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A pincushion is neither a pin nor a cushion. Discuss LOL

"[T]he lack of flexibility and extensibility in the iPhone's software platform would potentially limit its use across a broader spectrum of applications and devices."

Like computers or set top boxes? It's a version of OS X for pity's sake. It has huge potential for interaction.

"Measured control is good."

I want that on a T-Shirt!

"Apple's apparent ditching of conventional application paradigms for mobile phones seems ill-advised...

Why they do it is to produce a NEW paradigm....not to make a me-too product.

Farihan Bahr wants to be known as a technological dickhead...Cancel or Allow?

The guy either has another agenda or is totally in the dark which is NOT uncommon these days. Personally, I think it is the former of the two. Apple has a few companies running scared these days, and for good reason. Those very same companies have been asleep at the wheel too long. Now they know they can't catch up and be competitive in a short time frame to save their own skins.

Most of the aruments Bahrin made to support his conclusions ACTUALLY supported Apple's way of doing things, just the opposite of Bahrin.

It is! It's a cushion for pins

iPhone BITCH!

Why do you want a t-shirt with "that" on it? Wouldn't it be better to have "Measured control is good." on it?

Buster,

Get your dickheads straight: it's Tony Cripps, not Farihan Bahrin, who's either obtuse or being paid by Apple's soon-to-be-demolished "competition" to spread iPhone FUD.

This Wharton Professor, PETER FADER is just as CLUELESS!!!

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=695467&rl=1

Given what passes for a "smartphone" from other companies these days I'm completely content that the analysts and industry wonks are saying the iPhone won't likely be perceived as such.

Case in point - a recent article from Mike Elgan entitled "Why 'Smart Phone' is a dumb label"

http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9012135

"Technological dickhead".....LOL.

Yup, that description is right on. Notice the use of flowery words in his statements. Read it again and it all means nothing, especially when you have a handset that will do more than the current crop. These people are so stuuuuuuupid.

"It is! It's a cushion for pins"

No, it's receptacle for pins

@Peter

Whoops....my bad. Thanks for the heads up.

All these analysts seem to be under the impression that if you sell a lot of something it must be automatically good. "people buy lots of mobile phones, therefore the software that they come with must be great, therefore the current model is the only one that will work." Forget the fact that people aren't universally praising windows mobile and that people don't like their mobile phones other than for the convenience of being able to make phone calls whilst mobile. The iPhone may not ultimately succeed but it's trying something different, to improve a market whose only idea of innovation is to make everything smaller and more fiddly to use.

Ovum list Microsoft as a client.

Just sayin'

What's more extensible than the UNIX foundation of OS X?

It is just another handset... but one that works better than all the others... and has more features... and is worth it!

MW: increase
As in, Apple will increase their target beyond 10 million rather quickly.

To me, one of the biggest features about the iPhone that I have not seen mentioned is that you will be able to buy it and GET SUPPORT for it at Apple Stores. How many times have we all walked into the Verizon Store, Cingular Store, Nextel Store, Any Other Mobile Carrier Store, asked for help with a handset and gotten the confused stare of a mongoloid with a name tag? Oh and a little drool and twinkie cream on it after they hold it. Imagine getting the kind of help that the Genuis Bars consistently provide for our Macs and iPods for our phones. That fact alone has me drooling for the iPhone. Apple's new paradigm makes this possible.

"adding that the iPhone, while clearly a special device from the consumer point of view, is little more than another handset to operators."

This just shows how much he fits the Windows "good enough" midset. Those pesky "consumers" have the nerve to think it is special, but what do they know? You would think that the long-term implications of this way of thinking would be pretty obvious right now to anyone in business given the very visible examples provided by the American auto industry.

Somone really needs to hit some executives in the head and remind them THE CONSUMERS ARE THE ONES SPENDING THE MONEY. As a business, your main goal should be TO GIVE THE CONSUMERS WHAT THEY WANT!!!!!!

The reaction from the iPhone naysayers is pretty typical of those who have never understood the appeal of premium products. They just think that it is all a gimmick and marketing. It never occurs to them that maybe there actually is a better way to do or make something, and that even seemingly small improvements can lead to very large differences in the user experience for the customers.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that after reading the linked article I am all verklempt.

I agree with loki capret. What is more open than UNIX??? AT&T;/Bell Labs (a telephone company) help develop UNIX. Isn't it ironic that UNIX is the basis for the iPhone? UNIX is as open architecture as can be found in the world today. I'll drop it here. Ugh.

Must be a cottage industry blooming with this type if reporting. Doesn't appear they left the house....

On a lighter note, Peter called someone a dick....

@newton: interesting that you raised Peter Fader.

I iCal'd Peter Fader in January over his Wharton podcast which was also an extremely crass attempt to put down Apple and iPhone...


This is the link to the podcast in question:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=120724941&s=143444&i=13778415

Wow Moment.

