tOfficial iPhone news and discussion thread

TurboSpartan · 07-15-2007, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrob

You are delusional if you really think that the iPhone is a rip off of Prada phone.

Its OK not to be an Apple fan boy--which I happily admit to being--but at least get your head out of your arse long enough to see the 2 phones for what they are.

Apple fanboys have no problem saying the 850 is a ripoff of the iPhone even though the 850 came out months earlier. And you can't ignore the resemblance, but I'm sure the great innovators at Apple have never ripped off anything (see: xerox GUI)

LG Officially Accuses Apple iPhone For “Copying” Prada Concept Design

bulldogg · 07-15-2007, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gtarent

I guess I need to go down to play with one, because while it is slick and shiny I am not sure the gui makes it any more efficient than some of its competitors. Maybe an Iphone owner would be able to give me some examples of how the gui makes the phone more useful. "With my old phone I had to.... while with the Iphone I just..." I love technology, sometimes siding with a product just because its new and exiting, but I just have not understood the love affair with the Iphone. Maybe its just because I came from the PDA world which has evolved into smartphones and converged devices, that many of the "revolutionary" features of the Iphone seem like a rehashing of many of the things I have been doing for years. Ohhh wifi, movies, music, photos, and maps.... I've been doing that since my first Ipaq 7 years ago. If the GUI enhancements make the device easier or faster to use, than they are a great boon, otherwise they are just eye candy. Not to say eye candy isn't cool.... its just not revolutionary.

Completely agree with you.

#5 · 07-15-2007, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrob

We've been waiting for years for a cell phone to have not just a "snappy" interface, but a workable one.

If its so easy to do, why hasn't any other cell phone maker done so until now? And if its so easy to copy Apple's GUI, why hasn't Microsoft been able to do it? And don't say that Vista is an Apple clone. . .

Not necessarily true. The market never demanded a snappy interface. The market was driven by high technological features. iPhone is the first handset device to make the gui a market driver. Now that it is a market driver, the competition will react.

I don't think you should make a business case about Apple's GUI as being a market driver because Apple owns very little market share in the pc industry. Where you should make the business case in a pc environment is in the e commerce sector. There is serious competition between online retailers and the user interface is a key value driver. There have been several cases where companies see remarkable online sales increases after they upgrade their user interface.

#5 · 07-15-2007, 01:51 AM

Went out this afternoon with some friends. 3 of them had the new iphones. Well, they switched back to Verizon because they were losing out on business and personal opportunities because the service is unreliable, the network speed is slow and, most importantly, they couldn't send/receive text messages.

They decided to keep the iPhone as their ipod but they went back to Verizon for wireless mobile service.

The Verizon guy that took them back said that they are starting to see a lot more of this.

bulldogg · 07-15-2007, 11:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by #5

Went out this afternoon with some friends. 3 of them had the new iphones. Well, they switched back to Verizon because they were losing out on business and personal opportunities because the service is unreliable, the network speed is slow and, most importantly, they couldn't send/receive text messages.

They decided to keep the iPhone as their ipod but they went back to Verizon for wireless mobile service.

The Verizon guy that took them back said that they are starting to see a lot more of this.

Sure they did. Again, from what I have seen the service is much better with AT&T - especially in buildings. Verizon seems to have a real problem with that ... anyone else notice that too? Wonder if Sprint or Alltel is the same way (other CDMA providers)?

My wife (a Verizon user that would love to switch back to AT&T - but her work doesn't have a corporate contract with them) is constantly asking to borrow my phone in buildings.

mrob · 07-15-2007, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by #5

Not necessarily true. The market never demanded a snappy interface. The market was driven by high technological features. iPhone is the first handset device to make the gui a market driver. Now that it is a market driver, the competition will react.

I don't think you should make a business case about Apple's GUI as being a market driver because Apple owns very little market share in the pc industry. Where you should make the business case in a pc environment is in the e commerce sector. There is serious competition between online retailers and the user interface is a key value driver. There have been several cases where companies see remarkable online sales increases after they upgrade their user interface.

I'm not saying that the GUI is a "market driver"--simply that it won't be so simple for the other cell phone makers to copy it, as no one on the computer side of things has been able to so far.

