I’ve been to enough Steve Jobs keynotes now to know that the man is able to take a crowd and bend it to his will. Every time, I’ve been a willing subject – sometimes (but not every time) to find myself in a hangover-like state a day later when I try to remember exactly why I thought that whatever he was pitching would change my life forever.
Steve Jobs is masterful and charismatic when he’s on stage and all eyes are on him. And when, like yesterday, the crowd is carefully packed with a throng of Apple developers cheering him on, the press in attendance can easily get caught up in the hype. He’s not nearly so charismatic in person, and I believe that’s why Apple will probably not, as Dave Winer suggests, ever move to a televised delivery of their big news while Jobs is in charge. The videos just don’t communicate the man’s magnetic charm in quite the same way.
So while I agree with Charles Cooper that Apple may sometimes get more press, and more compliant press, than they “should,” I think he and others miss the (much) larger point: Apple, and Steve Jobs, stoke our imagination in a way that no other technology company has ever done. Apple is about elegance, design, and potential, and we love them for it.
Nearly 24 hours after hearing the iPhone 3G news at WWDC, I can say with certainty that I have no hangover from this particular Applefest. The iPhone was a near-perfect mobile device a year ago when it first launched. Sure, there were flaws, as we outlined in a side-by-side comparison with the Blackberry 8800.
But those flaws are gone. The device is now fully location aware, open to developers, enterprise-friendly and moves data 3x as fast. And it is a lot cheaper. Yes, it has no physical keyboard and some people can’t yet get over that. And the battery life isn’t great. But those are about the only negative things I can say about it.
We had a grand debate today on the Gillmor Gang about the iPhone and its place in history. The most interesting part of the discussion for me was the “closed v. open” question. That’s because ultimately I believe the iPhone isn’t competing with Windows Mobile or RIM as much as Google’s upcoming Android, a very open mobile platform.
The iPhone is a closed system, with locked down hardware and platform, and rigid rules for outside developers. Android is all about open. And open is always better, right?
As we’ve seen with Macs v. Windows, and then the iPod v. everyone, closed systems can work. Users will trade price and flexibility in exchange for simplicity and elegance. That’s hard to do when you’re building software that will work across a broad range of devices, technologies and software providers. It’s easy to do when you control both ends of the system, and everything in between.
Ultimately I concede that Android may have a much larger market share than the iPhone. But I’ll argue that the iPhone users will be much happier, even as Apple makes obscene profits off of that smaller user base.
I love the iPhone for the same reason I love technology in general, and loved Disneyland as a child – it drives my imagination and makes me wonder what kind of magic to expect next. Also, it just works.
The new iPhone, like the old one, delivers all of that in abundance. And I can’t wait to see what comes next.
As someone in the UK I’ve been holding out for a 3G version of the iPhone, and would have been satisfied with the rest of the features of the original device. Now that they’ve added everything else it’s an absolute must-have for me! (Then again, I’m still using an ancient RAZR.)
Amen
This post is a beautiful piece of text.
what is next is the personal do everything with anybody anywhere device, will take some time for telcos to get with what the technology can do … they don’t release enough water to get everybody’s water wheel really spinning
but, it is still looking out at the world through the keyhole in your door, and only approximates reality … and, if you are unhappy in your nature, you will remain so, so don’t forget your im-mediate(ed) self
you have captured so well the romance and the lure of technology, which is the desire to fulfill our human potential and master the world. It is, especially with Apple, a blend of art and science. I want a new iPhone, too!
Apple has a great phone, sdk, app store, push and notification services and mobile me.
Can anyone remind me why anyone would pay for Rim Blackberry server licenses?
