
Apple's iPhone is now reality!
Actually, that isn't true, but that headline was used instead to highlight the fissures that the iPhone has created in the Tech World. When you read that headline you had one of two thoughts. "I knew it! I knew it couldn't be that great!" or "That is a bunch of Garbage! It is simply not true!" (or something to that effect). By no means was it the intention of this author to use this headline to be inflammatory or controversial. Instead, the intention was to help us call the attention to the fact that in the Tech World, there are these two worlds when it comes to Apples new iPhone. Also, and more importantly, to draw attention to the real story behind today's launch of the heralded and over-hyped iPhone. It was, however, not coincidentally that the posting of this article was shortly after 6 o'clock PM on the East Coast of the United States.
The story has been, and will continue to be the iPhone. Until 6PM local time in the United States and around the world, the story has been speculation and what the iPhone is expected to be and what it is not expected to be. It has been hype and more hype, with a lot of expectations mixed in. One of the best managed, and I dare say, largest PR Marketing hypes in the world of technology ever. Hats off to Apple for creating a Buzz so loud it drowned out everything else!
Over the next few days and weeks the story and headlines will become some or all of these:
"The iPhone outsells expectations"
"The iPhone underperforms on its First Weekend"
"Apple's iPhone is Everything it Should be and More!"
"What the iPhone lacks"
"There are thousands of iPhones on Ebay"
"The First iPhone taken into Apple for Repair"
"Apple Stocks have soared (or crashed) Because of the iPhone"
"Apple Exceeds (or misses) iPhone Sales Targets in its First Week"
"iPhone Coming to Canada (and/or Europe)"
"Mad Dog Rumored to Announce the Next Generation iPhone at (pick your event)"
"AT&T (and/or Apple) Fumble the Ball During the Launch of the iPhone"
"Can Apple (and/or AT&T) Keep Up With Demand?"
"Sluggish iPhone Demand Raises Questions"
"Will Apple Dump AT&T for Another U.S. Carrier?"
"The First iPhone Hacked!" (the author's personal favorite!)
This whole time, however, we've been missing the bigger picture regarding the iPhone. I submit to you, that the real and most important headline should be, "The iPhone Ushers in a New Age in Smartphone Technology!" Now, had that been the headline of this piece, many would not have bothered to read this article, but it is so much more important!
June 29, 2007 is so much more than hundreds (or by some accounts thousands) standing in lines for iPhones. It is the day that initiated a new era in Smartphones. This actually already started in R&D labs around the world when an Apple mobile phone rumors started to trickle out. It then went into full force six months ago when Steve Jobs first showed off the iPhone at MacWorld. The likes of SonyEricson, Nokia, Palm, and all of the iPhone's competitors (maybe even ones we haven't yet heard of) started making greater and better Smartphones.
Starting in the very near future, we will finally see smartphones doing what consumers have been demanding that they do. There will be real features, that work, in those smartphones, and a slew of needs addressed. That is what the iPhone is really about. Changing the landscape and it is something that Apple is very, very good at!
Today, the real winners are not those who stood in line for an iPhone. Although a dream come true for many, the real winners are consumers - all of those who use and rely on and relish in technology. Because today, we won the right to be a part of the onslaught of smartphones that really meet our needs! One year from now, the Smartphones of today will look like ancient history and we have Apple and its iPhone to thank for that. Thank you Mad Dog for bringing us more than just an iPhone!
I commend you for owning up to deliberately choosing an attention-grabbing headline and putting a serious, good, inspired article behind it.
*Two thumbs up*
Really good article. Almost made me care about this thing.
Somehow, I've avoided all the hype, even here on Newsvine.
Good article.
The hype around this is incredible...
Even more incredible is that every review so far says it pretty much justifies the hype!
See, I don't think it was Apple that created all the hype, I think it was the new age internet media with blogs and such, because all I saw apple do was introduce it at some convention, reintroduce it with more features and stuff at some other convention, and a couple simple commercials. I think all the hype came from it being such a revolutionary product (to some degree) and the internet, places like Gizmodo and Wired.
It does everything it was supposed, but I am reading on forums and from friends that a few hours after plugging in and syncing up, they are bored with their iPhone.
My Twitter list shows an entirely different story. To each their own I guess =)
So far a lot of users are reporting problems with the new iPhone-ready version of iTunes (7.3), including myself. iTunes won't save your library (I'm not sure what this means, as all your files are still there). We'll probably see a software update within the next week.
My girlfriend works at a restaurant about 3 doors down from an Apple Store, and even after the lines (around 10 pm) they told her they still had plenty. Curiously, though, online orders are expected to ship in "2-4 weeks."
I'm just hoping that the battery really lasts as long as claimed. So far the reviews say it's coming in minutes under what Apple is claiming, which is damned impressive.
All 3 of the Apple Store's in my state are reporting "In Stock" according to the page at Apple.com, and Ars Technica has a post today entitled iPhones iPlenty: The Sell-Out That Wasn't. Frankly, I don't see how having more than enough is a bad thing.
I'm still not sure what the whole iTunes library thing actually means. I listened to a few minutes of an audiobook, closed and restarted iTunes, and it picked up playing in the same place. Users are also reporting trouble activating, but this is probably because everyone was trying to activate roughly at the same time last night.
So far the battery life seems to be as promised by Apple, which is pretty good. Also I think most of your iPod chargers should work with the iPhone, though certain audio playback devices (i.e., FM transmitters) won't.
I waiting for the iPhone killer from Microsoft, called the Zune-a-Phone. It will have a atomic battery and be able to download actual merchandise with it's matter energy matter converter reconverter. and another feature is the convenient instant matter transporter so you can just go and talk to anyone face to face in real space. Then just touch it twice and it remembers where you were and takes you back.
Apple has a twenty minute video of all the features of the iPhone demonstrated here on their website today. Fun to watch. I heard myself say "cool" out loud a few times.
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