iPhone as Game Changer

Open, schmopen, who cares?  Only Jeff, Fred, and Esme, evidently.  The iPhone is a game changer.  It is the first multiple radio device with a decent music player app and user interface to sell a measurable number of units.  The initial surge of users was probably the folks that wanted to combine their phone and iPod so they could carry one device.  The game changing thing about the iPhone is the unfettered wi-fi radio in it, and the full featured safari browser.  Esme might moan and groan about handheld devices having to login to hotspots with browsers,  but if the vision of ad-supported wi-fi is to become more than that,  the hotspot network operator needs to talk to a browser to advertise.  Besides, the browser is the default web user interface, why shouldn't devices have it.  I sprung for the Opera Browser for my kids' DSes.  I do agree that the user interface to the hotspot should be more flexible and open, where you could use a browser interface to provision other devices that you have that don't have browsers, but people use the web through them, and are comfortable with the interface.

The people who spend $600 on an iPhone do it because they love the device and the UI, it's love-in not lock-in. The carrier the iPhone comes with is immaterial to them. Why do people by MacBooks for $1000 when you can get a laptop for $399, it's love-in, not lock-in.  My friend John Vincenzo says it's the first time he feels comfortable traveling without his laptop, because of the full featured Safari browser and the Mac integration.  Dropped his Blackberry like a hot potato. The first time was because it got water damage, and he switched to an E62, but the Blackberry had Entourage integration, E62 no Mac integration at all, and it was difficult to move his contacts onto the E62.  The iPhone is completely integrated with the Mac. He can now do something useful with attachments, instead of having to have a laptop with him. They have a superior product, and AT&T was the smart one for adopting the iPhone, although it allows you to get around the carrier's walled garden, ultimately it may be a bargain with the devil for AT&T.  It's only a matter of a short time before a VoIP app gets on the iPhone, talks over the wi-fi, and then boom, watch the minute counts drop.

To truly be freeing, you need two radios in a handheld device because wi-fi is not widespread enough nor reliable enough to completely use it as your only means to connect to the rest of the world. An unlocked GSM radio goes in, because you can buy cheap SIMs and only have to use cell minutes when you are not connected to a wi-fi network. Soon enough, devices that follow the iPhone's lead will be bringing us a much better handheld internet experience.

Comments

[David Reich-Hale]

There is a lock-in issue with the iPhone. It may not be the fault of the developer, Apple, or the device, the iPhone.
The problem is the cell contracts, which lock 100 million people out of using the iPhone.
Also, since the iPhone user is forced to use AT&T's network, I struggle with comparing it to paying more for a laptop.
The MacBook costs more, sure, but you get Apple and it's operating system.
With the iPhone you get AT&T, a network plenty of people would rather avoid (I have no experience with AT&T. I use Verizon, love the fact I get service everywhere and don't see a need to change. Thus, I can't get an iPhone.)
I don't hear anyone complaining about the iPhone itself. I do hear a lot, or read a lot, about users being unhappy with the network - and you're only as strong as your weakest link.

[Craig Plunkett]

The choice of AT&T as the network hasn't stopped enough people from buying the iPhone to make a difference in its sales, it has only engendered disgruntlement from the segement of users whose needs from a phone are higher than their needs are for a music player. The people who have bought the phone love the device so much that they are willing to use the lower quality cell network that it is attached to. I would also argue that the difference in laptops applies also. I love the mac interface, but until parallels came along, there was software that I needed to do my job that just didn't run on a mac, and therefore, I could not justify getting one. The user interface was not enough of a love object for me to switch. What keeps me on a PC now, is price and ruggedization. I'm pretty hard on laptops and they only last me about two to three years. I'd rather spend $400-600 every two to three years on new hardware than $1000 each replacement cycle.
The unlocking of the iPhone kind of makes the "stuck with a sucky network" moot, but my point about the iPhone itself changing the game is valid because now the focus is on the handheld device itself, and what other things you can do with it besides make phone calls, and which connection you can do those things with, wi-fi or GSM. The change in focus allows people to see a mobile device as more than just a phone, which allows the general population to start questioning the status quo regarding carriers and devices in the mobile space.