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.

Comments

I'm buying.. Friday.

[adam]

It seems TFS has now been corrected from the mysterious future, but I took the time to compose my oh-so-informative post, so I'm going forward anyway, haha. Unless Samzenpus is in Australia (where it wouldn't be night right now), it's still the 27th, which is the night before the night before the iPhone is released. That extra "night before" missing from TFS might seem inconsequential, but remember kids-- if you're buying an iPhone, don't get off work early [thurs] TOMORROW night, get off work early on Friday June 29 to get in line in time.

I'm going to send one of our employees to get in line (for myself and three others) around noon, heh. Sure, I wish it had GPS and 3G, but since I'm coming from a BB8700, which doesn't have GPS (nor 3G), nor did my Treo before that, I'll live. And so far I'm encouraged by the reviews from Pogue and Mossberg (etc) discussed here yesterday. I've been closely watching engadget (etc), and believe the reviews to confirm that many of those sites (such as engadget) spreading negative rumors like "two thumb touchscreen typing was impossible to do, and our anonymous source gave up after a day or two" are really just sensational speculation for driving viewers to the site. It seems the screen takes some getting used to, but not nearly on the level that some "anonymous sources" have characterized. I'm also a bit disappointed in the family pricing.. it's not considerably cheaper for my own phone + my partner's on the same plan, versus individual plans. If they had made corporate/family pricing a little more attractive, I'd be inclined to buy some for our employees. The paltry 200 txt msgs standard to each plan is also annoying (so now I'll have to drop $10 or $20 per phone for extra). But even still, I'm firmly in the demographic that is willing to pay extra for the phone, the service, just for the UI (and non-crashyness) that Apple will bring to the table. This will hopefully have a very nice positive net effect-- I suspect most iPhone users will be very happy, and all other companies will now be pushed to improve their products or lose customers.

Re:I'm buying.. Friday.

[Anonymous Coward]

"I'm going to send one of our employees to get in line (for myself and three others) around noon"

There's a one-per-person limit for purchasing the iPhone on Friday. Unless you mean that you're going to show up later with three other people and cut in line, in which case can you video tape it so I can laugh at you getting punched in the face?

Re:I'm buying.. Friday.

[Oscar_Wilde]

Samzenpus is in Australia (where it wouldn't be night right now), it's still the 27th, which is the night before the night before the iPhone is released. That extra "night before" missing from TFS might seem inconsequential, but remember kids-- if you're buying an iPhone, don't get off work early [thurs] TOMORROW night, get off work early on Friday June 29 to get in line in time.
 
... I am in Australia. Hello from the future. Tomorrow is Friday but the iPhone wont be out until the end of next year in the land of the antipodeans.
 
Erm, I think I'm supposed to put a "you insensitive clod" in there someplace...

Re:I'm buying.. Friday.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, scary, a line full of Emo Retards.

Punched? I don't think so. More like some slapping and maybe even some hair pulling...

Re:I'm buying.. Friday.

[itwerx]

The paltry 200 txt msgs standard to each plan is also annoying (so now I'll have to drop $10 or $20 per phone for extra). But even still, I'm firmly in the demographic that is willing to pay extra for the phone, the service, just for the UI (and non-crashyness) that Apple will bring to the table.

As something of an Apple fanboi myself, I'm actually going to wait awhile, maybe a really long while, for the simple reason that the data rate with EDGE absolutely sucks and Cingular's signal coverage is pitiful. I love the UI, I've been drooling over this thing since I first heard about it, but I'm not about to drop $500 on a phone I can't actually use productively in the real world. It's almost painful to watch this unfold; I so wish Apple had gone with Sprint or Verizon or almost anybody except Cingular (well, okay, T-Mobile would have been worse). And with a 5-year exclusivity no less!?! Egads, wtf is the Jobster smoking?

Re:I'm buying.. Friday.

