“I have confession to make: I couldn’t give a hoot about the iPhone,” Jonathan Weber writes for The Times Online.
“As a technology pundit and entrepreneur, I’m not supposed to say that. On the contrary, I’m supposed to be 1) wowed by Steve Jobs’ brilliance; 2) awed by the iPhone’s cool technology and sleek packaging; 3) eagerly analysing how the device is going to change the world; 4) racing to make my own web business mobile-friendly (read: iPhone-friendly); 5) tut-tutting about Apple’s command-and-control approach the business, just to keep by [sic] critical credentials up; and, of course, 6) rushing out to get one of my own,” Weber writes. “But I don’t care about the iPhone.”
“I currently carry a Blackberry, because my work life is so e-mail-centric that I get anxious when I’m off e-mail for too long at a stretch. And of course it’s now hard to imagine being without a cellphone. Maybe the iPhone would be somewhat better for these things, but it won’t change the fundamentals. Check e-mail and make phone calls. That’s really all I want to do on a mobile device,” Weber writes.
Full article, Think before You Click™, here.
Jonathan Weber’s great-great grandfather, circa 1914:
I have confession to make: I couldn’t give a hoot about the automobile.
As a technology pundit and entrepreneur, I’m not supposed to say that. On the contrary, I’m supposed to be 1) wowed by Henry Ford’s brilliance; 2) awed by the automobile’s cool technology and sleek metal skin; 3) eagerly analysing how the device is going to change the world; 4) racing to make my own wagon wheel business travel-friendly (read: automobile-friendly); 5) tut-tutting about Ford’s command-and-control approach the business, just to keep by [sic] critical credentials up; and, of course, 6) rushing out to get one of my own. But I don’t care about the automobile.
I currently travel by horse, because my work life is so close by that I get anxious when I’m too far away from home for too long at a stretch. And of course it’s now hard to imagine being without a horse. Maybe the automobile would be somewhat better for these things, but it won’t change the fundamentals. Hop aboard and go somewhere. That’s really all I want to do with transportation.
MDN HAHAHAH good one. What email client does this dude use that the iphone doesn’t have support for.. Possibly he’s using lotus notes which should soon this year be coming out with notes for the iphone.
My vote for best MDN take ever!
Good gracious. Why buy something just because it’s better?
Apple should be ashamed for such things as the graphical user interface and multi-touch. The consumer knows as well as anyone that what they currently have is all they’ll ever need or want.
As amusing as that MDN take was, it may not be adequate. Substitute a bike for horse and it’s a bit closer. In fact it is probably very appropriate.
I myself don’t have an automobile. I don’t care for one and have absolutely no need for one. I have a bike and I go to work on it, I go grocery-shopping on it, and whenever I need to do a chore that requires goins out of my house somewhere, I use the bike. Having a car would present myriad of logistical complexities (never mind exorbitant expenses) that it would be idiotic. Before some here dismiss me as an idiot, let me qualify my story: I live in Manhattan. Having a car in Manhattan is about $1,000 + per month affair. Using it to get around is a colossal waste of time and money. Subways (and a bike) gets you faster pretty much anywhere in Manhattan.
In other words, if the author of the article doesn’t want to listen to music, watch videos/movies, take and store pictures, surf web, play games, etc., on his phone, then a crappy BlackBerry is about the closest thing to not being an overkill for his purposes.
It does strike me as a bit odd that such a person would have any interest in modern technology, let alone write about it.
Yawn. If you don’t care about the iPhone, why devote a column to it?
dick.
MDN’s take is right on.
It’s not the comfortable crowd that moves things forward. So let this guy stick to his blackberry. Maybe it’ll help him program his VCR.
@ Spark
Exactly!!!
@Predrag
Bikes are great in Manhattan (maybe not great, but a viable alternative to autos), and they make a lot of sense. L.A. is so damn spread out and hilly that bikes are not nearly as useful as functional transportation.
What a great take. That’s why I read MDN.
@Predrag
I agree why bother being in technology when he admits he isn’t even into technology.
@Spark
From reading the whole article it sounds like he is a little pissed off at steve jobs and this is his little way of takin a stab at him.
“because my work life is so e-mail-centric that I get anxious when I’m off e-mail for too long at a stretch.”
