It is basically a hand held computer, no? It runs on OS X. It has wireless capability. it has a reasonably large screen. It has bluetooth. Is there any reason it could not be loaded with other OS X programs? maybe with a 60 or 80 gb hard drive? Maybe ad a USB port? Use it like an ipod for syncing and viewing data/backups, etc. Now that is a cool take-it-with-you-instead-of-the-laptop gizmo for business people like me!
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I'd like the iPhone... without the phone
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Surely they're going to release a version without phone capability at some point. I mean Jobs hails it as the greatest iPod evvvverrrr, but this "iPod" won't be available outside the U.S. until 2008.
They cannot be planning to stick phone capabilities into all iPods, and they cannot release a new flagship iPod that's inferior to iPhone in terms of the screen and the interface, so it's pretty much inevitable that the next iPod will be an iPhone without the phone but with the PDA capabilities, hopefully WiFi, and most certainly hard disk storage in the 80-100 GB ballpark.
Exactly! You got it! Add VOIP, GPS, PDF viewing, remove Cingular and service contracts, and Apple would have the most awsome handheld computing/communications device ever! But they had to go screw it up with the whole Cingular/cellphone/2year contract crap
Are you listening, Steve???
The only problem I see with this is that as of today Apple is not letting developers write applications or widgets on the iPhone, the OS X version of the iPhone operating system is closed, and when I talked to Apple at Macworld they made it sound like it was going to be that way for awhile.
This would leave out the possibility for a device you are requesting. Unless of course Apple writes the applications.
This would leave out the possibility for a device you are requesting. Unless of course Apple writes the applications.
Exactly! You got it! Add VOIP, GPS, PDF viewing, remove Cingular and service contracts, and Apple would have the most awsome handheld computing/communications device ever! But they had to go screw it up with the whole Cingular/cellphone/2year contract crap
Are you listening, Steve???
Listening to the insane ramblings of a forum user? No, probably not.
Like it or not, there's not nearly enough WiFi coverage to make something for mobile communications that doesn't use cellular technology particularly viable. You're basically asking for a GPS-enabled PDA with Skype on it, which is a market segment that is so tiny I don't see it being particularly profitable for Apple.
I think everyone needs to take a deep breath here. All of the supposed negatives about the iPhone have a bright side:
* The Cingular tie-up ... feel fortunate. This is the first generation iPhone. By 2009, when the Cingular contract is over, it will probably have 4 to 5X the built in memory and most of the things that annoy us about it now will have been solved. Remember the first generation iPod? Did you own it? Most of us didn't get onboard until the 3rd Gen ... I think that will be true for the iPhone too.
* The video iPod ... Look, Jobs isn't stupid, that device is coming. He just wants the iPhone out first so that everyone dying to get this technology first can overspend for it. By next fall, the phone tech will be stripped out of the device and it will exist as a video iPod. But it absolutely WON'T include Skype and all the information manager stuff, because Jobs wants you to buy an iPhone. And eventually he's going to make enough versions of the device for enough carriers that you will.
* The price ... is a joke and Jobs played it like a joke. Well, if an iPod nano costs this, then the price of the phone is ... but the iPod nano WON'T cost that by June ... it will go through an upgrade cycle. So the phone's features and/or price will be adjusted accordingly.
* The keynote domination. Look, it's not 1998, we don't hear from Steve two times a year. The guy probably has 10 big speeches in him this year. The fact that this one was all about iPhone just means that the next product release cycle is a month to six weeks away. Be patient.
Yeah, I want an iPod that is the same shape and size as the 80GB iPod Video and instead of having the screen fill half the front face, have it fill the whole front face. I don't want a phone with all those features, I want a phone so I can make phone calls. You know what I mean?
I think it would be cool for the menu and such to stay the same, simulate a touch wheel and then play videos fullscreen sideways.
I think it would be cool for the menu and such to stay the same, simulate a touch wheel and then play videos fullscreen sideways.
I'd also love an iPhone without phone features. Here's hoping that the iPod 6G will be something like that.
A problem that I see with getting an iPhone without the phone features is that in the process, you lose internet. This is because the internet in the iPhone comes from the telephone, so if you remove the telephone, or the cell service contract, then you lose the internet. And in my opinion, the internet is the second best feature of the iPhone (the best being the PHONE).
The best feature is the phone? Yeah, just spend a day having to take four steps to make a phone call and then tell me if you still think it's the best feature. I think the best feature is the video iPod, then music, followed by e-mail, followed by wireless web (on WiFi, not the dogs--t EDGE network), then phone. I'll bet $100 that the second generation iPhone makes it much simpler to call up a keypad or otherwise place a phone call.
When Apple does release its next generation ipod, I am 99% sure it will only play music and video. There has to be some kind of gap between the iphone and ipod or there will be no reason for a lot of people to buy the iphone.
One thing I'm wondering about is that once activated, will the features of the iphone still work if services are terminated.
I live in Alaska and once I use the iphone up here for 4 months or more, AT&T has the right to terminate my service. If that happens, I'm wondering if I can still use the internet browser and video and music playback. I really want one, but if the features do not stay in existence after service termination, there's no point for me to buy one. Why must Alaska always suffer?
One thing I'm wondering about is that once activated, will the features of the iphone still work if services are terminated.
I live in Alaska and once I use the iphone up here for 4 months or more, AT&T has the right to terminate my service. If that happens, I'm wondering if I can still use the internet browser and video and music playback. I really want one, but if the features do not stay in existence after service termination, there's no point for me to buy one. Why must Alaska always suffer?