That was a whole lotta dumb in one article. I wish I had time to pull it apart line by line, but I don't. The best one, though, was this one:

"This is way out of step with growing mobile operator demands for consistent, common and widely deployed handset platforms on which to launch new services"

It's nice to see that no one in the handset industry has figured out one simple fact yet - people don't give a fuck about your services. They don't *want* to pay you 2 dollars for a bloody 30 second ringtone, you just make them do it because they don't have a better alternative.
They don't care about your strategic partnerships. They want a phone that they can enjoy using. They are not getting this yet. At all. All you phones suck ox balls. The interfaces are klugey and badly designed, the phones themselves are uncomfortable to hold up to your ear, and can be a nightmare to sync with a computer or get your music on to or your pictures off of. They're a great place "to launch new services", but personally, every second I spend with one makes a little part of me die inside. I'm so glad you made a deal with some game company to put adds on my fucking phone, that's so cool. You don't consider how consumers are forgotten in the whole equation, except for the part where they give you their money. You're obviously not paying attention to anything else. Your UIs suck. They're ugly. They're hard to use. They do not have me in mind.

The handset industry does not exist to make good products, it exists to create and preserve revenue. That's it. Now, businesses are in business to make money, that's a universal fact. But as a consumer, I'm not getting any value out of this deal, not compared to how much of my money you are taking. Every company comes up with all kinds of great new ways to monetize a service or a technology, but it's painfully obvious that no one actually thinks about what the consumer actually wants. Hey, here's one: instead of paying you 2 dollars for a snippet of a song, how about you let me take clips from my own music library and *easily* transfer them to my phone to use how I like? Or how about this - why not build wi-fi into a phone, and whenever I'm in range of an open access point, you switch my calls over to VOIP automatically so I don't use so many minutes? Could we do that, or would it endanger one of your revenue streams?

Apple is breaking the paradigm. They are totally out of step. And thank goodness for that. If Apple does everything wrong in the handset industry and goes against every bit of conventional wisdom, then they are bound to actually create a good product and not just another crappy block of plastic. The Big Established Players can do no better than RAZR and Chocolate, and that is pretty sad. I say we put 'em all out of business. I think we just might, and I am pretty sure they're starting to figure this out.

So, handset industry, I have one word for you:

Die.

-c

MW: 'planning' (for a revolution)

Ovum is attempting to put advertising on mobile phones -- probably in a clunky way, which is something Apple would frown on. Tech News World.

Excellent analogy, MDN! Yeah, OSX is like a chef-run bistro's five-course tasting menu with wine complement compared to Microsoft's franchised taste-free belly-stuffings.

MDN needs a feature on Peter Fader:

"Marketing professor Peter S. Fader says Google's threat is a tune Microsoft has heard before. "It's history repeating itself over and over and over. Every time a new threat emerges to Microsoft, people think, 'Oh, this is it -- the one that's going to knock Microsoft off the block.' There's no reason to believe it will play out any differently this time. Google is a different kind of competitor, but Microsoft has dealt with a pretty wide range of competitors before. It's a tortoise-and-hare scenario. And Microsoft is a very good tortoise. What the company will do is figure out a way to replicate the features of competitors' products. The products won't necessarily be better, but they will be adequate." in 2005.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1296&CFID=5651471&CFTOKEN=17312742

I think he's on his way to being ranked with Thurrott or Enderle. Quite amazing!

@ChrissyOne

suck Ox balls?? Geez that sends shivers down my spine....lol

Anyway I agree with you. Yeah sure we want standard platforms...kinda reminds me of the drone audience in the 1984 Apple commercial except this time they all have a dull grey phone in their hand.

@ Buster

Exatly. The image I see is something like the Heart of Gold landing on Vogsphere, but same idea.

Can I get a t-shirt with ChrissyOne's picture on it? Nice post!

P.S. Buster, you can't right write things like, "Farihan Bahr wants to be known as a technological dickhead...Cancel or Allow?" while I have a mouth full of Diet Coke. Now I have to clean my screen...

That's not a bad idea... I should get a Cafe Press account. ^_^

He said, "Cripps added that this closed-door policy makes the iPhone a poor service platform for mobile network operators. 'This is way out of step with growing mobile operator demands for consistent, common and widely deployed handset platforms on which to launch new services"

Seems to me that consistancy is just what Apple is supplying, and the others can't because they don't have enough control or commonality.

"Widely deployed handset" - we'll just have to wait and see. I expect that they will be deploying one to me!

Not that anyone will notice, but what was said was that cell phone carriers want handsets they can fuck with to ensure that they have the maximum ability to squeeze every last drop of revenue out of their victims .... ah, customers. Apple is not providing this with their new phone.

That is true. Apple wants open, attractive, useful hardware that Apple can supply media and programs to, at just over cost, so that Apple can sell more hardware.

Telcos want cheap, locked hardware so that Telcos can supply overpriced services and overpriced media to a closed system and laugh all the way to the bank.

The analyst is telling the truth. Telcos do not want to change the way they do business.

He doesn't get it. But that really doesn't matter does it. Apple wants the highest quality and usability. Not to put some hack job from a 3rd grader or whatever app on the iPhone. Apple wants the experience for the customers to be a pleasant one not a frustrating one. Something that Microsoft just doesn't understand and obviously this person doesn't either.

