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All Things iPhone
With the iPhone release coming soon there is no shortage of stories being submitted. Here is an overview of all of its features and specifics on its technical workings. A list of applications is out and still growing. There are warnings however that some applications and peripherals won't be ready or compatible in time for the release. Finally with all the hype associated with the iPhone, we have a reminder of some previous Apple products that ended with a whimper instead of a roar.
With the iPhone release coming soon there is no shortage of stories being submitted. No shortage?! That's a gross understatement. I think I have just been convinced by this latest iPhone plug that things are going overboard.
We know the features, we know the controversy, we know EVERYTHING.
Just let the damn thing come. This is more than gratuitous splurge on a product. It's downright unnecessary.
I'm looking forward to this thing as much as the next guy, but come on, enough with the iPhone articles. It's getting redundant.
I think I speak for a lot of people of when I say that we're sick of hearing about the bloody iPhone. Who cares if it's super-dooper good, it's just another phone.
I'm starting to be a little tired of so many articles (free pub) about the iPhone... It seems it's going cure even global warming!
Someone remembering all the pre-noise about PS3 and the reality after Nintendo kicked it's ass?
Math is beautiful... e^(pi*i)+1=0
No, but the video link that is up on CNN/Money right now is speculating that it might land you a date.
As an Apple fan, even I am finding the level of coverage of this thing to be ridiculous. There are no less than 5 headlines about the iPhone on that page alone. The #*$(# thing isn't even out yet! For this much hype, you'd think it came with 3 5-star hookers and a brick of cocaine straight from colombia.
today is spelling optional day.
with all the hype associated with the iPhone
The more hype I see and hear about the iPhone, the more it reminds me of the hype surrounding the Segway.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
There are two deal-breakers for me with the iPhone: It has to sync with Exchange directly (no, not just IMAP, but calendaring as well), and it must work with my car's Bluetooth module. The former is because that's the only way I'll get my boss to let me get one instead of a Blackberry; the latter is because no $600 phone, no matter how insanely great, will get me to get rid of a $45K car.
Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
WillItBlend is a site run by a blender company, Blendtec. They have successfully blended some iPods in their blender (they always use the same one, and it's actually just a consumer grade one) before.
Oh, and because mentioning blending iPods in a blender WILL get you -10,000,000 Overrated (to dodge metamoderation!) here on Slashdot, they HAVE also blended Windows CDs. They make a really cool sparkly powder (over-expensive glitter?), though I still think microwaving CDs is way cooler.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
today is spelling optional day.
I know I may be late to the party here with 44 coments already posted, but for all you naysayers, here is why we are excited about the iPhone:
The bar is being raised right now for the cellphone industry, and being raised well.
This is the industry that has bent us over for so long, with unusable features, overpriced gadgets that don't deliver on what they promised, and ease of use of a manual lawn-mower.
No, iPhone is not the cure for cancer, but it is making the cell manufacturers and networks change the way they do their business.
After months of being out on the market, the "Chocolate" cellphone will get capability to have songs transfered from the computer. This is not a win for Apple, but a win for the consumer, who without Apple was at the mercy of PHBs and middle management making decisions about how their cellphones should work.
This happened at least one time before... Remember what happened to Exploder once FireFox came out? Oh, well crap, yeah, here's your IE 7 all of a sudden, sorry you had to endure 7 years of exploder 6, no tabs, millions of infections and popups, but we really thought that's what the consumers wanted.
Like I said, the bar is being raised, and it's good to see Nokia, Motorolla and especially the carriers bend over and take it where the sun don't shine from Apple.
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
NM
I mentioned the negatives because I figured the positive were obvious-- they're the details we've all known for a while, and the ones that get most exposure in the 34838483 stories on /. and elsewhere. The negatives you hear, well, on many sites like Engadget, these are often spurious, or at best they're speculations. The negatives I pointed out really do exist, but aren't the end of the world (for me), and I figured maybe other readers would want to hear my take. I don't consider the price a negative. I spent $500 on my blackberry, and around $700 on my Treo (back in the day), so Apple's price is right about what I'm willing to pay for a good smartphone.
"except for the select few reviewers that have actually used an iPhone can know that the UI is better"
Anyone who had watched the apple tour video can tell you the UI is lightyears ahead of Blackberry, Treo, etc. Even the commercials make this apparent. And as I said, I'm willing to put some faith in certain reviewers (Pogue, etc), and they have all said positive things about the majority of the phone's features.
"How anyone could be sure that the iPhone doesn't crash as "often" as existing smart phones on the market is beyond me"
My Treo would endure around 3-5 crashes PER DAY. My blackberry doesn't crash, but has gotten considerable slower over time, and freezes occasionally (and this always seems to be at the exact wrong moment). I am not someone who grants corporations a lot of faith, but Apple is one of the few who has earned my faith. They're products aren't know for being cheap, but their UI and industrial design are both industry leading, and stability is an important factor to them. This is evidenced in the lack of third party apps-- that's what causes many other phones crash 10 times a day (instead of the normal once or twice if you're only using the native apps). Apple has earned enough credit with me that I'm willing to stake $500 on their product being solid. Apple doesn't have the best reputation for 1st gen devices, but I've had no issues with my Macbook Pro, so I'm willing to take that "gamble" again.. some aren't. Incidentally, the only other company that I can think of that I've decided to buy a product without even seeing it in person, was my Lotus, and that was for the same reasons. And I was very happy I made the purchase.
"How can you know that the iPhone is worth the money or even decent?"
I can't "KNOW" anything about the iPhone, really. What I do "KNOW" is that apple has, in the past, built many products I am very happy with, and has earned a reputation for quality. So yes, it's a gamble, but I believe the odds are handicapped in my favor. Incidentally, if you're tempted to call me an Apple zealot.. I'm making this post from an Opteron box running XP64 Corp. I tend to believe in the right tool for the right job-- in this case, I don't feel like the blackberry is the right tool for me, and even if the iPhone isn't [exactly] either, it's as close as anything will be for a while.
I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
putty is available on symbian. Will the iphone have anything as useful?
Anyone who had watched the apple tour video can tell you the UI is lightyears ahead of Blackberry, Treo, etc. Even the commercials make this apparent. And as I said, I'm willing to put some faith in certain reviewers (Pogue, etc), and they have all said positive things about the majority of the phone's features.
That is called "advertising." Anyone who have watched the trailers for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End can tell you that that is an awesome movie. Suckers queued in line for that product too.
Football Odds
Spare us. A 15 year headstart didn't give us anything as slick as the iPhone and you think Microsoft or Motorola will be able to do anything but create a crappy "good enough" copy? Just like their current junk?
I guess you can dream.
Fiat Homos et Pereat Theos
Good lord, the article about Apple flops mentions the iMac as a failure, even though the original series was the best-selling desktop computer of all time and basically heralded an age of all-in-one computers. He even states "iMac, great computer, but when was the last time you saw one? That craze died pretty fast" For chrissakes they still make the bloody things. Yeah, yeah, he was talking about the original ones, but for crying out loud, that was more than five years ago. The craze died out because they discontinued that model. Idiot.
Monday: "I wonder what restaurants can be found around my work place, where I go every day..."
Tuesday: "I wonder what restaurants can be found around my work place, where I go every day..."
It sounds rather kludgy from my point of view. Revolutionary would be if it already had all the info, gathered based on my location, and I just hit a button: "food" and it gives a couple of arrows I can follow to get to different kinds of food, based on my preferences. Or "Kill time: 30 min", and it gives a few small galleries, cafés, and nice parks (depending on weather). That's a feature worth talking about.
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.