Keeping the iPhone Secret

[Whistleway]

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/11/iphone-and-lg-ke850-separated-at-birth/

The LG was announced long before the iPhone.

The LG has already won a design award. Did Apple rip off LG?

Wow. That looks really nice. I wonder when it would be in US and how much. Maybe if they are under 200, I would def buy one !

 

[manu chao]

I was completely wowed by the iPhone and probably will get one when they come to Europe. The only thing is, I actually do not need a smart phone like this. O.k. there might have been a handfull of occasions when it would have nice to having had access to my e-mail on my cell phone or even the internet but then I am basically constantly carrying my MBP with me around wherever I go. And simply stuff like train schedules are easily available via SMS.

My phone currently serves basically only as (duh) a phone (w/ an address book synched to my computer) and as an SMS device. Occasionally I check the calender to see whether e.g. the 15 February is a Monday or a Tuesday, all things for the next to two weeks are usually in my head anyway. As I carry my phone always in my trouser's pocket, its main virtue is to be small. Which my Razr fullfills.

The iPhone will replace my iPod. Something nice to have with you but not as essential as a wallet, a cell phone or my keys. I might therefore keep a small phone in addition to an iPhone.

 

[Poff]

No one said the Apple employees working on the iPhone NEVER saw their families, Poff. Scandinavians have a perception that everyone ought to have half a year off and work 4 hours a day, and have the employer pay for everything. Everywhere else it's a little different--sometimes you have to put in overtime. If you're a salaried employee (the lower people you're concerned about) you get compensated for the time at time and a half, double time or triple time, so it's not such a sacrifice as you seem to think. And executive employees are compensated to include extra time they may have to put in occasionally.

It's called "Work" not "Play", and you have to do it to survive.

Of course they saw their families, but from time to time you hear that a lot of people working for Apple thinks they have too much overtime. And Apple is worse than a lot of other companies.

Half the year off and 4 hour days would be a dream But then again the normal scandinavian (or norwegian atleast) have 5 weeks off/year and 8 hour days.

You seem to believe extra pay compensates for the loss of spending time with your family. Well, most studies shows that it does not. Some overtime is acceptable, but if you have to go a month or two and work long nights every night, it is definitely not acceptable.

 

[EagerDragon]

Well ya, apparently they HAVE to do it because people still leak info even though they we're told not to. I'd do it too if I were Jobs. And anyone who knows Apple knows that thats their whole thing. The secrecy. No one knows anything except some bleak rumor and then suddenly BAM! New product! And then we're all amazed.

Not that different from a movie. You know all the pieces you were involved in but you really don't know what is in the mind of the director and producer. Then the editor goes and cuts a few versions and a final decision gets made. Some are made with no background, it is added later. So the first time they see it played is a big surprize.

 

[EagerDragon]

Me and my family got used to it. My father's been working for a defense contractor since before I was born (25+ years). I've never known of what projects or systems he's been working on and for a long time didn't even know where he worked. All he would say is up north. All with good reason since every few years they are required to take a poly test and have to pass.

The company (several actually) decided to open it's secure door for one day and only one day for a family day. Going into the building was nothing out of the ordinary (except for the armed military guards at the entrance to the facility. It all looked like a normal office building for the DC area except for one conference room with 3 foot thick vault doors. It truly did look like the conference room from the X-files. I mean, same beautiful long wood table with low lighting and a string of chairs around the outer edge of the room. The only difference was the abnormally large projection TV that was showing all the unclassified satellites above the Earth (it looked like a garbage dump up there).

But the iPhone. Yeah, I'm pretty impressed that they seemed to keep it a secret for so long. And I sure and impressed by the device. Good grief it's beautiful.

LOL If I worked there, the employees would be blind folded and turned a bunch of times around on the way to the office, padded and scanned for electronics. Thats just to get to the building, once there ........

 

[Leondunkleyc]

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[beanb0x]

Best prediction?

I don't know about you all but I feel like kevin rose nailed the prediction the best. I watched his video on youtube.com and after that I knew that it was only a keynote announcement away.

 

[MrKobie]

Why is everybody congratulating them for keeping it secret? Keeping it all under wraps serves nobody but apple by maximizing the hype.

Well done to Jobs though - not many people could get a standing ovation for telling people he's going to charge them 600 dollars for a souped-up camera phone.

Also, I very much doubt it'll be an open platform. Like the iPod games - why would they let you download/write your own apps when they can charge you a premium for the ones they sell?

Revolution? Tell me when it starts.

 

[Peel]

Why is everybody congratulating them for keeping it secret? Keeping it all under wraps serves nobody but apple by maximizing the hype.

Are you kidding? keeping it secret let's them get to market first without being ripped off.

They've been working on this for a few years right? and there are dozens of innovations in the iPhone. If knowledge of the specifics of it were public a year or so ago, I have no doubt that some other company would go to market with one or two of the phone's innovations before Apple was ready with one that has all that it does. So then Apple would be faced with the choice of also going to market with a phone with only a couple new things, or risk being scooped.

 

[iW00t]

Very well done Apple. I can't believe they went as far as making decoys to keep it a secret.

That is why Apple stuff costs so much, all these decoys must have cost a lot of money... an unnecessary expense incurred only by Apple due to Steve's paranoia

 

[macEfan]

wow, apple will go along way to keep things secritive... fake devices for their own employees....sneaky!