[Anonymous Coward]

They'll probably be too busy crying and writing in their diary (it's the only one who understands them, after all) to much slapping or hair pulling.

Re:I'm buying.. Friday.

[Baricom]

Some of the iPhone's features (such as visual voicemail) require fairly significant architectural changes at the carrier, so whatever carrier Apple went with would have some hefty demands to ensure the investment paid off. I'm sure the 5-year deal was one of AT&T's terms.

Keep in mind that Apple did approach Verizon first; Verizon turned it down.

Re:I'm buying.. Friday.

[shmlco]

Rumor also has it that they're going to pass out numbered armbands as the line builds. So the "friend" standing in line will only get one band, hence one number, hence cutting in won't be possible... nor, as you suggest, smart.

Re:I'm buying.. Friday.

[kannibal_klown]

Actually, on the list of specs I've seen, the iPhone has a SIM card tray. So assuming they didn't weld the thing shut you could take the iPhone SIM out.

However it will be SIM locked so you can't use non-Cingular SIMs in it.

Then again, this is what I've been reading. So until tomorrow I guess take it with a grain of salt.

Re:I'm buying.. Friday.

[walter_f]

Keep in mind that Apple did approach Verizon first; Verizon turned it down.

I've seen a Verizon executive quoted saying that Apple wanted their share of the monthly revenues which Verizon denied.

So one may speculate whether AT&T/Cingular have been more "co-operative" in their negotiations with Apple or not...

Walter.

You ain't just whistlin' dixie...

[Ub3rT3Rr0R1St]

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.

Re:Will it

[Titoxd]

No, but if you put a MacBook over your crotch, that will cook your eggs.

All I want to know about the iPhone....

[Lumpy]

Will it blend?

let's find out here

I cant WAIT for them to destroy an iPhone.

Re:All I want to know about the iPhone....

[Kalriath]

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.

Enough is Enough

[kaos07]

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.

Shlashdot's free pub

[cuby]

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?

Re:Will it

[ruiner13]

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.

products did not end with a whimper

[nuckin futs]

The itunes phone was not their work. It was motorola's. You could tell because Steve Jobs spent 2 seconds introducing it, and that's it. he didn't sell it like all the other Apple products he introduces.
The Newton is still being used by some, and is more powerful than some PDAs on the market right now.
The original iMac...they sold millions of units and brought Apple back from the dead.
The cube was just overpriced, but it was well designed, and it's a collector's item now.

Re:products did not end with a whimper

[porcupine8]

I remember when the ROKR came out, everyone was saying immediately that not only would it be a flop, but that Apple had put little effort into it because they wanted it to be a flop. Because then, they would be justified when they say "See? The cel phone guys can't do this right, we obviously have to make one ourselves."

And now it seems they were possibly right... So even if it was a flop, it's not clear that that wasn't exactly what Apple wanted.

Re:PLEASE MAKE THE IPHONE STORIES STOP

[ase]

That can be arranged...

Too bad

[nytes]

I'll be too busy playing with my new copy of the GPL v3 to bother with the iPhone.

This was pretty poor timing by Apple.

Re:Echo of products past

[Anonymous Coward]

The more hype I see and hear about the iPhone, the more it reminds me of the hype surrounding the Segway
 
Except, you know, people actually want the iPhone and cell phones are useful. Who actually wanted a Segway and thought it would be good for more than looking like a sidewalk surfing idiot.

Don't believe the hype

[bjourne]

In your post, you have only mentioned negatives about the iPhone; high cost, shitty price plan, no GPS, no 3G. The one positive thing you listed is the UI and "non-crashyness." How anyone could be sure that the iPhone doesn't crash as "often" as existing smart phones on the market is beyond me or how anyone except for the select few reviewers that have actually used an iPhone can know that the UI is better. And still, you're planning to buy the phone on launch day.

How can you know that the iPhone is worth the money or even decent? You can't. It is all hype and 900 million dollar pre-launch marketing, probably more than the total development cost for the device.

