Posted on 07/04/2007 10:25:42 PM PDT by Swordmaker
BURLINGAME, CALIF. - What do mobile phone geeks call their useless, deactivated handhelds? Bricks.
But enterprising new owners of Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people )'s iPhone have discovered that even if they remove the tiny activation card from their new toy, it’s still far more useful than a paperweight. Instead of a phone, it becomes a Web-browsing device with a big, beautiful screen--and a vision of what's next for personal computers.
For Apple, it's a round trip. The company's Newton kick started the idea of mobile computing in 1993 before morphing into a limited "personal digital assistant." Now the iPhone and its product-line descendents offer a glimpse of what's to come--a world of small, elegant machines allowing users to take true, full-featured Internet access with them anywhere.
It's already happening. Hackers that embrace this side of the iPhone can eventually shed their $60 to $220 per-month, two-year contract with AT&T (nyse: T - news - people ), and continue to use their iPhones for unlimited e-mail and Web access over WiFi, as well as for playing music and movies. The Unofficial Apple Weblog is calling this strategy the "sixth-generation iPod."
None of this pleases AT&T, but the fact remains that the iPhone functions well as an attractive Web-browsing tablet as long as the user remains in range of a WiFi hotspot.
Ironically, AT&T is enabling that, as well. The company said Tuesday that subscribers to its high-speed DSL Internet service at home or work will get free access to 10,000 WiFi hotspots across the country in McDonald's restaurants, Barnes & Noble stores, UPS stores, coffee shops and airports. For non-subscribers, access to the ubiquitous hot spots costs $8 a day.
Why would consumers pay $600 for an iPhone only to deactivate it and use it as an Internet tablet and media player? Well, not many will. But for those that do, the iPhone-as-tablet will look attractive, if a bit pricey (typical of Apple’s computers) when compared with similar products on the market.
Reactions to Palm's (nasdaq: PALM - news - people ) $500 Foleo, announced on May 30 (see "Palm Opens Up"), which the company describes as the future of mobile computing, have been mixed. It has a nice, laptop-like keyboard unlike the iPhone, but it's bigger, has little media storage space or playback software, and far less sex appeal.
Neither has Nokia's (nyse: NOK - news - people ) $400 N800 tablet taken the market by storm. It remains a cult favorite among fans of the open-source operating system Linux, but, like Apple’s 1990s-era Newton, the N800 has thus far failed to capture the mainstream.
Various over-priced models of the Microsoft-envisioned Ultra Mobile PC devices have hit the market in the past year, from companies like Samsung, Asus and OQO. So far, that Windows computing platform has fared little better than the tablet PC, which was introduced in late 2002. Tablets currently make up only a tiny fraction of all laptop sales.
All of these products fail the crucial "pocket" test--they’re just too big to be carried conveniently. Until now, the trouble with a tiny computer has been the squint-inducing tiny screen, along with hard-to-place buttons. But the iPhone’s giant touch screen takes a crack at solving those problems (and, so far, won’t crack in the pocket).
When Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs launches new iPods in time for the holiday-buying season, we may see a non-phone iPhone. And if, as software developers are hoping, Apple loosens its grip on the device’s operating system, we may soon see more ways in which the device can be used as a true mobile computer.
Some developers are already trying, even though Apple has restricted them to using only the Safari browser as their canvas. Top on their list of desirable creations? A version of eBay's (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ) Skype software that allows voice calls over WiFi, and turns the iPhone back into a phone for free. Mountain View, Calif., and Luxembourg-based start-up Jajah is nearly there, announcing this week its "Free Your iPhone" campaign for making 3-cents-per-minute International calls via the company’s mobile Web site.
By the way, I did see from the manual that you can erase all your data on the phone, if you need to send it in for repair or whateveer. I guess that’s for people who don’t want their data floating out there for someone else (in repair) to pick up and use in some way... good idea...
“However, some of these things I would like to know, too —”
Glad to be of service ...
You seem upset that I bring these up - I don’t know about you, but I hate finding problems down that road that I could have prepared for.
