“Of all the iPhone’s features, none had reviewers gushing more than its Internet browser. It was the first cellphone browser that promised something resembling the experience of surfing the Internet on a PC. Santa helped deliver on that promise,” Miguel Helft reports for The New York Times.
“On Christmas, traffic to Google from iPhones surged, surpassing incoming traffic from any other type of mobile device, according to internal Google data made available to The New York Times. A few days later, iPhone traffic to Google fell below that of devices powered by the Nokia-backed Symbian operating system but remained higher than traffic from any other type of cellphone,” Helft reports.
“The data is striking because the iPhone, an Apple product, accounts for just 2 percent of smartphones worldwide, according to IDC, a market research firm. Phones powered by Symbian make up 63 percent of the worldwide smartphone market, while those powered by Microsoft’s Windows Mobile have 11 percent and those running the BlackBerry system have 10 percent,” Helft reports.
MacDailyNews Take: The data is probably “striking” because you’re looking at IDC data that’s lagging by a quarter or two or more. How about telling us from what period of time this “striking” IDC data came, Mr. Helft? It might be somewhat “striking” if it came from Christmas Day plus a few days later and showed something totally different than what Google’s shows, but, as we understand how IDC works, we can pretty much guarantee that it didn’t. Obviously, comparing IDC data from 3rd quarter 2007 or whenever to Google’s post-Christmas online usage would be “striking.” Strikingly meaningless, that is. Especially since IDC and Google are measuring different things! Poor reporting.
Helft continues, “The iPhone has taken the frustration out of browsing on a mobile phone, said Charles Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Company… Other companies confirmed the trends, if not the specific data, observed by Google. Yahoo, for instance, said iPhones accounted for a disproportionate amount of its mobile traffic. And AdMob, a firm that shows billions of ads on mobile Web sites every month, said it saw traffic from iPhones surge drastically around Christmas.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “RadDoc” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Too bad iPhone can’t take the frustration out of reading poor reporting. If you’re going to quote IDC data, then tell us when it was measured and what it is measuring. You might also want to tell us that IDC measures unit sales in select retail channels and Google is measuring online browsers hitting their sites which are very different measures that are very difficult, if not impossible, to meaningfully compare and contrast. That’s all we ask. You’d think that the NY Times, at least, would be able to deliver it. Because Helft can’t seem to clearly explain the salient point, we’ll state it here: the point is that people with iPhones actually use them to browse the Web because, unlike other so-called “smartphones,” iPhone is actually usable for browsing the Web. There are many times more non-iPhones that are supposedly capable of browsing the Web in some fashion, but people aren’t using them (because they – to use the technical term – suck). The amount that people use their iPhones online compared to other so-called “Web-capable” devices that vastly outnumber iPhones is what’s “striking.”
Is this a surprise?
Of course our buddy Zoony will tell is it is because the iPhone is a “consumer” device, and his beloved WinCE devices are real “business” devices, and that even the hardest charging businessman has to take a few days offline to spend with family, and that we should wait for January statistics, to show how many WinCE devices are being used once everyone goes back to work in the new year.
Zoony is, at times, too predictable.
Don’t forget that all iPhone plans come with unlimited data whereas most other phones don’t.
how many of these iphone hits are hacked iPod Touches?
“Zoony is, at times, too predictable.”
Zoony is satire, unless you haven’t figured that out by now.
@qka
You couldn’t be more wrong. If you use any variant of Windows then you are, by default, a ‘hard charging businessman’. Unlike the MAC sheep who play with their toy computers and blow their minds out with that rock music on an I-POD Windows users were checking their e-mail right after opening presents on Christmas day. Because we can connect to Exchange servers which never take a brake. Hey MAC lemmings, lazy, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.
Your potential. Our passion.™
“brake” should be “break”
Frigging idiot.
Boot Zune Tang, just another troll that’s worn out his welcome. Funny at first, but now it’s old.
Vote to boot. Contact MDN to boot the Zune Tang.
You have the power.
Zoony is satire, unless you haven’t figured that out by now.