Re:Don't believe the hype

[Doogie5526]

While "brand names" are usually looked down upon for being overpriced, they're brands because they offer an expectation. With Apple the common expectation is better-than-average design and innovative user interfaces. This may change (such as Disney Animations brand got diluted with things like straight-to-video releases), but it's enough to sell units even before seeing and using them.

Re:Don't believe the hype

[adam]

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.

Re:Don't believe the hype

[bjourne]

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.

Re:Don't believe the hype

[Achromatic1978]

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.

Oh, come on! Go back and read and re-read that sentence and ask yourself how ridiculous it sounds.

These are the same commercials that show someone clicking a button, and getting directions to a seafood restaurant nearby. Except we know that the phone doesn't have GPS. How does it know this? Oh, yes, you need to show Google Maps where you are. That bit was cut for the MARKETING. But yet if you'd not read a review, but watched Apple's tour video and commercials, you'd think it had GPS.

Re:Don't believe the hype

[Afecks]

So check the post you are responding to before you throw aroudn baseless assertions.
Irony called. He wants to see you in his office IMMEDIATELY.

Re:Don't believe the hype

[fbjon]

But the end user will have thier home city (or even office) set as a default location. That is a very realistic presentation of a typical user expereince with the device. Uh, wow.

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.

Re:Will it

[Mattintosh]

For this much hype, you'd think it came with 3 5-star hookers and a brick of cocaine straight from colombia

And even if it did, there would be anti-fanbois that complain that it lacked the necessary rolled c-note to snort the coke and that the Treo 576Whatever843 comes with 5 hookers and certificates guaranteeing them to be disease-free. And the Crackberry has crack instead, and a server that sends you more over a proprietary protocol without the need to go to a dealer to get refills.

I do agree that the post rate for iPhone stories is getting absurd, though. Only 2 more days and the wait will be over... the wait for everyone to stop posting their random idiotic speculation about how good/bad/shiny it's going to be!

Can I get an "Amen"?

Redundancy?

[DefenderThree]

All Things iPhone You mean Slashdot?

Re:PLEASE MAKE THE IPHONE STORIES STOP

[larry bagina]

I would rather shove a splintered 2x4 up my ass than keep seeing these silly stories.

goatse much?

But will it talk to my car?

[Jay Maynard]

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.

Re:But will it talk to my car?

[Volanin]

Also important to mention are the things the iPhone DOESN'T do.
(Not bashing the product, I really have high hopes for it.)

What the iPhone Doesn't Have:

- Songs as Ringtones
- Games
- Any flash support
- Instant Messaging
- Picture messages (MMS)
- Video recording
- Voice recognition or voice dialing
- Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Streaming (A2DP)
- One-size-fits-all headset jack (May have to buy an adapter for certain headphones)

Stuff we already knew it didn't have:

- 3G (EV-DO/HSDPA)
- GPS
- A real keyboard
- Removable battery
- Expandable Storage
- Direct iTunes Music Store Access (Over Wi-Fi or EDGE)

Source:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/apple/what-the-iphone-d oesnt-have-272571.php

Re:But will it talk to my car?

[mr_matticus]

One-size-fits-all headset jack (May have to buy an adapter for certain headphones) Versus the 2.5mm stupid-ass jack on Windows Mobile devices? I'll take my chances with the fully standard minijack.

Songs as Ringtones - Games We don't know that. In the introductory videos, there was a ringtones tab in iTunes. The iTunes store for the iPhone hasn't been launched yet, so who knows what sorts of games and additional apps will become available.

- Instant Messaging - Picture messages (MMS) Why would you need either of those with an internet connection? Why pay 25 cents for a stupid MMS message when you can just send a friggin email?

- A real keyboard So? Notebooks don't have real mice. People get over it--all the reviewers have.