“By the way, I did see from the manual that you can erase all your data on the phone,”
Sure, a complete restore will do that - but having an image to restore from with all the extra widgets, data and whatnot you’ve collected would make the annoyance of having to ship your unit into for something as simple as a battery change a little more bearable.
If you want to store several videos and your music library on your iPhone, 8 Gig is pretty small. If this thing is going to replace the iPod, your phone, and your Laptop, it is gonna need more than 8 Gig.
Yeah, but if you follow the iPhone hack, it effectively disables the "phone" part of the iPhone - which is pretty idiotic. What's the point of having a convergent device (cell phone, laptop, ipod), if, I'm going to have to carry around a cell phone to by-pass AT&T?
You seem upset that I bring these up - I don’t know about you, but I hate finding problems down that road that I could have prepared for.
I would say, "stating the obvious" is more apt... LOL. It seems you've made a career out of the negative spin rather than preparing for buying the iPhone...
There hasn't been a product ever made in the world that has not had something wrong or needed repair or couldn't have been improved upon. Apple is the same, even though they make the best of products for the consumer. Therefore, even with the best, there is always going to be room for improvement. If this wasn't so, even with Apple producing the best of products, you wouldn't see them getting even better all the time. They would have nothing left to do, if it were all perfect.
But, in your case, I doubt you have a single current Apple product, and instead, simply sling negative spin, instead of putting in suggestions to Apple for improving a product (they do listen to consumers for improvements, and have a webpage for inputting it). So, while I do have an Apple Macintosh desktop, laptop, iPod, and iPhone (along with various Apple accessories and other things), I doubt you have a single one.
So, it seems to be a bit disingenuous to say that you're concerned about problems that you could have prepeared for down the road.... To do that, you have to have Apple products in your possession.... LOL..
Regards,
Star Traveler
P.S. -- Maybe you're waiting until the year 2525 (remember the song...?) so that Apple will have perfected everything and they can do no better and they quit business because it's all perfect now... LOL
P.P.S. -- And by the way, I do have the iPhone and it's the best thing out there for the kind of product that it is. And I know there is room for Apple to do even better with it, so I'm expecting another year or two to bring out even more improvements and an even better iPhone than what I have right now. But, that's not stopping me from getting the best that we have at this moment. I'll get the better one a year or two down the road, too. :-) [and this one will probably be a "hand-me-down" to someone else in the family, like many other Apple products I've had before..., another great tradition in the Apple family of products...]
Sure, a complete restore will do that - but having an image to restore from with all the extra widgets, data and whatnot you’ve collected would make the annoyance of having to ship your unit into for something as simple as a battery change a little more bearable.
Well, between having a disk image versus having the ability to re-sync your data may not be that significant to the user of the iPhone. It would appear that re-syncing after getting the iPhone back again should be what is needed to get going again, where the user was before the unit was shipped off.
But, mind you, we're talking about something that no one even knows will be any kind of problem at all -- in terms of the battery. In fact, my usage of the iPhone so far shows it to be quite long-lived in terms of its usage, before running down. And I don't know how long it will be before it has to be replaced, either. So a lot of this is simply unknown and we're talking about "what ifs" here.
Even so, I've mentioned that it appears that there might be a few pieces of data on the iPhone which are not part of the syncing process. I have yet to reallly find out for sure, but it appears that way to me. I could be wrong, though. And since this is simply a software type of action, even if I were right (about certain information not syncing), that's something which could be changed overnight by Apple if it were needed. I'm not sure if this is something that was perceived as really needed, though. If consumers thought it was (like in syncing "Notes") then I'm sure Apple would include it.
But, what you would have "collected" in terms of data, would be resident in the present syncing process and would not be lost, from my understanding of what is going on. But, as in all things "computer" -- there are details still to understand. And I'm still working on understanding all the "workings" of the iPhone.
However, in the meantime, it still seems to be the excellent product that all the reviews say it is, even while we're all figuring out all the details of its operation. And we'll also see those details of its operation changing in the coming weeks and months, because Apple will do upgrades as time goes along. So, even these present details will change. That's one of the nice things about this iPhone, is that since it's operation is almost entirely software, it can be upgraded and changed without any hardware changes and without any need of bringing the phone in to a repair center to do work on it. "Buttons" can be changed or added or removed, or entire "operations" revised to different ways of working, without anyone ever coming in to an Apple store. It can be done right on the AT&T network without anything needed to be done by the consumer.
