Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Two years ago when I was about to leave for my Pacific Northwest Roadtrip, I borrowed Aki's Treo because he offered to let me take it on my trip. I played around with it for a while, looked at some maps, looked up a hotel, and after an hour I was so frustrated with it that I decided not to take it on my trip. On a trip where I had no advanced plans, no hotel reservations, nothing but AAA maps, I decided to start driving and leave this internet device behind. That's how bad it was. I have never been impressed with the Treo. It feels like a 10 year old operating system; it's something people buy because there is nothing better.
Now the iPhone is out and thousands of people were lined up across the country to get it first. There's a lot of hype behind this product. But the initial reviews (and my own use) show that the phone lives up to the hype. Sure there are some flaws. But what device (especially a version 1) is without flaw? Take a step back. You can complain about the iPhone not having 3G or GPS. But how about complaining that the Palm OS can't run two applications at the same time? Or can't render a web page decently? Or isn't a real music or video player? Or that people buy 3rd party email and sms apps because the built in ones suck? Hmmm, what's more important?
Are existing cell phones really that bad? Yes, they are. My three previous Sony Ericsson phones have broken on me within 2 years (my last phone shut off randomly several times per day). My dad lent me an old Nokia he had, but it was so hard to use even for basic calls and SMS that I preferred my Sony that was shutting off! Al had a Palm which he hated; he traded for a blackberry which he also hated. Jason hates his Blackberry. Sean bought an HTC 8525 because it has slingplayer on it (way cool) but he returned it because he hated it.
Why is it no one can make a good phone? Phone companies can't write software. What about Microsoft? Well, they definitely stuck a sophisticated operating system into a phone. But it's even harder to use than a normal phone, full of menus and options. A friend of mine has a phone which runs Windows Mobile, and he is one of my last friends who still uses a Windows PC, yet he doesn't sync his phone to his computer! I've been doing that over bluetooth for years. Worries about losing my contacts when losing a phone or upgrading have been a thing of the past. A Microsoft made OS on both your phone and your computer, yet syncing them isn't simple? It should be automatic so you just do it; you don't have to think about if or how.
Apple didn't want to just put out a better phone. Apple wanted to change how the whole mobile industry works, just like the iPod changed the music industry. Apple could have just made another GSM phone and followed the old rules, but they wanted to improve the whole experience from start to end.
You buy your phone with no subsidy, no rebates, no papers to sign in the store. You go home and activate it in iTunes (very cool). If you go to att.com you are flooded with 15 different data plans. Apple simplified this with special plans that are even cheaper than the plans for other devices. And visual voicemail is a killer feature that only Apple has.
When the iPhone was first announced, I thought this quote from Jonathon Ive was great:
When our tools don't work, we tend to blame ourselves, for being too stupid or not reading the manual or having too-fat fingers. "I think there's almost a belligerence—people are frustrated with their manufactured environment," says Ive. "We tend to assume the problem is with us, and not with the products we're trying to use." In other words, when our tools are broken, we feel broken. And when somebody fixes one, we feel a tiny bit more whole.
I am confident my dad will be able to use every single feature of the iPhone within a day of owning it, and I think that's the ultimate test for the product. It's not just for tech geeks.
This is just the beginning. But even in the version 1 iPhone, Apple has something running OS X, with 3D graphics, 11mm thin, and the greatest touch screen ever made. I think it might be the single biggest leap in technology for any single product release. When I demo it, people gasp. Is it real? And I bet there are lots of great iPhones, iPods and Macs coming along using all this technology.
More impressions from actually using the phone coming soon.
Now the iPhone is out and thousands of people were lined up across the country to get it first. There's a lot of hype behind this product. But the initial reviews (and my own use) show that the phone lives up to the hype. Sure there are some flaws. But what device (especially a version 1) is without flaw? Take a step back. You can complain about the iPhone not having 3G or GPS. But how about complaining that the Palm OS can't run two applications at the same time? Or can't render a web page decently? Or isn't a real music or video player? Or that people buy 3rd party email and sms apps because the built in ones suck? Hmmm, what's more important?
Are existing cell phones really that bad? Yes, they are. My three previous Sony Ericsson phones have broken on me within 2 years (my last phone shut off randomly several times per day). My dad lent me an old Nokia he had, but it was so hard to use even for basic calls and SMS that I preferred my Sony that was shutting off! Al had a Palm which he hated; he traded for a blackberry which he also hated. Jason hates his Blackberry. Sean bought an HTC 8525 because it has slingplayer on it (way cool) but he returned it because he hated it.
Why is it no one can make a good phone? Phone companies can't write software. What about Microsoft? Well, they definitely stuck a sophisticated operating system into a phone. But it's even harder to use than a normal phone, full of menus and options. A friend of mine has a phone which runs Windows Mobile, and he is one of my last friends who still uses a Windows PC, yet he doesn't sync his phone to his computer! I've been doing that over bluetooth for years. Worries about losing my contacts when losing a phone or upgrading have been a thing of the past. A Microsoft made OS on both your phone and your computer, yet syncing them isn't simple? It should be automatic so you just do it; you don't have to think about if or how.
Apple didn't want to just put out a better phone. Apple wanted to change how the whole mobile industry works, just like the iPod changed the music industry. Apple could have just made another GSM phone and followed the old rules, but they wanted to improve the whole experience from start to end.
You buy your phone with no subsidy, no rebates, no papers to sign in the store. You go home and activate it in iTunes (very cool). If you go to att.com you are flooded with 15 different data plans. Apple simplified this with special plans that are even cheaper than the plans for other devices. And visual voicemail is a killer feature that only Apple has.
When the iPhone was first announced, I thought this quote from Jonathon Ive was great:
When our tools don't work, we tend to blame ourselves, for being too stupid or not reading the manual or having too-fat fingers. "I think there's almost a belligerence—people are frustrated with their manufactured environment," says Ive. "We tend to assume the problem is with us, and not with the products we're trying to use." In other words, when our tools are broken, we feel broken. And when somebody fixes one, we feel a tiny bit more whole.
I am confident my dad will be able to use every single feature of the iPhone within a day of owning it, and I think that's the ultimate test for the product. It's not just for tech geeks.
This is just the beginning. But even in the version 1 iPhone, Apple has something running OS X, with 3D graphics, 11mm thin, and the greatest touch screen ever made. I think it might be the single biggest leap in technology for any single product release. When I demo it, people gasp. Is it real? And I bet there are lots of great iPhones, iPods and Macs coming along using all this technology.
More impressions from actually using the phone coming soon.