I figured that out long before registered users, when there were multiple ZTs. I was just trying to steal a little of his thunder.
“Zune Tang® ” is the original. It’s just that he tries real hard to be funny, but often fails. Kind of like David Letterman.
(holy flame war ensues now.)
Zune Tang is definitely not so much fun these days, but are we right to boot him/her/it?
I think not — MDN needs a voice from the Dark Side, even if it’s only gold ol’ ZT.
Actually I think we should be rating Zune Tang’s performance on a daily basis. If he’s going to do his act here he should ad least be challenged to make is content more compelling.
What do you all think?
We love Zune tang!!
I would vote for him to share an opposing take to MDN, right underneath the
“MacDailyNews Take:”
we could have the “Zune Tang Take”
people just do not get it!
last night having dinner with friends, we talked cell phone’s. Our friend was bitching how he hated his wife’s new phone, how he had just a plain phone to make simple calls, and he can’t figure hers out, I pulled out my iPhone, was showing them features, and she pipes in that her’s does all the same things! but she has not used any of them , as she can’t figure out how to do it!
Zune Tang® wrote:
“Windows users were checking their e-mail right after opening presents on Christmas day”. Because we can connect to Exchange servers which never take a brake.
Wow, sorry to hear all those Windows users had to work on Christmas day, since nobody uses Exchange except for connecting to work email. Funny though, I use Windows at work, but a Mac and iPhone for personal use, and I didn’t check my work email on Christmas day. Guess that’s a negative side effect of being a Mac user…
Oh, that’s right, Zune Tang® must be referring to all those Microsoft employees that had to work Christmas day and the weeks that followed trying to fix the problems with the XBox Live online service, which people inexplicably pay for. Too bad XBox Live isn’t as reliable as Exchange.
First of all, I just want to thank you all for your support. The MDN forums aren’t some cold, anonymous information space. It’s a family and I am touch by those who have welcomed me. With that said…
‘Brake’ is correct, as in
brake |breɪk| |breɪk|
noun
a toothed instrument used for crushing flax and hemp.
<u>ORIGIN</u> late Middle English : possibly related to Middle Low German brake and Dutch braak, and perhaps also to break.
Your potential. Our passion.™
I thought his piece was halfway decent. “…Unlike the MAC sheep who play with their toy computers and blow their minds out with that rock music on an I-POD Windows users were checking their e-mail right after opening presents on Christmas day,” that is a subtle piece of genius, if you think about it-
Google saw an increase cause, unlike Windows Mobile, you can actually USE the net on an iPhone. It is an enjoyable experience. Compare it to Windows Mobile or a Palm device. Those are like getting dental work done without the Happy gas.
“”Zune Tang® ” is the original. It’s just that he tries real hard to be funny, but often fails. Kind of like David Letterman.”
letterman has been funny? when was that?
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Perhaps zune is Letterman.
Well something has to be kept in mind here.
People new to the Mac community come here to evaluate a possilbe move to the better computing platform.
Zune Tangs disinformation camapign, outright lies and hostile rethoric has no sancutary in satire, especially bad satire.
For instance “no games for the Mac” is a outright lie when 9 out of the 10 top 3D games of all time are also available on OS X.
Tens of thousands of people read these and get misinformed, then they beleive it unless someone offer’s rebuttal.
Since his comments are not even funny, and not obviously satire which anyone can recognize, I say it’s time to stop his anti-Mac campaign.
Vote out the Zune Tang.
Click MDN contact above.
Hey Zune Tang®,
Nice you’ve copied the translation from the build-in Dictionary from Leopard.
Sometimes you are funny. Don’t think you’d affect future Mac sales. If you could, Monkey Boy had already hired you.
Christmas would be another traffic peak. Although it may be not so crazy as Thanksgiving andBlack Friday, I am not going to participate in the enthusiastic crowds. I would like to stay at home and search on http://www.followsales.com and see the cheap and unique items. Today I find the Movado Watches up to 65% off + FS, I think it will be a nice gift for my dad,