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iPhone - so...what's the deal? - Page 4

post #91 of 388
6/27/07 at 6:27pm

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirk Gunn
Probably don't expect to sell out because no one in corporate america (i.e. - where you can expense your phone) can purchase one. If it's not compatible with Microsoft ActiveSync or the Blackberry client, it will be a tough sell beyond retail. Perhaps retail will be enough (gotta believe the margin is insanely high...), but I can't imagine that as a great long term strategy considering the price point.
Until a few executives buy themselves iPhones and then tell their IT staff to "make it so."
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post #92 of 388
6/27/07 at 7:07pm

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveF
Until a few executives buy themselves iPhones and then tell their IT staff to "make it so."
Yeah, there was a hilarious WSJ article, quoting various IT/MIS people swearing they'll never allow the iPhone into their company and threatening any "rogue users" who dare buy it. I sure hope some of their CEOs get iPhones -- who's the rogue then? It reminds me of the IT/MIS people's frantic efforts to keep PCs out in the early 80s...

Anyway, my guess is that it's going to be a huge success, because after all the corporate smart-phone sector is tiny compared to the overall market, and that's where the iPhone is competing. I think a lot of people are viewing it as Blackberry, etc. competitor because it has much of the same functionality -- but Jobs & Co. see it as a way to open a new world to regular cell phone users, and they feel that people will be willing to pay the asking price. Well, we'll see soon enough.

Ted
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post #93 of 388
6/27/07 at 8:37pm

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

The iPhone won't compete with the Blackberry market simply because it lacks a tactile QWERTY keyboard. In that world, efficiency is more important than elegance.
The big question will be how many people in the general market are willing to pay smartphone prices for smartphone services many probably don't need.
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post #94 of 388
6/27/07 at 8:47pm

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt
The iPhone won't compete with the Blackberry market simply because it lacks a tactile QWERTY keyboard. In that world, efficiency is more important than elegance.
The big question will be how many people in the general market are willing to pay smartphone prices for smartphone services many probably don't need.

There will eventually be Blackberries with virtual keyboards. They don't keep the same style forever. I hear people bitching on an almost daily basisabout how small the Blackberry keyboards are now compared to the old models. How the Blackberry keyboards have been "Treo-ized". How the SureType keyboards suck. It's only natural that their progression will lead to a virtual keyboard at some point.
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post #95 of 388
6/28/07 at 2:38am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Regarding the keyboard....

Every single review of the iPhone that has been
published so far pretty much says the same thing....

The keyboard was a nuisance to use at first, but after a few
days, users were able to use it as fast and efficiently (or more
efficiently) as other standard phone keyboards.

As an owner of a Blackberry, I'm not entirely happy with
their keyboard. It is small and cumbersome but my typing
speed has improved with time. I can't imagine the virtual
keyboard being any different, and I agree that in time, all
phones will be using the same technology.
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post #96 of 388
6/28/07 at 3:43am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt
The big question will be how many people in the general market are willing to pay smartphone prices for smartphone services many probably don't need.
I think a decent market of under-30 "youth" will emerge.

Where the Crackberry is a power tool, a mover-and-shaker status symbol, a business need, the iPhone is (supposed to be...) cool. It's an iPod. It's a movie player. It's a phone. And it's not geeky or complex looking like a Treo. It's something that a 25 year old with a decent job, no mortgage and a wife can afford (cheaper than a PC, same as a PS3).

And people are prone to buying things they "don't need". Look around here at those with $600 in a PS3 game player. Or thousands in DVDs. There's lots of money to be spent on fluff. Frankly, HTF is a monument to spending large amounts of money on non necessities. If Apple taps into the youth market, it could be a huge success.
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post #97 of 388
6/28/07 at 3:44am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Membrane keyboards over the past few years seem cheap to me, so I reverted back to a noisy but fast alps key switch (Matias Tactile Pro)
It will be interesting for people like me to adapt to no positive feedback on a keyboard. My use will be much less than a business traveler, but if any portion of the virtual board feels like it needs uneven pressure, I'll have a problem.

My very young neice and nephew fly on any small book or cell keyboard, so it's probably just my heavy work hands getting in the way.

I noticed in one review, a guy was really hammering the buttons and keys, and in another the reviewer seemed to have a very light and fast touch.
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post #98 of 388
6/28/07 at 4:14am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Quote:
. I sure hope some of their CEOs get iPhones -- who's the rogue then? It reminds me of the IT/MIS people's frantic efforts to keep PCs out in the early 80s...

