Yes indeed. I'd have no issue with people saying that the Iphone was one of the earlier devices to have touch screen (I'm not sure about the app store - note that these were commonplace before, done by the networks, or just offered by any website; Apple's is only notable in its disadvantage, in that you can only download from there, and of course it gets spun as an advantage). All phones have introduced new features when they are released - that's how progress works.
But the way people talk about it on here, it's as if it's the only phone in existence; the only phone that introduced new features; as if it invented the whole idea of using a phone for Internet access or anything; and as if Apple were the number one, rather than being way behind Nokia and other companies. And if you disagree? Well, just look at the moderation on this story. (I always have to browse at -1 on Apple stories.)
he kind of did with the list of things that he does do with his iPhone.
No he didn't - what are they, that can't be done with any other phone?
BTW... what defines a market leader is the company that everyone looks to to beat or the company that everyone looks to for the trendy new blah blah blah.
Apple is a leader in the market. If you define market leader to be the company that sells the most, then there are a lot of markets who's leader is a generic brand.
Oh brilliant - so now they're a leader, just because they get hyped on Slashdot!
The leaders that people look to for new features are companies like Nokia. If it was really true, then why are features being added to the Iphone years after other phones have them? If it was really true that companies were looking to Apple for phones, then the reverse would be true.
Sorry, you're claims are inconsistent with actual facts. I might as well say Amiga are a market leader.
Of course, I'll probably get modded down again because hard facts disagree with an Apple fan's world view. My phone is a Motorola V980 - but do you know what? I don't go blowing a fuse and reaching for the mod points just because someone says something less than positive about Motorola. If I disagree, I'll argue my case.
Once again: Negative mods are not for things you disagree with.
Yep, as always - anyone offended by anything that doesn't praise the Jesus phone, it's reach straight for the "mod" button.
Why are mod points only given to these people?
Tell you what - how about you provide some references that show that Apple are the number one mobile phone company, rather than modding down anything that disagrees with your world view?
I agree. I can understand the temptation, since the RDF is so great that simply adding a reference to the almighty Jesus phone will get you free advertising. But it's depressing, as by doing so, they're just giving free advertising to Apple (which they desperately need, since they're still getting canned by Nokia etc).
But hey, I guess I'm just not cool enough to be an Apple user.
Except that many phones on the market already are "IphonE killeRs". Just look at sales figures.
The comparison to "Ipod killer" is completely misleading - there, Apple are the market leader. To suggest the same applies for the Iphone is laughable, as well as showing gross ignorance of the facts. It's sad that once, Slashdot was a place to come to find people who were knowledgable about the industry. But it seems that for mobile phones, some people here know less about the market than lay people, who are out there enjoying their phones, without going "OMG I can check the Internet on my Iphone". They just do it, using a bog standard phone.
The phrase "Iphone killer" is nothing more than marketing spin. It's about as relevant as Apple referring to their new OS as a "OS/2 killer".
No, the iPhone was/is popular because it enables me to do useful things that I could not (and cannot) do as well with any other phone currently available. That simple.
Okay, name them. Actual examples, not "things that other phones actually can do, but I'm going to claim the Iphone is better anyway, without explaining why".
As for "apps" (sic), you do realise that just about any bog standard phone can run applications? There are about two billion Java phones out there, for example. $1.99? I can download them for free. Easy to find? Yes, I can download from anywhere I like, rather than being restricted to only Apple's site, and only allowed to run what they decide.
So, sorry, but the iPhone is not popular just because it's from Apple. It's popular because it works.
Sorry, it's not popular full stop. Well sure, it's selling okay - it's popular in the sense that it's "not a flop", but then I could say most phone brands are popular. But Apple are not a market leader in the phone industry. Or anywhere near. For popular phone brands, try Motorola RAZR, or for popular phone makes, try someone like Nokia. Unless by popularity, you don't mean sales, but hype, then sure - the Iphone is the most "popular". But I'm not sure how that has anything to do with how good it is - it's just a question of what gets hyped and receives free advertising.
And my phone works too. If your expectations are so low that even simply working is good enough, then that tells us all we need to know about the Iphone's features.
I'm waiting for the day when the new Iphone phone from Apple gets hyped as being an Iphone killer.
And the sad thing is that the fans won't even spot the irony of it. They'll actually be telling us how great the new Iphone phone is, because it has things like Java, video, copy and paste, and all the things that the Iphone lacks (but every other phone in existance has had for years).
Indeed, and for Apple too - why must everything be compared to the Jesus Phone? It's just one phone - it's not the best seller, and Apple are not the biggest player (or even remotely near). Why not compare to a Nokia phone? Or better yet, why do we need cheesy comparisons at all?
