Have you guys seen some of the new iPhone commercials that they just started showing on TV? I saw 3 of them tonight during Prison Break on Fox. You know, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a big fan of Apple products. Heck, I own 4 of their computers (24″ iMac, 20″ iMac (G5), mini and a 15″ Macbook Pro), a bazillion iPods including the new classic, nano and touch, and of course I also have an iPhone. Even so, these commercials are really annoying me… It’s like Apple is saying that they single handedly invented the first phone ever that can surf the web, play music and take pictures. Yes, safari on the iPhone is yummy, but come on people! Nokia, Palm and Windows Mobile phones (among others) have had these features and more for years!
Maybe I’m just being cranky tonight. Or maybe the koolaid is starting to wear off. Hmmm… Ubuntu anyone? Seriously, I’ve considered switching… if only to jump into something new and different. Any ex-Mac people here that have done that?
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I dislike the recent direction Apple seems to be taking as well, but I really can’t imagine switching away from the Mac, if only because I don’t see another reasonable alternative…
Sadly, I suspect that from the perspective of the average consumer, the iPhone IS the first phone that can do all that. American mobile users have for many years been fed a diet of lockdown by the carriers — sure, they advertise music and video and stuff like that, but it’s usually filtered through some carrier operated service or portal, it isn’t necessarily compatible with the content people actually want to use, and it usually costs more. There might be music, but it’s from some carrier-sanctioned Windows based service, not from iTunes and your iPod. There might be video, but it’s what the carrier wants to promote, not Youtube. And the web? Forget about it; I don’t think most people are aware that’s even possible on a phone, given the tiny screens and steady diet of WAP the carriers feed them.
As much as I might have wished for Apple to come in and show the carriers what a real mobile device should be, it isn’t happening — they’re doing the same thing the carriers have always done, albeit less intrusively. Is it a trojan horse to give them a foothold before blowing the industry open from the inside, or is it a slide into temptation? I fear the latter, but as long as I have the option of not using an iPhone I can ignore it and just enjoy my Mac 🙂
Although I haven’t seen the Apple commercials yet, I HAVE seen the stock price. Vrooommmm…. I bought in June for $102. Today it hit $167. Is this too good to be true?? I love the iPhone. The simplicity is obviously attracting others who were tired of all the glitches and crashes in everything else. Not ready to dump Apple yet. Is there an ultra mobile Mac coming soon?
Until the iPhone (and new iPod Touch) can run third party apps, it will not be on the same par as Palm and Windows Mobile devices. The Safari browser is sweet (though the onscreen keyboard really stinks), but we can put endless applications on our PDA phones. Make the iPhone a slider with integrated keyboard, VGA resolution screen and the ability to install third party apps, and you pretty much have an unstoppable machine. Heck, I would break my Verizon contract to get a phone like that…except only Verizon has service in my area. 🙁
I think my whole problem is that I continue to grieve the fact that the iPhone hasn’t turned out to be what I envisioned it would/could be.
I do have a much brighter outlook today though and have decided that I just need to get over it and move on to a new phone or back to the Treo 680.
As for moving from Mac OS to some flavor of Linux, that could still happen, but probably not in the near term as I’m still looking forward to Leopard.
Ubuntu is sweet so you should definitely check it out. For myself, I weighed OSX’s limitations in choices of hardware (and software vs Windows) against the various headaches that come with Linux and Windows. I ended up going from dual-booting Windows and Linux to just running OSX.
As far as the iPhone commercials go, what’s so objectionable? Visual voice mail is unique to the iPhone and the commercial about it is pretty good. The other two commercials are on the weak side, but they’re not really untruthful. The one about the kid looking up a couple names on a website is lame, but it doesn’t claim that the iPhone is the only device that can do that. Same goes for the one about the guy who likes carrying one device. And most of the people I know with other smartphone models still carry a dedicated media player while my friends with iPhones do not… so it seems fair to portray the iPhone as a good all-in-one device.
It’s like the Sidekick commercial about getting a bunch of people in one place to spray silly-string. The Sidekick isn’t the only device that you can use to organize something like that, but it’s good at that and there’s nothing wrong with a commercial highlighting its strengths.
What bothers me is when companies make false or out-of-context claims about devices or when they post selective comparison lists. For example, see Helio’s absurd iPhone vs Ocean list. I like the Ocean; it’s is a neat device with its own advantages. But in trying to make the Ocean seem overall superior to the iPhone, Helio’s list doesn’t even mention screen size, screen resolution, device weight, device dimensions, wifi, battery life, included memory, video playback options and performance, audio playback options, or bundled software (they also haven’t updated the chart to reflect the iPhone’s current price).
Likewise, have you seen HTC’s page on the Advantage? It claims that the device is “a powerful mobile office device that lets you work wherever and whenever you want” that can “connect to your office, watch videos or listen to music anywhere”. But it doesn’t play full-screen videos smoothly and when editing Office files, the Pocket Office apps have problems like messing up dates/formatting and losing tracked changes. That’s a hell of a lot more misleading than some commercial about looking stuff online using the iPhone.
Anyway, ignore Apple’s trendiness and the mounting backlash against them and instead use whatever tools work for you.
Hi:
Nice to hear someone else has similar feelings toward the recent Apple advertisements, and attitude. Although the commercials may not say the iPhone is the first phone to allow internet etc, it is certainly implied. I have been on the net with Palm OS and Windows Mobile devices for 6 years now, starting with a Visor Prism and Intel 802.11 Springboard module. Also used the Phone Module for the Visor. The iPhone, and iPod Touch are certainly not the first devices with these capabilities, and I too am getting annoyed with the arrogant Apple commercials. Similar to you, I own several Macs, too many iPods to admit to, several Newtons, and the Apple TV.
Deslock:
“One of the greatest advancements in the history of mankind…” -Visual Voicemail commercial
I think that one commercial was the thing that made me grumpy. I’m not disagreeing that visual voicemail isn’t great. But I’m not sure it’s the greatest thing in the history of mankind.
The odd thing is that I continue to complain about the iPhone, but I keep using it too! I’m just screwed up ;o)
I think I’m going to go jailbreak it again.
> “I think that one commercial was the thing that made me grumpy.”
Seriously? I mean the expression “X is the best thing since sliced bread” is often applied for good ideas but I never take it literally, so why take this that way? The guy in the commercial comes off as a business man who would make statements like that so I didn’t even give what he said a second thought… maybe I’m just desensitized to commercials being full of BS 🙂
But it’s not like Apple’s never had smarmy advertisements before. If you’re going to get angry at them, then let it be over something legit like:
Those are all absolutely retarded decisions by Apple (though calendar edits is rumored to be added to the Touch soon).
> “I think I’m going to go jailbreak it again.”
Yeah I simply left mine at 1.0.2 so I could keep running the apps.
Deslock:
I already complained about all those things in my reviews of the iPhone and Touch ;o)
Have you used the new jailbreak for 1.1.1 yet? I keep meaning to do it, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
> “Have you used the new jailbreak for 1.1.1 yet? I keep meaning to do it, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.“
Nope, I never bothered upgrading from 1.0.2. Here are some pages to check out if you want to jailbreak 1.1.1:
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