NYTimes Speculates On the Next iPhone 302
Achromatic1978 writes "The NYT has a story on the next revision of the iPhone, and discusses what will become of the iPhone, now that the hype is starting to slow (Jobs goal for 2008 was ten million iPhones sold — as of the first quarter, only 1.7 million have left the shelves). The WWDC is the rumored release date for a next version, and Jobs has promised that this year will see a 3G iPhone released."
How's Open Moko doing? (Score:3, Interesting)
So how is Open Moko coming along? And are there other candidates that appear to be beyond the vapor stage?
So much more data (Score:5, Interesting)
I use an iPod Touch (iPhone minus the phone) as a portable web browser. Some great jail-broken apps (helluv'a ebook reader), too. Amazing experience, yet with mind-boggling weaknesses, too (copy and paste, people???). I'm hoping Opera 9 is going to catch up, because there were other advantages to more conventional PDAs, but, Mobile Safari is just too good to go away from.
Re:mi2cents (Score:3, Interesting)
Until the new one's released, Apple is a victim of their own hype.
Re:They totally screwed themselves (Score:1, Interesting)
I've only seen one iPhone in real life and couldn't understand where all these other iPhones were to justify the over the top hype.
Apple is looking more and more like they won't be the dominant media devices company that so many predicted they would be after the iPod success. Both the AppleTV and iPhone have be marketplace flops that aren't ever going to repeat the performance of the iPod.
The fundamental problem with the iPhone is, as so many people who have tried one say, it is a crappy phone. It is more of a device you buy to sit around in coffee shops hoping someone attractive will walk by seeing your desperately obvious usage of it and will want to have sex with you.
It would have helped... (Score:5, Interesting)
It would have helped if they had found some way to work with Verizon and other carriers. It will be a cold day in hell (or, at least until Verizon gets considerably worse and AT&T miraculously improves in virtually every area of their service) before I switch to AT&T.
The iPhone looks cool. It's the kind of gadget I'd probably be interested in. A lot of my friends agree. But of all the people I know that wants one, only one actually got one. Everyone else is waiting for that exclusive deal to AT&T to expire and has said they're not switching carriers to get one. (Or, for that matter hacking their phone, either.)
Why companies deliberately lock themselves into agreements with other companies like this is beyond me. Maybe it's working for them. But given how far it looks like they're going to miss their target, it kind of looks like it's not.
Re:Like Verizon is really better (Score:4, Interesting)
As a result, I pretty much choose my carrier based on who has the phone I want.
As for the objections to getting stuck in a contract, all I have to say is WTF? If I'm going to spend $400 for a phone, I'm doing it with the intention of using that phone for at least a few years. And since we've already established that ALL of the carriers suck, I don't really see the advantage in being able to switch to a different one.
More corporate users? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:They totally screwed themselves (Score:3, Interesting)
Sorry but CDMA EVDO is nothing like the speeds I can get on AT&T's 3G network. I have both (a work phone and a personal phone) and there is no comparison between the two services. AT&T 3G offers vastly superior transfer speeds and far lower latency. More often then not my tethered blackjack is faster then the wired network at hotels.
I'll tell you why (Score:3, Interesting)
But why did Apple enter into this agreement? It artifically restricted their market to those who are willing to accept AT&T as a service provider. That will clearly send some potential buyers away to competing products. Why would you do that to yourself?
I can think of two reasons:
1) AT&T subsidized the development and/or production of the phones, thus offsetting the potential cost of lost business (one can only guess as to whether or not it was worth it).
2) Steve Jobs is a control freak who just LOVES any business model that includes any kind of vendor lock-in. Given the artificial limitations placed on software development/distribution for the IPhone, and similar behavior for every other product Apple has produced, I'd say this is a well-supported statement. I further think that Steve Jobs honestly believes that imposing arbitrary limits on his customers increases his hold on his market and hence improves overal profit, though in my opinion he is dead wrong (and I will point to the success of more open systems such as the PC and Windows (I didn't say "open," I said "more open") to support my position).
So that's why.
Good luck - verizon? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Good luck - verizon? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:The iPhone essentially a featureless phone.... (Score:3, Interesting)
I agree. What I've always thought is that they essentially got their market share because they were the first with a keyboard.
I see ads for Blackberry phones and they amaze me. Their interface is so good they've had to resort to install a scroll wheel or a tiny trackball to make it possible to use them. Now that is a well designed menu system.
The iPhone isn't everything. The camera is average, it lacks voice-dial, there is the MMS problem, blah blah blah.
But let us look at it this way. I like Apple. I like their interfaces. I hate the interface on my Razr. If the phone can play video but can't receive an SMS without freezing for 1+ seconds, the interface is terrible. I don't use MMS because it costs too much. I can tap a screen a few times to dial someone instead of voice dial; the only reason I use that it takes so long to find people through the menu on my Razr. My phone has no 3rd party applications (easily, unless I'm willing to pay some stupid monthly fee or something to download an official one). The software keyboard is miles ahead of T9, considering how bad the keypad on the Razr is.
For me, an iPhone is giant step up in every way. When the 3G version comes out, there is a very strong chance I'll buy one. I almost did it last year.
Re:Jobs goal for 2008 was ten million iPhones sold (Score:3, Interesting)
This is success.
re: Verizon (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm honestly convinced that MUCH of this is just "voodoo" - caused by complex interactions among multiple factors. (EG. You have the right make and model of phone, happen to live and work in the right places that are close to a certain carrier's towers, and/or haven't had any billing hassles with your present carrier.)
I believed all the "hype" and claims of various "review" web sites and magazines, and stuck with Verizon for years. Their service was what I'd call "decent", although I had my share of dropped calls and calls that had cross-talk on them, requiring I hang up and redial. I also paid through the nose though. For a while, I was really heavily using my phone during "peak" hours, and kept getting nailed with overage charges. Verizon flat out refused to offer me a plan with enough monthly minutes in it to solve my problem!
I finally decided I had enough, and tried switching to US Cellular. With all incoming calls free, I saved a *bundle*, and the Moto Razr phone I got with the service worked quite well for me. (I saw tons of complaints about these phones, but the one I had was flawless for over a year and a half. I finally had the battery wear out once, but that was about it.) Furthermore, I had *no* dropped calls, EVER. I don't believe I ever got a "bad line" with other conversations bleeding over on my call either.
Now, because I wanted the iPhone when it came out, I'm with AT&T. My experience is, they drop a lot of calls on me in certain areas, but the data plan with the iPhone package is FAR more generous than anything the other carriers ever offered me before. It'll be interesting to see if the 2nd. gen. iPhone keeps calls connected any better. (I'm still unsure if my poor signal issues are REALLY all AT&T's fault, or if it's partially due to the iPhone's design with the metal casing and so on.)