I'm sure the battery will be replaceable for anyone with five minutes, just like the iPod is now. It would be strange to expect any differently of a small Apple device. 3G isn't a practical expectation or a useful feature given that this is a GSM device. If you want a 3G phone, wait for a later version, to be launched around the time AT&T has a useful 3G network to take advantage of it.

It is not Jesus. It is not sex. It's just a handheld electronic device. But damn, if people don't try to find any little thing to put on a 'con' list. Some of this stuff just doesn't make sense--what is their reasonable base of comparison? Why not add "it doesn't run Windows" to the list? It's like someone put this whole thing together without even stopping to consider that there might be alternatives to some of these "essential" features.

Re:But will it talk to my car?

[fredmosby]

A real keyboard

None of the other phones come with a real keyboard either.

Re:But will it talk to my car?

[frdmfghtr]

- Instant Messaging - Picture messages (MMS)
Why would you need either of those with an internet connection? Why pay 25 cents for a stupid MMS message when you can just send a friggin email?

Because the recipient is receiving the MMS on a cellphone.

Re:But will it talk to my car?

[dunkelfalke]

Versus the 2.5mm stupid-ass jack on Windows Mobile devices? I'll take my chances with the fully standard minijack.

sorry? my windows mobile phone has got a standard 3.5mm jack and i use my sennheiser headphones with it.

Why would you need either of those with an internet connection? Why pay 25 cents for a stupid MMS message when you can just send a friggin email?

because it is a "friggin" phone and it should be able to communicate with other phones, not only with computers. gsm phones can do messaging for lots and lots of years and a brand new phone can't? ridiculous.

I'm sure the battery will be replaceable for anyone with five minutes, just like the iPod is now.

in other phones the battery can be replaced within seconds. it can be very practical to keep more than one battery at home and swap when you have the need.

It's just a handheld electronic device.

it is a too much hyped electronic device which promises lots, but cannot do even the basic stuff. my base of comparison is my htc universal which is very practical. it is a full featured gsm phone with umts support, sms, mms, java mobile and so on (and i can even use different sim cards with it). i can play games with it - even doom and duke nukem 3d, synchronise with outlook, listen to music (mp3, ogg, whatever) without being limited by the memory (sd card slot), watch movies, use gps navigation, use remote desktop to connect to my computer, instant messaging (icq, msn, yahoo, jabber, you name it), i have a choice between at least 3 different web browsers, read books, edit pictures i made with my camera and so on and so on. i can even run linux on it if i want to and it also does have a keyboard. you see, it is about choice. slashdot used to be about choice, but not anymore, i suppose.

if a software can be developed for a handheld device, then the device can be very practical and multifunctional. but when a pda is intentionally limited to a couple of functions then it is crap, in this case, a high priced lifestyle crap. i don't care much about the interface, i want to use the device.

Re:But will it talk to my car?

[Poorcku]

We don't know that. In the introductory videos, there was a ringtones tab in iTunes. The iTunes store for the iPhone hasn't been launched yet, so who knows what sorts of games and additional apps will become available.

Yes we know from the review WSJ made. Mp3 will not be supported as ringtones; which is bad, because my Nokia can, and i have a beautiful Chris Rea slide guitar as a ringtone for years now. I am accustomed to it. As for the ITunes for Iphone - believe me, you don't wanna go there. 2-3 dollars for a 30 sec. clip??? Forgive me if i laugh. (nevertheless i am from europe, here it is considered a rip off).

It is not Jesus. It is not sex. It's just a handheld electronic device. But damn, if people don't try to find any little thing to put on a 'con' list.

Well i do con list every time i have to shelve 500 bucks for an item. Sorry, this is not unreasonable.

Why not add "it doesn't run Windows" to the list?

Because that would be unreasonable.

Re:Will it

[ruiner13]

Only 2 more days and the wait will be over... the wait for everyone to stop posting their random idiotic speculation about how good/bad/shiny it's going to be! Yeah, then it will only be "hands-on" reports and stories about how someone figured out how to crack the OS and load software while it is docked (which I don't doubt you'll be able to do unless Apple physically separated the OS part of the drive from the iPod part). I don't see any shortage of stories on it for at least a month.

