WriterGuy

Sorry, Rupert: Micropayments Mean Microprofits

The idea that micropayments can't add up to real money is so 20th century thinking.

You're right to look at Apple, but the equivalent isn't iTunes, it's the iPhone App Store. People are discovering you can make a LOT of money selling apps that cost less than a buck, as long as you sell a lot of 'em. I recently cancelled my WSJ subscription because it was getting too pricey, and I've been enjoying my free access on my iPhone. But I wouldn't mind paying, say, a quarter for every story I read, or even a reasonable flat monthly fee ($2.99?) for unlimited access.

For every person who would give up their expensive annual subscriptions there may be 100 who would love to access the Journal's business and marketing coverage, if the price was right.

Nintendo Wii: Facing the Inevitable

This reads like one of those apologists for Microsoft who whine that Windows is a "better" system because more people use it. I love when people make such asinine statements like: "The Xbox 360 is a huge amount better than the Wii. It has far more games and vastly more good games. And it has Live, by far the best online gaming portal. Gradually the public will come round to understanding these realities."

Just like the lack of a radio "doomed" the iPod to failure, right?

There's a reason you STILL can't find a Wii in most stores: people love them, even people who don't like traditional video games. Get over it. Even better? No "red ring of death" on the Wii.

9 Feature Comparisons: G1 vs. iPhone

I love feature comparisons like this, because their entirely besides the point. Apple's mindset isn't about piling on features, it's about usability, for which there's no easily noted statistic. I couldn't care less if Google's phone had a standard headphone jack, an FM radio and a can opener built in. Until the software and User Interface is as advanced as the iPhone, I'm not interested.

It's like those Feature Comparison Charts about MP3 players that show the iPod down in the middle of the pack, yet the iPod completely dominates the market. It's not cause Apple's "cool," it's because the user experience, including seamless interaction with iTunes software on the desktop, makes extra "features" irrelevant. I still remember all the articles that said the iPod would fail without an FM radio.

Going feature-to-feature with the iPhone is simply having the wrong discussion.

Apple's 10 Million iPhone Target

@vraj -
Sounds like you've never touch the iPhone. Because if you think Jobs took cell phone users for granted, I can't imagine what Blackberry, Treo and Nokia think of their users, with their overly complicated, underpowered phones. Apple doesn't sell luxury goods. Apple sells high-quality products at a fair price, and is often a value leader when total cost of ownership is considered. My wife has a Sidekick, purchased before the iPhone was available, so it's been easy for me to compare the two. Unfortunately, there IS no comparison. Stop bashing Apple for the sake of bashing them, and look objectively. You might be surprised.

Apple's New iPhone Applications No Threat to RIM's BlackBerry

Rimm is a tool for getting email. An iPhone is having a full computer in your pocket, one that handles email at least as well as a Rimm. To deny that iPhone 2.0 is going to have an effect on Rimm is simply denial. No, Rimm won't go away overnight. But their time of dominance is over.

Apple Stores Restock, iPhone Buzz Booms Back

@Dan -

No one who knows anything about Apple takes Mr. Dvorak seriously. I used to admire his work, but that was 20 years ago. He's more of a shill for Microsoft these days than a true analyst. Whether or not he "recognizes" Apple's success with the iPhone isn't important; the fact that they (apparently) sold a million phones in a week is.

Mixing My Opinion Into the iPhone Stew

Some people refuse to see reality, because it clashes with what they want reality to be. Most reviewers and users with more than 10 minutes time on the iPhone report they LIKE the virtual keyboard at least as much as the tiny keys on Treos and Blackberrys. And "forget about corporate support for 12 months"? Uh, wrong again. It's already happening, with a new version of Exchange that debuted the same day (or don't you keep up on a field you supposedly are an expert in?). And compared with other high-end smart phones, the costs are more or less equivalent, especially since Cingular priced service $20 lower than I'm paying with my current Treo 300.

Have pundits like you learned absolutely no lessons from the success of the iPod? You can't simply compare feature vs. feature, since the user interface itself is Apple's greatest strength; users will pay a premium for a device that works first time, every time; that this is not a "fashionista" device, but a device that stays in fashion simply because it's so good as the function it was designed for.

The time for FUD ended about 6:30pm last Friday. Get with it. The rules HAVE changed. You should be focused on figuring out which hand-held manufacturers are going to be out of business in a year. And my list starts with the Treo.

What Does The iPhone Teach Us About Technology?

It's not the technology per se -- it's the ease of use that Apple is so successful at. While they are hardware innovators, most of the components have been developed elsewhere. But it's the brilliant software that sets them apart time after time. While Windows apologists and Apple-haters frequently talk about functions ("My phone already has a music player, e-mail and the Internet, and it's only $100, so the iPhone is a failure!") they never talk about the user experience. As a once-proud Treo owner, I have what was one of the best-reviewed smart phones ever made. But e-mail wouldn't display properly, the mini-browser couldn't display regular pages, and half the phone's features were buried deep in menu trees.

I'm not lining up to get the iPhone this weekend, just because lining up for a product is wide distribution is pretty silly to me. But I will own one before the end of the year.

The iPhone: Apple's First Flop

Either the author is trolling for hits -- everyone knows the way to up your hit level is to do a hit piece on Apple -- or he's gleefully distributing FUD as a shill for some player in the cell phone industry. Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt are what companies turn to when presented with a product they can't compete against. (See also Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer talking about Linux and OS X. Not to mention Netscape, back before they destroyed them.)

While I haven't seen or touched the iPhone yet, neither has Todd Sullivan. Which makes everything he says more than merely suspect. It makes it worthless.

Is Apple Beginning Its Long Delayed Descent?

The entire story is utter nonsense. If you want to dump your Apple stock (if you own any), please do so. There are a lot of willing buyers out there. Others have gone through your article point by point, so I won't do it again. But using John Dvorak as a "source" on Apple products is like asking Karl Rove for a impartial view of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

But for a guy named Ashkan Karbasfrooshan to complain about the NAME of a tech support person? "Hello pot, calling kettle."

8 Reasons Apple iPhone Will Succeed (And 8 Reasons It Will Fail)

List seems a bit obvious, doesn't it? Comes down to this: If it works as advertised, it'll be a hit. If not, it won't.

Apple TV Picture Quality Is Not Good Enough For Me

The reason Apple TV doesn't look as good as HD is because it's NOT HD...at least not yet. HD support is supposed to come in a software update later on... But for managing your downloaded audio and video content, the future is here...

Apple TV: Arriving Just in Time to Give Consumers What They Want

Can't agree with you more about the game-changing nature of AppleTV. I forsee niche programming, with customers "subscribing" to a season of original episodes, much as you'd subscribe to a niche magazine title. A million fans, willing to pay $3 an episode, can provide financing for otherwise low-rated shows (Friday Night Lights, Studio 60, Firefly, Family Guy, etc.).

I have one problem with Apple TV: the lack of closed captions. There is no way to access the closed captioning information on any downloaded programming via the Apple iTunes store. And nothing I've read says the caption information is passed through to the TV set when using AppleTV. There are at least 30 million Americans who rely on closed-captions to enjoy movies and television, including deaf, hard-of-hearing and ESL audiences -- and my wife. Until this issue is addressed, I can't fully endorse the product, as much as I'd love to.