And BTW. . .what makes you think that the market didn't demand a better GUI? That's like saying the market didn't demand a better mp3 player until the iPod. People don't know what's possible until some company produces a better device.

Now we'll see what happens.

mrob · 07-15-2007, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by #5

Went out this afternoon with some friends. 3 of them had the new iphones. Well, they switched back to Verizon because they were losing out on business and personal opportunities because the service is unreliable, the network speed is slow and, most importantly, they couldn't send/receive text messages.

They decided to keep the iPhone as their ipod but they went back to Verizon for wireless mobile service.

The Verizon guy that took them back said that they are starting to see a lot more of this.

I call BS on this.

haseebo · 07-15-2007, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by #5

It's a small player in the industry but it is revolutionizing the MP3 PLAYER market. The iPod is a low technology device outfitted with a very snappy user interface. The market will react and sophisticated high tech devices will be outfitted with similarly snappy user interfaces and the correction will ensue. After this correction, the iPod will be a niche device.

Fixed that to remind you who you sound like.

Hank Moody · 07-16-2007, 12:31 AM

I just sat next to someone on a plane that was kind enough to show me his iPhone....UNREAL.

Rarely do I find things that live up to the ype, but this was simply amazing. The resolution on the photos he had and of the web was amazing. The zoom feature - incredible.

Once I get done with my Verizon contract, adios Blackberry (which I love) and hello iPhone (which I desire).

Fighting With A Vim · 07-16-2007, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by #5

Went out this afternoon with some friends. 3 of them had the new iphones. Well, they switched back to Verizon because they were losing out on business and personal opportunities because the service is unreliable, the network speed is slow and, most importantly, they couldn't send/receive text messages.

They decided to keep the iPhone as their ipod but they went back to Verizon for wireless mobile service.

Wow, that is some seriously desperate hater bull****

Gtarent · 07-16-2007, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ocho Cinco

I just sat next to someone on a plane that was kind enough to show me his iPhone....UNREAL.

Rarely do I find things that live up to the ype, but this was simply amazing. The resolution on the photos he had and of the web was amazing. The zoom feature - incredible.

Once I get done with my Verizon contract, adios Blackberry (which I love) and hello iPhone (which I desire).

I guess I do need to go try one out before I label it as overrated, but it would have to be pretty damn amazing to warrant a $500-$600 price tag + a 2 year service agreement, and a minimum of a $60/month contract. I am a little bit afraid of the browser, I recently switched from a PDA with a 4" vga browser to one with a 2.8" qvga, and I feared the smaller lower resolution wouldn't be adequate to browse. I discovered the zoom features of my Picsel, and Opera (both mobile and mini) bowsers were up to the task. I do know that the Iphones browser is one thing that smokes my new phone, and I hate to have any phone envy so early in its life cycle.

TurboSpartan · 07-16-2007, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrob

I'm not saying that the GUI is a "market driver"--simply that it won't be so simple for the other cell phone makers to copy it, as no one on the computer side of things has been able to so far.

And BTW. . .what makes you think that the market didn't demand a better GUI? That's like saying the market didn't demand a better mp3 player until the iPod. People don't know what's possible until some company produces a better device.

Now we'll see what happens.

Hey mrob, what kind of phone do you have?

Trevor Barnes · 07-17-2007, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TurboSpartan

I love this post, Trevor, because here's an Engadget article from January 11:
iPhone & LG KE850: separated at birth? - Engadget

And guess what: The LG 850 (Prada) was actually introduced long before the iPhone and had already won design awards at that time. So yes, I spot the similarities. And if it's funny that Verizon is using a Prada-designed phone, it's even funnier that the iPhone is a ripoff of that very Prada-designed phone.

Run that spin a little harder, Trevor.

Spin? Nevermind of course that much of the iPhone's UI has been in OS X and iPods for years now. Next you're going to tell me that OS X ripped off one of Prada's handbag designs.

I've seen that phone demoed and it doesn't come close to the iPhone's UI. It's not even a poor man's iPhone. As for spin, it seems that Prada and LG need to do a better job. There's tens of thousands of news stories about the iPhone and I've never seen one about the Prada phone. I'd be willing to bet that more iPhones were sold in the first few weeks than there will be of that phone in 6 months of sales.

