As a follow-up to my earlier CES2007 guest commentary. I figured that I'd write one of my own.
Ok. Let the flame war begin. I'm quite sure that I will certainly grouse the Mac zealots. Regardless I must speak the truth. The Apple marketing engine is again running at warp speed, regarding the new iPhone and their seminal entry into the smartphone space.
Let's reason together and review the technical merit of the new iPhone device.
Good, Bad & Ugly
The features that the iPhone offers are essentially identical to my dated Treo650. Quad Band (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) and GSM (GPRS, GSM, EDGE). Where is the high speed data exchange?
Perfect way to discourage sharing those delicious DRM iTunes selections. They conveniently did not include an extended memory slot. Another way to make sure that what is stored on the iPhone, stays on the iPhone.
I also understand that they did not include a simple USB cable for data transfer and DUN(wired). I suppose the Bluetooth2.0 and Wi-Fi make up for these shortcomings. Neither the Treo650 or Treo 680 have native Wi-Fi.
Closed - No SDK, so it will not be possible to foster 3rd party development.
Camera is only 2 megapixels (Huh? Apple zealots will scream).
Virtual Keyboard - Egad I'm not clear that anyone wants to type on anything other QWERTY
No streaming - 4GB/8GB device which presumably will be used to store music rather than making phone calls. Why not allow people to stream? Especially since you're touting Wi-Fi..
Simple answer DRM.. Gotta luv it.
My beloved Treonauts have done an excellent features comparison between the new Treo680 and the Apple iPhone.
Apple has always been a hardware/lifestyle company that did a fairly good job finding a home with niche audience (musicians, artists, education). In fact, it was actually young children who helped thrust the company into the mainstream. Kids introduced their parents to the Apple IIC. However, Apple teetered on obscurity before the release of the iPod, and their choice to use Darwin kernel (BSD) as the foundation for OSX. They have made a ton of mistakes along the way, as they destroyed all attempts of cloning (see PowerComputing), the abomination that was the G4Cube. Their first entry smacks of rushed effort and perhaps a means to upstage the Redmond woolly mammoth (Vista 1st Qtr).
I dunno, perhaps the Cupertino folks have a grand plan for future updates.
One thing that is certain, the iPhone ain't no smartphone. Call it a dumbphone that can hold some DRM laced tunes for you. But don't most Mac zealots already own an iPod for this purpose already? Don't get it twisted.
In the words of the illustrious Yoda, "Marketing juggernauts Apple has become, they have, mmm, hmm. "
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