Why some of us are excited about iPhone

[Tibor the Hun]

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.

Re:Why some of us are excited about iPhone

[Fred Ferrigno]

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. This is just hilarious. You can't judge if a product delivers on its promises before it's been delivered. And apparently, the solution to expensive gadgets an even more expensive gadget!

Re:Why some of us are excited about iPhone

[olddotter]

Yes. I'm not going to go out an buy one day one, but for YEARS I have wanted Apple to get into the cell phone market. The reason is simple, each generation of new cell phones just prove that user interfaces can get worse .

  Every new phone I have gotten has been harder and harder to use. Apple knows how to make a simple user interface. I want that in a phone. And even if I never buy and Apple, because they are in the market others will be forced to think about the user interface. That is a huge win for me.

Re:Why some of us are excited about iPhone

[admactanium]

I don't understand the iphone hype, other than the pretty screen and possibly sexy interface. I have had my treo 650P for a while, and it does what I need. Phone, PDA, MP3, Internet, Word, Excel, PDF, Camera. And I just found a program that allows for stereo bluetooth. The rocker works for navigation and I can thumb type pretty darn well.

and you get the added benefit of being able to take off the battery cover and stick the stylus in the reset slot in the dark by memory because you've become so familiar with it. my treo 700p had to be reset at least 4 times a day. if i did a hard reset to put it back to factory form and lose all my data, it would only crash once a day instead.

You are excited that phones can sync music? Dump MP3s on a SD card and you are ready to go on a Treo. No DRMd itunes requred, and you can pack a few different SD cards.

my 700p would stutter and skip on mp3's after about five seconds. it did this right out of the box so it basically never functioned properly. you can put a 4Gb sd card in it but it still won't have as much space as a 8Gb iphone. the iphone can also play non-drmed music just like every other ipod in existence.

Want video? You can rip a DVD and play it too. Crappy resolution, but not much worse than the iphone.

but it is worse. if the treo had a larger screen than an iphone, i'm sure you'd call the iphone lame for having a smaller screen.

They are touting a real browser on the iphone. Do you really want to surf on a 480x320 screen? I don't really like using a 1024x768 screen.

well, if you want to browse the web on your phone you have limited choices. obviously you just don't like using the web on any phone, but if you do, then having a larger screen makes more sense up to a point. i can't see how this is a negative. why get a smartphone if you just want it to play music and make calls?

And my new 755p on Verizon is coming out next week. Better camera and mini SD card, no antenna.

and the same kludgy, poorly multitasking, ugly operating system as palms have had for how many years now?

i tried to like my treo 700p. i spent a lot of money on it and software for it. it was simply the worse piece of technology i have ever owned. if palm went out of business tomorrow it wouldn't phaze me one bit. they released a product that was defective and basically never admitted it nor fixed it. mine was stolen under stressful circumstances. but even after it was stolen at gunpoint, i was pretty relieved to be rid of the damned thing.

Re:Why some of us are excited about iPhone

[Tibor the Hun]

It's not really about the grandma any more. Grandma doesn't want an iPhone, I'm (pretty) sure. It's the younger, or even middle aged people who would really really like to have a phone that is for once easy to use and is useful as well.

You know what happens when a person buys an Apple computer? They start using iPhoto to organize their digital photos. They start using the iMovie and iDVD to make movies. All of a sudden they do all the things they were supposed to be able to do on their PCs. I know this because my sister and about a half a dozen other people who switched are doing it.
So all of a sudden now, they see their computers as appliances that are actually useful and easy to use too.

Same will happen with the iPhone.

I'm sure that my shitty Motorlla has an address book function in it somewhere. And it charges via a USB port. But you know what, I can't for the life of me figure out if I can move my contacts onto it. Hell I don't even know where the address book on it is! But I only have 2 college degrees, so maybe I don't meet Motorolla's requirements for a cellphone license.

