but you'd have to be a complete moron with zero vision to look at it and say “it's been done before.” Key features are not only shockingly well presented, but will be difficult to even copy.

•The multitouch screen isn't innovative because it's a touch screen; it's new because it offers a finger gesture system that just makes sense and is intuitive.
•Visual voicemail is obvious in retrospect, but nobody in the last half decade of phone development at Palm or Microsoft thought to fix the problem.
•Ever use an existing phone's web browser? Apple has demonstrated the difference between a placeholder product and a well executed one that actually works."

It's not just about the "reviews" of the iPhone. Suddenly, the Washington Post -- the paper of record where the feds live and work -- has taken an interest in the stock backdating scandal.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002605.html?nav=rss_print/asection

The cell phone providers and manufacturers are vastly more active in the halls of power than Apple. When those chits are called in, I suspect you'll see the SEC ignoring just about every other of the 200 or so companies it is investigating and focusing a lot more attention on Steve Jobs.

The telecommunications industry is a global behemoth that intentionally cripples its products to protect a predatory pricing and business model. Steve Jobs has just called them out. They're not going to just sit back and take it.

You know what's really funny is that <b>this opinion piece is FUD.<b>

Really it is...

So far, the overall consensus and reviews for the iPhone have been nothing but spectacular. And yet, Steve Jack is creating fear, uncertainty and doubt about the fact that there will be FUD pieces..


Give it a rest buddy and go back redesign your website. It is god awful.

Pfft! He's covering his butt. He's written this piece so it gives him the legitimacy to question that might be seen to being criticial of the iPhone.

FUD is not about criticisms. If someone says the iPhone is a piece of shit, that's not FUD. FUD is more subtle.

FUD is based more on hearsay and guessing.

"These articles will harp on the prices Apple plans to charge for the iPhone. They'll claim the soft keyboard is difficult to use. They'll make up even more things and they'll find quotes from people who are supposedly not impressed with the device."

Saying the keyboard is difficult to use is not FUD. That's a valid criticism. Criticizing cost is not FUD.

FUD is suggesting that the phone will be unusable at the end of its two-year contract; FUD is saying because it's OS X it won't work properly with Windows; FUD is saying a because they're popular, they'll get viruses; etc etc

The secret of FUD is it realies on things that sound believable but are harder to verify.

SteveJack is right, there will be lots of FUD. But we have to be careful that we don't treat every article that makes a criticism as FUD, and flame the writers with our flame-throwers on incinerate.

And I'm with a couple of other readers here, worrying that SteveJack's piece is putting him in a position to flame anyone who criticizes the iPhone.

Steve Jobs did a masterful job of explaining iPhone. Three revolutionary devices rolled into one. Why the magic touch screen versus having dozens of buttons. Justification on price. The "lineup" of the leading "dumb looking" smart phones next to the sleek iPhone. This is a case where all the FUD in the world will only give iPhone more positive publicity when it is actually released. More people will be aware of iPhone when it is released.

More people were aware of the Zune release because of all the negative pre-release reviews and commentary. Some might call that FUD. However, Zune lived up to those negative expectations. It is probable that iPhone will live up to our positive expectations. Think about it... If the best the FUDsters can do is complain about battery life (which exceeds comparable devices), price (which matches the best of the less capable devices on the market today), quad-band GSM (when there is a good reason for starting with this worldwide standard), fingerprints (have a hanky handy), and Mac OS X (what's the complaint there?), then it must be something special indeed.

I'd be more concerned if no one cared, which is the norm when a typical smart phone is released.

@ Dave

"Yes, the iPhone is a phone, but you'd have to be a complete moron with zero vision to look at it and say “it's been done before.”

hear hear!!!

It's been done before.

-m

MDN, for your sake and Steve Jack's, pull this opinion piece. It's embarassing for the both of you!

It's STILL only got one button?

You know what? A FUD campaign does not concern me. I'm going to buy the Apple Phone (whatever it's final name turns out to be) and that is the most I can do.

I learned a long time ago that when you try to tell people how great the Mac is and that it will be far less difficult to use than a PC, I am often met with eyeballs rolling up and the acusation of being a "cultist". Whatever.

I bought the first iPod (5GB, $400) and never regretted it. I'd buy the iPhone today if it were on sale. And really, that's enough for any one person to do. Let the Steve worry about FUD.

Hey Dave,

Unlocked phones can access other services than just voice and SMS!

Sorry - in Australia the practice of locked phones (i.e. tied to a specific network) is only relatively new (i.e. to the rest of the world where it has been practice from day one!)

You can still purchase unlocked phones from independent vendors and they do NOT have issues with sending MMS, accessing data networks etc.

