All Things iPhone 380
With the iPhone release coming soon there is no shortage of stories being submitted. Here is an overview of all of its features and specifics on its technical workings. A list of applications is out and still growing. There are warnings however that some applications and peripherals won't be ready or compatible in time for the release. Finally with all the hype associated with the iPhone, we have a reminder of some previous Apple products that ended with a whimper instead of a roar.
You ain't just whistlin' dixie... (Score:5, Insightful)
We know the features, we know the controversy, we know EVERYTHING.
Just let the damn thing come. This is more than gratuitous splurge on a product. It's downright unnecessary.
I'm looking forward to this thing as much as the next guy, but come on, enough with the iPhone articles. It's getting redundant.
Enough is Enough (Score:4, Insightful)
Shlashdot's free pub (Score:2, Insightful)
Someone remembering all the pre-noise about PS3 and the reality after Nintendo kicked it's ass?
Re:Will it (Score:4, Insightful)
As an Apple fan, even I am finding the level of coverage of this thing to be ridiculous. There are no less than 5 headlines about the iPhone on that page alone. The #*$(# thing isn't even out yet! For this much hype, you'd think it came with 3 5-star hookers and a brick of cocaine straight from colombia.
Echo of products past (Score:2, Insightful)
The more hype I see and hear about the iPhone, the more it reminds me of the hype surrounding the Segway.
Re:Echo of products past (Score:4, Insightful)
Except, you know, people actually want the iPhone and cell phones are useful. Who actually wanted a Segway and thought it would be good for more than looking like a sidewalk surfing idiot.
But will it talk to my car? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:All I want to know about the iPhone.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh, and because mentioning blending iPods in a blender WILL get you -10,000,000 Overrated (to dodge metamoderation!) here on Slashdot, they HAVE also blended Windows CDs. They make a really cool sparkly powder (over-expensive glitter?), though I still think microwaving CDs is way cooler.
Re:Will it (Score:4, Insightful)
Why some of us are excited about iPhone (Score:5, Insightful)
The bar is being raised right now for the cellphone industry, and being raised well.
This is the industry that has bent us over for so long, with unusable features, overpriced gadgets that don't deliver on what they promised, and ease of use of a manual lawn-mower.
No, iPhone is not the cure for cancer, but it is making the cell manufacturers and networks change the way they do their business.
After months of being out on the market, the "Chocolate" cellphone will get capability to have songs transfered from the computer. This is not a win for Apple, but a win for the consumer, who without Apple was at the mercy of PHBs and middle management making decisions about how their cellphones should work.
This happened at least one time before... Remember what happened to Exploder once FireFox came out? Oh, well crap, yeah, here's your IE 7 all of a sudden, sorry you had to endure 7 years of exploder 6, no tabs, millions of infections and popups, but we really thought that's what the consumers wanted.
Like I said, the bar is being raised, and it's good to see Nokia, Motorolla and especially the carriers bend over and take it where the sun don't shine from Apple.
iphone is the new paris hilton (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Don't believe the hype (Score:5, Insightful)
"except for the select few reviewers that have actually used an iPhone can know that the UI is better"
Anyone who had watched the apple tour video [apple.com] can tell you the UI is lightyears ahead of Blackberry, Treo, etc. Even the commercials make this apparent. And as I said, I'm willing to put some faith in certain reviewers (Pogue, etc), and they have all said positive things about the majority of the phone's features.
"How anyone could be sure that the iPhone doesn't crash as "often" as existing smart phones on the market is beyond me"
My Treo would endure around 3-5 crashes PER DAY. My blackberry doesn't crash, but has gotten considerable slower over time, and freezes occasionally (and this always seems to be at the exact wrong moment). I am not someone who grants corporations a lot of faith, but Apple is one of the few who has earned my faith. They're products aren't know for being cheap, but their UI and industrial design are both industry leading, and stability is an important factor to them. This is evidenced in the lack of third party apps-- that's what causes many other phones crash 10 times a day (instead of the normal once or twice if you're only using the native apps). Apple has earned enough credit with me that I'm willing to stake $500 on their product being solid. Apple doesn't have the best reputation for 1st gen devices, but I've had no issues with my Macbook Pro, so I'm willing to take that "gamble" again.. some aren't. Incidentally, the only other company that I can think of that I've decided to buy a product without even seeing it in person, was my Lotus, and that was for the same reasons. And I was very happy I made the purchase.
"How can you know that the iPhone is worth the money or even decent?"
I can't "KNOW" anything about the iPhone, really. What I do "KNOW" is that apple has, in the past, built many products I am very happy with, and has earned a reputation for quality. So yes, it's a gamble, but I believe the odds are handicapped in my favor. Incidentally, if you're tempted to call me an Apple zealot.. I'm making this post from an Opteron box running XP64 Corp. I tend to believe in the right tool for the right job-- in this case, I don't feel like the blackberry is the right tool for me, and even if the iPhone isn't [exactly] either, it's as close as anything will be for a while.
SSH (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Why some of us are excited about iPhone (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Don't believe the hype (Score:4, Insightful)
That is called "advertising." [wikipedia.org] Anyone who have watched the trailers for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End can tell you that that is an awesome movie. Suckers queued in line for that product too.