Trevor Barnes · 07-17-2007, 12:44 AM

One in Three Americans Wants an iPhone - Yahoo! News

Quote:

Apple's iPhone could emerge as the most successful product introduction of the 21st century, new research suggests.

Lightspeed Research surveyed 39,000 people on its U.S. online panel in the days following the launch of the device on June 29-- and the research findings are staggering.

Thirty-two percent of those surveyed who do not currently own an iPhone stated that they do intend to purchase one, with 8 percent planning to purchase in the next three months and 22 percent planning to purchase "some time in the future" the researchers said.

Gtarent · 07-17-2007, 02:04 AM

I had a chance to play with an I phone for about 45 minutes today. Nice device. It was pretty much what I expected. Great screen, nice slick interface that just fealt high tech. The multi touch feature was nice, allowing one to zoom in and out in the browser. You are seeing alot of the GUI idea's already trickling over to Windows mobile devices, but the multi touch is hard to emulate as the windows devices hardware simply isn't up to the task. The Picsel browser does the best emulation of this, using a tap+ tap swipe up or down to zoom in and out. It sounds complicated but actually is very easy to use. The safari browser rendered a little slower than I anticipated, both using WIFI and edge. I did note several negatives, though I may have just missed the feature.
No stereo bluetooth headphones. A cutting edge multimedia device.... needing wires? Tsk tsk
No cutting and pasting. I have the power of the internet at my fingers.... and no way to plagiarize?
I hated the keyboard... though I admit I have stubby fingers.
No voice control.... the ultimate one handed gui aid
No built in GPS (my Mogul lacks this also) AGPS is ok, but no substitute for full GPS. We have great apps like Google maps and Microsoft Live search, and are just missing that one key element.
I missed having a stylus available, especially when browsing. I could often see a page perfectly clear, but was unable to click on a link because of my damn stubby fingers. I would have to zoom in, click the link, and zoom out.

Things it has I wish my mogul had?
The beautiful screen....
Clean stylish interface
great internal storage. (though the moguls support of HCMSD cards offsets this a bit)
its thinness... its about 2/3 of the thickness of my mogul... sliding keyboard is nice, but adds depth

Overall nice device, but not quite as revolutionary as most think. I can see why people are attracted to it, but cannot understand the obsession. The iplan is better than most ATT plans, but doesn't come close to my plan. It would be priced about right, but having to sign up for a plan and not receiving a discount does make it a touch expensive.

Trevor Barnes · 07-17-2007, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gtarent

Overall nice device, but not quite as revolutionary as most think. I can see why people are attracted to it, but cannot understand the obsession.

I tend to disagree. I think it is a game changer. It will revolutionize the cell phone industry, and what people expect from their cell phones. It already has really.

People who never thought they needed its features in their cell phone are finding themselves really wanting them. These are a lot of the same people who would never buy a stylus based device because of the geek factor and presumably complicated UI involved. It may have similiar features to other smartphones, but it does the tasks that the average person will do the most much better and with a much more enjoyable UI. Multitap is just plain fun to use. Tapping on cover art for example is so much more enjoyable than navigating a Windows Mobile file system with a stylus to find an album.

When you have writers that cover Microsoft gushing over the UI and about how enjoyable it is to use an Apple cell phone, you know Apple is onto something. You just simply don't see that on other phones really.

eWeek Microsoft-Watch blogger just switched from a Windows Mobile based Nokia N95 to an iPhone...

Microsoft Watch - Desktop & Mobile - It's Not iPhone, It's My Phone

Quote:

Before reading any further, Microsofties and their partners should take out paper and a pen. Apple has done so much right with the iPhone—based on my experience, anyway— that they should take notes.

I think the quote below is the key...it's not often that users have this kind of experience with a product. I know I sure as hell didn't with my previous cell phone or the Palm or Windows Mobile devices I've owned in the past.

Quote:

"I never really liked my cell phone before now. But I love my iPhone. It's a real joy to use; using the features makes me laugh. All technology products should be this useful and fun."

