Apple iPhone

dgt2n

touchscreen, widescreen ipod, internet ready, etc etc etc etc etc

bobman1235

It does look pretty amazing.

The only complaint I have is touchscreen == no tactile feedback, which for a phone is kind of annoying.

Also, considering the featureset, it's going to run like 800 bucks.

It sure does look purdy though. And runs OSX somehow.

PhantomOG

touchscreen + cingular = useless to me

PhantomOG

The 4GB iPhone will go out the door in the US as a Cingular exclusive for $499 on a two-year contract, 8GB for $599. Ships Stateside in June, Europe in fourth quarter, Asia in 2008.

Every two years I get the latest and greatest cell phone from Verizon for anywhere from $0 to $50 out of pocket, without all the dropped calls. No thanks, Apple.

bobman1235

Phantom - I don't know what planet you live on that you think Verizon has the "latest and greatest" phones. You may LIKE their phones, or their service, or both, which is totally your opinion... but technology is way past what Verizon hands out for free, or will EVER have, because they use an outdated network that doesn't exist outside the US. And if you don't like the latest technology then this kind of thing really isn't marketed to you.

Apple went with Cingular because Cingular uses GSM, which is what the rest of the world uses, so they can market the phone outside the US.

PhantomOG

definitely my opinion and my opinion only.

I have used and know many other people that use other networks besides Verizon. Without a doubt, for me in Austin, TX, Verizon has the best network as far as call quality and dropped calls. Do I care if I can use my phone in Japan/UK/Africa? Nope. But that's just me.

My 1.5 year old LG phone has Bluetooth, mp3 player microSD card slot, GPS and a bunch of other crap I probably don't even know about. I got it for free and I have never used any said features. I use it to make and receive phone calls and it does a damn good job doing so. Moreso than any of the "latest" technology offered by any of the other carriers. I like the "best" technology that works for me. Usually that's the "latest" but not always, and if you are correct, apparently not for cell phones.

But again, that's just my opinion. If you love the Apple+Cingular+$500 phone, more power to you. I'm happy for you.

bobman1235

I actually don't like the iPhone except to look at and say "ooo, pretty", I was just being argumentative for no reason


Hey, you live in Austin, how's that dead bird situation going? Freakiest thing I've seen in a while.

PhantomOG

I haven't heard anything lately but I'm staying clear of downtown until they find our what or who is responsible. :eek:

dylan

My experience the last year or so, the windows mobile smart phones are very prone to problems (lock-ups, terrible battery life, dropped calls, etc). This is across carriers and phone models, but windows mobile is the constant.

Blackberries on the other hand, continue to work extremelly well. iPods speak for themselves, so I could see room for competition here.

bobman1235

These iPhones really aren't iPods. Supposedly they're running OSX... which is significantly more stable than the iPod "OS".

shack

The only thing I want my phone do send and receive CALLS. I could care less about internet, music, pictures or whatever. A phone (cell or land line) is a tool that I have to have to communicate...no more...no less.

dgt2n

The pricepoint certainly is high, but the demos on www.apple.com/iphone are reeeeally nice.

I think it'll end up doing quite well, and so do others, if the 8% increase today in AAPL is any indication.

dgt2n

shack wrote:

The only thing I want my phone do send and receive CALLS. I could care less about internet, music, pictures or whatever. A phone (cell or land line) is a tool that I have to have to communicate...no more...no less.

That seems like pretty archaic thinking to me. Have you never wanted to access the internet or listen to music when you're away from your home or work PC or stereo?

Shizelbs

I would get it if the internet connectivity was little to no extra cost.

dylan

Interesting, I assumed they were merging ipod and phone. If its a stable os, they're already ahead of MS.

These combo devices are weird... when I setup them up for people at work (50+ BB's, 75+ smart phones), they go through 2 stages: "alright, I can get email all the time!", quickly followed by "ah crap, I can get email all the time...".

I don't want either, like Shack, I just want calls. Although that means I have to do without an absurdly loud ring tone of Sweet Home Alabama (insert rolly eyes here).

shack

dgt2n wrote:

That seems like pretty archaic thinking to me. Have you never wanted to access the internet or listen to music when you're away from your home or work PC or stereo?

NO! I have excellent music systems for music, GOOD cameras for taking pictures, a very nice home theater for watching movies, a very fast computer with a BIG screen for surfing the internet. A phone is a phone....not an entertainment system. I want a tool that does one thing really well. Not a gadget that does lots of things poorly.

bobman1235

Unfortunately for you, shack, most people DO want all those features, so it's actually cheaper for them to throw a camera in every phone they make than make one without. So you're stuck just buying that crap and never using it

I always look at phones and get the cool features and end up using a grand total of none of them. It always seems neat but I never wanna deal with it.

polkatese

That's look like a great phone. My biggie is text messaging, which is very handy to acknowledge callers without talking to them.

dgt2n

shack wrote:

NO! I have excellent music systems for music, GOOD cameras for taking pictures, a very nice home theater for watching movies, a very fast computer with a BIG screen for surfing the internet. A phone is a phone....not an entertainment system. I want a tool that does one thing really well. Not a gadget that does lots of things poorly.

