Jul 7, 2007
“Applephone” scorecard
A few days before the launch of the iPhone, when everyone had a theory but no one really knew what to expect, I wrote a story called “Why do people want the Applephone so much?” right here. I’m sure some interpreted it to be some anti-iPhone dialectic, but it was intended to bring the rumor mill and people’s ultimate cellphone fantasies, which were at an all time high, down from the stratosphere a bit. I made a number of postulations about the device, and now that the iPhone is out I figured it’d be fun to see how I fared:
- “The battery life will probably be pretty awful.” Blew that one! Battery performance on my iPhone(s) haven’t been beyond the realm of human comprehension, but they’ve been very decent! I was shocked that I got 9 hours of video playback on medium brightness with WiFi and Bluetooth off (see: iPhone review).
- “The phone will be buggy.” Yeah, it’s true. It’s by no means unusable, but damned if Safari and iPod and any number of the apps on the device don’t crash constantly.
- “It won’t be what people want. … The iPhone will undoubtedly be, comparatively speaking, under-featured.” I’m going to give myself half a point here. My thesis wasn’t that people won’t want or won’t buy the iPhone, it was that the iPhone won’t be as feature-rich a phone as tech enthusiasts demand — and that is totally is true. No 3G, physical keyboard, GPS, A2DP, MMS, chat app, etc. But on the other hand it does do a lot of things WAY better than other devices (mobile browsing, for one), so there’s that.
- “It probably won’t have 3G. … you’ll have to pay the full $500 for a first gen Applephone.” Ding! Called the no-3G part. Can I take a half a point because I predicted the price?
- “It’s safe to assume it won’t work with Windows out of the box.” Totally wrong! Ironically, my iPhone synced better with my Windows box and Outlook than it did with my Mac box and Mail.app / Address Book / iCal!
- “It won’t be revolutionary. If anything, it’ll be a well designed, well thought-out phone — which is, I suppose, revolutionary considering the market. But only because no one else is really pushing the envelope. From a device standpoint it will be fairly conventional in form-factor, shape, size, etc.” I think I can take a full point here, can’t I? Let’s be honest, the iPhone doesn’t blow peoples’ minds because of what it does — lots of phones do everything the iPhone does and more (except multi-touch). The iPhone blows peoples’ minds because the user experience of almost all cellphones totally sucks, and we were all ready for a phone with lots of useful features that is fun and easy. But at the end of the day the iPhone’s a touchscreen candybar. An extremely thin and well designed touchscreen candybar to be sure, but that’s what it is.
So, how’d I do? 3.5 / 6, not too bad. But my hat goes off to Apple for proving me wrong on some of these bits, especially on the Windows syncing!
I'm an editor and technology critic in the midst of founding a new web startup: 
Not too bad Ryan, but I’m not going to give you half a point on #6. I think it’s revolutionary in the way Apple uses the touchscreen; for one it’s designed to use your finger, — I believe that’s a first — and most of all, it isn’t just a mouse replacement. I’m not just talking about multi-touch either, but also the way you scroll and zoom.
If that isn’t revolutionary change in the way we interact with a gadget, I don’t know what is.
I agree with most of what you said except for the last point. No, it won’t blow people’s minds because of /what/ it does but of /how/ it does what it does do.
I think the easiest way to describe the iPhone is that its for entry-level power-users. It’s not a slam to say that because it is a great device but it cripples a few areas that high-end users wouldn’t put up with if it weren’t an Apple product (bluetooth limitations, no expandable memory, no files system etc).
The most annoying thing in all this iPhone hoopla is how many people think Apple invented things like Mobile Google Maps, web browsing, predictive text and 3-way calling. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s the product of the year but I was hoping people would’ve been more critical of its flaws because all this blind Apple praise will only result in Apple withholding/crippling features just because they can.
I guess I like the old days when the consumer determined what they wanted rather than the big corporate labs
I’m with others on #6.
I have to disagree with Cole, though – Apple is more than aware of its limitations and users’ disappointments with them. One need only have tried visiting the Apple Support forums earlier this week, when they were so overloaded they actually crashed, and Apple had to remove some features like Search to make sure the site could still run.
#3 I only partially agree with – as a tech enthusiast, I don’t “demand” a physical keyboard or MMS or even GPS. I never use MMS, the GPS frightens me honestly, and I only demand a keyboard that works and works well… and never on a phone have I found one until now. But you’re right in that it’s missing a lot – how do they not include iChat? Or 3G?
Interesting how the SIM chip proudly displays the 3G logo though… ;)
Most of the gripes can be fixed with software updates… and I’ve no doubt that in 6-12 months, we’re going to see so much more in the iPhone.
“The most annoying thing in all this iPhone hoopla is how many people think Apple invented things like Mobile Google Maps, web browsing, predictive text and 3-way calling.”
We’ll… the difference is that these things actually just work and are even pleasant to use.
I’ve never been able to use 3-way calling since the days of the flash button, google maps isn’t installed by default on any other phone as far as I know and also isn’t tied into other applications like it is on the iPhone. As for predictive text, not sure about that one.
Ryan – aren’t you so smart ;) congrats
Ben – Have you every tried Google Maps on a Treo? Or 3 way calling on a treo? 3-way calling IS identical, google maps is only slightly worse…
3.5 out of 6? The future is bright. I’m eagerly anticipating other (better) phones dropping in price due to the iPhone demand. RIM, Treo, etc, they’ll have to think of something to stop new/current users from going to the iPhone.
I wonder how the smartphone market on Craiglist is doing these days…
Michael,
Yes I tried 3way on my treo650 and what I remember is continually hitting the answer button and it not accepting my input. Google maps wasn’t out for my treo when I had it, but I did have google maps on my Blackberry and while it works good, was never able to get the search to work and found the use of the job wheel cumbersome for maps, especially for zooming in and out.