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06/28/2007: "iRock Or iHype - You Make The Call!"
So ... are you in line for your new iPhone yet? Of course, that's somewhat rhetorical. If you were, you probably couldn't read this or if you could, it would be on some BlackSomething device that will become obsolete tomorrow.
Clearly, Apple's Steve Jobs has the touch when it comes to new consumer products. From the iMac to the iPod and now the iPhone, Jobs has the iMagic. But when we look back at the first few months of Apple's new wonder device, how will we see it?
No one does the whole media blitz thing the way Apple does. From Jobs whipping his iPhone out at a Mac convention last winter to the incredible commercials highlighting the device's features, the media frenzy is at full tilt. But how can any new device live up to the reputation the iPhone has even before the first one hits the public? We all know how notoriously unreliable first generation products are, but Apple has had a pretty good track record in that area. They've also worked to scale back expectations - after all, when you're on top, the only place to go is down!
I got a chance to see a live demo of the iPhone the other day on CNBC. Unlike the Apple media events or commercials, this was a journalist showing off the features - and they worked just like advertised! The touch screen was amazing, and the applications did just what they were supposed to do. The biggest complaint he has was something over which Apple really has no control. Their telco partner in the venture, AT&T, has a weak network compared to other brands, and right now that's the only network on which the iPhone works.
The other complaint I've heard is about having to use iTunes to download music and load the iPhone, rather than letting the user download directly over the cellular network to the phone. Let's see - Apple already has a music infrastructure in place that nets well over 70% of the music download market share, but they don't want to adopt a different strategy. Gee, wonder why. Besides, that would only serve to highlight the less than spectacular network performance.
Frankly, despite the name, I think that those who think of th iPhone as a phone first are making a mistake. It's not a phone with cool features; it's a wireless handheld computer that also happens to be a phone. Remember, this thing runs a full-features operating system. You don't get a cut down OS like Palm or Windows CE - this is full-blown Mac OSX. That means that all the cool things we already have on our Macs could easily appear on our iPhone. One of the biggest features of the iPhone - the Mac web browser Safari - is just the first of many Mac OSX elements you can expect to see. And all of that in the best video iPod ever made.
Damn ... I'd better go get in line!!! 
UPDATE: Jobs held an all-employees meeting today - first in nearly a decade - to discuss the impact of the iPhone. He said that he saw it as the third leg of the Apple triad, with the Mac being one leg and the iPod and iTunes store being the second. He's also going to give every full time Apple employee their own iPhone ... talk about great advertising!
