Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

The Origins and Development of the iPhone

ungraphic said:
Right.

Anyway, yes, the iphone lacks a lot of things, you know.......the things he mentioned? Or are you just delusional?
Click to expand...

Delusional because I can see the difference between a gremlin and a 5 series?

This is not about small features like excel edit(that will get here). This is about a whole new platform that is like a stick of dynamite in the old cell phone industry's hen house. I guess it is fine if some people can not see the feathers flying and instead will whine about little things that will be fixed with software.

Add all the software you want to a palm treo and it will never get to the iphones level of use. Because palm employees do not have the same devotion to quality and ease of use.

That is what sets the iphone apart and "makes it so special", NOT because someone can not take a video of someone falling down drunk and send it as an attachment to all his likeminded friends.
 
Breckenridge said:
It takes 3 clicks to get to the number pad, so making a phone call can be a bit more tasking than using any other phone.
Click to expand...

Set up your Home button double-click to send you to Phone Favorites and you are only two clicks away (counting the double-click as one click).
 
Breckenridge said:
I really don't think the iPhone is that special, I was more productive with my treo and now since I switched to the iPhone I miss my treo. I cannot download email attachments and save locally on the phone. It takes 3 clicks to get to the number pad, so making a phone call can be a bit more tasking than using any other phone. Copy / Paste ? Send a file wirelessly from one iPhone to another? video recording? Ability to edit a word or excel document?

The iPhone still lacks some serious software upgrades to become a productive business phone.
Click to expand...

One encouraging thing this article alludes to is that Apple had to really cut out a lot of desired functionality to meet their deadline. Given what we know of Apple, they want their software to be as revolutionary as their hardware. I now expect that we may see one helluva large iPhone software update either at Macworld or soon after that will bring the software side of the iPhone up to par with the industry leading hardware side of the iPhone.

Apple's success has hinged on producing a spectacular user experience through the seamless integration of hardware and software. The iPhone will be no different and before this year is up, the software running on the iPhone will make it the most feature complete and productive smart phone/handheld/internet tablet ever produced.

Don't forget, with the SDK now opening up the iPhone to third-party developers, the software solutions that will be available will increase at least ten-fold. Where today you have no solution, by the end of the year you may have 3 or 4 different application solutions to choose from.

Patience, my young padawans! Rome wasn't built in a day, so it will probably take :apple: at least another year or two to recreate the didital universe.

:)
 
havand said:
I can't believe how much money apple gets from these things. $400+$240 per contract?? That's WITHOUT accessories. What was their estimated cost to build, 200? (really stretching the memory on that one, not at all confident).

I'm so frustrated with our cellphone industry in the U.S. Compared to the rest of the world, we're so backwards and are being abused left and right by the carriers. Why can't I buy a phone and THEN pick my carrier based on if my phone is GSM or CDMA? Makes no sense. I think the cellphone marketing strategy should be for a set fee. Ie, you pay $40/month and that includes all data, texts, and as many minutes, within the U.S., as you can use. I don't get all the 'minutes' crap.
Click to expand...

You can. You just dont get a contract discount. Your free to buy any damn phone you please just like the all wonderful europe. They dont get discounts either.
 
plumbingandtech said:
Delusional because I can see the difference between a gremlin and a 5 series?

This is not about small features like excel edit(that will get here). This is about a whole new platform that is like a stick of dynamite in the old cell phone industry's hen house. I guess it is fine if some people can not see the feathers flying and instead will whine about little things that will be fixed with software.

Add all the software you want to a palm treo and it will never get to the iphones level of use. Because palm employees do not have the same devotion to quality and ease of use.

That is what sets the iphone apart and "makes it so special", NOT because someone can not take a video of someone falling down drunk and send it as an attachment to all his likeminded friends.
Click to expand...

You sound like some tv evangelist using old biblical scriptures as a means of making a point. Nowhere in your incoherent rambling did you say anything remotely close to making a decent, logica or rational thought.