What wireless e-mail capabilities does the iPhone have besides web browsing ? Pain in the arse to hit webmail.corporateurl.com and type in a user/pwd every time you want to check mail....
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post #99 of 388
6/28/07 at 5:06am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Quote:
If it's not compatible with Microsoft ActiveSync or the Blackberry client, it will be a tough sell beyond retail.
It's being reported that Apple is in talks with Microsoft to license the Exchange ActiveSync protocol for iPhone.
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post #100 of 388
6/28/07 at 5:36am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Pogue now has a "Often-Asked Questions" article up. Among other things, he addresses the "Why no 3G?" question. He says Apple told him the current 3G chipsets use too much battery juice.
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post #101 of 388
6/28/07 at 6:11am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Who's to say someone wont make a Bluetooth bendable rubber keyboard that could be paired with these phones. HTC phones have a pull out keyboard which is bigger in size. Surely the width of these phones will only decrease in size with time.
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post #102 of 388
6/28/07 at 6:40am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Quote:
What wireless e-mail capabilities does the iPhone have besides web browsing ? Pain in the arse to hit webmail.corporateurl.com and type in a user/pwd every time you want to check mail....

I guess it's assumed that every large business uses Exchange. We don't, thankfully. If your mail server supports POP or IMAP access then no webmail login is going to be needed.
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post #103 of 388
6/28/07 at 8:08am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Does the iPhone support voice-recognition dialing from a bluetooth earpiece? I was suprised that the newer Treos don't, and wonder if the iPhone has the same limitation. (That's a key feature to me in any phone, now.)
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post #104 of 388
6/28/07 at 8:43am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

No voice dialing on iPhone. And, I agree, that is the one missing feature that I'm most disappointed about. I use the excellent voice dialing on my Moto E815 on a daily basis (via Bluetooth earpiece).

Mark
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post #105 of 388
6/28/07 at 12:50pm

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

An interesting rumor:
Quote:
To thank the employees, all fulltime Apple employees in the US who have been there for a year will be getting an iPhone at the end of July. Multiple sources have told me that they believe this includes retail employees. -- ArsTechnica
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post #106 of 388
6/28/07 at 2:06pm

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

It's not a rumor, Jobs announced it at an all-hands meeting in Cupertino today.

He also dropped a hint about the next-gen iPods - said they would run on OS X just like the iPhone.
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post #107 of 388
6/28/07 at 4:35pm

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig S
It's not a rumor, Jobs announced it at an all-hands meeting in Cupertino today.

He also dropped a hint about the next-gen iPods - said they would run on OS X just like the iPhone.
Gees I wonder if they will be able to give the phones away because there will be plenty of them sitting in inventory.

That's great news about the next gen iPods. After viewing the demo video of the iPhone all I thought of was that it would be a nice improvement if the next gen iPods had the iPod feature of the phones.

On a side note, the local media has been running stories about people camping out at the stores. In more then one of the stores the campers interviewed mentioned that they were going to buy and sell hoping to make a profit. Considering the talk from Apple that they don’t even expect to have inventory shortages I just don’t see this becoming a gaming consul situation. I think the campers might be in for a big let down on the gray market.
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post #108 of 388
6/28/07 at 7:28pm

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

I work for AT&T and we can't even use our employee discount (30%) on an Iphone. Also we get free service but with this, we have to buy a seperate plan. Makes me think that apple might be getting some backend profits.
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post #109 of 388
6/28/07 at 7:32pm

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig_O
I work for AT&T and we can't even use our employee discount (30%) on an Iphone. Also we get free service but with this, we have to buy a seperate plan. Makes me think that apple might be getting some backend profits.
It's common knowledge that one of the reasons Apple pick AT&T as the carrier is that Apple is getting a protion of the service contracts.
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post #110 of 388
6/29/07 at 12:02am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick_S
It's common knowledge that one of the reasons Apple pick AT&T as the carrier is that Apple is getting a protion of the service contracts.

That and being able to control the interface. When they approached Verizon, Verizon wanted to replace OS X with their own V-Cast interface and lock out half the features. Apple told them to go to hell.

