iPhone Nano Thought/Theory...

[maclook]

I feel like the iPhone Nano rumor was (and is) so ridiculous. It just doesn't make any sense when I look at the pictures by the case makers depicting a smaller iPhone. An iPhone Nano that isn't completely reliant on the touch screen and with an actual keyboard seems more interesting to me, but a smaller and otherwise identical iPhone does not.

So I started to think...what do you think the chances are that the case makers made such a rumor up. Is it possible, seeing as how some Apple news sites (or whoever investigates that stuff) are such nosy bastards and try to spoil all of Apple's surprises, that affiliated company's could make up rumors to help Apple by making up stuff that Apple knows they aren't working on. I say "help out" because I don't see how they can profit from making up a bogus rumor.

If I were making accessories for Apple, I feel like having the world be shocked and surprised by new products would benefit sales more than having leaks all over the place. If it is, indeed, just a placeholder or an iPhone Nano is actually in the works than this thought pretty much gets thrown out the window, though....:/

 

[bobfitz14]

If I were making accessories for Apple, I feel like having the world be shocked and surprised by new products would benefit sales more than having leaks all over the place. If it is, indeed, just a placeholder or an iPhone Nano is actually in the works than this thought pretty much gets thrown out the window, though....:/

couldn't agree any more. rumors, though somewhat entertaining, suck in the long run. you either become impatient for something you would be interested in, or you're impatient to see if it is legit.

 

[randomusername]

How do you guys not get it? You all say that a touch screen only iPhone Nano isn't going to happen because a 3" screen is too small to get anything done and the keyboard would be unusable. But you don't get that that has been done many times by Samsung, LG, Nokia, and other cell phone manufacturers.

 

[bobfitz14]

How do you guys not get it? You all say that a touch screen only iPhone Nano isn't going to happen because a 3" screen is too small to get anything done and the keyboard would be unusable. But you don't get that that has been done many times by Samsung, LG, Nokia, and other cell phone manufacturers.

note that i didn't quote the whole post by the OP. i'm just talking about rumors in general, not the iPhone Nano in specific. i wouldn't mind seeing and iPhone Nano, nor am i against it. it's a decent concept in my opinion.

 

[Michael CM1]

couldn't agree any more. rumors, though somewhat entertaining, suck in the long run. you either become impatient for something you would be interested in, or you're impatient to see if it is legit.

Rumors kinda killed Apple, at least in the stock market, this time. Rumors fly about 500 new products and then 3 or 4 really good products get announced. Apple attracted a huge spotlight with the iPhone, and people haven't figured out that you don't create a product like that every year, or even every decade.

I'll repeat this again, but Apple ducked out of Macworld so they wouldn't have this problem of meeting insane expectations every January. Continually roll out impressive products when they're ready like most companies want to. I expect to see new iMacs and Mac minis within the next two months just for Apple to prove such a thing. I think the Mac Pros got an update about a week after MW last year.

 

[Mikey B]

How do you guys not get it? You all say that a touch screen only iPhone Nano isn't going to happen because a 3" screen is too small to get anything done and the keyboard would be unusable. But you don't get that that has been done many times by Samsung, LG, Nokia, and other cell phone manufacturers.

Well, how well are those phones workin'? Seriously, just picture for a second what it would be like to type on a RAZR screen... you really think that is a good idea?

The iPhone is a platform, not just a device, and there is an entire ecosystem around the current iteration that has just begun. Creating a new paradigm like the supposed iPhone Nano is going to cause chaos for developers and, as much as the iPhone is a consumer/business product, it is driven by developers and depends on them for it's continuing success. It would cause a rift in the AppStore and force devs to either make two versions of the same app, or choose one or the other. That is not a recipe for a viable platform.

I just don't get the fascination with an iPhone Nano. I just don't think Apple is going to release a "dumbphone" without a data plan just to increase low-margin sales. It's just not their business model. And one can shout "Shuffle" and iPod Nano" all they want but that is hardly an apples-to-apples comparison. Creating a smaller iPod does not change the heart and soul of what that product is meant to be- it is still an excellent digital music player. And I guarantee you that they still make their margins on those products. An iPhone Nano cannot be an iPod, Internet device, Phone, and a Platform. It wont work in that form factor at low cost to the consumer and a healthy margin to Apple.

The cost to create an iPhone Nano, that is actually good, would be so prohibitive that Apple would be forced to run anemic margins, something they will never do. That's why you will never see an Apple netbook. Apple rather enjoys that gigantic mountain of cash sitting in their coffers that allows them to be beyond solvent and thrive with a small share of the computer market.

That's what I think about the Nano rumors. I don't have a crystal ball and obviously Apple is capable of doing nearly anything they want. But as I look at the empirical evidence and couple that with a little of my own supposition, I just don't see it coming to fruition.

 

[maclook]

How do you guys not get it? You all say that a touch screen only iPhone Nano isn't going to happen because a 3" screen is too small to get anything done and the keyboard would be unusable. But you don't get that that has been done many times by Samsung, LG, Nokia, and other cell phone manufacturers.

My original post was based on the way rumors are started, so I don't want to go too in depth about controversial iPhone Nano speculations.