I agree, Macaday...I was stunned to read Dr. Peter Fader's naive iPhone, iTV, iPod and Mac comments...as if he cannot see past his Windows desktop (and his mathematical marketing models) in his ivory tower, and see what is likely happening all around him on the UPenn campus...the winds of change are blowing...

SCARY THAT SUCH A CLOSED MIND IS TEACHING OUR YOUTH...

We should compile an axis of evil and add Cripps and Fader! On top there's Gates, Ballmer, Thurott, Enderle, at least a few others I missed...

I enjoy Apple products. But if I ever wanted to switch over to Windows, all I need to do is come over to MacDailyNews and read all your fanboy (and fangirl?) rants about how great Apple is and how stupid everyone who dares to criticize Apple is. Don't you guys realize how off-putting all this is?

iPhone: Currently seems to be a closed system. Macs. currently a system that allows for a great number of third-party commercial software, shareware and freeware. So if closed systems are so good, lets just shut all third-party software developers out of the Mac platform.

Guys, lay off the kool-aid, OK?

@ Robert,

I think it is a result of being scorned and laughed at for years for being Mac users.

Yes, many of us are a tad touchy , but please don't take it too seriously.

@ Robert

If you'd even consider switching to Windows in the first place, there is nothing we can say here to make things worse for you. Do not blame Mac fans for your own lapses in sanity.

(also, please try to lighten up a few degrees)

-c

Coffee Talk.... the best MDN take ever..

@Robert:

Apparently, you have not been paying attention--to anything. According to SJ's MacWorld announcement, it works both on the mac and pc. Which clearly debunks your baseless argument. You really need to pay attention to what is being stated/said so that you can make a cogent argument and make your point heard. Otherwise, you are just of the windows lemmings.

OK, I'll take the bait. I've never been banned from a forum before. I'll give it a shot.

@Thorin

Very good point. I should realize that I shouldn't take what I read on MacDailyNews seriously.

But seriously, the best humour is cruel humour that shows us something true about ourselves. I just skipped the humour part and went directly to the conclusion.

@ChrissyOne

Lighten up. Windows isn't so bad. I've actually used both Macs and Windows nearly every day for years. (Yes, I am often accused of being insane.)

@AJ

Yes, the iPhone works on both the mac and pc. Your point being? Oh, you were just giving an example of what a post loooks like when the writer is not paying attention. I see.

@Robert

Actually, if you'd looked at the CNN (I think it was) interview of Steve Jobs on the day of the iPhone announcement, you'd have seen that, contrary to most pundits' comments, Apple has NOT closed the iPhone to outside development.

He noted that it would be a "controlled environment", but that third party apps would indeed be developed for the iPhone. His reason for that was to prevent ill-written apps from taking down the whole bannana, probably meaning destabilizing the units.

That is not a closed system, merely tightly controlled.

And, this being the Mac community we all know and love, not everybody agrees with him.

Wow, imagine that!

(MW: think, as in think before spreading misinformation!)

"growing mobile operator demands for consistent, common and widely deployed handset platforms on which to launch new services"

Yeah right. Last I checked, handsets don't even all set their time from the cell network. Consistent platform my butt.

The article sounds like the sort of thing someone writes when the subject of the article refuses to talk to them...

The bottom line is what has the so-called 'open' format done for companies now?

3% of the market?

Clearly, very few people care AND if you do not count apps are just replacing the shoddy apps you get now?

How many apps are really being sold that are not calendar, word , pdf readers or "utilties?" VERY FEW.

The problem is that people jump on bandwagons and don't even think why they are riding ...

@Ryan

I think you are thinking of the Newsweek interview.

“You don’t want your phone to be an open platform,” meaning that anyone can write applications for it and potentially gum up the provider's network, says Jobs. “You need it to work when you need it to work. Cingular doesn’t want to see their West Coast network go down because some application messed up.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16566968/site/newsweek/page/2/

I wrote that the iPhone "Currently seems to be a closed system." I guess it all depends on your definition of "open" and "closed." Steve Jobs himself was stating that he did not want the iPhone "to be an open platform." So I was using Steve's terms as a starting point. But that's just silly semantics.

Steve Jobs being Steve Jobs, my guess is that he is spinning. (RDF) The iPhone will eventually be an open system, like the Mac. Apple just isn't ready for it yet. So they will start off with a tightly controlled platform, and publish the APIs when they're good and ready. But he doesn't want to admit to the press that this is the reason why the iPhone is going to be "semi-closed" for the first little while. That sounds too much like a a shortcoming. So he is spinning the temporary shortcoming as a benefit. He'll change the message as soon as they are ready to open up the iPhone to independant developers. He did the same thing earlier with video playback on the iPod.

Sorry. My last post is directed to rahrens, not Ryan.

"Windows isn't so bad."

It's *so* bad.

What this guy fails to understand, just like most analysts fail to understand, is that the iPhone's software is NOT some flash-based, java, whatever cheapie OS. It runs on OS X! Which means that any corporate network that can now connect to a Mac (e-mail, calendar, Exchange, etc.) can connect to an iPhone. You won't need to load additional software; it comes with the iPhone. All you need to do is configure it.