Macworld keynote musings
So my predictions turned out to be 100% wrong 
Some random thoughts:
Perhaps it should be called Appleworld! The Mac didn’t get a sniff! Where were the hardware upgrades? Now that the Intel transition is complete, I’d have expected a refreshed form factor on at least one product (probably the Mac and MacBook Pro)… Where was the extended preview of OS X Leopard? Where was iLife ‘07? Where were representatives of Adobe and Microsoft, with CS3 and Office 2008 demos and release date commitments? Not even one more thing?
Apple TV is an interesting little gadget. I’m not remotely interested in using a videogame console as a music / photos storehouse. I’ve already gone to the trouble of importing and organising that content on my computer. The hard drive means that users won’t need their computer turned on to use it, which would have been a fatal flaw were that not the case.
I wouldn’t buy one for £199 though. I use my PS2 as a DVD player and I’ve got a nice amp, to which I’ve connected a dock - I don’t need to sync my music because I just plug my iPod in. I’m not fussed about looking at my photos on telly, and I’ve no plans to buy shows or movies from iTunes (a moot point in the UK). Without PVR features, I don’t care about it.
iPhone was a surprise to me. It’s long been a favourite on the Mac rumour mill, but until yesterday appeared to be nothing more. Wow, though. Wow. I have to confess, I want one and if I can ever come up with even the feeblest justification I will buy one.
I look forward to seeing what the other phone manufacturers come up with now. It’s already hurting RIM, Palm and Nokia’s share price so they will have to respond quickly. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to describe the iPhone as a generational leap in phones; hopefully Apple won’t find themselves out there with little incentive to innovate further.
There are questions to be answered about iPhone - does Apple intend to aggressively improve on it through software (I want an RSS reader, general purpose QuickTime player and touchscreen tetris!)? Will it be open enough for third parties to create additional software? Will they add other hardware features such as a video camera and sat nav? Time will tell.
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January 10th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to describe the iPhone as a generational leap in phones;
the word iPhone gets mentioned and suddenly everyone’s high on crack.
It is an exageration, a gross one at that.
Touch screen - Been done
MP3 player - been done
Web - been done
Email - been done
Video - been done
Now Apple tie to one provider, the one well-known for shitty coverage and service (admitedly given the large amount of attention this is receiving, it won’t be for long), abandon 3G (kiss goodbye to roaming iTunes downloads) and try to tout EDGE as something cool (the equivalent of saying ‘fuck broadband, dial-up rules’) and don’t even throw a mainstay of modern mobiles, GPS, into the bargin (but hey, you get google maps).
The battery life I can’t see as THAT much of a problem, 16 hours is below normal mobile but 6 hours of video play is pretty awesome and well beyond what most people are going to need on the train/plane/bus.
Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone *is* cool and while everything on it has been done before and done reasonable well in some cases, Apple are sure to do it better.
However, $600 is a little pricey considering most mobiles are heavily subsidised to being virtually free. Are the features they left out important enough to deter people away? Will they go back on their decision to not let third parties get involved or are they too tied to their partners (yahoo, google, cingular) on this? Will the memory be big enough for the average joe to put enough music and then movies on to be happy?
I doubt it, if you buy an iPhone, as always, you are buying the brand, not the product.
January 11th, 2007 at 12:04 am
And something else to think of.. how many times have you sent a call to voice mail, changed tracks, changed volume level, etc on your phone/mp3 player while it is in your pocket, without looking at it, by touch alone? Not something you’ll be able to do with this…
One comment I did see from some guy who tests handset for a living did make the point that on the whole UI for phones is utter shite, so it is a given the iPhone, regardless of all else, will be far, far ahead of the market there.
January 11th, 2007 at 10:29 am
iPhone is a generational leap precisely because it applies state of the art product and UI design to an industry whose products had better be subsidised by their manufacturers, because they’re so poor. I suffer my phone, and I think it’s pretty good as phones go!
We all know that these things (MP3, web etc) have been done before, but so bleedin’ what. Been done APPALLINGLY BADLY before. Even the PSP and Nintendo DS web browsers are pitifully shit (I’ve used the PSP one and I own a DS - needless to say I won’t be buying the Opera browser or the upcoming MP3 player for it). iPod was not the first portable MP3 player, it succeeded because it did a good job of marrying the device to usable software. I’ve never done the kind of musical function juggling you describe because I’ve examined my phone’s player, then never wasted my time using it.
I’ll take your word for Cingular’s coverage, I don’t know anything about them.
$600 is pricey, but so was the original iPod when it came out. The price will drop, and there’ll be an iPhone Nano or something in time. As has been pointed out, add together the price of a Blackberry and an iPod Nano and you get a similar price. I wouldn’t pay $600, but a lot of the debate boils down to sticker-shock.
by touch alone? Not something you’ll be able to do with this…
So you read Signal Vs Noise eh?
That’s true, it’s be interesting to see how much of an impact the lack of tactile feedback has.
I did see from some guy who tests handset for a living did make the point that on the whole UI for phones is utter shite, so it is a given the iPhone, regardless of all else, will be far, far ahead of the market there.
Hahaha what a complacent and inane comment of whoeveritwas to make. Sure, it’s easy. All it takes is two and a half year’s work by one of the most highly regarded product designers in the world. What a jackass.
as always, you are buying the brand, not the product.