This is Slashdot - we know what a phone is, without having it to be explained in terms of actual products. We don't refer to the Internet as "Internet Explorer" or "AOL". We don't refer to computers as "A Dell". We don't refer to websites as "MySpace". But why do we hear people using Iphone as a generic term for the perfectly already good word phone? I mean, it's the same word, except you save one letter.
If they are actually only targetting their sights at the Iphone, then I'm not interested. What does that mean - that it'll get lots of hype, but only add features like 3G a few years after everyone else does? I'd rather hear news about the market leaders, I'm afraid.
Eh? So you have no sympathy for people who are forced to convert to a religion, and in serfdom? And you have no sympathy if their situation becomes even worse by having the land they live on go underwater? I'm not sure I understand.
While the country is very pretty the people are not
Oh I see, it's obviously their own fault they are brutally oppressed.
I'm not sure how that analogy is relevant. If someone said that they wouldn't sue someone who harrassed someone else, I don't see how that would be illegal.
The other flaw in your argument is that harrassment is a criminal offence. Copyright infringment is a civil issue - and one where the author is quite entitled not to sue (unless his contract also said he must enforce his copyright against other people).
Well yes, exactly - so how is "convince your developer community to all agree to a license change to a BSD or MIT license after the fact" as the OP suggested the easier option?
Ok, dumb prank. I think it could cross the line, particularly with phone calls and what not. But $10 million? Yeah right.
$10 million isn't that much. It's only the equivalent of filesharing about a dozen albums...
(Okay, I agree on the one hand $10 million does seem high, even taking into account lost career possibilities or needing therapy; but on the other hand, consider that if you or I did it, we'd surely likely be facing criminal charges, perhaps facing prison, nevermind a fine).
If you sue anyone, sue the friend who not only started the prank
This is hardly a defence. If you or I did it, we'd be facing criminal stalking charges - you think that "But, but, someone told me to do it" would get you off?
Thanks for the info - this is the kind of thing I'd really be interested in seeing. A geek site giving us cutting edge news - instead it's just "Apple Apple Apple now you can get Iphone 3G, and look at a website!", telling us news about the Iphone, 3 years or so after almost every phone on the market has adopted it.
In six months we'll have all our lightweight desktop apps running on our phones and people will finally realize just how far ahead of everyone else Nokia really is.
I hope so. Although I fear it will continue that the media, Slashdot, and many Slashdot readers, will still have this distorted view that the mobile market consists of Apple being number 1, with only Android and maybe Blackberry as some minor competiton. That way some people are talking, it would surprise me if in a few years people claim the mobile phone as an "Apple first" (already I've heard people claim that Apple "popularised" the smartphones - despite the fact that at least two billion non-Apple smartphones are around).
they just fail to follow themselves... Too bad they never figured out what to do with their abilities.
Yeah, too bad they ended up being number 1 in the market. Too bad they never figured out to get the media hype behind them, they might have ended up a niche player like Apple.
Er - if they're taking a 30% cut, and keeping the first $250, you can damn well bet they ought to mention it, or do something to justify such a cost.
And he wasn't asking them to mention it anyway, so that's a straw man. He was just asking for his money!
You also confuse the difference between being an entrepreneur and being a spammer. Just because someone doesn't spam (like Apple, incidentally - I still get unsolicited spam from them) doesn't mean they don't understand business. On the contrary, it means they understand how not to piss off potential customers.
And yes, unlike Apple he doesn't have three stories on Slashdot a day about his product. Good for him.
WTF? I mean, never mind the each region bit, even if it was for all regions combined - WTF? That's your money that they're keeping.
So to recap:
* They decide who can write software for the phones you've bought. * They take a whopping 30% cut (I've never heard of such a high cut for this kind of service - most download sites are free). * They don't pay you at all if it doesn't hit $250, and that's done on a per "region" basis.
I've never been an Apple fan, but I had no idea of this.
If we're going to have Apple stories all day long, why don't we hear some actual important news about them, instead of stories like "OMG Apple are so great, you can now access this website On YoUr IpHoNe, no phone could do that before!"
Slashdot Mirror
Yes indeed. I'd have no issue with people saying that the Iphone was one of the earlier devices to have touch screen (I'm not sure about the app store - note that these were commonplace before, done by the networks, or just offered by any website; Apple's is only notable in its disadvantage, in that you can only download from there, and of course it gets spun as an advantage). All phones have introduced new features when they are released - that's how progress works.