Brainwashed Mactards are like Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Mike, based on your last twit, I gotta say, you need to sleep first before you have a hangover.
the iphone, is literally the best thing ever….till the next best thing ever comes out (a week later)
folks does not a product make.
its an average phone with an funky interface, a limited camera (2 meg, please) and survives and indeed grows on the giggly schoolgirl like hype of the advocates who still believe that the spice girls where a real band.
if you like even love the iPhone then fine, i hope you get a room and are very very happy together, but please don’t try to persuade the rest of us that its “like so the best thing ever”
its not
never will be
I read similar article also named o.us poetry, and it was completely different. Personally, I agree with you more, because this article makes a little bit more sense for me
I am just happy that the exchange rate has worked out for us in the UK for once! $199 = £99 – much better than the obscene markup we usually get over here. I’ll be looking at the 16GB model, but even still £160 is much better than £300 or the EDGE iPhone was.
I think this really does hammer home the old idea of “you should never buy rev.A Apple gear”, the only revision A item that has worked flawlessly with all the functionality available for me is my Mac Pro.
I hear that there is a great deprogramming treatment facility for this in Redmond, WA.
one day, the iPhone will be the razr of the bunch. i cant wait to see what will make us say “ew, he still has an iPhone? he cant even time travel with that crappy phone”
we are all member of the cult…
I agree the iPhone is a great piece of gear i cant wait to get my hands on..functionality wise its not the best out there..because of Job’s charisma and media hype overdrive the iPhone gets away with some annoying flaws…like no mention of cut and paste and video..2 year contract in US, 18 months in UK
Beautiful post. These type of posts make technology blogging interesting to read
Nice post Michael, and whilst I agree on the excitement of technology (I often find new websites that give me a buzz, so effortlessly do they fulfil a need I didn’t, until that moment, realise I had).
But the iPhone just doesn’t do it for me. Basically it comes down to the camera, lack of memory (for music) price & restrictions. I’ve been spoiled by the UK market whereby I can expect a new, top of the range phone every 12 months, even on my ridiculously low price plan (with discounts, about £12 a month).
So, when it doesn’t have enough memory to store all my music (so I’d still have to carry round an iPod), has a crap camera (so I’d still have to carry round one of those as well) why would I chuck out £100 plus a ridiculous price plan, when I can just get a new iPod for £200?
No, me neither…
Hey,
I Think its a great phone, but i wouldnt go so far as to call it ‘Perfect’ there are still some flaws. For example: the crappy camera, no MMS functionality and no copy/paste(which can be annoying at times)
Having said that, its not perfect but in my opinion its the best phone currently on the market.
But perfect is pushing it.
It is not a perfect device, look at battery life 3 hours of web surfing, if you add other activity like listening to music while surfing it could be lot less. He doesn’t allow background processes, sometimes this is must.
Why can’t we change the battery ourselves, some people work lot longer than 3 hours a day.
Cheaper in the short term, more expensive in the long term. The most basic plan with data is $10/month more expensive. Over the required 2 year contract, it’s $40 more expensive than the original iPhone. The only people who are going to buy this phone because it’s “cheaper” are those that can’t add.
I agree with commenter #3 — great piece of writing, Mike.
here here … apart from the camera side… thats one thing i would have liked to see some improvement on – but i see why the didnt add it to this version.
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit…
So with all you upgrading, does anybody have a old one they want to sell on? Need an old version to unlock for use in South Africa. Will pay up to $199
fredbrando [at] gmail.com
Michael,
I have had an iPhone since day one as well and absolutely loved it. But one of the main reasons for my love was the pricing of the data plan. I keep reading how “cheap” the iPhone is now and I just don’t see it. The data plan alone is $240.00 more expensive over your contract than previously. This alone makes every single person getting a 2nd gen iPhone pay comparable, if not more than 1st Gen.
I know $40+ is the norm for most companies online packages for smartphones. But I simply will never be able to wrap my ahead around paying the same amount of money that I pay at home for my cable internet and the iPhone is quickly approaching that level now.
While I like the iphone, I doubt that I’d be able to give up my blackberry because I need its:
. PIN feature (secure point-to-point messaging with delivery notification)
. Multi-tasking (via background threads)
. Ability to sync with calendars that aren’t on exchange
While I get that the iphone has a better browser, its just not enough. On the other hand, I may just not know as much about the iphone.
Sold!