Sad. Just Sad.
to Spark:
I don’t think there are many US cities where bike could be a practical and viable mode of transportation, other than Manhattan (and not even the entire NY City; just Manhattan). Over in Europe, the story is a bit different; the Amsterdam, Hague, Rotterdam are very flat and bikes are natural; Paris isn’t much different (save for Sacre Coeur), as well as many other big cities throughout the continent. Not to mention $8-per-gallon gas prices.
I do have a driver’s license and used to have a car (before moving to Manhattan). When I travel, I rent one. However, owning one, as technologically advanced and modern as they are (compared to a bike, or a horse) would be foolish.
I can see plenty of people who just don’t want any of those things on their mobile phone. Why they are trying to write about Tech, it beats the heck out of me.
…the proper question is:
“What is the point of tech-pundits” who can’t figure out the intuitively obvious?
Now that I think about it, why should I give a hoot about Windoze….
just my $0.02
His number is just stupid. “4) racing to make my own web business mobile-friendly (read: iPhone-friendly)”
The iPhone has a full web browser. You don’t need mobile-friendly unless you have Symbian, RIM or M$ software.
What a twit!
God, there is soo much more you can do with the iPhone. You can browse the web. Really, browse. It works. Seriously. You can have your Contacts and Calendars synced with your computer, without you having to dock it. Oh, and your bookmarks as well.
Then there are all the applications that are coming out…….it truly is an interesting, ground shaking product. Like the Palm was back when they first came out with a Palm phone. Except, Apple isn’t going to sit on it’s ass with the product.
When the guy guarding the train crossing can’t see the train coming, he doesn’t last long.
Obviously he is an ancient technology pundit wowing us with the precise nature of the construction of the pyramids. To be fair most technology pundits get stuck in yesterdays technology and have little or no capability to anticipate or understand tomorrows.
Did he even give a reason WHY he doesn’t give a poot? Sounds a little apple-bitter..seeing alot of that lately. Why do we hate success so much?
To paraphrase Wallace from Wallace and Grommit, “It’s all about the data Grommit.” It is all about the web experience. Everyone I know that has an iPhone, has it for #1 data (mobile web surfing), #2 email, and then #3 phone and SMS features.
The iPhone provides THE BEST mobile web experience, period. I use mine for personal blogging, keeping up on the news, and now with the new applications… it is becoming a well rounded mobile computing platform.
Finally, the nice thing about the iPhone… is that unless a website uses Flash, you really don’t need to optimize a website for mobile viewing. Unlike the Crap-Berry.
“If you don’t care about the iPhone, why devote a column to it?”
Eventually, “hit whore” will be added to the dictionary.
To each his own.
His Blackberry does everything he wants to do, i.e., phoning and email. He does use a Mac extensively. He’s satisfied.
However, as he states, “Now in part I am out of the mainstream, because I have never been a huge picture-taker….” seems not to be supported by his Gallery, (http://www.newwest.net/gallery/) which by the way would show beautifully on an iPhone, or the MP3 links on his website (http://www.lijit.com/search?view=contained&uri=http://www.lijit.com/users/newwest&type;=&q=music) which would be less impressive on his Blackberry.
Jonathan Weber is not any different from the other talking heads that never use the Apple product or service but think that they fully understand it enough to trash, down grade or call it a fashion statement.
At least he knows he is clueless!
“What is the point of tech-pundits who can’t figure out the intuitively obvious?”
It’s the end of their cranial cone.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zippy_the_Pinhead)
@Predrag
It’s not that the iPhone wouldn’t make the authors email/mobile life easier, it’s that he believes it COULDN’T make his life easier. You ride a bike in Manhattan, but the moment you go outside of Manhattan, things get trickier.
If all that the author did was check his emails, then the iPhone is more than enough. The beauty of the iPhone is that the moment you want to do more, the iPhone grows with you.
The guy’s right, it’s not a good phone, not a good email device, is read only with email attachments in office format, is not good on battery life, has a toy mapping application, poor bluetooth support and needs background application support in the SDK.
But it’s got a sleek case, good music playing capabilities, kinda OK email support and the best mobile browser. If those things are what matters most to you, it’s your phone.
But it’s not the best at everything, it’s just another mobile device which does some things well and some badly.
Good take and it fits his comment to a.. ahem… (Model) T.
Yet another brain dead tech guy, oh how the wheel of change moves as fast as molasses in the deep winter of seberia.
The fact that he does not give a hoot only contrasts why America is so slow to change as other parts of the world. It is not our technology- it the people in position to see the change. Only he could get off that crackberry and see reality with more clarity.