Re:Why some of us are excited about iPhone

[0xdeadbeef]

No, iPhone is not the cure for cancer, but it is making the cell manufacturers and networks change the way they do their business.

A device you can't run third-party software on, which must be purchased with an overpriced plan on a two year contract, and despite the gigs of music you may have installed on it, you'll have to pay a separate fee to turn each one into a ringtone?

They're changing who with the what now?

Re:Why some of us are excited about iPhone

[stewbacca]

Please explain your source for these 6 clicks. I'll give you a source where it takes one push to call somebody (apple.com). Having only seen demos and the commercials, I can only think of 4 clicks to call somebody, if the phone is completely in the off configuration. 1-turn the switch on the top to "on", 2-slide your finger to unlock the screen, 3-choose phone, 4-dial.

What you won't see ANYWHERE on the iPhone is confusing drop-down menus, deeply rooted sub-menus, and the hierarchal, linear constraints of nearly all current cell phone offerings. If you can't figure out the iPhone with a few exploratory clicks, or if you get lost in the interface (which is common on every other phone), then you can say it isn't anything new. But having watched all the demos and commercials, it is blatantly obvious that this thing is a no-brainer with the interface.

Re:Why some of us are excited about iPhone

[imputor]

the PPC-6700 which has been around for a while now can do most of that. Sorry, but I have the PPC-6700 and it came with the WORST case of buyer's remorse that I have ever had on ANY gadget in the history of me buying gadgets. It's a piece of shit, and if I hadn't bought it and been locked into Verizon for another 2 years (2 weeks before the iPhone was announced), I would be in line for an iPhone right now. Have you ever tried browsing the web on a PPC-6700 and on Verizon's so-called superior network? Fuck it takes 3 minutes to load any decent website. Everyone keeps saying "all these existing phones already do all this stuff" but they do it all HALF-ASSED and make it a complete nightmare to try and accomplish anything. Yeah my PPC-6700 has a lot of features that the iPhone doesn't, but NONE OF THOSE FEATURES WORK HOW THEY SHOULD. So what's the fucking point of even putting those shitty features in? So you can have a list of features that is longer than the iPhone's? Please.

The iPhone is for people like me who are tired of getting fucked in the ass by the phone companies and their providers. Even if iPhone is a flop, at least the competition has been put on notice, and we'll see that trickle down to the rest of us. Thank you Apple for throwing the industry a life preserver.

Re:Will it

[Anonymous Coward]

Man (Eric Idle): You sit here, dear.

Wife (Graham Chapman in drag): All right.

Man (to Waitress): Morning!

Waitress (Terry Jones, in drag as a bit of a rat-bag): Morning!

Man: Well, what've you got?

Waitress: Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and iPhone; egg bacon and iPhone; egg bacon sausage and iPhone; iPhone bacon sausage and iPhone; iPhone egg iPhone iPhone bacon and iPhone; iPhone sausage iPhone iPhone bacon iPhone tomato and iPhone;

Vikings (starting to chant): iPhone iPhone iPhone iPhone...

Waitress: ...iPhone iPhone iPhone egg and iPhone; iPhone iPhone iPhone iPhone iPhone iPhone baked beans iPhone iPhone iPhone...

Vikings (singing): iPhone! Lovely iPhone! Lovely iPhone! ... Eh you get the idea

iPerbole:

[damian cosmas]

"The hype surrounding any product Apple unveils"

Re:All this news, but...

[damian cosmas]

...or all that has already been released.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/easysetup/rateplans.ht ml

What a waste of mod points!

What about the jPhone?

[Roblimo]

iPhone? Who cares about the iPhone, already? I want a jPhone, if only for the Schnapps!

