2 posts tagged “cellphone”
To Preface: I've decided to make these entries snippets, rather than an essay.
The blogosphere and traditional media are awash with controversy surrounding the battery life of the upcoming iPhone, by the all-things-"i"-maker (quote credit: Ken Ray www.macosken.com). People are simply flabbergasted that Apple would design a product without a removable battery. It's okay that 100-million iPod batteries cannot be replaced, because iPod's are not a critical tool, yet critics feel with the iPhone, this is a huge design flaw.
Conversely, the question is: when was the last time you, or anyone you know, has had spare batteries for their phones? When was the last time you or someone you knew, had to purchase a new battery for your phone, because the old one was sputtering? I actually do have a spare battery for my Sony-Ericsson phone, which was acquired when my old one was run over by a thoughtless motorist--never-mind the phone was laying in the street. This battery is located somewhere--somewhere in my office or home or briefcase--one cannot be sure! I am sure it's dead and may not even take a charge, because I've NEVER used it. Should my 3-year old Sony-Ericsson's battery ever work less than one full day of operation, I'll be sure to replace it's battery--as soon as I locate said replacement. However, the battery seems to work flawlessly and the phone is charged every day to 1.5 days.
My 3G iPod's battery is also working fine. At least, when I last used it--the hard-drive crapped out long before the battery. It is also around 3 years old or so.
So people should stop looking for reasons not to buy the iPhone and embrace it as a breakthrough design. Battery life, albeit not great, will be adequate for most users. The after-market will help out the power users, with solutions that plug into the dock--this we can be sure of. A little bit of care and battery conditioning will keep that battery lasting as long as, or longer than, my 3G iPod.
Just when the media dream-stealers have filled my head with doubt, Apple released iPhone commercials. Upon watching those TV spots, it's clear that this phone is truly amazing, intuitive and brilliant. Unlike any other. Ever. Coming June 29th, 6PM.
Conversely, the question is: when was the last time you, or anyone you know, has had spare batteries for their phones? When was the last time you or someone you knew, had to purchase a new battery for your phone, because the old one was sputtering? I actually do have a spare battery for my Sony-Ericsson phone, which was acquired when my old one was run over by a thoughtless motorist--never-mind the phone was laying in the street. This battery is located somewhere--somewhere in my office or home or briefcase--one cannot be sure! I am sure it's dead and may not even take a charge, because I've NEVER used it. Should my 3-year old Sony-Ericsson's battery ever work less than one full day of operation, I'll be sure to replace it's battery--as soon as I locate said replacement. However, the battery seems to work flawlessly and the phone is charged every day to 1.5 days.
My 3G iPod's battery is also working fine. At least, when I last used it--the hard-drive crapped out long before the battery. It is also around 3 years old or so.
So people should stop looking for reasons not to buy the iPhone and embrace it as a breakthrough design. Battery life, albeit not great, will be adequate for most users. The after-market will help out the power users, with solutions that plug into the dock--this we can be sure of. A little bit of care and battery conditioning will keep that battery lasting as long as, or longer than, my 3G iPod.
Just when the media dream-stealers have filled my head with doubt, Apple released iPhone commercials. Upon watching those TV spots, it's clear that this phone is truly amazing, intuitive and brilliant. Unlike any other. Ever. Coming June 29th, 6PM.
Now that we've all seen the iPhone, introduced at the Macworld Keynote in January, I find a number of the mainstream press, bloggers, podcasters and general conversation discussing how disappointing it's going to be. It's as if Steve Jobs really does have a "reality distortion field" and that field wears off after about 45 days. Noticing this, I decided to get a reload of the Jobs' fairy dust and viewed the infamous keynote one more time.
After watching the keynote I came away with even more excitement about this phone. The joy of using this phone will be similar to the joy of using an iPod or Mac--things will work well and in an elegant fashion. The little details of the iPhone add up to an amazing user experience never before enjoyed on a hand-held device. Apple has a way of creating a full experience, unlock most companies, and that experience consists of many tiny, little nuances in design and functionality that bring much joy to the user.
After the honeymoon period, I think iPhone users will continue to love the device. I do believe that there will be some adjustments necessary to make the phone function in the positive (albeit few) ways that current portable phones operate. There's also some things I would like to see on this phone that I can never get satisfaction on with other phones:
After watching the keynote I came away with even more excitement about this phone. The joy of using this phone will be similar to the joy of using an iPod or Mac--things will work well and in an elegant fashion. The little details of the iPhone add up to an amazing user experience never before enjoyed on a hand-held device. Apple has a way of creating a full experience, unlock most companies, and that experience consists of many tiny, little nuances in design and functionality that bring much joy to the user.
After the honeymoon period, I think iPhone users will continue to love the device. I do believe that there will be some adjustments necessary to make the phone function in the positive (albeit few) ways that current portable phones operate. There's also some things I would like to see on this phone that I can never get satisfaction on with other phones:
- One handed operation: driving down the street and locating a number and dialing that number may be a bit of a challenge. However, with voice recognition, most of that should be overcome. I wish someone would make a voice recognition phone that recognizes each number. With bluetooth headsets jammed into our ears, it would be nice to have the option of not holding any phone while driving. Voice recognition in mobile phones goes way back to the Fujitsu and Motorola "voice-dialer" in car mobile phones. You would think after 10-15 years, we'd have some improvement in this department. I want to be able to say, "Dial 206-555-1212" and it dials it. I think the iPhone may be the first device to offer this level of functionality in the future, because it's a software driven device that will probably see regular updates, as opposed to firmware devices that never seem to be updated.
- Typing: a lot of journalists have commented that the iPhone will not replace the Blackberry or other "smartphones" as a business device. I'd have to agree on some level. People that are really into their Blackberry's are most likely people that must interact with their office constantly and often travel. For them, the integration to the office email system and the ability to write lengthy emails to respond to an issue are important. Those people may keep their Crackberrys. As a business person who doesn't live in enterprise email and who doesn't travel abroad often, I see the iPhone fitting in nicely. Plus, its capabilities far outweigh that of any smartphone. Why? For me the multimedia features are impressive and will come in handy. If I need to take a screenshot of a Web page and ponder it with others, I can do this on the iPhone, because I can actually see the image. And, with the image, I can shoot back a commentary on what needs adjusting. Typing longer emails, however, or entering a long post like this in a blog, probably won't work well with the iPhone. Curiously, no one has mentioned the fact that the iPhone uses bluetooth and that there's a possibility of a bluetooth driver for bluetooth-enabled input devices. We have the input devices now for a variety of product--enabling them to work on iPhone should be cake.
- (to be continued)