But the way people talk about it on here, it's as if it's the only phone in existence; the only phone that introduced new features; as if it invented the whole idea of using a phone for Internet access or anything; and as if Apple were the number one, rather than being way behind Nokia and other companies. And if you disagree? Well, just look at the moderation on this story. (I always have to browse at -1 on Apple stories.)
he kind of did with the list of things that he does do with his iPhone.
No he didn't - what are they, that can't be done with any other phone?
BTW... what defines a market leader is the company that everyone looks to to beat or the company that everyone looks to for the trendy new blah blah blah.
Apple is a leader in the market. If you define market leader to be the company that sells the most, then there are a lot of markets who's leader is a generic brand.
Oh brilliant - so now they're a leader, just because they get hyped on Slashdot!
The leaders that people look to for new features are companies like Nokia. If it was really true, then why are features being added to the Iphone years after other phones have them? If it was really true that companies were looking to Apple for phones, then the reverse would be true.
Sorry, you're claims are inconsistent with actual facts. I might as well say Amiga are a market leader.
Of course, I'll probably get modded down again because hard facts disagree with an Apple fan's world view. My phone is a Motorola V980 - but do you know what? I don't go blowing a fuse and reaching for the mod points just because someone says something less than positive about Motorola. If I disagree, I'll argue my case.
Once again: Negative mods are not for things you disagree with.
Yep, as always - anyone offended by anything that doesn't praise the Jesus phone, it's reach straight for the "mod" button.
Why are mod points only given to these people?
Tell you what - how about you provide some references that show that Apple are the number one mobile phone company, rather than modding down anything that disagrees with your world view?
I agree. I can understand the temptation, since the RDF is so great that simply adding a reference to the almighty Jesus phone will get you free advertising. But it's depressing, as by doing so, they're just giving free advertising to Apple (which they desperately need, since they're still getting canned by Nokia etc).
But hey, I guess I'm just not cool enough to be an Apple user.
Except that many phones on the market already are "IphonE killeRs". Just look at sales figures.
The comparison to "Ipod killer" is completely misleading - there, Apple are the market leader. To suggest the same applies for the Iphone is laughable, as well as showing gross ignorance of the facts. It's sad that once, Slashdot was a place to come to find people who were knowledgable about the industry. But it seems that for mobile phones, some people here know less about the market than lay people, who are out there enjoying their phones, without going "OMG I can check the Internet on my Iphone". They just do it, using a bog standard phone.
The phrase "Iphone killer" is nothing more than marketing spin. It's about as relevant as Apple referring to their new OS as a "OS/2 killer".
No, the iPhone was/is popular because it enables me to do useful things that I could not (and cannot) do as well with any other phone currently available. That simple.
Okay, name them. Actual examples, not "things that other phones actually can do, but I'm going to claim the Iphone is better anyway, without explaining why".
As for "apps" (sic), you do realise that just about any bog standard phone can run applications? There are about two billion Java phones out there, for example. $1.99? I can download them for free. Easy to find? Yes, I can download from anywhere I like, rather than being restricted to only Apple's site, and only allowed to run what they decide.
So, sorry, but the iPhone is not popular just because it's from Apple. It's popular because it works.
Sorry, it's not popular full stop. Well sure, it's selling okay - it's popular in the sense that it's "not a flop", but then I could say most phone brands are popular. But Apple are not a market leader in the phone industry. Or anywhere near. For popular phone brands, try Motorola RAZR, or for popular phone makes, try someone like Nokia. Unless by popularity, you don't mean sales, but hype, then sure - the Iphone is the most "popular". But I'm not sure how that has anything to do with how good it is - it's just a question of what gets hyped and receives free advertising.
And my phone works too. If your expectations are so low that even simply working is good enough, then that tells us all we need to know about the Iphone's features.
I'm waiting for the day when the new Iphone phone from Apple gets hyped as being an Iphone killer.
And the sad thing is that the fans won't even spot the irony of it. They'll actually be telling us how great the new Iphone phone is, because it has things like Java, video, copy and paste, and all the things that the Iphone lacks (but every other phone in existance has had for years).
Indeed, and for Apple too - why must everything be compared to the Jesus Phone? It's just one phone - it's not the best seller, and Apple are not the biggest player (or even remotely near). Why not compare to a Nokia phone? Or better yet, why do we need cheesy comparisons at all?
This is Slashdot - we know what a phone is, without having it to be explained in terms of actual products. We don't refer to the Internet as "Internet Explorer" or "AOL". We don't refer to computers as "A Dell". We don't refer to websites as "MySpace". But why do we hear people using Iphone as a generic term for the perfectly already good word phone? I mean, it's the same word, except you save one letter.
