“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)