iPhones Sell Themselves in Everyday Tasks

I'm often using my iPhone to do routine things, like checking the weather, stock prices, and Internet sites. In fact, just yesterday, I was in the supermarket with my shopping list on my iPhone and saw Eye of Round beef on sale. So I googled, "Cook eye round roast beef", found a recipe titled "Burgundy Eye of Round" on Cooks.com, bought the other ingredients, and got a great Sunday dinner with leftovers for about $10, all in about 5 minutes. It was so easy -- and something I wouldn't have bothered with on my Nokia (NOK) E61i, just because that machine was so hard to make work properly on the Internet.

Well, the simplicity of doing everyday tasks on my iPhone hasn't been lost on observers either. I now have run into two people at my church who have decided to get iPhones after seeing how easy it is for me to use mine for seemingly ordinary tasks. Both people already own either a Palm (PALM) PDA or a Blackberry, but don't use most of the functions because they are just too hard to master. They see me do a quick weather lookup or Google (GOOG) search with a couple touches, and you can see the light bulb go on over their heads saying, "That's so easy; I'd love it if my phone were that easy."

I'll be interested to see how this plays out in a larger community of people. But if my experience is any indicator, we may see the 1.5 million iPhones sold to date exhibit a powerful multiplier effect on future iPhone sales.

Disclosure: Author is long AAPL.

Comments

[samij]

what about paying attention to the service in your church instead of checking weather and googling on your iphone?

[awcabot]

Samij, this is an investment commentary web-site, not a Sunday school confession service.

Back on track....

I would be interested to know how iPhones sell to users who are not used to associating their cell-phone with a computer. Cell-phones until recently have been rather stand-alone devices, where to get the most out of them (not much) did not require a computer. But the iPhone sort of begs to be tethered to a computer when back at home.

[samij]

yes, awcabot, indeed this should be a site for investment. i've wondered when carl might actually post something investment related instead of ramblings about his church habits and whatever. which is what i tried to imply with my original content.

he could comment the flop that has been the iphone eurolaunch, for example. curiously absent that subject on this site...

[Jesus Phone]

samij,

Reveal your "short position" to us all Samij and stop whining like a little girl. IPHONE was not a FLOP.. show me a single phone in Europe that launched and sold more briskly on opening weekend than the IPHONE?! Please give me the numbers.. I'd like to see them! And I think the phone was very well received in France... in fact Wireless carriers are suing each other over the right to sell the IPHONE... has this EVER happened before in the history of cell phones?

Once again, samij you prove yourself to be a total imbecile that is desperately trying to improve his short position on Apple's stock.

[samij]

pretty hostile comment on your part, i'll pass this one except for noting that mobile phones are not generally launched the way iphone was.

to provide a point of reference i can tell you that in the uk as many n95s have been sold every single day after it's introduction as iphones were on its busiest day of sale. and n95 is one of nokias more expensive phones, the sales of cheaper models are always manyfold.

[Ira]

I really beg to differ with awcabot, I am a big Mac fan, have several Macs in the house, along with my Powerbook, and probably less frequently than I should, connect the iPhone to my computer. The last time was to correct a software issue, and I just reloaded the OS. That was probably 4 weeks ago. I do concur with the author though that the ease of use, simplicity of design, and user interface is second to none, and I have owned many cell phones over the years.

[freshsage]

I have an iPhone and the same thing happens to me. Everywhere I go I catch people looking at it. If they aren't shy they usually ask about it and are always impressed. People understand the idea of convergence and will have an easy transition when their phone becomes a computer; the human species took the digital revolution in stride. I probably use the iPhone for Internet 90% of the time I'm on it. The iPhone un-tethers you, or at least me, from the home computer except for syncing and downloading. What matters most is that hardly anyone looks at or handles the iPhone without being impressed and word of mouth has always been a force of nature.

[qualitywte]

One feature I love is searching for a business in the Google Maps and once I find the one I want, I click "Create new contact" and it adds the email, web page, and phone numbers to my contacts list with no additional typing. Essentially, its like using the Maps feature as a 411 search and it eliminates typing the data in.

