Stanley Feinbaum wrote an interesting article about why he’s not interested in buying an iPhone. A humorous look at some of the ‘features’ of Apple’s new cell phone.
Cingular only. This makes as much sense as selling computers that can only access the internet through AOL.
In this recent article from the Ohio Akron Beacon Journal, technology journalist Eric Benderoff makes some good points about the iPhone and the possibility of a similarly design iPod on the horizon:
If you want to know what the next iPod will look like, go to Apple.com and watch the demo for the coming iPhone.
In his article he echoes something on the minds of every MP3 enthusiast out there; what will the iPhone mean about the next iPod? Probably, quite a bit.
At Macworld, January 9th 2007, Steve Jobs stated that the iPhone was the best iPod the company had every built. That’s great, but for people who just want a new iPod, and not necessarily all the features the iPhone has built into it, why pay $500+ for a new iPod?
Apple plays the product release game very well, keeping all new technology under tight wraps, and then revealing them via one of Steve Jobs charismatic speeches, in order to pump everyone up and prepare them to buy buy buy. The next generation iPod is overdue, and probably well along in production.
If the iPhone is the best iPod the company has made yet, we can expect a new iPod with many iPhone-like features within a few short months after the iPhone’s slated June release.
When the iPhone was first announced, Mac-enthusiasts the world over hit the internet hard, blogging about it, about how much they wanted one, and debating what would be good or bad about it. Now - just over a month after the iPhone was announced on January 9th at Macworld, is the buzz still king?
As you can see by this chart listing blog mentions by day of “iPhone,” the buzz peaked around Macworld, Jan 9th, but quickly tapered off to just under 1000 mentions per day, and now has settled at a lull of around 200 mentions per day.
Evidently, people still care very much about this new revolutionary phone, mp3 player, and internet connect device, however, the intial buzz has died out.
In the top 100 keywords, also provided by Technorati, iPhone was not even close to within the top.
One thing is sure about the upcoming launch; as the time gets closer, we’ll see these numbers picking up again, enough to easily surpass the numbers around Macworld.
While surfing the waves of the internet the other day, I came across this amazing advertisement:
I had to laugh. The ad makes it seem that the iPhone is already available, AND in limited quantities. This is just begging for an impulse click. Oh boy! I’m-a get my iPhone early and impress all my friends! Those suckers have to wait until June!
I love the internet!
The great thing about Apple’s new iPhone, is that it’s got great touch-screen technology, especially useful for flipping through your MP3 albums to play on the “iPod part” of it. However, the iPhone also has loads of other features that - well - business users might enjoy having, but 15-year old Brittany has no use for. For Brittany, is the iPhone worth $500+? Are her parents ever going to buy that hot piece of technology for her, hoping that she won’t get mugged for it?
Apple’s iPods are today’s best-selling MP3 players, but are in need of a facelift. The 5th generation iPod has been around for a while now, and now that we’ve heard what the iPhone’s features would be like, we’re only waiting for the same features to come to a standalone iPod.
In this recent article from the Kansas Wichita Eagle, the writer makes and interesting point regarding a possible 6th generation iPod with many iPhone-like features:
By the time 2007 ends, you can bet Apple will sell more new iPods than iPhones.
We can be certain that - even though the iPhone is the greatest cell phone available to North America - it will probably never outsell a similarly produced, and a lesser-priced iPod.
Some sexy iPhone icons for your OS X desktop were released a few days ago over at INTERFACELIFT.com. This is surely only the first of many iPhone icons, as there are many versions of the popular iPod product in icon form, as well as iMac, Mac Pro, and more. Get them while they’re hot!
Verizon, the 2nd largest U.S. cell phone dealer, had the chance to be Steve Jobs’ new best friend, but passed. Why would such a stable, prospering company even hesitate when presented with one of Apple’s sure-to-be gold nuggets? Verizon likes to play fair, and Apple likes to be in control.
Jobs would let the iPhone be sold in Apple stores, and Verizon stores, but not in Verizon partnership stores such as Wal-Mart or Best Buy. This deal might sour Verizon’s other partners and make future business partnerships seem stale.
If a technical issue comes up with your iPhone, who would you call? Apple stores are few and far between, whereas distributors of Verizon or Cingular are nearly everywhere. Convenience itself would reason that one might hop on over to their local cell phone distributor and ask them a question about repairs. This is not what Apple wants, and it turned Verizon off even more. Apple wanted the sole discision over whether to replace or repair the phone.
“They would have been stepping in between us and our customers to the point where we would have almost had to take a back seat … on hardware and service support,” Jim Gerace, Verizon Vice President said.
With Verizon saying to Apple “No Thanks,” Steve Jobs and his cronies ran into the waiting arms of Cingular for an exclusive U.S. deal.
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Although many Apple fans are complaining of the iPhone’s high pricetag, analysts have pegged Apple’s new iPhone as not a cheap piece of technology for Apple to make either.
In a recent article regarding Apple’s margin versus cost of parts, they stated that the screen itself might cost upwards of $60 to Apple. Adding the sensor technology, as well as battery, hard drive, etc. leaves Apple with a cost “well above $300 for the 4 GB model.”
Whatever the current cost is to Apple, one also has to take into account the price of advertising, marketing, commercials etc. that Apple is famous for, and add that into the cost. Apple’s margin over the iPhone may not be as high as some reports have noted.
The iPhone is a lot of things, including:
This package of features will retail for $499 (4GB) and $599 (8GB) USD and be available in June in the US.
Now let’s switch gears and talk about another touch-sensitive device. The Nintendo DS.
The Nintendo DS is currently the most popular hand held gaming device on the planet. Because of its’ widespread popularity, it also has a massive fan following. Part and parcel nowadays with a fan following, is a modifications following; a group of individuals who seek to unleash the DS for all that it can be. Some of these modifications and newfound abilities the DS has come across make the Nintendo DS:
Here’s a video of the iPod homebrew program running on a DS Lite:
Something of note here, is that in order to be more than just a regular Nintendo DS, one would need to purchase a Nintendo DS storage device. One such storage device is the R4DS which requires no actual modding of the Nintendo DS in order to run homebrew programs.
The Nintendo DS retails for $129.99 USD. The R4DS retails for $44.95, and a 4GB micro SD card with USB adapter for the R4DS retails for $118.99.
The grand totals:
Apple iPhone:
$499 USD (4GB) and $599 USD (8GB).
Nintendo DS Lite + R4DS + 4GB Micro SD card storage:
$293.93 USD.
Of course, the iPhone is made by Apple, and many of the homebrew applications for the DS are made by any regular Joe, so they definitely won’t be as pretty. All told, however, if you don’t absolutely need a new cell phone, and want to save a few bucks, the Nintendo DS is the clear winner for features and price.
iPhoneMatters.com recently had an interesting poll about why one would opt out of getting an iPhone.
The choices were:
…and the results were:
It would appear that most percieve the iPhone’s price to be it’s biggest downfall. Another thing of note is that very few - perhaps only the business types - would say they wouldn’t get an iPhone because it lacks a real keyboard or the ability to use with a real keyboard. As always, there’s lots of angst for Cingular.
What drives your opinion? Will you be getting one? Why? Why not?