I reckon that Motorola guy is just making excuses for the fact that handset makers have capitulated to the Networks and as a result they have assisted the networks in restricting consumer choice by locking them to their service.

Don't get me wrong, this has been a good thing for consumers in some ways, and has driven the growth of the industry. If people had to pay FULL price for the freedom of unlocked phones, Apple wouldn't be eyeing 1% of a billion unit market at the moment. But the time has come for a change in the model.

I'm hoping that Apple eventually do move beyond the Cingular deal.

My guess is they will work with Cingular to refine new services and products and a NEW way for device vendors (eg Apple, Nokia etc) to deal with the networks, i.e. the networks no longer have FINAL say on hardware features.

This also gives Apple time to have a stable network environment (i.e. they only have to factor in ONE network vendors requirements for now) to refine and develop their skills as telecommunications handset designers/manufacturers.

Then after two years I'd bet Apple will be saying to all the networks, OK you want our handsets, we do it OUR way!

This will be Jobs' end game plan. To do to the telephony industry what he did to the PC and music industry, that is REDEFINE it.

Remember Jobs said in the Keynote, the iPod didn't just change how we listened to music, it changed the whole music industry?!

But just like the iPod/iTunes was Mac only until it was refined through a few versions and then thrown open to Windows users, my money is on Jobs/Apple doing the same in the mobile phone space, Cingular only so Apple can learn the trade, then it's open season for all on Apple's own terms.

My 2 cents,

Luke

Its not all FUD, some is just justified and forward pushing critique. Without it we'll never see next generation iPhone, that could be ok for me too! And that should have:

- 3G HSDPA or alternative
- GPS inside
- sliding qwerty keyboard for proper text input or other method to write documents snappier
- extra memory slot and external hard drive support (is it here allready?)
- external audio&video;input&output;- support for 3rd party applications
- support for two SIM phone cards

Year 2009?

FUD is the crap going on over Cisco sueing Apple. You'd think it spells the end of the Apple producing a phone.

So what if Cisco wins and Apple has to rename it? Apple sticks will plummet? The world will end? Hardly. It's just a name.

The FUD is the beatup of that story, trying to cause doubts about whether the iPhone wil come to be.

Now that's FUD.

Well said, LukeinOz

Yu're absolutely right - I read "comments" from (I'm guessing competitors typing furious from Vegas) where they ignore the actual specs and make up things with statements like - no bluetooth or wifi ... or they make inane statements like - how is apple going to make money because unlike .mac, people will be broke after $599 ... yea, I know, that makes no sense but hey, that's Apple's competition ... or they ask Rob Glasser for a quote - wouldn't that be like asking Donald TRump a question on hair care?

Or they go on and on about "missing features' as if the iphone was a bridge or a sculpture in granite and once it's done, that's it - hello ... it's a LONG time between now and June - they could add almost anything - it's almost all in the software - that is the only downside to having to wait - pinheads who spent $9,000 on rims for their 1998 Buick Regal complaining that no one will spend $600 for an ipod, pda, phone a mini-nano mac ... as if ... where is that damn pre order page?

I gotta say that the Treo is a better phone. I can place a call to a contact out of a list of thousands in three seconds with one hand. The iPhone will involve a long scroll with far more attention required for the animated UI.

But the new widescreen video iPod may very well get me over to iPhone, where it's all together in one device.

There are moments when advancements are undeniable and folks desire to play them down become very transparent. I can recall some saying of the 1984 Macintosh, "It doesn't do anything you can't do with a CLI. Why waste processor cycles on useless graphics." The biggest thing for Apple is the iPhone will be in Cingular stores, not just Apple Stores where folk who are shopping will get to see it for themselves - and with this phone - seeing is believing.

Wait till the stripped-down version of OS X ends up in many different devices, including appliances.

Man, you ain't seen nothing yet! The FUDs will come like a glacial avalanche.

iPhone? I want one now no matter what FUDs are out there. It really looks very slick. I might end up having a harem of impressed dates in the process. LOL!

I don't doubt SteveJack will be proved correct. But the list of articles he includes are all positive. Examples, Steve. I know you don't want to feed the trolls, but hey, there is validity to many above postings about the dearth of negativity regarding the iPhone. Indeed, it should be remembered that Wall Street and the tech reporting industry were in shock upon the product introduction, and at a complete loss to come up with said FUD negativity. Which is why AAPL skyrocketed upon the news and breaking the historic pattern of losing value following the keynote, as it has for the past couple of years or more. Sure there are glaring areas for growth and improvement. But as presented the iPhone doesn't suck, and as folks seriously consider it's features and usage the value only becomes more reasonable.

Sure, the negative FUD articles will come. I'm sure examples already exist. But they aren't linked to in the editorial above. Maybe next time? Oh right, don't feed the trolls.