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From Fan to Pan

Black Belt

Black Belt

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 15, 2007
1,073
972
California
I was really, REALLY excited about the iPhone after Steve's first presentation which really made it seem like the iPhone was full of promise and possibility. Since then, it has been a continuous stream of what it won't do and what they won't LET it do, even though it could.

The final straw for me was Steve's announcement about the revolutionary approach to 3rd party development - they can develop web pages. Like it wasn't an insulting and moronic comment and something along the lines of "Duh, we can already do that!" And he used the term "Web 2.0" which is a dumb buzzword that really doesn't mean anything. He was hoping the techno-illiterate would hear it and go gaa gaa. The only people it fooled, temporarily, were the illiterate pressbots and the TV Mac Guy who doesn't know anything anyway if it doesn't involve making a photo album.

The iPhone, as it has been currently crippled, is no longer a smartphone. It is a browser phone that plays music. But it does it really pretty! Big deal. No 3rd Party Applications means no creativity allowed, and none of the functionality that people have come to expect from a PDA/Smartphone - so much for "The Rest of Us".

It could have been the next evolution in Palm/Windows Mobile PDA and Smartphone devices, instead it is a sour disappointment that costs 600 bucks. As it stands, maybe they should market it as "the phone for people willing to pay for the most expensive phone available and who can just screw around all day surfing the net SLOWLY on an undersized screen, listening to music and eating because it really won't help you do much more than that."

I went from a huge fan going to buy on the first day and switching carriers - the works - to now I am panning it because it just has not lived up to what we were told.
 
seriously. i'm sick of hearing people telling stories of how they were so excited for the phone and now they hate it. you still haven't even seen the phone. just calm down everybody and wait till we actually know everything about it (probably the 29th) and then complain about it if you feel it's necessary. i've never heard so much complaining about a device that nobody (excluding a few insiders) has ever even touched. :rolleyes:
 
Black Belt said:
...and none of the functionality that people have come to expect from a PDA/Smartphone - so much for "The Rest of Us".

It could have been the next evolution in Palm/Windows Mobile PDA and Smartphone devices,
Click to expand...

How can something be the next evolution of an already saturated market, and at the same time be for "The Rest of Us?" "The Rest of Us" are people who don't want just some feature bolted onto the same old design. I'm sure Palm or Blackberry will be releasing products that are the next evolution in smartphones–wait for it. "The Rest of Us" want something different. Maybe that is the iPhone and maybe it isn't, but its sure as sh*t ain't an Apple branded Treo 800p which seems to be what you want.

It kills me when people say "I'm not buying the iPhone because of 'X'" where 'X' is GPS, or 3G or some other feature. Great! That is exactly what Apple wants. They'll sell a ton of iPhones without 3G. And when that market is saturated they'll add one feature and not only sell that model to all the people who were waiting for feature X, but also to a large segment of people who bought the first model and now want to upgrade. Then when that market saturates they'll add feature Y and sell to all those who were waiting for feature Y, and all those who bought before but now want to upgrade.

Its called evolutionary product design, and Apple does it as well as anybody.

Apple is only revolutionary once in a while (which is awesome because most companies are only revolutionary once) e.g. original Macintosh, iPod, and maybe, the iPhone. People expect every Macworld and WWDC to be revolutionary ("Waaa! Leopard didn't have X, and I thought it would") when in fact they are usually evolutionary.

Apple will sell a ton of iPhones just because it is an iPod and phone. They then have a lot of features they will slowly bolt on, with probably a few surprises here an there, and some will be software and some hardware, and eventually they'll hit a point where you'll want to buy one or you won't. Why this roadmap is so shocking to you and others that it deserves yet another thread post, I'll never know.
 
I love when people get disappointed over a product that:

The product hasn't even been released, let alone the exact details haven't either.


Tell me one thing that the iPhone was able to do but all of a sudden now can't.
 
I never understood why this programming thing is an issue with the average user.
 
If it's really that much of a disappointment, it won't sell.

I have a feeling it will be really successful for Apple and they'll sell very well, even at $600.
 
you hit it right on the nose. The iPhone is not really meant for hardcore business users. Sure, it will be great for some business aspects, but in all reality, it was never intended for that. If that is what you need, go get a Moto Q. The iPhone is, however, meant for everyone else. But I do think it's weird when people give their "reviews" of the iPhone when they haven't even seen one in person yet.
 
Even with the high price, I'd bet that over 50% of the iPhone buyers will be people who have never used a smart phone before. 3rd party apps won't make or break the iPhone's success.
 
I love the complainers because most of them think

"hmm, maybe if I threaten not to buy it because I wanted feature X, someone at Apple will be reading these forums, read my message, knock on Steves door, and let him know that they are losing a customer because of it. Which in turn Steve will jump out of his chair, run down to engineering, have them scrap the finished product, and re-design it to the way IIIII want it."
 
I guess my assessment of the TV Mac Guy was not too far off the mark to reality. Not everyone needs their stuff "dumbed-down" for them, but if you do more power to ya. Go back to making your photo albums.

et al: Apparently you can't discern the difference between my decision not to buy and a review, that's what's weird. But you're so intent on whoring for a corporation for some bizarre reason that you ignore common sense. Of course I am not reviewing it, I am making a decision not to bother with buying it. If you don't like my opinion, tough ****.

cmschmidt: Tough ****, don't read it then.

meagain: If you don't understand the programming issue, then it's obviously not a problem for you. It doesn't mean it is not a problem.

lekun: It deserves a thread post because I wanted to post one, if you don't like it, again, tough ****. The reason people expect the "Revolutionary change" is because that is the smoke Jobs is blowing up everyone's asss at every turn. I don't see why it's shocking that people call him on it. Jobs sold the iPhone as the a leap forward in Smartphones and its mostly a step backwards. It's really pretty and has cool touch features but that doesn't make it a smartphone by any stretch of Koolaid.
 
