“Calling the iPhone just a cell phone would be a mistake. Over the past 11 months, it has morphed into a handheld computer. With its new 3G connections and the promise of an abundance of PC-like applications, the iPhone appears to be on track to become a personal portable computing platform in its own right,” Tim Bajarin writes for PC magazine.
“When the new iPhone was launched this week, most of the folks covering it focused on the 3G radio and the low price. To be fair, some of the media did talk about the software, but I can’t emphasize enough the fact that it is the software, coupled with a PC-class OS and Web browser, that will help make the iPhone the most portable computer on the market today—or even tomorrow,” Bajarin writes.
“Why is this important? Think about the original PC. It was a great box, but pretty much worthless without software. In fact, it took VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet, to show the world that the Apple II was not a toy,” Bajarin writes.
“If Apple successfully creates a portable computing platform that delivers a true PC experience in the form of something that fits into your pocket and sells at an affordable price, it could emerge as the number one player in this segment pretty quickly. The iPhone, with its PC-class OS and browser, combined with services like iTunes and the soon-to-be-launched iPhone app store, create an ecosystem of hardware, software, and services that will make it very difficult for competitors to respond in kind quickly,” Bajarin writes.
“I believe that this kind of thinking is what’s really behind Apple’s iPhone push. The company is on track to take a leadership position in this pocket PC market and, in the process, perhaps define what the next generation of truly portable computing is all about,” Bajarin writes.
Full article here.
And that’s got to really piss off Steve Ballmer.
Didn’t MS have a tablet OS?
This will be fun to watch.
Me first
“Didn’t MS have a tablet OS?”
Yeah, and they also had a ‘Big Ass Table’.
Yay! Someone gets it!
“If Apple successfully creates a portable computing platform…”
If? They already have.
Remember this article, folks, and the new class of computers that Tim Bajarin has just given a name to – Pocket PC’s. This article is historic. Really.
And, yes, MacMarc, someone really does get it.
Finally.
@ron,
I can’t wait until the first Big Ass Blue Screen of Death pics appear on line.
My portable computer needs far exceed my portable phone needs, particularly at a minimum of $70+ per month for a call plan. I hope the iTouch continues to be as well developed as the fabulous (but unneeded by me) iPhone is.
There won’t be anything PC like about apps for the iPhone.
Hasn’t apple spent that past 18 months differentiating between what a “PC” is and what a “Mac” is? So isn’t it a fair assessment to say that apple IS NOT making a PC-class OS and browser on a portable device?
Tim Bajarin obviously knows (and refers to the fact) that Apple created the first mainstream computer (“MC”?). Mikrocrap stole the idea and made the Personal Craputer (PC). I just wish that Tim would stop saying “PC-Class” in his article. Read the article again and replace all of the “PC-Class” with “Desktop-Class” then the article will make much more sense. Desktop-Class would cover the all powerful and great Wizard of Mac, as well as their little dog toto named PC.
Other than that, the article is very accurate. I believe the iPhone will storm business, universities, and household’s alike once people see what it will destroy anything else that any other phone can do. Then people will see that “wow, these are great apps that no other phone has”. Then people will learn that the companies that make those apps also make Mac OS Apps that are also killer that you can’t get on a Personal Craputer. Then they will buy a Mac, and the cycle will be complete, the world will be a little bit better, and the consumer will finally feel like their life is almost complete.
One last thought…
DON’T HATE THE FACT THAT STEVE BALLMER WAS MADE MICROSOFT CEO. Bill Gates stepped down when he knew apple was going to make a push and ruin his company. He put Ballmer there so that Ballmer gets the credit for the fall of Microsoft, and not Gates. Steve Ballmer will end up jobless and homeless with a horrible rep. However, unlike Steve Jobs, there is nothing Gates can do to resurrect Microsoft, he will just sit there and enjoy endless lapdances on his stolen money until the day he dies a gluttonous death.
“However, unlike Steve Jobs, there is nothing Gates can do to resurrect Microsoft, he will just sit there and enjoy endless lapdances on his stolen money until the day he dies a gluttonous death.”
POETRY! ! !
Seriously, that was well said. Thanks, REALTORben.
