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Rethinking the iPhone
« on: 2007-04-24 23:47:51 » |
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Rethinking the iPhone
ARTICLE DATE: 04.23.07
By John C. Dvorak
Apple's iPhone reminds me of a dream I used to have. Thankfully, I'm awake now.
Not that many years ago, I described my tech vision of the future as a device that would fit into a cradle and serve as the basis for all computing. You could carry it in your pocket, and it would serve as your mobile phone, TV set, MP3 player, and handy GPS device. I would often discuss this imaginary device in public speeches. During my PowerPoint presentation, the last feature I'd list for the device was a LoJack capability, since people would want to steal these things. That was for laughs.
Now it seems that Apple is going in this direction, to some extent, with the iPhone. So, I have to wonder why I've soured on my own vision of the future. Is my skepticism regarding Apple clouding my logic? Or is it something else? Something perhaps like, uh, reality?
First, the iPhone is not intended to be a computer replacement, but an iPod replacement and a phone—for now. Maybe it will have GPS built in at some point. Maybe it will actually run OS X and be a pocketable computer. Let's assume it's exactly what I was predicting: the be-all and end-all killer device of all time.
So, why am I souring on the device? And why am I demonstrating the same characteristics I criticize others for exhibiting—namely, judging a product one way or another without ever having seen or used it?
Why? Why? Why?
It's probably for the same reason that I stopped giving that speech over two years ago. I have not been talking about this futuristic pocket-sized computer because I no longer believe in the concept, after being slapped by reality once too often. When the iPhone came along, I was already sour on the entire idea of any sort of device consolidation, whether it be from Apple or anyone else. And, in fact, as one of the few people in North America with a Swedish touch-screen NeoNode phone, which is similar to the iPhone, I've already been playing with essentially the same thing for nearly two years. (Actually, I may have the only one in North America, since it had to be custom-made to work here. It's a great conversation piece.)—next: Disgusting Phone Fashion >
What kind of mobile phone do I use on a day-to-day basis? I use what street thugs in Baltimore call a burner: A disposable cheap phone that costs me next to nothing to own and use. I've given up trying to have the coolest and newest phone while spending a fortune to use it. I'm sick of being ripped off by the entire mobile-phone game. And I'm disgusted to see people talking on these things constantly, especially while driving. Shut up, for God's sake, and watch the road.
So that's one reason why I'm sour on the Apple iPhone. I'm not looking forward to seeing another round of "phone fashion" when I am already disgusted by it.
Then there is the iPod thing. Hey, I toyed with the earliest MP3 players and eventually got bored with having to listen to that much music. Exactly what is the point of being all pumped up and bopping to the beat while sitting on your duff anyway? But now I'm beginning to sound like a old coot. And these are just the petty grievances. It's the trends that concern me.
Let's get back to my dream machine of a few years ago. It's not a possibility, since devices cannot be totally consolidated no matter how hard people try. I have personally given up on the idea. The iPhone is really a dream of consolidation. In other words, it's wishful thinking. It won't be more than a passing fad as a fashion accessory, and it will never cut it as an iPod replacement or a phone. Yeah, you'll be the coolest person in the room when you pull one out and show it around, but that gets old fast when three other people have them and one person somehow has one that glows in the dark.
Yes, I've soured on the device, sight unseen, because it represents an unachievable goal, a utopian ideal. The forces of never-ending fragmentation are too strong for anything to defeat them. The evidence that nobody wants to acknowledge is all the failed smartphones that have come and gone. And let's not forget the Motorola phone that incorporated an iPod (remember the ROKR?). What a flop!
Any sort of device consolidation, like what the iPhone possibly promises, is a pipe dream and runs counter to real and immutable trends. The problem is, nobody wants to admit that these trends exist—yet they do.
Copyright (c) 2007 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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