[foo]

You must be going to a supermarket with WiFi. I was in Chipotle the other day and I started trying to visit a favorite news site at the end of a long line. By the time I reached the counter, my page had still not loaded. I can seldom spare the time to wait for the craptacular EDGE network.

Does the weather widget show "rain of fire and brimstone" in church? I wouldn't know, I haven't been in a church ever since I developed my own set of morals.

[Warnin]

Could you share these morals with all of us? My guess is that they are immoral s!

[dithers]

Yes, I find the same thing with my iPhone - seemingly impossible tasks with my old razr are now easy - if I want to find a company for supplies for my business, in this case I needed scaffolding, I put in 'scaffold and the city in google maps and there was the company I was looking for. One touch and I called them, one more touch and they are a new contact with address, website, phone, email all done for me!
I love it so much I have a spare in case something happens to my main iPhone.!

[dithers]

posted my comment, then noticed some stuff on here that needs addressing:

(A) The english are cheap and they dont 'get' the Internet quite yet - they think its some kind of CB radio/advertising thing. They need time - es[ecially if they think the Nokia N95 is worth buying!

(B) Carl is talking about the convergence features of the iphone - I take that as investment advice - Apple will hit $250 in the next 6-8 months - so buy some.

(C) You dont need to tether the iPhone - once you are going, it just runs. I sync maybe once a week or less. All I want is a 16 gig version, then I can load all my music and podcasts. After that, once a month sync would be enough, unless I bought a new CD.

Apple has finally made a device that does it all - they wont stand still, only get better. Did I say $250? make that $300 in 12 months.

[sane_man]

The author was able to do a web search at market and check weather on a sunday prayer. And how much he pays for it? He pays $841 to Apple and much more to AT&T. iphone is a huge flop in Europe.

Contrary to what the author says, WSJ carried out an article saying that the touch interface is hard and error prone for typing. iphone is a toy. You can listen to songs, check wheather, make calls etc. When it comes to browsing or typing letters, it sucks big time.

[Tom B]

Pray tell-- could you provide a link? MY recollection is WSJ loved the iPhone.

[sane_man]

Here is the link blogs.wsj.com/biztech/.../

Apple is making products with approaches that are considered useless by the world. Then it hypes with people like the author of this article to boost its stock price. One example of discarded idea is the touch interface (They have lawsuits for even that because they copy). Making PCs without expansion slot is another discarded idea. The latest I heard is that they are workin on tablet PC which was introduced by Microsoft 15 yrs back.

[Tom B]

"The latest I heard is that they are workin on tablet PC which was introduced by Microsoft 15 yrs back."

Yea, and I think they sold about 5 or 6 of them.

The WSJ link you sent was an article written by a troll. Mossberg (also WSJ)-- no Apple fan-- loved the iPhone.

[No hearsayhere]

(in)sane_man: ignorant fools like you are the best advertisement that Apple could buy. I'm sure we'd all get a chuckle out of your list of useful/useless products.

Can't anyone write an article ANYWHERE either in praise or complaint about a product without being accused of being an Apple or Microsoft fanboy? Apparently not. Don't like it? Don't buy it. It's that simple.

Just because a company is sued doesn't mean they copied. If that were the case, Microsoft would be the King Of Copiers. Having $15 billion in the bank means that the sharks consider you to be prime rib. No more, no less.

Mac towers have expansion slots if you want 'em. iMacs don't. Name your poison. And rumor (of a tablet PC) doesn't make it reality, dude. This rumor has been out there for some time; so where's the Mac tablet? Answer: it's so lame that Apple finds it "useless" (in your words) and won't make one. Yes, tablet PCs took the world by storm, didn't they? The market has proven it's a lame, useless concept.

Finally, you'd be taken more seriously if you could learn to properly construct a sentence. Think about it before you contribute next time.