To REALTORBen:
Over the years, we have become very sensitive to the PC moniker and have come to associate it with Windows machines. However, even Apple themselves have the following sentence at the end of each and every press release they put out:
…”Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.”…
Furthermore, since mid-90’s, and up until three years ago, every Mac had a PowerPC chip in there, and on desktop models, this was prominent on the front face.
FOr those who choose to forget, PC stands for personal computer. Nothing specifically defines Windows (or non-Apple desktop computers). I am sure Mr. Bajarin is using the acronym in the same way Apple uses it in its press releases.
It’s so much fun watching Apple make an end run around the so-called impervious wall that MS had built with their knock-off OS and their legions of cheap ass box makers.
This will be looked on in business history as nothing short of brilliant.
So, maybe PC (personal computer) is no longer PC (politically correct)?
I really hope they open up the Dock to third parties so that we can get an even larger eco system goin with peripherals like IR port, barcode scanners, keyboards, projectors, etc…
The apps are going to be phenominal, but the Dock will is the final piece to the puzzle!
I also don’t have a compelling need for an I phone,. as cool as the I phone is . But it does redefine the paradigm of what ‘mobile’ computing is all about.
I think the Iphone inteface is at the early stages of a new ‘desktop’. but while the iphone can meet many mobile needs, it’s form factor will limit its potential to replace a laptop or a desktop because doing extensive data input or content manipulation, either writing, spreadsheet, database stuff or copy and pasting images, checking inventories. etc. The Iphone would get tedious real fast because it simply isn’t designed for that. BUT Imagine how that might be resolved with a larger form factor?
How about something like a hybrid between a mac book air and an iphone? Maybe 8.5 X 11″ in size, Nice LCD 10.75″ screen, possibly incorporating a bigger iphone keyboard ? Price it at $999 and It would meet the needs of 90% of computer users needs – Surf/ shop the web, email, photos, and small administrative stuff, like pay bills, fill out applications etc.
Keep the pricing structure the same as a Macbook, and it will own the laptop market. Ipod revisited.
“I really hope they open up the Dock to third parties”
Which is like sex without a condom unless safety is in place. Microsoft never learned the lesson of open ports.
“Microsoft never learned the lesson of open ports.”
They never learned their lesson about security or stability in many facets of their industry!
I’m not suggesting anyone be allowed access to the Dock, they aren’t even allowing anonymous applications to be developed for the iPhone, why would they allow just anyone into the Dock? But they could do a similar certification program for peripherals and open up a whole new avenue for revenue and tie-ins!
Somehow, when it comes to cellphones and the iPhone, I can’t feel the fire I feel about the platform wars. I think that’s because the iPhone doesn’t need the rah-rah-rah of its supporters. On the other hand, the deluded masses who suffer Stockholm Syndrome related to politics, religion, or computer platforms, are ripe for a ribbing.
I don’t want to pay for data over a cellphone, but wouldn’t mind having access to data through wifi. I could buy an iPhone or an iPod touch, but instead I’m going for a new iPod battery and a bit of patience. I don’t think anyone has any doubts that the iPhone is a breakthrough product. Rah-rah-rah. MW: indeed.
As much as I love the IPhone, I have NO use for a 5,000 minute per month plan + text messaging costing $70+ per month. Is there anyone, other than teenage girls and some percentage of business people, who need that large of a minimum plan?
@ fastmemory
I agree. That is why I am waiting for the pay as you go option, in the UK. I don’t even use a phone enough, to justify using the cheapest monthly deals.
They did it with the Mac and now they’re doing it again.I never thought anything would ever be able to make the Mac look clunky. Don’t get me wrong, it still kicks ass, but the iPhone is shaping up to really change everything again. It’s going to be an interesting decade to be sure.
@fastmemory
I am sure that might be more than some need, but every month, I bump up against those numbers on my current plan with AT&T;. I am still on the fence with respect to the new iPhone, but given the amount of work I do on my current iPhone, the $10 extra per month for 3G speed just may prove worth it.
Since PC stands for “Piece of Crap”, Macs cannot be placed in that group.
On another point, why is text messaging not in the basic plan? My theory is that kids use them a lot and the Telcos have figured they can screw the parents for a few dollars more.
PC-like applications?
WTF?
They will be OS X-like applications!
Sheesh!
PC= Personal Computer, it DOES NOT = Windows Machine.
This anal-retentive argument over semantics is just absurd.
Grow up.