“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.
@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!