Dan Poarch

Why Apple's iPhone Will Succeed

To critical posters here, you have valid points concerning some of the facts portrayed in this article. However, I don't know a soul who can make a VOIP call via WiFi. I run servers and I have no interest in fiddling with VOIP. How many times must Apple prove that specs are just a baseline, experience is everything. My RAZR had great specs when I bought it, then I found out it has the worst address book I've ever had on a phone.

The critics' obsession with tech specs does not bear out with Apple products. Do your research, Apple is chronically behind the curve on new technologies, that is, until they have watched what it is that the consumer wants and then they leapfrog the industry. Don't hate, they have 30 years of proven experience to use as leverage for the risk of launching this phone.

To this end, this phone is a first for Apple. They have the luxury of dropping in 3G whenever they darn well please. Perhaps Europe will never see an iPhone without 3G. I would avoid complaining about this feature, you will only be embarrassed when they release a 3G phone in November, or even the following February. Does your mother know what 3G is? Bet she knows what an iPod is though...

Carl - With all due respect, why on earth do you say that the phone market is tougher than the MP3 player market? Apple rules the MP3 player market but there's thousands of players out there and there were already a few hundred when the first iPod dropped. Anybody remember the Creative 5GB player? The iPod was "crippled" when it launched, and it still is when you get down to it. The iPod's success is iTunes, not playing MP3s. Unless Nokia can best iTunes, its MP3 offerings will be just that, "me too" offerings.

Everyone: No one gives a damn about the camera on their phone. Let's get that straight. I've never heard a person say to me, "Wow, this 3MP phone camera is so much nicer than my old 1MP camera phone." Nor will they ever say this. I'm not convinced that the camera and phone will ever mesh completely. I believe that the consumer will always recognize the difference between the two. You can build phones that work like computers because they're both communication devices. While a camera is a form of abstract communication, it's a stretch to think that the consumer is relying on Apple to resolve that abstraction for them.

A thought on crippling: Crippling, a term critics love to use, could actually be strong design. Keeping people away from complexity keeps the experience simple [you've read this far on an HTML page, simplicity already has you trapped in its fat bumbling fingers]. Again, I just want to point out my RAZR, I don't use any feature on it except the address book and it's abysmal. Had they focussed on experience I might love this phone because the form factor is absolutely perfect and it has proven to be more mechanically durable than I had expected. To summarize, I will take a "crippled" device over one that's utterly flawed.

One unknown that no one discusses: All any of us know is what we can use and have today. Perhaps OSX makes a better phone operating system than Windows? We don't know yet do we? But we do know that we love iPods and Macs don't we? Perhaps iPhones will run Windows Mobile better too. ; )

I won't commit to numbers, but I know better than to bet to against Jobs. Perhaps he's wrong, but his big mistake was NEXT, at this point he has a certain talent for golden eggs.

PS - If I can only get the distance out of an iPhone that I've gotten out of this 4-year-old Mac...

Sandisk: The Next Apple?

So, if Apple finds itself flush with cash this year, more cash than they already have I suppose, perhaps a SanDisk purchase could be in the works? I would like to see Apple show more development of brain power. Steve Jobs won't last forever, perhaps he won't even last the Federal investigation that has begun. Acquiring a competitor that already has a strong sense of Apple's abilities through competition could re-enforce the product development sensibilities at Apple. Then again, none of us knows what's happening at Apple behind closed doors. Jonathan Ive or Phil schiller may yet take the helm. Ive is a remote prospect, I know, but what I love about Apple is that it's led by a designer/engineer. Hence its abilities to adapt, and for better or worse, it's mercurial path. Still, snapping up SanDisk, or the like, could benefit them in the short term by grabbing more of the market, and by thickening the walls of the fort in the long term. Just thoughts...

Apple Meets the Beatles? We'll Find Out Superbowl Sunday

It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't another 1984-style ad to perk the consumer's ear for what's to come this year. Or maybe Steve Jobs will apologize publicly for taking big fat options grants. Yeah, better chance of Apple announcing a sell-out to Microsoft than seeing that.

Forrester's Bernoff Receives Backlash For His iTunes 'Collapse' Report

“We believe iTunes software is what gives an iPod its unique user interface and ease-of-use, in particular when synching with a PC and/or Mac, still arguably the best platforms for productivity and to manage content libraries.”

Really? I didn't know anyone had figured this out yet. This is why Apple has stayed on top. It's also why Microsoft bought iView Multimedia. Asset management will be the keystone to the digital home. My prediction is that the home will drive IT development over the next ten years. Storing and retrieving all of the families' memories in a precise, effective, and friendly manner will become the name of the game. Up until now this has been the domain of the geek, but now every Suzy Q and Johnny Sixpack has an iPod and a digital camera. How are they going to manage all of that data?