But since I began thinking the rumor was completely made up based on my thinking an iPhone Nano is crazy... I should probably make my stance clear...
It's my opinion that most other touch screen phones suck compared to the iPhone, but it is because of their OS. Based on the iPhone's OS, I already find myself zooming in a lot on my iPhone to read text (I'm fairly young...not losing my vision or anything). I also use one finger to type when I hold it vertically to avoid typos. An iPhone Nano of that nature would only solve one problem, which is the large size of the original, and I feel like too many issues arise to justify manufacturing a whole nother product when the original is selling so well.

 

[maclook]

The cost to create an iPhone Nano, that is actually good, would be so prohibitive that Apple would be forced to run anemic margins, something they will never do. That's why you will never see an Apple netbook. Apple rather enjoys that gigantic mountain of cash sitting in their coffers that allows them to be beyond solvent and thrive with a small share of the computer market.

Yeah I agree with everything you said. My thoughts are that the iPhone achieves pretty much everything netbooks are trying to achieve. The larger iPod Touch idea makes so much more sense to me because then Apple does have a product that can actually compete in the netbook market (in a strange way...since it's not simply a smaller macbook). IMO, going larger in screen size makes sense, going smaller makes no sense at all.

 

[Mikey B]

Yeah I agree with everything you said. My thoughts are that the iPhone achieves pretty much everything netbooks are trying to achieve. The larger iPod Touch idea makes so much more sense to me because then Apple does have a product that can actually compete in the netbook market (in a strange way...since it's not simply a smaller macbook). IMO, going larger in screen size makes sense, going smaller makes no sense at all.

Exactly. The closest I ever see Apple getting to a netbook is an over-sized iPod Touch. And it will only be similar to a netbook in form factor but definitely not price.

 

[bobfitz14]

Rumors kinda killed Apple, at least in the stock market, this time. Rumors fly about 500 new products and then 3 or 4 really good products get announced. Apple attracted a huge spotlight with the iPhone, and people haven't figured out that you don't create a product like that every year, or even every decade.

good way to put it, in my opinion. no one snaps their fingers and creates a 3rd Gen iPhone, they gotta figure out whats actually worth doing, so they don't come out with it and think "f**k we forgot to add [certain feature], how could we have forgotten?!@#"

i actually use the Stocks app on my Touch just to be a little educated on how the stock market is doing, and i watch the Apple stock, and it is not a one sided football game. it's a constant up and down, with occasional stretches of good days and bad. honestly, a lot of stocks are like this right now, but we're just talking about Apple.

 

[koko256]

iphone nano

I think this small touch screen phone is the wrong concept for iphone nano. I'd imagine more a cell phone made from ipod nano (so no problems for developpers, but only ipod nano apps instead of iTouch/Phone apps). Everything is already in ipod nano: contacts, calendar, images. All apple has to do is to add a gsm chipset, a "call" button in address book and a way to enter digits and letters with the wheel (I'm sure it will be less a pain in the a** than regular T9). If apple can also add an iSight and MMS, it would be my next phone.

 

[TheJackal]

I had this same discussion with a friend of mine a few days ago.

Lets think about this in a rational way:

If Apple did release specs to case manufacturers, what reason would there be for them to identify the actual product? Product dimensions are enough.

So if indeed these manufacturers did get specs for an imminent product launch (which is in itself doubtful), they wouldn't know what product it was in the first place. We all know how secretive Apple is about their launches.

So IF these cases are for a real product, an "iPhone Nano" is their best guess. As has been mentioned before, there's no logical reason for a scaled down iPhone when the 3G is selling so well. After all, the "fast data communication" is part of the whole iPhone experience....that's another reason why Apple prefer to tether their iPhones to "inclusive data" services.

My personal guess is that if a product will exist with these dimensions, its probably a scaled down version of an iPod Touch.

 

[draperm25]

Do u think that there maybe, an iPhone Nano on the horizon, but Steve Jobs want to launch it when he will be back in good health?

Perhaps it wasn't quite ready for Macworld so he will keep it for a little more testing until he is, "right as rain" in the late spring, so then Jobs will announce it?

Well just a little thought?

 

[Theaser]

The only thing I DON'T get is why XSLN and those other case manufacturers didn't take off the iPhone Nano catalog out of display yet. The picture of the iPhone Nano and the case for it is still there.

 

[branjosef]

The only thing I DON'T get is why XSLN and those other case manufacturers didn't take off the iPhone Nano catalog out of display yet. The picture of the iPhone Nano and the case for it is still there.

maybe someone should order one to see exactly what they get. Maybe there really is an iphone nano...but its been delayed. I would be curious to see one of the cases.

 

[maclook]

what would be cool to me is a slide out keyboard on an iPhone Nano (G1/Palm Pre-ish) which wouldn't be noticeable in the front view of a case. The Nano would then have the benefits/drawbacks of having a smaller screen while adding the benefit of a physical keyboard. IMO, Dimensions and a physical keyboard seem to be enough to merit an entirely new product, while dimensions alone would not.

 

[Mikey B]

Do u think that there maybe, an iPhone Nano on the horizon, but Steve Jobs want to launch it when he will be back in good health?

Perhaps it wasn't quite ready for Macworld so he will keep it for a little more testing until he is, "right as rain" in the late spring, so then Jobs will announce it?

Well just a little thought?

i sure don't.

i do think that steve will be unveiling a large iPod Touch/Tablet/Netbook thing though. but not very soon.