Re:Will it

[earnest murderer]

Don't forget the obligitory release day stories... I spiked it like a football and it scratched, what a POS! EDGE netwrok overrun by too much iPhone traffiic. iPhone exclusive Flicr group. Dropped my iPhone in the toilet, it still works. Dropped my iPhone in the toilet, it doesn't work. Lifehacker will have their 10 secret features of the iPhone article. Since no one reads manuals no one will notice that it's basically the getting started guide in HTML. Gizmodo... iPhone sells out in one day, geeks enraged. macroumors... Apple iPhone 2.0 sports 3g, 16GB storage and 3rd party apps for $299. Engadget... iPhone DOA return rate unprecidented. And last but not least... IT BLENDS!!!

SSH

[SCHecklerX]

putty is available on symbian. Will the iphone have anything as useful?

Re:SSH

[stefanb]

putty is available on symbian. Will the iphone have anything as useful? AjaxTerm should be running on the iPhone.

Re:How it does not work: Lame and broken article

[gyrogeerloose]

The iPhone touch screen uses capacitance rather than resistance. It's the same technique that Apple uses on it's laptop touch pads, which can sense whether you've got one or two fingers on them.

Re:Will it

[jdray]

I am in ur iPhone, diggin thru ur data!

I wish I could do this.

[mattgreen]

1. Camp out for iPhone in an area with a LOT of people waiting. Must be first in line.
2. Buy iPhone at 6PM.
3. Smash it on the pavement in front of everyone.
4. Post video on website and make a bazillion dollars.

AT&T Math? Misleading advertising?

[Mia'cova]

From AT&T's description of their $20/month 'unlimited' (excludes international/roaming) SMS texting plan:

Messaging Unlimited
You have the freedom to message any way to any one - text, picture, video and IM - without worrying what each message costs. That means every message counts the same. You can send and receive ANY combination of messages. Want to send all picture messages? No problem. All IMs? Go ahead and chat away - send and receive messages for less than pennies per day! What does "less than pennies per day" mean? What does that even mean?!! Okay, when I think "pennies," I don't think 66 of them. At that point, I think we're talking "quarters per day" not "less than pennies per day." Is $0.99/min roaming "pennies per minute?"

Added to the fact that the links throughout their rates site keep casually dumping you back to voice-plan information as you navigate between sections and such, they're really pissing me off by making information as hard as possible to find AND read. Anything that doesn't read like it came from a lawyer may as well be an outright lie it's so misleading.

I can't wait to get charged for incoming messages every weekend while roaming in Canada.. at least with WiFi I can finally dodge data-rate raping (otherwise 50kb/$1, perhaps $1-2 per page view these days! YouTube? I'm scared it'll unlock and I'll bump the icon in my pocket..)

When AT&T coughs up their next north america plan, I damned well better be able to switch to it. If I can't, that'd be a deal-breaker.

And yes, I use all the skype like tricks whenever possible... too bad I can't do wifi+skype on the iphone. But it's their misleading advertising I want to bring up rather than starting a skype/whatever thread.

Oh well, hopefully only another few years of this bullshit until we're able to get all this for free wherever an internet connection is available. I suppose we've all been thinking that for a while..

Oh well. I'll give it a shot on friday and if the new shinyness isn't truly worth the massive massive additional cost, I will be returning this phone.

Re:AT&T Math? Misleading advertising?

[Mia'cova]

Nothing of the level of skype is technically possible with the developer support they've offered. You won't be able to work around it. The web-apps they're supporting are little more than very basic web pages. You don't even get javascript support (so no AJAX apps), let alone anything a little more sophisticated like flash. They've made very big talk out of an undisclosed programming interfaces they've suggested. This will allow access to some information like your address book. These will in no way, shape, or form add sophisticated support. You CAN NOT run custom code on the iphone, period. You can't even get the iphone itself to count to ten (outside of their basic calculator app, heh). Seriously. In this kind of server-side webapp model, with nothing more than html/css, anything like skype, an MSN client, live maps, etc is entirely out of the question.