Yes, the iPhone is a thing of beauty, and Steve Jobs is the Walt Disney of the tech world.
I must add though, as part of team developing an app for the iPhone, backgrounding not being available is crushing our dreams.
Apple’s control of both ends is great for the consumer experience, and really sucks for people that want to make stuff.
Finally, at long last, another post worth reading. Goes to show that you really should stick to the things you know and care about.
A great sum up for one of the greatest computer gadgets in history.
I think you can truly understand the greatness of the Apple products only after you start to use them on regular basics.
After that everything else is history.
Bill Gates did a great contribution to the world by delivering PC’s on every corner of the world and setting up the main pillars for further.
Steve Jobs gives us a vision of the future.
We can only learn from their visions and determination to achieve goals.
this is really great post. now, get some sleep
Finally GPS in iPhone! That was the only thing missing
When the iPhone first came out I took a lot of pictures of people with their iPhones. I tagged those pictures “iCult” and you can see them here: http://www.flic...Cult&m=text
I haven’t updated those photos for a while, though, cause after a few weeks it seemed like everyone had an iPhone so it got old.
Yes, Android is an “open” system and iPhone is a “closed” system. I won’t dispute that fact. But, you should at least mention that OS X and the iPhone is based on a lot of open source technology.
http://apple.com/opensource/
What a beautiful post. thank-you Michael. Technology at it’s finest….
Is Erik Schmidt still on the AAPL board? surely there are conflicts between Android and the iphone?
Questions regarding the iphone 3G for those in the know (slightly off-topic, sorry):
1) I saw in the iphone.com videos that the ipod, ipod video, and internet browser apps on the iphone have a “landscape mode” – do all apply-based apps (maps, home screen, phone-book, gallery, etc.) have a similar landscape option?
2) with the new iphone 3g, is it realistic for me to think that I could access hulu content through the iphone’s web browser?
3) how much does the unlimited iphone data plan through at&t cost (and is “unlimited” the only option I have?)?
4) is it easy enough to load my own .avis/xvid/divx/mp4/etc. video files or am I stuck with only youtube/itunes as my video options (and similarly for audio files)?
Thanks a lot!!!
quick fix for my comment: “do all APPLE-based apps”
Looks like it’s now available as pay as you go with o2 in the uk, so no contract needed but the data rate may be expensive.
#36
2) with the new iphone 3g, is it realistic for me to think that I could access hulu content through the iphone’s web browser?
Nope. Hulu is Flash based and as such iPhone won’t work with it =\ (No mention of this at the event either)
I love the iPhone for the same reason I love technology in general, and loved Disneyland as a child – it drives my imagination and makes me wonder what kind of magic to expect next. Also, it just works.
Couldn’t agree more Michael. Its the kind of magic that makes you believe that there are people who want to make the best technology out there; that when you build something with the intent it shows; there is good in the world worth fighting, er… paying for.
Those who gripe that iPhone worshippers are ‘mactards’ or ‘giggly school girls’; clearly know of a better answer to life, universe… everything than 42. I don’t.
And quite frankly, as a Mac user, i have no problem in accepting – I’m shallow…
as shallow as a thing of beauty gets,
as shallow as usefulness and usability can get,
as shallow as people who design and create around me rather than me waking up to whatever they can come up with…
as shallow as the idea of any deeper meaning in Phones.
But lets not deviate – the iPhone isn’t perfect… of course not!
“It didn’t rid us of poverty or malaria! It didn’t make the world any more peaceful! ”
And not just matters of global consequence… “The battery will not last an entire day if you use your browser and music and maps and your games ALL at the same time… I mean how lame is that! They don’t care about people who want to use the iPhone INSTEAD of their computers?” “What about me having to PAY for the iPhone, yeah; Whats with that, huh? It isn’t the perfect phone till i get it for FREE!!”
So yes, “a Time Travel Phone will truly smash the iPhone”. “And a phone with a 20 MP camera will kill the Canon Mark 1D too!”