Sparticane · 07-17-2007, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trevor Barnes

I tend to disagree. I think it is a game changer. It will revolutionize the cell phone industry, and what people expect from their cell phones. It already has really.

There's nothing revolutionary about ANY piece of cellular technology in the US at all. Even the iPhone is a dog turd compared to the stuff they have in the asian markets. The iPhone is just really, really, pretty.

Gtarent · 07-17-2007, 04:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trevor Barnes

Tapping on cover art for example is so much more enjoyable than navigating a Windows Mobile file system with a stylus to find an album.

I suppose the fancy cover art is superior than navigating through the file system, but I prefer hitting my voice command hard button and saying "play album" when it asks which album "say Billion dollar babies". One handed operation... instant satisfaction.... that is an interface that improves function.

misterorange · 07-17-2007, 04:36 AM

I may buy one of these soon as i leave Nextel. Its just too bad they dont have a lower rate than $60 a month.

Gtarent · 07-17-2007, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trevor Barnes

I think the quote below is the key...it's not often that users have this kind of experience with a product. I know I sure as hell didn't with my previous cell phone or the Palm or Windows Mobile devices I've owned in the past.

See I am loving my mogul.... but I am a geek. I've spent the last week toying with it, finding what apps run well and which ones don't. I still do not see much that the Iphone provides me that my Mogul doesn't. If I limited myself to a stock device maybe I'd feel more limited, but I have so many ways of doing various tasks that I can usually find a way that suits me. Maybe I prefer the mogul for the same reason I prefer a PC over a mac, I like to tinker too much.

Did you buy an Iphone yet? Did I miss something in the negatives that I saw today? I would hate to be holding something against a device because of my own ignorance.

Steven Wright · 07-17-2007, 09:03 AM

i am still flabbergasted at how often this thread is bumped back to the 1st page tRCMB. sheesh.

Trevor Barnes · 07-17-2007, 12:56 PM

Now this is pretty funny....oh, and probably NOT safe for work...

The iPhone is a piece of ****, and so is your face

AASpartan · 07-17-2007, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Wright

i am still flabbergasted at how often this thread is bumped back to the 1st page tRCMB. sheesh.

Trevor has 135 posts in this thread. I think we know who is to blame.

mrob · 07-17-2007, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TurboSpartan

Hey mrob, what kind of phone do you have?

Samsung ACH60 or something like that.

The interface is terrible--makes using the phone torturous.

mrob · 07-17-2007, 01:10 PM

Thanks for a pretty objective post. A couple of comments IN CAPS BELOW. . .

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gtarent

[COLOR=black]
No stereo bluetooth headphones. A cutting edge multimedia device.... needing wires? Tsk tsk

I'M PRETTY SURE THESE ARE ALREADY AVAILABLE AS A THIRD PARTY ACCESSORY.

No cutting and pasting. I have the power of the internet at my fingers.... and no way to plagiarize?

AGREED, THIS WAS A FAUX PAS--BUT WILL AMOST CERTAINLY BE ADDRESSED IN A SOFTWARE UPDATE SOON.

I hated the keyboard... though I admit I have stubby fingers.

WHEN I TRIED IT IT SEEMED TO GET EASIER TO USE VERY QUICKLY.

No voice control.... the ultimate one handed gui aid

I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THOSE "FEATURES" THAT WAS REALLY A RESPONSE TO CLUNKY GUIs ON OTHER CELL PHONES--iPHONE USERS "LIKE" TOUCHING THE SCREEN SO THIS ISN'T PERCEIVED AS A DISADVANTAGE.

No built in GPS (my Mogul lacks this also) AGPS is ok, but no substitute for full GPS. We have great apps like Google maps and Microsoft Live search, and are just missing that one key element.

AGREED.

I missed having a stylus available, especially when browsing. I could often see a page perfectly clear, but was unable to click on a link because of my damn stubby fingers. I would have to zoom in, click the link, and zoom out.

ANOTHER "FEATURE" THAT WAS BORN OUT OF INADEQUATE INTERFACES--THE TOUCH SCREEN ON THE iPHONE IS SO NICE THE STYLUS IS NOT NEEDED.