Re:But will it talk to my car? (Score:5, Insightful)
None of the other phones come with a real keyboard either.
Re:Why some of us are excited about iPhone (Score:5, Insightful)
Every new phone I have gotten has been harder and harder to use. Apple knows how to make a simple user interface. I want that in a phone. And even if I never buy and Apple, because they are in the market others will be forced to think about the user interface. That is a huge win for me.
Re:But will it talk to my car? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Five, Four, Three... (Score:2, Insightful)
Spare us. A 15 year headstart didn't give us anything as slick as the iPhone and you think Microsoft or Motorola will be able to do anything but create a crappy "good enough" copy? Just like their current junk?
I guess you can dream.
Re:Why some of us are excited about iPhone (Score:2, Insightful)
A device you can't run third-party software on, which must be purchased with an overpriced plan on a two year contract, and despite the gigs of music you may have installed on it, you'll have to pay a separate fee to turn each one into a ringtone?
They're changing who with the what now?
the iMac craze (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:the iMac craze (Score:5, Insightful)
The ROKR? That's all you got? Come on, any moron can see that that is a Motorola phone with a weak attempt to paint an Apple logo on the side. It probably had more to do with the Apple/Motorola fall out and tying up any loose business ends before they cut ties with each other.
When is the last time you've seen an iMac? That question alone should get the author fired. Well, I'm typing on a 20" Intel iMac as we speak. It is my first iMac, because I never saw the allure of a transparent bowling ball on my desktop, nor a white platic lamp. Also, it is only as of recently that computers have slowed down enough for me to be comfortable with an all-in-one. I'm still cruising with a 1999 G4 and have never upgraded anything (other than a cpu speed bump up to 800 from 350). Why pay for the "upgradability" if my recent past shows I don't upgrade?
The author could have at least said the clam-shell iBooks were a flop, based on the logic of poor sales. Didn't only 13 year old girls buy those things?
I don't recall the Newton being a flop either. I recall lawyers and doctors loving the thing, and Apple not being able to make enough of them. Just because average Joe consumer doesn't buy something (too expensive for them) doesn't make it a flop. There are some circles (albeit small) that still laud the capabilities of that thing. A better FLOP example would be those eBook school computer thingies they were trying to push on everyone (foget what they are called, you know..the ones with the mono green screens in an era of cheap and easy 32-bit color?)
The Cube can be classified as a flop, only because it was poorly designed and overheated. Sales figures were based more in its propensity to incinerate its self moreso than the high price tag. The high price tag is bunk because people where buying $3000 Powerbooks left and right (myself included).
Eworld was bundled with Performas. No surpise that it faded out, because dial-up one-stop Internet points like AOL and Prodigy were also dying out at the same time. Apple didn't see the point in continuing an outdated Internet access model.
Here's an Apple flop for you..their QuickTake digital cameras. Those things were expensive and not suitable for the target market of creative professionals.
Re:Don't believe the hype (Score:4, Insightful)
Monday: "I wonder what restaurants can be found around my work place, where I go every day..."
Tuesday: "I wonder what restaurants can be found around my work place, where I go every day..."
It sounds rather kludgy from my point of view. Revolutionary would be if it already had all the info, gathered based on my location, and I just hit a button: "food" and it gives a couple of arrows I can follow to get to different kinds of food, based on my preferences. Or "Kill time: 30 min", and it gives a few small galleries, cafés, and nice parks (depending on weather). That's a feature worth talking about.
Re:But will it talk to my car? (Score:3, Insightful)
sorry? my windows mobile phone has got a standard 3.5mm jack and i use my sennheiser headphones with it.
because it is a "friggin" phone and it should be able to communicate with other phones, not only with computers. gsm phones can do messaging for lots and lots of years and a brand new phone can't? ridiculous.
in other phones the battery can be replaced within seconds. it can be very practical to keep more than one battery at home and swap when you have the need.
it is a too much hyped electronic device which promises lots, but cannot do even the basic stuff. my base of comparison is my htc universal which is very practical. it is a full featured gsm phone with umts support, sms, mms, java mobile and so on (and i can even use different sim cards with it). i can play games with it - even doom and duke nukem 3d, synchronise with outlook, listen to music (mp3, ogg, whatever) without being limited by the memory (sd card slot), watch movies, use gps navigation, use remote desktop to connect to my computer, instant messaging (icq, msn, yahoo, jabber, you name it), i have a choice between at least 3 different web browsers, read books, edit pictures i made with my camera and so on and so on. i can even run linux on it if i want to and it also does have a keyboard. you see, it is about choice. slashdot used to be about choice, but not anymore, i suppose.
if a software can be developed for a handheld device, then the device can be very practical and multifunctional. but when a pda is intentionally limited to a couple of functions then it is crap, in this case, a high priced lifestyle crap. i don't care much about the interface, i want to use the device.
Re:Why some of us are excited about iPhone (Score:2, Insightful)
The iPhone is for people like me who are tired of getting fucked in the ass by the phone companies and their providers. Even if iPhone is a flop, at least the competition has been put on notice, and we'll see that trickle down to the rest of us. Thank you Apple for throwing the industry a life preserver.