In following the excitement over the iPhone and the the iPhone thread - a spin off post that fits better with Marketing...

Original iPhone thread is here:
http://www.opensourcephoto.net/forum/index...c=4323&st=0

Apple is indeed running away with the competition. It's so clear to see now with this phone, plus the Apple TV, go back a few years to see the advent of the iPod and iMac - it's almost like they thought ahead a few years and created a single cohesieve plan to get into the mass market. I don't think you'll find a better example of "Forward Thinking" anywhere in the world.

It makes you wonder what they've got on the drawing board 5 years from now, when every man, woman, and child will own something from an Apple store.

And we can all learn something from it also. "Forward Thinking" - don't get too wrapped up in what's hot today - consider where it's going to be in a few years and get there first.

Yea, the phone is shuweeet!



So true - proving another point. Some time ago, some engeneer convinced his over sized and under effecient company to let him create a digital do-dad with a tiney micro sized keyboard. The over sized and under effecient management no doubt reluctantly allowed the engeneer to dream a bit. They probably patted themselves on the back for "leading the way".

Three years later all the other over sized and under effecient electronics companies created their own nearly identical carbon copy of the same do-dad with their own name on it.

This is how industry standards are set.

But then Apple comes along and actually starts with a blank slate, asks the hipsters of the current generation "what would be cool", then they cut around all the red tape and "big company fat" and create it. They don't ask anyone's permission, they just step up and create it. And the reaction from the competitors "gee, we didn't see *that* coming".

I believe 50 years from now Apple Computer will be discussed in economics, marketing, and business classrooms far more so than Microsoft, Motorola, or Intel combined. An example how a company that was all but dead bounced back to take the lead of the entire consumer electronics industry in 5 years time.

There is SO much to learn from it! There are so many products yet to be invented, and so many *new* approaches to everything in every business - take Apple's example and realize you don't have to do it just like the guy down the street just because that's how it's always been done. See the need and *desire* of the current market and the *future* market and create what that market is looking for. If you have to re-invent the wheel along the way, so be it. Apple did, and it appears to be working pretty well for them.

And to think Steve is quoted as saying something to the effect of the iPod almost never happened. Or was it iTunes, then by logic, the iPod? I dunno. But he said the opportunity almost escaped them at that pivotal time in music licensing. He was mired in some major OS revision release, ad iTunes was just an afterthought, or something like that. But what amazes me is that, while the iPod iterations were evolutionary, this phone release is beyond revolutionary. The amount of evolution steps worked into this phone is just astounding, and considering much of it depended on 3rd party development (Cingular VM, Yahoo IMAP, Google Maps) specific to the device, that it even exists is astonishing, much less considering a 2.5 year development time. Insane. Apple is considered a small company compared to its competitors, but it is still an amazing level of innovation for a company that size. Watching the keynote, the Cingular CEO said they had an agreement just based on Apple's concept alone, no mock ups, no technical drawings, prototypes, etc. The Jobs RDF at its best. That is Getting It Done.

Marc

oooooooo...I'm old enough to remember watching that commercial premiere during Superbowl 18!!

not to discount the other revolutionary aspects of the iPhone, but not everything Jobs presented was really revolutionary. The IMAP feature has been around for years with SmartPhones (albeit requires 3rd party applications). The GoogleMap application isn't even new. BlackBerry's and Treo's have had the same GoogleMap application provided from google for free for months now (again a 3rd party application but free).

IMO, prob the only revolutionary aspects of the iPhone is the touch screen and the actual wide screen itself. All others were just evolutionary or even borrowed ideas from other smart phone. Sure, Apple's eye candy is jaw dropping though.

Uhhh...what about a fully functional safari web browser that supports opening multiple pages at once? What about virtual voicemail? What about cramming a phone, an ipod, and the internet into one pocket-sized device and making it all work intuitively and seamlessly? I think I'd call that pretty revolutionary....and this is only the first go at it!!!

Yeah, unfortunately, me too.

yeah, that safari is really something. I'm impressed with switching pages. It'll be interesting to see how useful seeing full blown web sites on a small screen especially on the 160dpi screen. But I've found that browsing full web pages on a small screen is actually hard b/c you're zooming in and panning. It's often nicer to have the web page collapse to the width of the small screen so you're just scrolling up and down and not in all four directions. Jobs demo-ed NYT which had columns fit the width the screen.

smartphones have already had mp3 players, they just don't have the ipod interface which Apple already has. So, I kinda consider that a port to the new hardware, nothing revolutionary, again IMO. The internet isn't new to smartphones, that's why I didn't consider it revolutionary. Making it work intuitively and seamlessly, well, no one can question Apple as the best for that.

