The iPhone
I watched Jobs Keynote today with great excitement, refreshing the live Engadget blog post about a hundred times. Apple has truly revolutionized the cell phone by including concepts no one has ever dreamed of — music, internet, even PIM-type applications, and all with a touch-screen interface that works seemingly like magic. And they’re doing it at the pocket friendly price-point of $500, after locking you into a 2-year unknown-price-for-voice-plus-data contract with the Empire itself, AT&T.
If you’re not sensing the sarcasm, you don’t know me. Look, I have no doubt that the user interface and form-factor will blow away everything currently on the market. I have no doubt this is ultimately good for everyone, as Nokia and others will be forced to in turn force the cell phone companies to finally drop the “less features for more money or else” mafia mentality. But I’m not yet drinking the koolaid. Why? Because my cell phone is not my life.
In the end, Cingular/AT&T will certainly get a boost from the usual Mac hordes who, like Emeril Lagasse’s audience, gasp with excitement if Steve Jobs puts sugar on his waffles. Apple will sell more music. And the other phone makers will get their improved products out, probably at better price points given the premium Apple fans will pay. But I have no intention of ever using AT&T service for anything given their track record on privacy. And I have no intention of paying dues to Apple simply to be part of its cult, especially given Apple’s “200 patent” threat and their own track record on DRM. I can respect good design. But that doesn’t make me buy.
Whenever Apple has the best product/features/prices/service, I’ll consider them. But next up in the decision chain is to hear anything about processors specs, RAM, stand-by time, (none of which were on the Apple site tech specs) and a whole host of user experience results, most importantly running generic OS X apps. Personally, I’d have no problem waiting a year or two before making such a leap. And by then, I think my choices will be quite diverse. So I’m happy that the log jam will finally break. But I’m not convinced that Apple will be the main beneficiary.
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