;(
The reason he only uses his blackberry for reading email and making phone calls is because THAT’S ALL THE DEVICE CAN DO.
Obviously another guy addicted to his crackberry. There are a lot of people like that. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But, to put down the iPhone and Apple just for the sake of putting it down is really kind of ludicrous.
No doubt just another Windows fanboy wanting to get hits on his web site, but frankly, I don’t care about Johathan Weber. Nothing to see here folks. Let’s just ignore him and maybe he’ll get replaced by somebody who actually likes new technology, or at least admires it.
I have no need for an iPhone myself, but I still admire the iPhone technology and have been following it with great interest. To say, “Oh, it’s not for me so I won’t write about it except to put it down and say that it doesn’t interest me.” That’s an obvious hit whore. I wouldn’t give his web site the benefit of the doubt.
I vote that Jonathan Weber no longer be called nor allowed to use the word ‘Pundit’ when describing his line of work.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have to do some currency calculations on my abacus, and handdraw a map to my next destination. Good thing those calligraphy and cartography lessons came in handy.
<b>HENRY FORD<b>, what a visionary, his saying (<i>shown below<i>) still holds true today with <strike>idiots<strike> people like JW around.
“<b>If I’d asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for a better horse.<b>”
Hey now, I have a blackberry and I absolutely, positively love it! Would not change it for a million iPhones..
Hey thanks everyone for the discussion. I’d suggest the iPhone is not exactly on the level of the automobile as a world-changing development, which is basically my point. It’s true that I am an ancient pundit, and thus I have seen more than my share of hype. I think someone mentioned Palm? Indeed I wasted my money on that one (never did really synch very well with the Mac among other things, and now totally obsolete). Why buy it just because it’s better? ’cause it costs a fortune! And there will be better and cheaper ones soon!
Anyway, one point of pundits of any kind is to be provocative. I hope not pointlessly so.
He’s right, you know. The iPhone does what a Blackberry does, and since there’s no real difference, RIM is rushing to make a touch screen Blackberry which has been delayed a couple of times already.
Oh, wait, I guess forcing the market leader to change its design philosophy and feature content would make the iPhone relevant, wouldn’t it?
I think he meant “tech prude”, not tech pundit.
Try biking in Houston, it’s a 600 sq mile city, and you’re in 100+ degree heat for much of the year.
Between that and my job (I average 40,000 miles annually), I think I’ll stick to my car!
@it’s true: I beg to differ.I am on my second phone, having used the first iPhone for a year, and then moving to the 3G late last month. The 3G is an excellent phone. Call quality is superb, and its visual voice mail and integration of contacts is much superior to my Blackberry (yes, I have one issued by my company; it is set to call forward to my iPhone). Does battery life suck? Yes, but less than all other 3G devices that suck worse. Unlike my BB which cannot reliably open ANY attachments, let alone edit them, the iPhone can open All Office attachments and PDFs, and they are gloriously readable. More than readable, they look exactly as their author intended. Do I wish I could edit them? Yes, But for now, it’s still better than my BB. Many times, when I am with colleagues, they will forward their email to me so they can read attachments. Toy mapping? According to whom? Better than what is on my BB. Got me and my family around last week on vacation quite nicely, thank you. And isn’t that what developers are for? Needs a background SDK? Um, no it desn’t. Either you get this issue, or you don’t, and you clearly don’t. As for Bluetooth, ironically, it is more than adequate, and certainly better than my BB. I know many people want stereo audio BT, but I am not one of them. I would love voice dialing & commands, but developers are already filling that gap.
As for your list of the iPhone’s positives, that list clearly demonstrates that you do not get what makes the iPhone special (“sleek case”? how lame can you get?), and suggests that you have not actually spent any extended time actually using one. Additionally, you say this in the first paragraph: “not a good email device,” and then say this in your second paragraph: “kinda OK email support,” suggesting that you really do not know what you are talking about.
this guy has a point, he probably wants a keyboard, since email is his only reason to use a phone.
he should also be an accountant, because he is boring.
Usual process. When a tech pundit wants the iPhone (or any device, usually from Apple) to fail, they’ll pick any, ANY slightly negative angle and blow it out of proportion.
However, when there’s no negative to blow up, they’ll simply fall back on the tried and trusted method to ignoring it completely.
There is a place for people who like the old way of doing things and don’t want to change.
That cool.
But why the hell is someone paying him to be a technology pundit?!?!?!?!?