Thank you, for proving my original point of being delusional.
 
fs454 said:
They spent a year working on Tablet PC tech?

Oh really?

This makes me more confident that a tablet-type Mac will be shown at MWSF.
Click to expand...

This to me is the biggest news in this article.

aapl is cheap at 176:)
 
danielpi said:
The idea is that the jerkwad phone companies are the ones that set the exorbitant prices (not manufacturers) for their crappy little phones, and then they will pay for the "expensive" handset, as long as you sign your soul to them for two years. Of course, they're not really paying Nokia or LG or anyone the "list price" -- they just made whatever astronomically high number they wanted, so it seems like you're getting a real bargain when you sign up with them. The phones themselves cost practically nothing to produce, with minimal R&D.

So, the trick is this: Nokia makes a $20 phone (that is, it costs $20 to manufacture). AT&T advises Nokia that the phone is worth $100. Nokia sets the price at $100. AT&T will offer to GIVE you the phone, if you sign up with AT&T. AT&T pays Nokia maybe something like $30 for the phone. You think you've saved $100. Your first monthly bill is $80, of which $49 is profit for AT&T, after they paid Nokia. Each subsequent bill is $79 of pure profit.

The difference with iPhone (and the reason that AT&T isn't giving them out if you sign up) is that 1) Apple set the price, not AT&T; 2) Apple actually expects to get $400 for every iPhone they sell (minus whatever percentage for phones sold in AT&T stores); and 3) The iPhone actually is a $400 phone. That is to say, the cost to research, develop, manufacture, and garner a (reasonable) profit makes $400 a sensible price -- no "wiggle room" for AT&T.
Click to expand...

So running the network and infrastructure and personnel does not cost at&t anything?

Serious flaw in your theory.
 
ungraphic said:
I can imagine how much bull**** he had to feed them with his 'reality distortian field.' Steve Jobs is the greatest spin doctor to have ever walked the face of the earth. If theres anyone greater at exaggerating a product, please give me a name.

Also, the iphone is hardly revolutionary. Late, is what it is, the only thing its got thats revolutionary is a multi-touch interface, and lack of tactile keys, which makes it a crappy product. Also, aesthetically, it looks like ass, hardly represents the usual 'apple' look. Jonathan Ive must be glad that at least some people are dumb enough to buy an iphone and ipod touch.
Click to expand...

He is just pissed he cant get one in canada yet.
 
plumbingandtech said:
Good one! oh wait. You really mean that you think a treo is in the same league as the iphone? Well I guess you are write. And my old AMC Gremlim was a car just like a BMW 5 series.
Click to expand...

No day on macrumors is complete until someone brings up a flawed car analogy. Truely, it's one of the great Macrumors cliches.

Very interesting article, surprised that development was as cheap as 150 million.
 
Breckenridge said:
I really don't think the iPhone is that special, I was more productive with my treo and now since I switched to the iPhone I miss my treo. I cannot download email attachments and save locally on the phone. It takes 3 clicks to get to the number pad, so making a phone call can be a bit more tasking than using any other phone. Copy / Paste ? Send a file wirelessly from one iPhone to another? video recording? Ability to edit a word or excel document?

The iPhone still lacks some serious software upgrades to become a productive business phone.
Click to expand...

You are exceptional. Several business users I know who switched from the Treo to the iPhone say the Treo feels prehistoric in comparison.
 
They have the technology bot not the service. My German Iphone was damaged, so I called Apple. They told me to go to T-Mobile, so I went. But they told me they don't know what to do with an Iphone, so they gave me the phone number from Apple and told me to call them. I called Apple once again but they told me they don't service Iphones.

So I think I will throw it out of the window. Hopefully it will land on some Apple employee.
 
Rodimus Prime said:
well you can buy your phone then pick your carrier if you want for the GSM phones. Just it is going to cost you quite a bit more money to get the phone because it is not be subsidized by the providers.
Click to expand...