Sorry, you do not have the monopoly on opinions, nor do you have any shred of credibility to dictate how I choose to post threads. I don't need you to like it, but in fact I am enjoying the violent irrational response which betrays the lack of real sincerity of discussion by certain people. Lots of people care about these issues, but there is obviously a lot of attempting to bully into silence unfavorable opinions here.

Doesn't work with me brother.
 
I don't ever recall the iPhone being referred to as a 'smartphone' or sold as a 'smartphone'. If you want a smartphone, buy one. If you want a phone/mp3 player/internet device, then buy the best one out there, which is a iPhone. Apple is not trying to compete with the blackberries/pocket pc's(smartphone's)/palm devices. There going after the Upstage (Sprint), the Sync (AT&T), the chocolate(Verizon), etc... see a pattern emerging here. If you're going to compare something, make sure you're comparing apples to apples or in this case, apples to every other boring cell phone on the market today.
 
Jeepers!

Good Gravy ...

Give the guy a break! He actually does make some good points. I'm still buying the iphone and I will be one of those willing to stand in line for a day to get it (in other words, he didn't change my mind) but I'm not sure jumping on this guy is really what we need to do here.

I've had a Mac since the first one ... had a Lisa ... bought a Newton ... and loved some and didn't love others. But I have always been passionate about Apple as the best computer company there is out there. Sometimes, other people that are also passionate about Apple seem to feel that if somebody says something just a little critical of Apple it's like "KILL THE BASTARD". Give it a rest, he's right about some stuff. Everybody gets an opinion and let's just not act like just because he was slightly critical he's the devil or something.

2 weeks and 39 minutes until my iphone!
 
Not really too bothered about the iPhone at this moment in time to be honest, but the grizzling kid photos actually made me laugh out loud for the first time at the end of a bad day... so thanks for that ;)
 
I have no problem with people not liking the iPhone, wanting to complain about what it doesn't do or that is doesn't do what they want. If people don't like it fine, their opinion, but if you're going to complain about it because it is not something that it was never meant to be, nor claimed to be, that a different issue. This is NOT being marketed as a smartphone, which seems to be the starting point of the majority of the complaints being made. Maybe people should set their expectations closer to what the phone is being market as..."a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device."
 
Yea, it is a bummer that is can't do what a Smartphone can do. But personally, I'm not buying the phone thinking it would replace my current 8525.

As a software engineer myself, I understand the complexities of adding a wealth of features to a v1 unit. Apple is not a company that is simply looking at a spec sheet to stamp some standardized OS on their device and call it good. Apple is building this unit from the ground up by including a version of Mac OS X. The true potential of this model is astounding, but requires extreme care. I believe Apple "locked" the phone in order to build upon this idea, and the only way to build on it is to let us (consumers and developers) play with it. Web 2.0 is limiting I agree, but is a necessary step to help facilitate a larger growth model for the future. Remember the first versions of WinMO? Nuff said..

And just as a side note to those who do not know, all of MS mobile OS's are still built from a crippled version of Win 9X... WinMO 6 is no different.

:apple:
 
Like I posted in the other thread, I think people were just expecting Apple to announce more features, rather than take them away like you said. However, I agree with the above post that this is still a work in progress for Apple, and it's their first crack at a smartphone (or any phone for that matter). I have a feeling that they will continue to increase support for it and announce new applications after its release, so don't get too disappointed yet. Remember, Apple didn't tell us the MacBook Pro had 802.11n built in until after it was released. It's possible that the iPhone may have something similar to hide, or that Apple will surprise us with some new features in the future.
 
Jayrod said:
you hit it right on the nose. The iPhone is not really meant for hardcore business users. Sure, it will be great for some business aspects, but in all reality, it was never intended for that. If that is what you need, go get a Moto Q. The iPhone is, however, meant for everyone else. But I do think it's weird when people give their "reviews" of the iPhone when they haven't even seen one in person yet.
Click to expand...

I am not one that is looking for business use of the iPhone. Though out of the box I really would like at least the ability to view PDF's. I am willing to "print" my files on my Mac so that they can be viewed on the iPhone.

And why no 3G support on the slow EDGE network? Why no mention of tethering options for Mac notebooks? Crying out loud, this is an Apple product. They could have used this as a value add to get people to switch to the Mac platform. Even to justify the .Mac fees some of us pay.
 
Black Belt said:
Doesn't work with me brother.
Click to expand...

Yeah, evidently it doesn't.

If you are going to come in and say you no longer like the iPhone then you shouldn't be too surprised when other folk come out and disagree. But having owned a TX and a 700p from Palm I can tell you that PDAs and Smartphones have their limitations too. Grafitti (or whatever it is now)? Blazer? A keyboard that only a thumb wrestler in need of training could love?

That the iPhone is not currently intended for business/enterprise use is now clear. If that turns you off then Apple lost a sale. But a phone with email and web capabilities tied into a music player? Let's face it, it's a consumer device. This is more a RAZR on steroids, not a gelded Treo.
 
Chip NoVaMac said:
Why no mention of tethering options for Mac notebooks? Crying out loud, this is an Apple product. They could have used this as a value add to get people to switch to the Mac platform. Even to justify the .Mac fees some of us pay.
Click to expand...

Tethering is something cell phone companies charge out the a** for, so I can see them not offering it knowing that 99% of people don't want to pay for something like that. And if it can tether only to a mac, they shot themselves in the foot even worse.

I could see them never including this feature, actually. A lot of smartphones don't have it. And if it's a phone with an organizer, email client, web browser, and applications, that's generally considered a smartphone. Especially since it has a keyboard in the software.
 
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