iPhone 3GS- a demonstration of the need for competition with the iPhone

I

iansilv

macrumors 65816
I found today's iPhone 3GS announcement rather disappointing. While I am still using an unsubsidized 1st gen that works like a champ and I will be upgrading to the 3GS, I could not help but feel disappointed. I was disappointed not because the new iphone didn't have some whiz-bang feature, but because it could have and had no reason to because it has no competition.

The iPhone today could have had a front facing camera for video calling. The technology has been around for years and the bandwidth for video calling could have easily been made to fit on the 3g network ATT has. No one can convince me that postage stamp size compressed 15 fps video would saturate ATT's 3g network. But Apple had no reason to implement it this generation because the iPhone truly has no real competition and therefore it does not make business sense to implement it now. Why struggle to get something ready when it could be saved for the next revision? Kind of like Intel without AMD, we have a market dominated by one- albeit awesome product...

I think that the other cell phone companies and other carriers have a small window of opportunity to introduce video calling and grab some reasonable headlines and press from the iPhone. While I don't think it would be a particularly useful feature, I do think it would be a feature that would turn heads- and give an easily marketable flashy feature to attract people to a carrier.

While I don't think Verizon would ever pull its head out of its ass and just charge one flat fee for unlimited data and allow video calling, I think they would be best poised to work closely with a phone maker to introduce video calling to their network. I think that they could leverage the strength of their network and work with Nokia or someone to have a good solid advertised video calling feature that Verizon users could rub in iPhone user's faces. It would get buzz, it would be easily marketable, and people would not use it very often- but it would sell phones.

I think we saw today why competition is needed in this industry- ATT is too f@#$ing incompetent to have MMS ready for WWDC- (What?!? did it catch you off guard ATT??) as well as to have a tethering ready with a two prong tethering plan. I think its reasonable that they introduce a plan not requiring a long term commitment that would have been affordable for consumers- as in, 30$ a month for unlimited tethering, 5$ for just 24 hours of tethering, and allow the user to add it one month and dump it the next as they need it. (Again- seriously ATT??!?! What-did you miss the memo on tethering being a part of 3.0? And the 70$ rumors- you have got to be **** ting me! I actually looked up how to unlock and go to T-Mobile!)

So i hope for our sake as consumers we see a carrier and a phone maker get together and truly plan a better product in some way than the iPhone. I think that the first iPhone was such a revolutionary product it shows that Apple really can advance things when they want to.

That said- I can't wait for 3.0, 3GS- and Apple- can you please do something about that whole media server market dominated by Kaliedescape? It would not be that hard...
 
Video calling has been a complete dud worldwide --- nobody actually use them. That's the reason why it's not on the iphone.
 
I agree about Apple needing some competition.

I don't agree about video calling. I think it's just a gimmick. Video calling has been around for a while where I live, we even have plans in which video calling is free, and still people don't use it.
 
Problem is that the iPhone has too large of an app store behind it...and that is a huge part of its success. We're not going to see real competition until someone can combine a kickass handset with kickass software to go with it. The Pre is probably the closest so far...but it needs to build it's app store to compete. I'm willing to be when we see version 2 of the Pre then Apple will finally have some competition. Simply coming out with a kick ass handset will not do it...because that is not the iPhone's sole reason for success. Gotta have the whole package.

And I don't need video calling either...it is a gimmick people think they will use but in reality they probably will not.
 
Guys my whole point about video calling is that it is an absolute gimmick. But it is something that could be sold and marketed. It would get people talking about buying phones from a carrier. Heck, I could actually see people switching for it... before they realized it is just a gimmick.

I think it is the best bet for a "loud" feature that would draw attention away from the iPhone. I can't really think of anything else that could draw attention like it could. Just look at all the people anticipating it for the new iPhone- even though everyone admits its just a gimmick. I guess a higher resolution screen would be good too, but video calling- I mean, I can hear the obnoxious Verizon ads now-

Good! Can you see me now? Good! :rolleyes:

I mean- this guy would be saying it -----------------------------------------\/ or at least keep reloading this page until the verizon ad shows again...
 
I think the iPhone 3G S is like the 5.5G iPod.

From all the rumors, Apple is doing some serious in house chip work. That's probably got a lot of their focus. They didn't have to spend too much time on this iPhone and everything they did work on carries over to the next iPhone. It was just enough to keep the iPhones momentum while they build bigger and better which is taking longer than their yearly cycle. They saved a lot of time by keeping the entire physical appearance the same.

For the majority of "non-tech site reading consumers," the iPhone is still top of the heap. And I don't think Apple is actually resting on their laurels like it appears. The iPhone is Apple's next major platform. I really don't think this was meant to entice 3G owners all that much.

As of today, today alone, I know 7 new iPhone owners - all 3G and I explained the new 3G S benefits to all of them. They didn't think it was worth the $100 or the wait, maybe some will take advantage of their 30 day returns, who knows.
 
Who gives a damn about video calling, there's a reason its failed since being introduced.
 
iansilv said:
I found today's iPhone 3GS announcement rather disappointing. While I am still using an unsubsidized 1st gen that works like a champ and I will be upgrading to the 3GS, I could not help but feel disappointed.
Click to expand...

That will show apple to bring out a disappointing phone. :rolleyes:
Hey! Everybody this phones a huge dissapointment but lets buy it anyway to show apple whos boss. :rolleyes:

They do it cause they know it will still sell well because people buy regardless of how good it is compared to what you actually want.
Mind you I kinda want one as well but can't afford it and can wait till the next one.
 
Video calling on other phones has failed to excite, partly because of their small screens and poor images. Once you get into the 3.5" + area and with decent speeds, I think it could become popular.

My family and friends video Skype daily from all around the world. We take our laptops on vacation partly so we can make video calls from wherever we are. More and more people are doing this. But I'd much rather take just a handheld instead of a full laptop.

Competition this year is getting interesting. There are 800x480 OLED large touchscreen phones coming out, some with 1GHz cpus, some with HD video recording.

Yes, Apple is just now catching up to standard features on other phones, but that's good. They're finally pretty much there, and can move forward from here.

They already have, a bit, with the compass and autofocus. While other phones have those, Apple using them helps make them a required standard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top