Regards,
Star Traveler
If you want to store several videos and your music library on your iPhone, 8 Gig is pretty small. If this thing is going to replace the iPod, your phone, and your Laptop, it is gonna need more than 8 Gig.
I'm not sure where you got the idea that this was designed to be a replacement for the iPod, and MacBook -- along with having a phone. That's not what I've heard. And, I don't perceive it that way for my usage. It's supplementary.
I still have my laptop and that gets carried around with me in the car to places that I go. I have it in my backpack, so it's ready to go anytime I want. I always have the backpack with me. My 5th generation iPod is with me at all times, too. I have a Canon digital camera with me at all times, too.
I should point out that my 5th generation iPod had a hard drive for that large storage space that it has. And the iPhone has flash memory for its 8 Gigabytes of storage. I doubt the iPhone is going to ever get a hard drive in it. It wouldn't be as rugged if it had a hard drive. I saw a PC World "rugged test" where they put the iPhone through all sorts of real-life scenarios of dropping it, banging it, scratching it and seeing if it still worked. It held up fine being tough and rugged throughout all they did.
So, this is a very utilitarian device, being a phone primarily, with the supplementary addition of these other components that make life a lot easier and simpler for many things you want to do. It's not going to replace the MacBook or the iPod and was never intended to do that. For what it is, right now, the 8 Gigs is just fine.
Regards,
Star Traveler
P.S. -- Some people cannot even envision or even imagine in their wildest dreams what they would use 8 Gigs for (even on their computers at home ... LOL). Even if I can imagine it, it doesn't mean everyone else has the same "imagination" or requirements. For all "geeks" whatever number of "Gigs" is never enough...
Right after the 4th of July (for the next day, Thursday) the entire country was out of stock, except for exactly two stores. Now, for Friday (the next day), it looks like a little over half the stores in the country were restocked and are selling again.
It would appear that the demand is really big and is still going strong.
You’re not going to get an iPhone with a hard drive in it, like you have with the iPod. So, don’t hold your breath.
But, even so, as soon as flash memory gets larger and as soon as prices are reasonable for those greatly expanded memory capacities for that flash memory, then you’ll see those amounts of storage included in the iPhone.
But..., if you wait even longer, the “next generation” will be even better. Heck, if you wait long enough, we’ll just bury you with the best model in your casket... LOL...
The “next generation” is always going to be better. If you always waited for the “better” you would never get the product... :-)
Yawn...
Iain M. Banks and a dozen other sci-fi writers have had portable computers/terminals/data devices in their stories for decades. This isn't "innovation". This is finally catching up with the human ability to dream.
Wake me up when this thing is direct neural feed...
I’ve noticed the same thing. Unfortunately California sells out almost entirely. I’d love to know what their sales figures are.
Ummmm..., you know there is a difference between science fiction — and — the real life we live? LOL...
Apple sells products to people who live in the “real world” — notwithstanding all the science fiction stories you can read and view on TV or in the movies... :-)
You mean like pocket computers, space stations, lasers, and cures for cancer?
Actually I mean the difference between things sitting in people’s heads — versus — the products that a company makes and people buy.
Or, we could say, the difference between getting paid for writing stories, — versus — the items that people buy and use everyday....
You mean like compact recording media, the Internet, and climate control in our homes?
This is finally catching up with the human ability to dream.
Wake me up when this thing is direct neural feed...
And so, yes, we'll wake you up when that direct neural feed is operational (in about 50 years or more). In the meantime, there will be those who make money writing science fiction stories -- and then -- those who make money through companies developing products that people buy and use today.
No need for you to wake up yet...
Regards,
Star Traveler
Again, you are making light of sci-fi writers predicting major advancements. This says more about your lack of vision than it does the writers market viability.
Nasa demonstrates faster than light flight...
Dead Corpse says:
“Yawn.... wake me up when they have instant interstellar teleportation...
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