I really like the iPhone and think it'll be a huge success. But why cingular

It all comes from great leadership and uber-intelligent minds. Steve Jobs is truly an inspiration to all. He has such a clear vision and direction of where he wants to take Apple and the calculated steps it takes to get there. What many people forget is that Steve gets paid nothing for his work. Granted he's sitting on a crapload of stock, but he doesn't get any paychecks from Apple. He essentially works for free because it is his passion. People work for Apple because of Steve and because they love what they do. This passion disseminates all the way through to the end user. This is why Apple is essentially a cult. I don't think another company exists that has such a loyal, excentric, obsessed, user base. It is people's daily mission to try and figure out what exactly they're going to do next. The beauty of Apple is that they're always 1 step ahead. People don't look to Apple to give them what they want, they look to Apple to TELL them what they need in a way they never thought of before. If they gave someone what they wanted, they would already be behind the times.
This is why Apple will eventually take over the word
I'm glad I'm on board!

Simple. Cingular essentially has the largest user base. But really it's a strategic descision. The thing that sets Apple apart from other computer companies is it's ability to fully control and integrate both it's software and hardware components. By opening up the distribution to all providers you loose this control and you loose the uniformity of your product. By partnering with just Cingular, Apple can innovate in exactly the way it wants without having to do things differently for each provider. This is how the Apple is able to add features like digital voicemail. I think it's a great idea and you can bet you'll be seeing cooler things to come.
Just get over it and join Cingular

me too!

I remember when Apple almost went down the tubes vs Microsoft.

I've got a 5, 10, and 15 year plan. Yes they are on track, too.

Right now, I'm sitting at a hair salon while my wife gets her do-done. About 5 min ago, everybody in the salon was looking over my shoulder as I showed off my website- All from a 12" ibook.

It is so easy to optomize pages for different browsers and devices. You probably don't even know it, but the page you are reading right now has different stylesheets for different browsers.

Anyhoo

This is actually part of my plan. Sure I could be sitting at hope doing OSP, but instead I try to spend as much time as possible outside inthe world networking...

I guess what I am saying is success doesn't happen overnight. The Big Brother Ad set a standard, and it took DECADES to follow through. Just keep that in mind.

The iPhone is an example of three things: the maturity of several separate technologies, their convergence, and Apple's emphasis on the user experience. There's nothing new about the iPhone - except the most important thing: how Apple put the features together.

When IBM developed the PC, they thought that being a provider of hardware technology was the business model - after all, that's what they had been doing with mainframes. Software was custom-written apps and operating systems were primitive - a service that the manufacturer provided as an afterthought. That's why they gave away the OS business to Microsoft. Since then the hardware has become commoditized and IBM has gone out of the personal computer business three times.

Microsoft built their business around being a provider of software technology, taking advantage of the commoditization of the hardware (using that as well as unscrupulous business tactics to create a monopoly).

Apple realized that the true business model was about providing a complete user experience (helping people use hardware and software to accomplish their task as easily as possible) - which is why they kept the hardware and software tightly controlled. It was an idea way ahead of it's time - but times are now catching up.

The above steps are a progression [hardware > software > user experience] that culminates in a final step > the brand. Apple has built a brand upon - but that surpasses - its hardware, its software, and even its user experience. People buy Microsoft products for the technology. People buy Apple products not only for the technology and the user experience, but also the brand (which is really synonymous with lifestyle).

I respectfully disagree. It's disappointing to see apple restrict itself to a single provider. The VM is cool, but I doubt they couldn't have pushed ALL providers that want the iPhone to add that feature. I doubt the random access feature to voicemail is that difficult to implement. It's just there's never been a good interface to get that feature or Apple is finally big enough to strong arm them to implement it. After all, they have to get the european and asian companies to do it later this year.

Cingular is huge, but why not go for 100% of the market. Cingular must be willing subsidizing apple more than the other providers would. It's business after all.

Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait till my contract expires before picking up this cool iPhone. BTW, isn't it bold that Apple is using Cisco's trademark name??!!!