Yes, I'm surprised too that it took me this long to write about the Steve Jobs keynote yesterday, but I think it's a good thing to sit back for a day, soak in all the blog posts about it, and then see what it really entails for everyone.
First of all, I feel a bit of disappointment about the entire keynote. It was really weird- it was slated for two hours and we really didn't get much. Don't get me wrong; this will be a day that should go down in history (more on this later), but it wasn't a traditional MacWorld. As many have wrote, where is Leopard? Where are the new iLife and iWork packages? (I'm particularly looking forward to iWork 07- my iWork 05 is getting old.) Where were standard announcements, like a Core 2 Duo Mac Mini and an Octo Mac Pro? In one respect, it's admittedly a decision that probably had to be made- the fervor over the iPhone would have passed over any other announcements that was made. Hopefully there'll be some sort of announcement in the next few days or weeks about some of these new products. It's kind of strange to have a MacWorld and to not have anything to order; the six months until an iPhone will be nearly unbearable, and the Apple TV just isn't something that I need right now (although maybe a few years down the line when I have a decent TV and a decent living room!)
So that brings us to the iPhone. First thing's first: I want one. It's gorgeous, it looks like it's solved the mobile UI problem, and it'll work great with my Mac. But there's still some arguing back and forth over the blogosphere about it. Here's my take on some of the controversy.
Cingular
The move to an exclusive Cingular contract is a bit of a drawback. Personally, I've never used Cingular, but I have heard and read all of the sentiment about it lately. But, we go back to the unavoidable conclusion that all US carriers suck right now. It's kind of like the elections- you go to the one that sucks the least. Technologically, Verizon and Sprint are in the lead, since their networks are just more advanced. But they also tend to have the crappiest phones and lock down those networks so much to be unusable. Cingular apparently has terrible customer service (though, my previous stay with Sprint might have some arguments about that point), and T-Mobile is in the same boat with Cingular in terms of their networks. The two year contract that ties in with the iPhone is extremely ugly, too; I just want portability, and fine, I'll face it- I'll probably want to pick up a newer iPhone a year or so later before my contract is up, provided the newer one has sufficiently cooler features. I'm just getting sick of being locked into all of these contracts with cell phone companies here in the States.
3G
On a similar Cingular tangent, part of the controversy is that the iPhone eschews 3G support. I'm sort of on the fence with this. I use the EVDO network on Verizon right now, which is pretty decent enough, but I think I'll be banking on the WiFi aspect of the iPhone more. Most of the time I seem to be within a wireless zone, really, so I'll have no problems with internet access then- I can just hop on my wireless network at home, or access the wireless network on campus. As more and more open wireless networks start popping up over the next few years, this will become less of a problem, I should expect.
Price and target market
This has turned out to be a stickler. Many seem to like the thought of the iPhone but are more worried about the price. True, $499 and $599 are fairly expensive for a phone (WITH a 2-year contract!). On the other hand, it obviously is a little more than that. Look at the 8gig model, for example. I forget where I was reading it (my apologies), but someone was making a comparison with a Nokia model phone with 8 gigs of space and the Nokia ended up being close to costing a grand. It really must be noted that this is both a phone AND an iPod, and Apple's most advanced iPod at that. The price is not too far off when you think of it that way. (Somewhat) comparable smart phones are priced at anywhere from $150-400. An 8 gig iPod Nano is $250 right now. Given those two prices, Apple's prices aren't too far off, really.
Along those lines, I don't think many really understand Apple's strategy here. This is clearly not an entry-level phone. This is not an iPhone Nano. This is a really nice phone that Jobs clearly aimed at the smart phone market. As such, it's expected that it will be a pricier phone. This is really similar to how Apple broke into Intel. Most rumors had Apple launching an iBook replacement last MacWorld, with presumably a PowerBook replacement a few more months down the line. But they launched the MacBook Pro first. That way they can secure the more influential, high-profile buyers first. They also dip into the mid-level market: those that weren't sure whether to go with a more expensive or less expensive laptop might end up going with the higher-priced model just because they don't have to wait. That way, Apple gets more people on the higher-priced model. I think this is what they're trying to do with the iPhone, too. Along those lines, I wouldn't be surprised to hear of a new iPhone announcement a month or three after the launch of the iPhone in June, with the new model slimming down the features into a smaller, more affordable package. Some sort of "iPhone Nano" model might end up breaking into the entry level market by Christmas 2007.
The actual product and its implications
Most are in agreement here, though: the iPhone looks sick. I think Apple's nailed it. It's almost too easy, though- the phone companies and phone makers are so far away from "getting it" that it's ludicrous. Let me clarify for those of you virtually anywhere else in the world: here in the United States, mobile phones suck. The UI is bulky, they are locked down to a point that renders many of its functions and selling points unusable, and we have things like Windows Mobile 5 (I keep reminding myself to write a rant post about WM5 and the Motorola Q). Apple shows that it knows what's going on. From the Times article:
Unlike my phone. He picks it up and points out four little nubbins on the back. "Your phone's got feet on," he says, not unkindly. "Why would anybody put feet on a phone?" Ive has the answer, of course: "It raises the speaker on the back off the table. But the right solution is to put the speaker in the right place in the first place. That's why our speaker isn't on the bottom, so you can have it on the table, and you don't need feet."
This just exemplifies the Apple ideology. Jonathan Ive is in a class of his own. I'm just excited to get to use this in person- the visual voicemail, the widescreen iPod (with CoverFlow all over it!), the full-blown Safari browser on my phone, all the widgets (weather anytime I want it will be great, something I never even thought about), calling features (I haven't had a phone that makes it easy to figure out 3-way calling, call waiting, and all that stuff yet), and by far the coolest: easy syncing with my Mac. I sync my Q with Missing Sync right now, which sort of gets the job done, but it would just be so nice to be easily able to sync my phone and data perfectly with an Apple solution.
Personally, I really do think this will be a day that goes down in history. The iPod is such an iconic figure in humanity right now, and people don't always use their music player every day (at least, not before Apple got there). My cell phone is something that I use and abuse pretty much every single day more than any other device, and it makes a huge difference in my life in terms of how easy I can interact with it. The fact that no one has really tapped this market considering its huge appeal is just screaming for Apple to come in and bash some figurative heads. It's just too bad that we have to wait half a year to start using it. It will certainly be a fun few months ahead, though, as more details are learned about the iPhone. Even more importantly, 2007 is looking to be even a bigger year than 2006, and 2006 was absolutely huge. Leopard and the iPhone will pave the way for Apple's growth over the next decade. I can't wait for this year to get underway.