Did anyone catch in the Times Online (UK) article that this “tech analyst” is in Montana???
WTF!!! (Where’s the Fried Possum)
Best MDN take ever! ~ Comic Book Guy
i am a mac fan since 2005, and i tried iphone twice. Like the author i need a phone and emails on the road. I ended up with Nokia E71 which by means of BluePhoneElite2 integrates with my macbook pro better by far. I can receive and send sms from my mbp, i can make and receive calls, it iSyncs as soon as i’m in bluetooth range. It pauses itunes while i am on the phone. E71 lets me save images from web and make blog posts where copypaste comes in quite handy. Not to mention qwerty keyboard which is way more pecise than that of iphone. I am currently posting this on E71 which on iphone’s onscreen keyboard would be a nightmare. Iphone is good as a proof of concept, but not more for someone who values functionality over bells-and-whistles.
You have to admit it takes guts to publish an article that proclaims to the world at large:
“I Don’t Get It!!!!”
Toy mapping means no turn by turn which is available on new Blackberrys, Windows Mobile phones and quite a few others. You must have an old blackberry if you don’t see the difference between turn by turn mapping and a google map. it might be “adequate” for you. it’s certainly better than a paper map, but it’s nowhere near as good as what other phones do.
As to background apps. You either get what Steve said a year ago that the phone didn’t need a real SDK was true, or you get that he was just saying that while Apple prepared one. It’s currently the same situation with background apps. There’s lots of things you want to do where the triggering event is generated from inside the phone, not pushed from some external server. Either you get that or you don’t. You can parrot what Steve is saying for now, just as people parroted the “no native apps needed” line a year ago, or understand that this is a short term position and just as Apple started pushing native apps as revolutionary once they could do them, they’ll back away from decrying background apps, once they can do them.
With the iPhone and 3G and GPS enabled you can literally watch the batter gauge go down. Getting hours out of an iPhone which you try to use as a handheld computer is a challenge. Forget getting a full day. You might get that if you turn off the GPS and 3G and don’t use the phone too much for anything but phone calls, emails and a little light browsing. But that defeats the point of this “Handheld Computer”. Other phones have much more usable battery lives when actually using them that way.
Win mobile can of course edit and create office attachements as well as view them. That’s one up on the iPhone if you care about that.
You are forgiving a music phone from the biggest maker of music players on the planet for having the lack of stereo bluetooth? When every $29.95 music phone supports it? Not to mention you can’t out of the box use it as a modem with your PC (without banned Apple software).
“(“sleek case”? how lame can you get?), well, I’m not being lame, the iPhone has an attractive design. It’s not ugly like so many other phones. it’s industrial design is a strong point, as is it’s browser.
But email is not. Having used iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Mobile with corporate email, I can confidently state that while pretty, the Apple implementation is the slowest to use and the least functional.
So the phone has it’s good points, but really it’s got it’s bad points too.
Another moron with a grudge. How on earth does a dullwitted Luddite like Jonathan Weber fancy himself a “technology pundit.” That’s a good one!
MDN, congratulations on your take. Well done. I often criticize your takes because I think they come off as unnecessarily shrill, whiny defensive or biased. But this take, with humor and grace, perfectly illustrated the flaw in the author’s arguments. Again I say, well done.
@Boo
I feel sorry for you.
“I can receive and send sms from my mbp,” —- interesting… You use a laptop to do SMS cause your tiny screen with crappy graphics makes it difficult to type and read.
“It pauses itunes while i am on the phone.” —- Again.. when using your mbp. How is this useful when on the road?
“E71 lets me save images from web” —- Same thing with the iPhone.
“Not to mention qwerty keyboard which is way more pecise than that of iphone.” —- According to who? I owned and used a BB and made as many typos with that piece of junk. This is strictly preference and to state it as fact is beyond silly.
“it iSyncs as soon as i’m in bluetooth range” —— Really, you’re touting this as a feature? I’ll admit that MobileMe was a complete launch disaster, but since then it been flawless. No need for proximity synchronization.
“and make blog posts where copypaste comes in quite handy.” Here’s an interesting take on this…. COPY/PASTE does not exist on the iPhone YET. Neither did GPS and 3G. Fortunately, C/P are just a software-update-away. how do i do a software update? Well, I take my iPhone, drive down to my local AT&T;store and have them upgrade the phone for me. I then make an impulse purchase(what the heck, I’m already there) and I drive all the way back to my home. Oh…wait… that’s what the other guys do.
