Click here to subscribe
iPhone, on the thin line between love and hate
Like many others, I did a post about the iPhone after the Macworld Keynote. Why? Because I was excited about the possibilities a device like the iPhone could bring, particularly when coming from a company I share so many values with, Apple. After reading through everything that’s been said and written, however, I’m not as excited as I was, the reasons being outlined below.
Provider lock-down
If you want to buy an iPhone in the US, you’ll have to deal with Cingular. I’m not saying their service is good or bad, as I have no experience with it, but this forced contract doesn’t appeal to me as a consumer. I want to have the best combination of device and operator, not the combination forced upon me by one of these parties.
There’s also no word from Apple on how the device is going to market in Europe or Asia. We’ll have to wait, but I’m assuming we’ll see similar contract lock-downs to providers, or a dramatic price increase.
Feature lock-down
One of the first things Jobs mentioned in the Keynote was that the iPhone runs OSX - I find that to be a gross exaggeration and clearly one for the eyes and ears of the press (it did get the crowd to cheer). The iPhone runs its own platform (sure, they can call it OSX as well), bearing little resemblance with Apple’s operating system.
The iPhone is a walled garden. It has what seem to be great applications and services, but Jobs himself said no third party would be allowed to develop for the phone in an interview with the NYT:
“We define everything that is on the phone,” he said. “You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore. These are more like iPods than they are like computers.”
This is a grave oversight. Jobs announced the product as a revolution but fails in not realizing that the real value of the product is as a platform to build upon. Steve, we don’t want it to be like a PC, but we do want it to be like an Apple computer.
Ironically, Nokia seems to be going in the opposite direction - that being a good thing -, with their N700 (and now N800) mobile devices which anyone can develop apps for as they’ve made all the necessary tools available, free of charge.
The bottom line on this point is that without openness in the iPhone platform, it will just be another good looking device. You can just imagine the possibilities if your favorite developers could create applications for your new phone.
In conclusion
I must start by saying it’s still a remarkable device. It innovates in several aspects, and for those who need a phone that “looks good, works well”, you’ve got it. For those of us who were looking for a device we could work on and develop for to become an extension of our businesses, well… We’ll just have to keep on looking.
All this post, written on an iMac, wrapped up in a Macbook Pro, playing music from an iPod. I’m clearly a fan - but Apple doesn’t seem to listen to fans that often.
Photos by Niall Kennedy, released under a CC non-commercial license.
Related reading
Dave Winer has a very good post on this very same issue, as does Mathew Ingram.
Related Link: iPhone Unlocker Rebel sim- The sim card unlocking solution
I was really excited when I heard about the iPhone and I have to say that I still feel the same way, but more because I was looking forward to an iPod with a touch sensitive display.
However, I can understand Apple’s point by saying that they don’t want their device to malfunction. But of course, as a developer, I wanna use my own apps on my mobile device (currently doing a project at college where we control the air condition and window shades via Bluetooth.
Maybe they’ll change their opinion or they will at least allow some sort of certification for 3rd party software.
Comment by Christoph — January 14, 2007 @ 4:39 pm