Not to sound like i'm humping Jobs' leg here, but based on Apple's recent history, I tend to think the iPhone will do alot of things well, not poorly.

shack

bobman1235 wrote:

Unfortunately for you, shack, most people DO want all those features, so it's actually cheaper for them to throw a camera in every phone they make than make one without. So you're stuck just buying that crap and never using it

Not necessarily. I just started using a Noika "candybar" phone that I got 2 years ago for free when we renewed our service. I only started using it because the similar phone before it quit working as well after about 3 years (I could put the sim card in now and use it if I needed to). These things are small and built like a tank and work. Razr sucks (as do most of the Moto phones). As a family we have had 9 Moto phones that do lots of stuff. They are crap and rarely last a year.

shack

dgt2n wrote:

Not to sound like i'm humping Jobs' leg here, but based on Apple's recent history, I tend to think the iPhone will do alot of things well, not poorly.

I guess you can dream... They may do fine at what they do...I have little use for MP3. Why would I care about a compressed music source when I have spent a lot of time and money to build high quality, high resolution music systems? You probably haven't been around enough to see the things that Job screwed up. He is certainly capable of it.

dkg999

Not sure on the comments about Verizon! I have a Verizon phone that has all the modes including GSM. I can get/make calls almost anywhere in the world, and access the internet from most locations I travel to internationally. In some areas such as the former Russian republics I have to call Verizon and let them know I am travelling there, but overall I get better service from Verizon than some of my co-workers with Sprint, Cingular, T-Mobile, etc. When I spent a week in a remote location in Siberia for vacation, Verizon provided me a satellite phone at no cost other than shipping. I'm pretty satisfied with them so far, and I've been one of their customers since 1990 (it was AirTouch back then!).

dgt2n

shack wrote:

I guess you can dream... They may do fine at what they do...I have little use for MP3. Why would I care about a compressed music source when I have spent a lot of time and money to build high quality, high resolution music systems? You probably haven't been around enough to see the things that Job screwed up. He is certainly capable of it.

I never said that you personally have any use for mp3's.

I listen to uncompressed audio at home on a nice system as well, but there are many other times when I'm not sitting in my recliner when mp3's come in very handy (trains, planes, jogging, skiing, my lab at work, DMV waiting rooms, etc). Obviously many other people feel the same way, and Apple's recent success is one indication that they're doing better than the competition at filling that want. They have a pretty faithful computer following as well, and this product is just a combination of the two, with a phone thrown in for good measure.

What do you have against Apple anyway? Bad experience with a Macintosh IIcx?

bobman1235

shack - I agree with you on the Nokia candybars - love em. The less moving parts the better, says me.

dkg - most verizon phones do not have full GSM capabilities. You may have snagged a multi-band phone that can handle GSM, but the majority of their phones cannot.

dgt2n - stop being an Apple fanboy. Apple knows how to make a pretty product with a nice user-friendly UI. That's about it. Form over function, always.

shack

dgt2n wrote:

What do you have against Apple anyway? Bad experience with a Macintosh IIcx?

Nothing. My point was that folks have short term memories. Right now because of the sucess of the iPod, Apple (and by association Jobs) is percieved that every thing they touch turns to gold. Apple and Jobs in the past have been very innovative, but often miscalculated the market and the demand for the product. Apple has certainly been up and down. Examples are the Apple III, Newton, Lisa and their entry into the business server world. Inspiration often didn't lead to application. Just because Apple can make a nice iPod doesn't mean the iPhone will be great. Maybe it will...maybe it won't. Either way, I won't be getting one.

dkg999

The limitation of the iPhone to me is that unless you can turn off all the phone functionality I'm not going to be able to listen to music on the 9 hr flight to the UK. That would suck! I'll stick with my basic cell phone, that I can't even figure out all the tricks on using, and an iPod for music on the long flights.

dgt2n

bobman1235 wrote:

shack - I agree with you on the Nokia candybars - love em. The less moving parts the better, says me.

dkg - most verizon phones do not have full GSM capabilities. You may have snagged a multi-band phone that can handle GSM, but the majority of their phones cannot.

dgt2n - stop being an Apple fanboy. Apple knows how to make a pretty product with a nice user-friendly UI. That's about it. Form over function, always.

sorry. i just think its pretty f'ing cool new toy/technology, and was surprised by the apathy/disinterest. even by people who have no desire to own one.

Fireman32

I think it looks cool and im sure Apple will do very well with it. I wont buy one. I agree with Shack on the fact to me a phone should be a phone only. I love my Ipod for listening to music at work all night. The thing I do like is the widescreen for watching movies.

dkg999

That and when someone jacks the iPhone, they will get a **** load of personal information about you. If they jack my iPod they get some music and podcasts, possibly some pictures of my kids. If they jack my cellphone they get my phone book. Neither is too serious. If you are using the iPhone for all your info, they have a lot of stuff that is valuable and potentially lets them steal and/or sell your identity. That's one of my main concerns with these types of devices.

Holydoc

dkg999 wrote:

That and when someone jacks the iPhone, they will get a **** load of personal information about you. If they jack my iPod they get some music and podcasts, possibly some pictures of my kids. If they jack my cellphone they get my phone book. Neither is too serious. If you are using the iPhone for all your info, they have a lot of stuff that is valuable and potentially lets them steal and/or sell your identity. That's one of my main concerns with these types of devices.

Well if that was a concern, I could never carry a wallet again.

Though I like the idea of having one item that does it all (i.e., replace Ipod, Phone, camera, and PDA), I have the same concerns as dkg999 that I would be limited in the places I could utilize it. I currently have a cell phone that does not have a camera. I am limited here because I work in a secure environment where camera's are strictly prohibited. The other fact that I travel a LOT and the video portion of the IPOD keeps me entertained during those flights, is totally limited if it is in a phone. I would not be able to utilize it on flights.

Otherwise dtg2n, I think it is pretty cool too.

dkg999

Holydoc - I have been at more than one client's facility where we were asked to leave our cell phones with security because of the camera.