Boo… You like your Nokia E71 because your MBP makes it almost bearable. The Nokia E71 alone is just another cellphone.
a Hall of Fame MDN take! Thanks for the laugh, MDN!
@iPhone user
Don’t feel sorry for me, i’m quite happy for my choice, and with every banned appstore app i feel even better
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
No, the point is that E71 becomes an extension of my mbp while i’m at the office. When i move out it has most important things with me on the go – the phone and the messaging. Why iPhone has worse integration with mac than nokia beats me. Apple has everything to do it right, but for some reason they won’t.
Notice, his last name is spelled with *one* b, not two. So it’s not me saying these things.
— Jonathan Webber (jcw3rd)
My work gave me a Blackberry and it sits in my drawer. I spent my own money for an iPhone. You got it… I would rather pay to use an iPhone than receive a free Blackberry.
I think MDN’s take is about right…
The bit that I would fine tune though, is item (4) which I would have worded as follows:
4) racing to make my own buggy-whip business travel-friendly (read: automobile-friendly)
I recommend this change as the wagon wheel business can transition across to the after-market alloy wheel business (ever seen ‘Pimp my Ride’ on MTV?) where as the buggy-whip business is truly as anachronistic as the related animal-based mode of transport underpinning the MDN take.
Having said that, I am sure I have just upset the few remaining buggy-whip business owners who are still out there…
Why get all steamed at Boo? He’s a mac guy. I’m a mac guy, and I have a slightly old moto cell phone – it works perfectly for voice, kind of sucks for voice mail… but useful enough. If his Nokia works for him, so what? I want an iPhone too, but so far can’t really justify the purchase price or the contract obligation. So, it will be on my list of ‘things I eventually will get’ and I go about my business. In the meantime, not everyone needs or wants the same thing. Lighten up! Sheesh.
Sure can tell you aren’t a teenager.
While you can screw your sweetie on horseback, the horse, at a canter, does most of the work, I’d love to see you try it on a bike.
MDN had the right analogy, horse to car not bike to car.
@ Predrag,
“I’d love to see you try it on a bike.”
It CAN be done. Doggy style too! Woohoo!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recumbent_bicycle
I’m guessing he hasn’t used the iPhone yet. That’s usually the case with the knockers.
It seems not every one share the same vision.
I must confess when Steve announced the iPhone I bought a 3G crapberry as I could not wait to change my dying Nokia. And I have admin it works great for emails, basically the bb is the modern pager, to retrieve a jpg from it you need to ask for it. Kind of useless uh? I mean in 3G mode battery sucks, and I never was able to connect to the web due to so called technical reasons.
Now when the iPhone 3G when out, I was there to get 2, one for me and a white for my wife. Yesterday we were lost in the country side with our classic car (not a Model T, one without GPS) and thanks to the iPhone we came back home safely!
In case the so call tech pundit missed the point here, with a perfect web access we carry a mini computer with us all the time and we are ready to face any situation and I am sure you all have thousands of similar examples. Just one thing. Maybe the email lover is receiving HTML emails, he simply should see the difference between a bb and the iPhone, then I am sure he would change his mind. Dumb Ass…
@CEMac: You make some valid points, but some of them represent personal preferences. Toy mapping is a critique only of what the iPhone comes with; it’s not an inherent shortcoming of the phone. Development is going to solve that problem, and soon, just as it did with–the stuff you apparently like–WinCE and other devices. Do I wish turn by turn was already in there? Sure I do. Does that make it “toy mapping”? Apparently, for you it does; not for me. And no matter what is ultimately developed, it will have a hard time competing with my Garmin 770. What’s not toy is the ability to do a search for something, have it show up on the map, including web links for the place, and their phone numbers, etc.
Background SDK is not the same issue as the original SDK; I don’t know anyone who honestly thought we weren’t going to get a real SDK, Steve’s bluster to the contrary, though I was pleasantly surprised by just how good some of the “web apps” were that we did get. There are legitimate battery and performance-relatedf reasons for the “no background process” architectural choice. As I said, either you agree with it or you don’t. The notion, though, that this is a reason to actually prefer Blackberry over iPhone is just ludicrous.
As for battery performance, yes, if you tuirn on and use everything, it drains the battery. Name a phone that doesn’t. I believe it was c|net that tested all the 3G phones, and ranked the iPhone best of an admittedly overall battery-draining lot. Again, this is a reason to prefer the BB over the iPhone? I don’t think so. Hell, when I had my Palm Treo 650, I had to carry a spare battery, and I routinely ran my BB down. Big effin’ deal.