[Lucmee]

Did you read the comments on the WSJ blog? 5 to 1 commenters are saying they don't have a problem w/ the iphone keyboard... Stop trolling for attention and go get a life! You obviously didn't read the whole article because even that writer doesn't come down as heavily as you... What's your angle?

[jmmx]

Prey tell - Do you won an iPhone? Did you ever use it for more than 5-10 minutes?

Just would like to know from what experience you make your comments.

Peace.

[jmmx]

I was wondering if your comments were from personal experience? Did you ever won an iPhone? Did you ever use one for more than 10 minutes?

Just curious.

BTW - People pay money for cell phone plans all the time. No one seems to question their cost except with the iPhone. AT&T does not charge more than others do for a data plan (from what I have read.)

Peace.

[Tom B]

Looks like Enterprise software maker SAP has a product coming for the iPhone. So much for naysayers who claim the phone is for "consumers" only.

[iPhone User]

Its funny...

In my personal experience, typing on the iPhone is rather simple and easy. I am faster on my iPhone than I ever was on my Palm/Blackberry. Have you ever been able to hand your palm or blackberry to someone and have them start digging into the deeper features with little to no explanation? When I hand my iPhone to someone, I let them figure it out because it is that simple.

I think the iPhone is one of the most amazing pieces of tech in a long time, and I get goosebumps thinking of how Apple will improve it in the future. To truly see how amazing the iPhone is, compare to the Voyager from Verizon.

[John2007]

Carl,
Thanks for sharing. Keep leading the way and letting your light and iPhone shine.

[Warnin]

The cost of learning is a major factor for MIS departments. Might the iPhone finally make the point that a properly engineered machine with good software can be so easy to operate that the cost of learning is dramatically reduced and at the same time productivity is increased. It's amazing how much more you can do with equipment that doesn't require a 200 page manual to operate it properly. Imagine all of the Palm, Berry and Ipaq owners using all the functional capabilities of their machines. Why doesn't Apple write
for them. I would gladly pay for a decent operating system for my iPaq 6515. I guess all the "other guys" will learn when 70% of the business migrates to iPhone. The microsoft era may be coming to an end!

[Dr No]

have you used the iphone virtual touch keyboard ? It would be faster to go home, boot up windows and use the web. or maybe he brings a wireless keyboard with him and props it up in against the milk section in the grocery store. Can he even read a recipie formatted for the web on his 3" iphone screen ? I'm calling BS on this one. After the fad dies down in 9months, iphone is going to be a ibrink with a nonchangable dead Li battery, tied to a 3 year debt service to AT&T.

[Dr No]

oh and did I mention it's tied to a dog slow proprietary network and if you customize it the great "liberator" jobs will lock you out of your own device. Hold it up to your ear and smudge the screen or use it to collect fingerprints. What a pump and dump !

[Olddeveloper]

Dr. No

Yes, I have used the touch keyboard. It is clear that you never have. Post your FUD somewhere else. Apple and Microsoft bashers are getting really old on these internet boards. No matter how good a product that Apple or Microsoft produces the fanboys for one or the other repeat the same old FUD. Get over it.

[Lucmee]

Another schmuck that's only ever held an iphone for 5 minutes or less... I'll bet you're a Cricket user with a cheap Razor whose credit wasn't good enough to even GEt an AT&T account... You silly bashers are getting on my last nerve... Oh!!... But that's what you wanted... Right?.. OK... Now you've got your jollies... Go Away.

[jmmx]

(Sorry for double post up above)

In another blog post -
blogs.wsj.com/biztech/...

One of the bloggers posted something I found very interesting. Shows how the iPhone is bringing converts to Mac OS - perhaps even more than did the iPod.

Here it is:

"The seamless connections to wifi, the finding of businesses with maps which identify the website, address and telephone number all offer the user with what we are really looking for - facts. These aren’t toys, they are tools and they get us information to use in the most elegant and useful way.


"The iPhone experience has caused me to buy a Mac and begin the process to take my small business to Macs as well.
Comment by Mike Dolan - December 4, 2007 at 7:35 pm"
----

WOW! I guess there is at lest ONE person out there who likes his iPhone.