My opinion is that there's an extremely good chance this is part of Apple's contract/business plan with AT&T. They've locked it down like crazy to force you into paying significantly high fees for things like SMS. Do NOT expect to be able to use MSN/AIM/Skype/ANYTHING with the iphone. You're guaranteed to be disappointed until a time when Apple changes their mind and contract obligations are fulfilled. AT&T won't budge an inch on this either. They've already signed Apple for five years. At this point, Apple's motivation behind rich-application support is extremely suspect. We can't hope/assume they'll all of a sudden just "change their mind." Their strong-willed stance on this suggests there is no change in sight. Be smart and don't assume things will be rosey. It's not a phone that will save you money down the road. It will push your monthly bills up, especially with international/roaming issues like those I'm expecting. I'll have a windows mobile handset for travel. Those, at least, can be picked up on the cheap from ebay easily enough.

Consider yourself warned ;)

But by all means, expect all the built in stuff to work wonderfully. YouTube/web will be slow on edge but otherwise I completely expect an as-advertised performer. Those who haven't geeked-out with other smart-phones just won't know what they're missing. We're a small crowd (and they intend to keep things that way!).

Re:Five, Four, Three...

[His Shadow]

That's the countdown until we see a slew of applications for Windows Mobile smartphones and Pocket PCs

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.

Re:Is rtsp the real web?

[appleprophet]

It has been confirmed that the iPhone can stream audio and video using the H.264 codec through Safari.

the iMac craze

[fishboy]

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.

Re:the iMac craze

[stewbacca]

Yeah, a memento mori is probably the worst article I've read in awhile. Talk about living in an alternate universe (and getting paid to write about what you don't know!). Although the first mighty mouse has only been released lately, I've been using 2,4,8 whatever-button mouses on Macs since, what, OS 7.6, circa 1995? Hell it might have been even earlier than that. I don't buy Macs for the bundled mouse. Nor do I buy PCs for the mouse that they come with. Logitech makes some pretty nice input devices for around $50 that work with Macs (on a couple of times even better on my Mac, as my PC had problems identifying the USB port back in the early days of PC and USB).

The ROKR? That's all you got? Come on, any moron can see that that is a Motorola phone with a weak attempt to paint an Apple logo on the side. It probably had more to do with the Apple/Motorola fall out and tying up any loose business ends before they cut ties with each other.

When is the last time you've seen an iMac? That question alone should get the author fired. Well, I'm typing on a 20" Intel iMac as we speak. It is my first iMac, because I never saw the allure of a transparent bowling ball on my desktop, nor a white platic lamp. Also, it is only as of recently that computers have slowed down enough for me to be comfortable with an all-in-one. I'm still cruising with a 1999 G4 and have never upgraded anything (other than a cpu speed bump up to 800 from 350). Why pay for the "upgradability" if my recent past shows I don't upgrade?

The author could have at least said the clam-shell iBooks were a flop, based on the logic of poor sales. Didn't only 13 year old girls buy those things?

I don't recall the Newton being a flop either. I recall lawyers and doctors loving the thing, and Apple not being able to make enough of them. Just because average Joe consumer doesn't buy something (too expensive for them) doesn't make it a flop. There are some circles (albeit small) that still laud the capabilities of that thing. A better FLOP example would be those eBook school computer thingies they were trying to push on everyone (foget what they are called, you know..the ones with the mono green screens in an era of cheap and easy 32-bit color?)

The Cube can be classified as a flop, only because it was poorly designed and overheated. Sales figures were based more in its propensity to incinerate its self moreso than the high price tag. The high price tag is bunk because people where buying $3000 Powerbooks left and right (myself included).

Eworld was bundled with Performas. No surpise that it faded out, because dial-up one-stop Internet points like AOL and Prodigy were also dying out at the same time. Apple didn't see the point in continuing an outdated Internet access model.

Here's an Apple flop for you..their QuickTake digital cameras. Those things were expensive and not suitable for the target market of creative professionals.