Carl Weinschenk from ITBusinessEdge calls the iPhone a “Milestone in Business Mobility”. But can Apple really lure corporate customers with what is clearly a consumer play? I don’t see that happening. iPhone is, by design, an entertainment device…not a business oriented mobile productivity tool like the Treo or Blackberry. It would be nice to see the IT world embrace such a lavish smartphone, but it’s going to take much more than style and software elegance to dislodge Blackberry.
January 2007: Monthly Archive
The National Post has published an interesting story about Apple’s sudden appearance in the smartphone market, how its presence will impact all major players, notably Palm and RIM. For better or worse iPhone certainly forces both companies to rethink their product strategies and take software more serious, which hasn’t been the case for RIM and Palm.
Still, that doesn’t mean iPhone will be an instant success…
“Apple’s success is not a fait accompli – Wireless is hard!” Mr. Abramsky wrote in a research note. “RIM’s experience, enterprise focus, and strengths (battery life, e-mail, keyboard, network, carrier distribution) may limit i Phone’s threat.” However, he acknowledges that iPhone’s thin and sleek design, features and already powerful iTunes and Apple brands could prove a hit, which could damage RIM’s consumer momentum.”
ComputerWorld has posted a list of top questions that remain unanswered about iPhone. Things like…oh, I don’t know…whether it will be offered unlocked, or whether battery life will suck. I know these questions are certainly on my mind.
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Macworld attendees have been busy capturing the iPhone in video. One user posted a really good product demo given to attendees by Apple, which shows off more of the device’s features in action. Nothing that we haven’t already seen, just done by someone other than Jobs. Enjoy.
Here’s a YouTube video of CNN’s blurb on the iPhone launch…
Apple finally launched its much rumored mobile phone at MacWorld yesterday, immediately triggering a massive worldwide drool-fest among gadget freaks. While it has been widely known that Apple has had such a product secretly in development for at least two years now, the device itself remained shrouded in mystery. Some analysts speculated the device would prove to be nothing more than a relatively simple inexpensive iPod phone, while others expected more of a Blackberry style Smartphone, done in a sleeker package. Both camps got it wrong…and right. iPhone isn’t what anyone really expected.
When I first gazed upon images of the iPhone I was immediately awestruck by its unique industrial design, which oddly resembles a PDA more than a phone. We’ve come full circle back to tablet style form factors with large screens again. Didn’t see that coming. At the same time I was also slightly disappointed. As amazingly slick looking as it is, I have a great deal of reservations about typing on a flat screen display in place of fixed keyboard input. Hardware buttons offer good tactile feedback when entering text. The idea of tapping on a smudge prone screen with my fingers doesn’t exactly fill me with delight. Whether it will work or not remains to be seen since we have yet to see this scheme in action other than well staged product demos.
But Apple may be onto something with software based input. And God knows the Operating System alone will move this product in massive volumes. Everyone is talking about this device, and everyone seems to want one.
The next few months are going to be grueling!
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