No, I could not give a rat’s a$$ for stereo bluetooth. I spent hundreds of dolalrs on my Etymotic and Westone canalphones. I rip lossless; I care about the quality of the reproduction more than some perceived convenience with battery-sucking, low fidelity wireless headphones. Every $29.95 music phone? Please, restrain yourself. I understand people who want the feature, but your hyperbole is unnecesary. Now, as I said, voice command I do miss. I had that with my Sprint phones, and my Sony and Nokia phones years ago. From a business perspective, and a safety perspective while driving, its absence is amazing.
As to email, I could not disagree with you more. I have used an iPaq, the BB I have, and the iPhone. I will never go back to those other phones. State whatever you want “confidently,” this is just your personal preference. I have used all three systems, and my employer pays for my BB, but not for my Iphone. I would rather use email on my iPhone one-handed than either the BB or WinCE.
As for the ability to edit documents, yes, if you can call WinCE an “operating system,” it lets you edit documents. My god, there isn’t a reviewer alive on the PC or Mac side who has actually suggested that the WinCE system is preferable to an iPhone running OS X. Wait, sorry, that’s hyperbole; I am sure there is someone somewhere. But even PC Magazine chose the iPhone and its OS as an editors choice; when it came to WinCE, PC Mag picked it as an editor’s choice only because it was available on more phones and carriers, not because it was better than the iPhone. Have you actually used WinCE on a touchscreen device? It is pathetic.
But again, much of this is about personal preference. If it was a clearcut as you make it out, I’ll bet you could find some folks who would shell out their own money to own a BB rather than a company-supplied iPhone. Or could you? At my company, I am not alone in paying for my iPhone out of my own pocket. This is just anecdotal stuff, not statistically valid. What is valid is the very real point that until Apple released the first iPhone, the state of innovation from RIM and companies supplying WinCE devices was embarrassing. Even now, the so-called innovation is mostly copycat. Look at RIM’s touchscreen devices (remember their CEO disparaging touchscreen?) and now Verizon has a limited rollout of visual voicemail for a fee. WinCE promises to catch up to the iPhone in about two years.
Could the iPhone be better? Hell, yes, and I look forward to those improvements. But the notion that it is just one of many alternatives, not noteworthy in particular, or unremarkable–which is sort of the point of the original article here–is just laughable. By the measure of almost every pundit other than Mr. Weber, including nearly every Palm/RIM/WinCE apologist, it is a game-changer. More than a year after my first one, I still love using it.
How clever was the choice of pic to illustrate MDN’s take on this story? Did you just pick an old codger at random or do you know who that is?
He’s Lionel Jeffries one of Britain’s best loved character actors (happily still with us), best known to American audiences as Dick Van Dyke’s dad in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
I quote from Screen Online; “……it is as a character actor specialising in doomed obduracy that he will be best remembered”
Obduracy: Stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or course of action.
Seems very appropriate.
“But the notion that it is just one of many alternatives, not noteworthy in particular, or unremarkable”
My point is not that, but rather it is good at some things and not at others. So it’s not a knockout punch, just a good option if you’re wanting to do the things it does well.
“What’s not toy is the ability to do a search for something, have it show up on the map, including web links for the place, and their phone numbers, etc.”
That’s just like any Tomtom or Garmin product. I like Google Maps, mostly for planning routes but not as a replacement for a turn by turn navigation software and/or hardware.
“There are legitimate battery and performance-relatedf reasons for the “no background process” architectural choice.”
Well not really, since Unix has run just fine with background processes on hardware much more lightweight than an iPhone, and the core iPhone OS runs multiple background processes. it’s just the SDK doesn’t let you create your own. The problem is there’s a whole class of applications that lack of background processing eliminates. Anyway, Apple will fix that and then those who think it’s an “Architectural Choice” with “Good Reasons” will see that they were just acting as unpaid extensions of the RDF until Apple could figure out how they were going to deliver it in the SDK. Listening to the push server explanation was like stepping back a year and listening to the “you don’t really need an SDK” explanation. You know sooner or later reality will win out over short term spin and Apple will figure out how to do background processes.
“Have you actually used WinCE on a touchscreen device? It is pathetic.”