For whatever reason, the carriers have all the power here in the US and phone companies have to accommodate them and their desires for features, interface, etc. Apple really manage to leverage a truly unprecedented control over the iPhone. Kudos to Cingular/AT&T for being smart enough to let Apple handle the hardware.

And Ron, also realize that people who posted in that thread about Cingular are more likely to be the ones with complaints. Happy people just don't speak out as often, even if you specifically try to poll them as well.
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post #111 of 388
6/29/07 at 3:04am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Quote:
And Ron, also realize that people who posted in that thread about Cingular are more likely to be the ones with complaints. Happy people just don't speak out as often, even if you specifically try to poll them as well.

Ya, isn't that the same with everything.

Well, I made my decision to go buy this phone. I'll be going
to the local mall to get in line about 2.5 hours prior to sale.
If it's a HUGE line when I get there I'll probably go home.

I am certain there will be a few of us posting initial thoughts
here tomorrow.

By the way....

So not to disrupt this thread, I am asking for opinions on which
case to choose (and perhaps you have some opinions of your own)

Click Here
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post #112 of 388
6/29/07 at 5:38am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Well, since my vacation plans to Vegas were dashed last week, I have enough in reserve to order an iPhone today. I don't think I really want to mess with the lines at the Apple Store, although I may do it anyway... ordering online is very tempting, but the waiting is the hardest part.

I was there day one for the iPod, I guess I should be there day one for the iPhone...

- Steve
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post #113 of 388
6/29/07 at 6:50am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

You should order one Steve!

I have that much confidence in Apple that this will be a winner!
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post #114 of 388
6/29/07 at 7:31am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

A number of Apple/tech blogs (including TUAW) are reporting some good news for potential iPhone buyers this morning.

A few weeks ago, there were rumors that AT&T was making significant & widespread updates to their EDGE network in advance of the iPhone rollout. Well, it appears as if somewhere a switch may have been thrown since current AT&T subscribers are reporting noticeable improvement in EDGE performance since last night. Sustained speeds of over 200 Kbps now seem to be the norm, which in many cases is double what people were seeing.

Also, Apple has posted another iPhone video, this one called "Finger Tips". And finally, iTunes 7.3 (required for the iPhone) is now available for download.
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post #115 of 388
6/29/07 at 7:44am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Steve & Ron,
Let us know what the demo of the crowds are. Who's buying the iPhone: powerful elite, teens with part-time-job cash, 30-somethings?

I'm curious who the actual market is for $600 smart phone that oozes "cool".
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post #116 of 388
6/29/07 at 7:44am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

I soooooo want one of these. With a baby coming the wife isn't going to let me pull the trigger though.
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post #117 of 388
6/29/07 at 8:21am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig S
A number of Apple/tech blogs (including TUAW) are reporting some good news for potential iPhone buyers this morning.

A few weeks ago, there were rumors that AT&T was making significant & widespread updates to their EDGE network in advance of the iPhone rollout. Well, it appears as if somewhere a switch may have been thrown since current AT&T subscribers are reporting noticeable improvement in EDGE performance since last night. Sustained speeds of over 200 Kbps now seem to be the norm, which in many cases is double what people were seeing.

Also, Apple has posted another iPhone video, this one called "Finger Tips". And finally, iTunes 7.3 (required for the iPhone) is now available for download.

Yep - lots of chatter at howard forums about this - http://howardforums.com/showthread.p...2&page=3&pp=15
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post #118 of 388
6/29/07 at 8:35am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

The three people I know who are getting one today (myself among them) are IT/R&D techies with a predisposition to the Mac. Late 30/early 40 somethings. Mostly responsible with the disposable income. Well, excluding me.

- Steve
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post #119 of 388
6/29/07 at 8:56am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Trust me, if I couldn't write this purchase off, I wouldn't
be bothering to buy such an extravagant phone.

BTW, the EDGE information is true. My buddy, Steve Simon,
wrote me an hour ago to tell me that his EDGE network is now
noticeably faster.

This just substantially upped the ante for buying one of these.

Maybe I'll bring my laptop to the store line and give an update
at 3:30pm EST.
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post #120 of 388
6/29/07 at 9:16am

Re: iPhone - so...what's the deal?

Todd, its ok, I was in the same boat twice, at the end of the year your tax returns will more than make up for the lack of funds right now. luckily my 2nd daughter was born in mid December, so I was able to claim her for the entire year. We lucked out.
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