If they are actually only targetting their sights at the Iphone, then I'm not interested. What does that mean - that it'll get lots of hype, but only add features like 3G a few years after everyone else does? I'd rather hear news about the market leaders, I'm afraid.
Eh? So you have no sympathy for people who are forced to convert to a religion, and in serfdom? And you have no sympathy if their situation becomes even worse by having the land they live on go underwater? I'm not sure I understand.
While the country is very pretty the people are not
Oh I see, it's obviously their own fault they are brutally oppressed.
The really worrying thing is when the devices can be so small that you can't see them - and they can also therefore sneak past any "no camera" rules.
And this might be possible in just a few years. Yes I do find that worrying...
I'm not sure how that analogy is relevant. If someone said that they wouldn't sue someone who harrassed someone else, I don't see how that would be illegal. The other flaw in your argument is that harrassment is a criminal offence. Copyright infringment is a civil issue - and one where the author is quite entitled not to sue (unless his contract also said he must enforce his copyright against other people).
Good luck with that.
Well yes, exactly - so how is "convince your developer community to all agree to a license change to a BSD or MIT license after the fact" as the OP suggested the easier option?
Ok, dumb prank. I think it could cross the line, particularly with phone calls and what not. But $10 million? Yeah right.
$10 million isn't that much. It's only the equivalent of filesharing about a dozen albums...
(Okay, I agree on the one hand $10 million does seem high, even taking into account lost career possibilities or needing therapy; but on the other hand, consider that if you or I did it, we'd surely likely be facing criminal charges, perhaps facing prison, nevermind a fine).
Thank you for including the "sneer" tags, so that we Mac users knew you were sneering.
Even worse, I get Apple spam telling me to get a Mac.
If you sue anyone, sue the friend who not only started the prank
This is hardly a defence. If you or I did it, we'd be facing criminal stalking charges - you think that "But, but, someone told me to do it" would get you off?
call it electromagnetic radiation
Also reasonably referred to as "light". You are thinking of "visible light".
I THINK ITS QUITE OVIOUS that he wasn't trying to pass off those words as his own. Apologies to TFA.
It's no different to the daily Apple adverts we get round here. I wish this place would focus on news rather than adverts...
For that kind of money I might as well get an Amiga.
Actually no, I'll stick with a PC.
Thanks for the info - this is the kind of thing I'd really be interested in seeing. A geek site giving us cutting edge news - instead it's just "Apple Apple Apple now you can get Iphone 3G, and look at a website!", telling us news about the Iphone, 3 years or so after almost every phone on the market has adopted it.
In six months we'll have all our lightweight desktop apps running on our phones and people will finally realize just how far ahead of everyone else Nokia really is.
I hope so. Although I fear it will continue that the media, Slashdot, and many Slashdot readers, will still have this distorted view that the mobile market consists of Apple being number 1, with only Android and maybe Blackberry as some minor competiton. That way some people are talking, it would surprise me if in a few years people claim the mobile phone as an "Apple first" (already I've heard people claim that Apple "popularised" the smartphones - despite the fact that at least two billion non-Apple smartphones are around).
they just fail to follow themselves ... Too bad they never figured out what to do with their abilities.
Yeah, too bad they ended up being number 1 in the market. Too bad they never figured out to get the media hype behind them, they might have ended up a niche player like Apple.
I'll bite - what can "Iphone OS" do that no other phone can do?
(I can certainly think of things that the Iphone lacks, that even dirt cheap 4 year old phones can do, but I'm curious in your answer.)
Er - if they're taking a 30% cut, and keeping the first $250, you can damn well bet they ought to mention it, or do something to justify such a cost.
And he wasn't asking them to mention it anyway, so that's a straw man. He was just asking for his money!
You also confuse the difference between being an entrepreneur and being a spammer. Just because someone doesn't spam (like Apple, incidentally - I still get unsolicited spam from them) doesn't mean they don't understand business. On the contrary, it means they understand how not to piss off potential customers.
And yes, unlike Apple he doesn't have three stories on Slashdot a day about his product. Good for him.
Apple only pays if you break $250 for each region
WTF? I mean, never mind the each region bit, even if it was for all regions combined - WTF? That's your money that they're keeping.
So to recap:
* They decide who can write software for the phones you've bought.
* They take a whopping 30% cut (I've never heard of such a high cut for this kind of service - most download sites are free).
* They don't pay you at all if it doesn't hit $250, and that's done on a per "region" basis.
I've never been an Apple fan, but I had no idea of this.
If we're going to have Apple stories all day long, why don't we hear some actual important news about them, instead of stories like "OMG Apple are so great, you can now access this website On YoUr IpHoNe, no phone could do that before!"