A Posteriori

I can’t understand why the internet is full of useless tripe written by “journalists” who peddle disingenuous “objective” analysis that is nothing more than emotional charged platitudes devoid of even the most basic form of empirical logic.

Take this garbage, written by the normally reliable London-based Register:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/10/iphone_will_fail_again/

With the barrage of criticism all over the web, you’d think the iPhone was doomed to failure from the start.

But look at this thing of beauty:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

And look at how much interest is already being expressed in the phone:

http://appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2385

The iPhone contains a revolutionary user interface, the likes of which nobody has ever seen. It features patented touch-screen technology that does not even require a stylus. The display will automatically adjust from horizontal to vertical when it’s rotated. It features of fully-featured browser with a streamlined display.

It leapfrogs all other cellphones and smart phones, whose interfaces are for the most part absolutely abominable, and in some cases, absolutely horrific. People all over the world complain about how much they hate their cellphones. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that at least a fair chunk of them will jump at the chance to get something better.

But all the naysayers insist that the iPhone will fail. Let’s tackle their “arguments”.

1. Cingular service sucks
   This is true, but this won’t be a decisive factor for the fanboy portion of the market. The rest will be existing Cingular customers.
2. It’s too expensive.
   Not for the 1% of the market that Apple is targeting in the first full year. There’s also nothing preventing Apple from releasing an “iPhone Nano” that will be scaled down, smaller, and cheaper
3. It doesn’t support 3G
   This is the first generation. Apple is bound to update the product as 3G becomes mainstream in the U.S.
4. There’s no “reset” button in case of a crash.
   The iPod has a reset button combination on the scroll wheel. The iPhone is guaranteed to have a physical button combination (ex “Home” plus “Hold”) that will accomplish the same thing.
5. There will be smudges, cracks, distortions from using the touch-pad repeatedly
   Since Apple worked on the technology for 2 1/2 years and patented, I’m sure they thought through and worked out all of those issues.
6. The service providers will resist, since it doesn’t support their “feature list”.
   Seeing as Cingular is already supporting and customer demand will be even higher that for the Motorola RAZR, I believe customer demand will be overwhelming enough to overcome what is otherwise a strong industry force.

If you still don’t believe me, check out the Steve Jobs keynote (QuickTime only). You need to see it to believe it:

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/j47d52oo/event/