Wait for them… PLEASE don’t buy the iPhone. It so clearly isn’t the revolution.
This just proves that if you where all black and talk in a rhythmic manor you can sell anything to sheep. The iphone is an internet tablet hiding as a phone and if it was bigger and played well with flash it might have my attention.
By they way the grape kool aid has poison in it
browse33 – balls! is ALL flash disabled on the iphone browser (how the hell does that work? there’s so much flash content on the interwebs…)?
is it possible to download/use an alternate browser that will allow streaming flash videos?
Wow great post…. Nice job…
On a sad note: did anyone notice that Steve Jobs didn’t look too well, I hope that cancer didn’t come back… he just seem really really thin to me….
As a huge apple supporter and as someone who has been in-love with the company since way back, and even hold shares of their stock back when it was $15 dollars… I have to say I loved the show but I was more concerned with how Steve Jobs looked…
I know he’s getting old but it seemed like more then just that… I hope everything is ok, I have huge respect for the man, and I wish him and his family all the best…
I guess it’s not just me – Just notice this on the web..
http://seekinga...in-or-just-thin
Man, Michael, for the first time ever I fully agree with you — and I do feel urged to say it (why actually?)
All dust settled, though, I would argue that the most important message coming from the WWDC is this: Apple is aiming high, namely to take over the enterprise market. Why? Because the iPhone’s center of gravity is heavy on corporate rather than consumer. No new camera (still 2MB), no video recording, etc. They did enable a bit of gaming, but, hey even the suits need distraction while waiting for a plane
maa – video is there, they just aren’t talking about it yet.
I echo @Crazyglue ’s concern. So it wasn’t just me, he DID look utterly emaciated!
Hope Steve is doing fine health wise…
#17 summed it up for me (I’m a Brit also). A 5mp camera might just have swung it for me, but without it’s not reducing the number of devices I need to carry.
That aside, it is a fantastic, ground-breaking product. It’s just a pity there are still a few niggles in the latest release.
I love how Gillmor has latched on to Mesh as the beginning and end of a debate while being completely obsessed and dependent on Twitter, gmail, and gtalk. As if, even if Microsoft has solved every technology problem associated with the cloud, third party developers (particularly Google) want to buy into it, making their technology and future dependent on a Microsoft API.
MobileMe is already Mesh for just about everything consumers care about — contacts, email, calendars, photos. Yes, it’s Apple-centric, highly integrated, and consumer-focused. Yes, if you don’t want to leave Gmail or Flickr, it is useless or at least hindered. MobileMe doesn’t deliver on a grand unified (and open) vision of the cloud, it might not even be all that more compelling than .Mac in an age when users feel entitled to free… but it does solve current problems. Even if Mesh is an answer for all the problems, it will always be hamstrung by requiring every app Gillmor wants to play with to hand over their future to MS.
Android might not have the same baggage since it is so much more open and Google doesn’t carry the connotations of the dreaded Microsoft, but it will also never be as integrated and consumer-focused as Apple’s iPhone. Carriers will modify it, handset makers will modify it, app developers will pursue their own directions… and Google will make money on advertising, and every consumer LOVES that.
If ten years from now, the mobile communications market is 80% Android, 20% Apple (or 75% Android, 20% Apple, 5% Microsoft) with Google providing very open, technically advanced solutions that are cheap but not highly focused and consumer-oriented, supported by advertising profits… I’m still not sure I could dismiss Apple’s smaller market while maintaining thought-, consumer-, marketing-leadership fueled by lesser volume but greater profits through devices, software, and services that deliver what the average consumer and the bleeding-edge hipsters want at a higher initial price.
Apple is making the same mistake with iphone that it did with mac. They are keeping it closed.
I think like Mac, Iphone will set the UI benchmark but lose the market share race to Android
This is as close to perfect as you can get these days. Videocalls are missing, but that is more like the constant complaint over lacking MMS…. Who’s using it?
There has to be some small space for improvement for the next version…..
Love the 3rd party apps and who said that Apple needs a game console? They have the iPhone!!!