I use a Mac and a PC every day. I don’t use a Mac because I’m a slave to the brand, I use it because I’m in charge of what I spend my own money on, and I prefer it.
January 11th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
I was arguing with my brother about this last night, and he quoted steve’s “revolutionising the phone industry” part.
To be honest, I feel they’ve just taken the next logical step that phones were going to take but the other companies were too slow at doing. Nothing astounding, in my opinion.
Sure, they’re gonna sell well, but I’ll just have to sit here and sulk about it to myself
January 11th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
generational leap precisely because it applies state of the art product and UI design to an industry whose products had better be subsidised by their manufacturers
Fine, but that isn’t revolutionary. In fact, given Apple’s distancing themselves from the desktop market, one could easily argue that taking existing products and simply throwing together a better interface and box for all the gubbings is their entire business.
I’m not saying it won’t sell, I’m not saying it isn’t going to be better and easier than everything on the market or that the mobile phone market generally has had it far too easy… I just grow weary of Apple doing the expect, following their own well trodden path and everyone bleating about how cutting edge it is.
It isn’t. The only shock is that some other company hasn’t stepped up and started doing the same.
Even the PSP and Nintendo DS web browsers are pitifully shit
I guess that’s personal opinion, I find the browser on my PSP far more than adequete for the job. The only pain is the text entry, but actual render and navigation is rather good. A DS I’ve got no clue about. Apple are careful about their wording saying this is the first desktop browser on a phone, but phone browsing isn’t that bad, certainly the old WAP days were fine for getting sports results, checking email etc. Their claim is also a bit of a porky-pie… there was a phone that implemented some obscure java browser a while back.
I’ve never done the kind of musical function juggling you describe because I’ve examined my phone’s player
You’ve never had your phone in your inside pocket, been in the middle of a conversation when it rang and simply sent the call to voice mail? ever?
Sure it is no great shakes to pull it out and do the same, but it is a thought to consider when banding around words like ‘ease of use’ and ‘intuitive’ while discussing the iPhone.
I’ll take your word for Cingular’s coverage, I don’t know anything about them.
I don’t own a phone here, but because of the place being so big, coverage is pretty much the main issue. So much so that competing adverts between Cingular (stop dropped calls) and Verizon (get a massive network with full support) talk only of this issue. It is pretty much a given that Verizon are the network to turn to when you’re fed up with no coverage.
$600 is pricey, but so was the original iPod when it came out.
But there weren’t any restrictions on it.
Apple are asking you to shell out $600, then a two year contract with Cingular. Even on a cheap $40 plan, that’s $1,560 in total. One of the key ATTRACTIONS to owning a mobile phone is that you can pick which network and plan you want. If Cingular treat you like crap, drop your calls, etc… you screwed for two years. And that’s before we even talk of call and data rates (here in the US, you pay a fee for incoming calls as well as outgoing… how odd).
So you read Signal Vs Noise eh?
The once, when you pointed me to 37 Signals. A rather ignorant comment that MS have yet to put out any kind of dev framework (.Net has been out.. what 4 years?) highlighted the level of intelligence/education of the average audience and I never went back.
Sure, it’s easy.
Sorry I didn’t make it clear, their comment was that current phone interfaces are shit, the comments about it being easy for iPhone to win out were my own. And sure, it is. Look at the interface, hardly rocket science. That the phone is so thin is great, but I own a SL1VR so I’m already used to that.
A hint of the right marketing and it’ll do fine. The only real problem I can see is the Exchange compatibility (sure it does POP and push IMAP, but not all admins have or are willing to use those protocols) and if hell freezes over and the networks pull their finger out of their ass and get 3G moving..
even so, I’m sure that stuff would be added in a Gen2 version anyhow.
January 11th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Agreed, if a high standard of design in computers and consumer electronics was more commonplace there’d be little about this to get excited over. As things are…
I found the PSP’s rendering of CSS layout was sadly lacking. This was a while ago though, presumably updates have improved matters since then.
Look at the interface, hardly rocket science.
Ah… but there’s the rub. You’re absolutely right, for the user it is intended to be “hardly rocket science.” Achieving simplicity in a design for a complex product is anything but easy though, as well you must know.
I’d probably wait for a generation or two, just to have a clearer picture of exactly what it will be, and what it won’t be.
January 11th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Achieving simplicity in a design for a complex product is anything but easy though, as well you must know.
Now hang on, there’s a great deal of difference between something being ingenious and bloody obvious.
There was something I saw recently about some company putting LEDS in taps, so that the water flowing from it is lighted blue when cold, purple when warm and red when hot.
That’s ingenious.
Using icons for a graphic interface on your phone, well, that’s not exactly in the same league, especially when it is done by practically every phone manufacturer going. Apple are simply going to take those clunk, messy implementations and show them how it should be done.
There’s nothing ingenious there.
Then they leave out the obvious stuff like syncing your iTunes over wifi or throwing in 3g so you can download new tracks direct to your phone.
Apple are simply going to take a lot of half-arsed ideas and do them better. But that’s just progression, not innovation.
January 12th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Good design solutions always seem obvious in hindsight. If there was anything simple about it, how then to explain the failure of other designers who have been making phones and handheld devices for years to achieve that goal?
My point was about design, not feature-set. No doubt new (and sorely needed) functionality will be added in time, and I have a wish list of my own.
I’m looking forward to reading Slashdot’s review of the iPhone, given how insightful their remarks on the original iPod were.