Yes. I’d agree that what the iPhone does is more easily presented, but that’s largely because it’s feature set is much smaller. So if you’re happy that the smaller feature set does all you need (or just that you can find what you want in your iPhone) score one for the iPhone. If you want your phone to do more, score one for Windows Mobile.
“I believe it was c|net that tested all the 3G phones, and ranked the iPhone best of an admittedly overall battery-draining lot.”
They were mostly looking at talk and standby time, not use as a handheld computer. I’ve never seen a Windows Mobile device battery go down like the iPhone does when using it as a handheld device. As long as the iPhone is asleep in your pocket with Wifi, 3G and GPS turned off, it seems to be OK though.
“I care about the quality of the reproduction more than some perceived convenience with battery-sucking, low fidelity wireless headphones.”
Good for you, I just don’t like the ugly ass external BlueTooth dongle you have to use to make an iPhone (or iPod) talk properly to a BlueTooth enabled set of headphones or a stereo. In the cases where I want to hardwire it, it’s fine and I’ll get better quality. But when I don’t want to do that, Apple should at least support a basic industry standard, and it is no hyperbole, every new $29.95 music phone has the feature.
Many here think the iPhone is the uberphone, that supercedes all other phones and talk through their ass about how bad the alternatives are despite never having used anything but an iPhone. I’ve used the alternatives and the iPhone and iPhone 3G are good first and second shots from Apple. Blackberry excels at corporate email and not much else. It will eventually go the way of Palm OS which excelled at being a 90’s style PDA and not much else. But for now it’s still a significant platform. Windows Mobile is still a more capable and extensible mobile computing platform than the iPhone. The iPhone is easier to use. The iPhone is a strong consumer phone since the feature set is well chosen for that class of customer. Battery life is probably going to be the biggest killer in it establishing itself as some kind of mobile computing platform.
Microsoft’s business model for Windows Mobile for both handset makers and software developers is open and flexible. Apple’s is proprietary and closed.Strangely Apple seems to have learned nothing there from handing the PC market to Microsoft on a platter.
Hopefully Apple’s role in this is not to repeat their PC experience of prodding the world down a new path only to be rolled over the top of by others.
My musing on the iPhone and @CEMac.
The iPhone and its potential –
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.”
–
@CEMac –
“Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.”
MDN MW “value” ’nuff said!
Probably the funniest MDN evah´!
= )
(what is the trouble so many brittons have with Apple ? I´m not one of them and I don´t get it )
…ok so he wasn´t brittish. Hmmm… Not much of a “pundit” anyway
I bet this same fool said the same sorta thing when the Blackberry came out. Like “What do I need any extra features on a phone for? My computer handles all my email, and I my phone is for calls and SMS.”
Who needs convergent technologies, eh? just gimme a phone, a camera, gps, a palmtop, and I’ll stick em all in my pocket.
pfft! Let’s all keep living in 2003.
PS Great take, MDN.
“Who needs convergent technologies, eh? just gimme a phone, a camera, gps, a palmtop, and I’ll stick em all in my pocket.
pfft! Let’s all keep living in 2003.”
The iPhone remains something of a jack of all trades and master of none. If that’s what you want from convergence, that’s fine.
Awesome. And the text too. MDN is at their best when being witty instead of flinging playground insults. Stay away from the fat jokes and potty humor (it only reinforces the anti-MacHead stereotypes) and keep up THIS kind of good work!
MDN is one site of where I go each day to seek out the Truth- that is, to put things in perspective. David Pogue was my first guru, then I began to trust and count on Tera Patricks, founder of Mac 360. Since Tera’s death, it hasn’t been the same over there, and now the two figureheads supposedly running the site are arguing: “to Mac or not to Mac.” They’re so frustrated, burnt, and disappointed with Apple that they’re offering to sell the domain and several other crackpot names they’d thought of during a wet dream. They are saying that Apple is now no different from Microsoft, HP, or Dell. One thing I’m sure of- Tera Patricks is turning over in her grave.
HMCIV:
Did anyone catch in the Times Online (UK) article that this “tech analyst” is in Montana???
WTF!!! (Where’s the Fried Possum)
Actually, they do have some high tech in Montana. I spent a few months there, and Bozeman has a lot of big tech corporations.
Also, anyone who knows Montana knows that fried possum isn’t on the menu. Fried gopher though, now that’s another story!
(In Montana, prarie dogs are called gophers, and they’re literally EVERYWHERE!!! They are a real pest!)