iPhone thoughts
Several folks have asked/written about my thoughts on the iPhone. Most of what I could say would be redundant with the zillions of gallons of digital ink already spilled. But here are a few thoughts, entirely my own and not my employer's....
- At this price, and with the service contract requirement, it's hard to see the iPhone itself impacting Zune this year. It's a completely different class of device, for a different set of use cases. Had Apple build a $149 iPod phone - an ipod that makes phone calls - things might have been different. Zune in 07 will still largely stand against the iPod line, and you won't see either of those until late summer.
- I loved the blather in the press and web - Blah blah no keyboard, blah blah too expensive, blah blah. Discussion about this iPod misses the important point that Apple is a smart company that will ship, learn, then ship again. If they keyboard really hurts them, they'll add one in v2. I'm especially amused by the press/blogger attention paid to software problems and UI glitches that Apple can update in the next 6 months. Apple's playing a long game here and the longer term is what matters.
- I was struck by how effectively Apple created the illusion of scarcity around the iPhone. The lines and the frenzy were in part driven by fear there wouldn't be enough supply - and in fact there was plenty (which was an accomplishment, given the doubts I'd heard about their ability to deliver even one by June 30). I sauntered into an Apple store here in Seattle and they had plenty on the second day. Pretty much every Cingular store here was out of stock, though, making me wonder how Cingular felt about the equity of unit distribution.
- I largely agree with Paul Thurrott that the iPhone is a great convergence device, but there are compromises with that convergence. I don't agree it's the greatest iPod ever (that's still the 2g Nano imo), nor is it the greatest Phone I've ever used (the HTC Smartflip), nor is it the greatest mobile email/text device I've ever used (the Dash). Apple has to live by the laws of physics, so they had to make compromises. But the iPhone clearly brings them all together with a great balance of compromises.
- I hope AT&T feels like they got a good deal out of this phone (they may given the buzz and sales numbers), because they gave up a huge amount. Apple pretty thoroughly owns the customer in this case - it's almost an MVNO - and all the services, branding, UI, etc.... Nobody is buying an iPhone because of the carrier (most press was negative about AT&T), and Apple gets to control the user to an unprecidented extent.
- The touch screen is, if nothing else, a great toy. The keyboard is...ok. Just ok, which is pretty good for a touchscreen keyboard, but if I were a big text user, I'd be unhappy.
- The iPhone is a really fun little gadget, and a nice piece of industrial design. Duh.
3 Comments:
- The iPhone is a huge threat to the Zune. Maybe not directly, but people are already wondering what features of the iPhone are going to be implemented on the next iPod. Most reviews of the iPod part of the iPhone are extremely positive, while the Zune received mediocre reviews. People will wait for the next iPod, instead of even looking at the Zune.
- I agree, Apple will update the iPhone really soon. The iPhone is really important for Apple, they won't mess it up. Where are the famous updates that Microsoft promised for Zuners?
- How Apple created the illusion of scarcity? People waited because the iPhone created interest and hype on consumers. I don't live in the US, but friends and family where asking when it was going to be available.
- You are right, Apple made compromises. Apple makes hard decisions that are usually right. They killed the floppy in 1998, they killed the modem some years ago. I do not understand why some PCs still ship with serial mouse and keyboard, that is really old technology. Apple helped USB and Wifi to become mainstream. Why put a voice recorder or radio in a MP3 Player that most people won't use. Those features make other MP3 players complex. Simple is better.
- I don't know if your comment about Apple having control of the user experience was positive or negative. After all, Microsoft copied Apple's approach of closed systems.
I think the Zune team could learn a lot from the reaction from the public and press. People are talking about the interface like it's the first time they have seen animated icons and transitions. The problem for the next gen of phone and music devices is now the comparison with the this product.
For example, a web browser on a Windows Mobile device works fine - but scrolling around is painful. The hardware supports touch and in theory you could use it in the same way as an iPhone but it doesn't work the same. For a start, the web browser supports cut'n'paste, any touch gesture is usually interpreted as a selection of the text and not a command. The iPhone gets around this by not supporting cut'n'paste. What's the more common action - scrolling around a page or making a selection for copy and paste? It's that level of thinking about UX that makes Apple's software stand out. Touch is not a toy - in the same way as UX is not a gimmick.
Not having been able to play with an IPHONE this comment maybe a bit misguided.
Several of my friends who have seen my Zune commented on how they don't like the categorization of albums and artwork but they are raving about the IPHONE's UI (in terms of the IPOD feature) and it looks very similar to the ZUNE set-up. Am I wrong?
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