Yes and you're handing over lots more money to the carrier because the 'subsidy' for the phone is built into the contract price, which, is why I hate the system. I wish they'd reduce the prices and let me buy my own phone.
 
Padraig said:
No day on macrumors is complete until someone brings up a flawed car analogy. Truely, it's one of the great Macrumors cliches.
Click to expand...

It's what I come here for ...

But back on topic, good read and pretty extraordinary the lengths they went to to keep the thing under wraps.
 
ungraphic said:
I can imagine how much bull**** he had to feed them with his 'reality distortian field.' Steve Jobs is the greatest spin doctor to have ever walked the face of the earth. If theres anyone greater at exaggerating a product, please give me a name.

Also, the iphone is hardly revolutionary. Late, is what it is, the only thing its got thats revolutionary is a multi-touch interface, and lack of tactile keys, which makes it a crappy product. Also, aesthetically, it looks like ass, hardly represents the usual 'apple' look. Jonathan Ive must be glad that at least some people are dumb enough to buy an iphone and ipod touch.
Click to expand...

I would agree that the iPhone is hardly revolutionary, and that it's late considering that something of its caliber should have been developed by an actual telecom company a long time ago, but for it to come from a company with no prior experience, as this article discusses, is pretty incredible.

Anyway, you talk like a troll, so I don't have much more to say, but I was curious--since everyone else is delusional and "failing," perhaps you could explain to me this. How does the iPhone look like "ass," or deviate from Apple design standards? It is small, made from highly durable materials barring the tragic flaw that if you dropped it from too high/at the wrong angle you're in a bad way--Aluminum and glass. Aluminum has been in macs since 2003. Glass was just put on the iMacs. The curves of the machine are reminiscent of the MacBook Pro, the MacBook, the iMac, and the Mac Pro. It's simple, with an absolute minimum of buttons on its surface, and the user interface flows like butter. How does that deviate from Apple's standards? and again, please explain to me how it looks like "ass?" It sure doesn't look like mine.

I am not trying to say that the phone is perfect. It lacks a number of abilities, including the ability to store, view, and edit arbitrary file types, particularly office documents, although at least it can read those. But I think that it would make more sense to criticize those things rather than go on an irrational tirade about its poor design. If you want to criticize the design, please do, but calling it crap for no reason?

"Fail."
 
princigalli said:
They have the technology bot not the service. My German Iphone was damaged, so I called Apple. They told me to go to T-Mobile, so I went. But they told me they don't know what to do with an Iphone, so they gave me the phone number from Apple and told me to call them. I called Apple once again but they told me they don't service Iphones.

So I think I will throw it out of the window. Hopefully it will land on some Apple employee.
Click to expand...

You should e-mail Steve Jobs and tell him that Apple Europe's Service sucks, and tell him your story. It's a long shot, but you never know. There have been a number of people that have e-mailed him and gotten a response that seemed personal.

Your story does not click with my experience with my iPhone here in the US. They replaced my phone, no questions asked, even though the tech could not even see the issue I saw with the screen. I was extremely impressed with the service I received.
 
Great article. I would love to hear how they kept the teams motivated despite the amount of pressure they were under to deliver.
 
jdee2wheels said:
Actually, the number of patents on bicycle transmissions would make your head spin. People have been working on trying to find an alternative to the chain driven bicycle forever. There are plenty of commuter bikes that now have internal transmission but you won't see any of this on high end bikes. Unfortunately with less than a 1/2 horsepower motor (your legs) all these fancy high tech transmissions suck when compared to the efficiency of a chain and cogs. Sometimes there is a reason why a technology sticks around.
Click to expand...

Sorry to continue to stray off topic, but coincidentally this just came up on one of my favorite bike forums (although it's an older article)

http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/home99/aug99/bike.html

Personally, I would love to see Apple design a bike!

tys
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back