Unless you've been living under a rock for the past weeks, you
surely know about the iPhone's launch. It's been in the newspapers,
the magazines, and the websites.
A lot of people have asked me if I am going to get one. After
all, I have been loyal to Apple since April 1989 when I first used
one of their computers and still have Apple computers throughout my
house (although I do use an IBM at home as well). However, I would
never use half of the features on the iPhone and I, quite frankly,
feel it will be a flop.
Looking from a personal point of view, I use my phone for
talking to people - as in picking up the phone, dialing someone,
and having a conversation. I don't use mobile web (the library is
my mobile web if I'm on the go and need to check my email), and if
I want to play music, I use the iPod or a tape. Besides, I need my
next phone to mount in my car so I can go handsfree (the car is
already wired), and the iPhone probably isn't mountable. (By
handsfree, I am referring to the car-mounted installation, not that
stupid looking Bluetooth headset - I'd never wear one of
those.)
Money
Now onto other reasons the iPhone will flop: It costs way too
much. I'll gladly spend $250 if I need extra hardware for the car,
but $500 for a cell phone?
Not to mention the plans. I've heard it costs around $60 per
month to take advantage of all of the iPhone's features. And
speaking of plans, it's only available through AT&T, formerly
Cingular. Verizon has always been ranked #1, and I agree. After
going through six months of Cingular turmoil in early 2003 when I
got my first phone, I switched to Verizon and have been a happy
customer since. It wouldn't be worth it to switch, and I'm sure a
lot of people who have made the same move I did four years ago
would agree.
Hype
Apple released a PDA in the early 1990s called the Newton. Like
the iPhone, it had a ton of bells and whistles. It was also
oversized, overpriced, and overhyped. It flopped. Badly. The
smaller Palm Pilots, which had less features and cost less,
continue to thrive today. The iPhone is probably the Newton of the
2000s.
The hype is also incredible. I've seen a lot of products come
out since I got into computers. When Windows 95 came out 12 years
ago, I thought no product would ever be more hyped in history. I
actually went to Egghead Software (which is now, ironically, the
AT&T/Cingular store in my neighborhood) the week it came out
and found the entire store was plastered with the logos and product
materials for it.
I was looking for some software for my Mac, since my birthday
was coming up, but to get to the Mac stuff I first had to go
through a huge maze of Windows 95 propaganda. It was all over the
press, the magazines, the news, and the bookstore shelves. While
Windows XP and Windows Vista caused some minor commotions, they
were nothing like this.
The iPhone is different. Windows 95 was being aimed at the folks
who owned computers and were savvy users of them. I'm sure that
some of you reading this didn't even have a home computer in
1995.
For the Masses?
The iPhone is aimed at the masses. Almost everyone in America
seems to own a cell phone, even folks as young as nine or ten (like
that girl, Beth Anne, on the Verizon commercial with a "BFF" named
Jill).
Also, cell phones seem to be a much bigger status symbol than
computers ever have been. Nobody cares if you lug around a Windows
98-equipped laptop that runs at 200 MHz. Laptops are laptops. If
you carried around a cell phone from 1998, a lot of Motorola RAZR
owning people would probably snicker. Apple recognizes this and
therefore is pushing their product a ton.
I can't conclude until I at least mention the iPod. I wasn't
sure how the iPod would do when it first came out, because of the
newness of MP3 playing devices in 2001. However, Apple's marketing
team pushed into a niche where no other exceptional products
existed. The iPod was a huge success and continues to sell well. In
fact, more people seem to own iPods than Apple's other longtime
product, the Macintosh computer. (There have even been people who
have thrown out their Windows computers in favor of a Macintosh
because of the iPod's influence.)
Expensive
Apple is hoping to use the iPod's success to push the iPhone.
However, the iPod is affordable and, as I mentioned earlier, owns
its niche because it was a pioneer. In the cell phone world, the
Motorola RAZR is one of the cutting edge phones that has been able
to sell well due in no large part to Motorola's success with
phones.
Motorola had some great phones in the 1990s which were
innovative at the time and the company continues to excel in a
market in which they were a pioneer. Other companies, like LG and
Nokia, also came into play when the market was expanding. However,
it may be too late to add another phone maker, especially one that
is overcharging for a product and limiting it to one store.
We'll know in about two months if Apple has themselves another
Newton.
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.
