Tim Gaden10 January 2007, 12:53 AM
Excuse me, I'm going to gush. Steve Jobs has again demonstrated that the core values of Apple -- innovation, design and attention to the end-user experience -- in a phone. I'm in love (again).
Excuse me, I'm going to gush.
It was a landmark Keynote.
It's a landmark device; a really smart smart phone!
This Keynote did more than remove the word "Computer" from Apple's company name. It demonstrated that the core values of Apple-- innovation, design and attention to the end-user experience--which have made the company's computers and music players into icons are now set to do the same for mobile phones.
I won't get my hands on an iPhone until 2008, but already I'm in love. It is the smart smart phone that people have been waiting for, a fact underscored by the 200+ patents involved in creating it.
I'm in love ten ways:
1. Smart Interaction. Finally no more lost or fiddly stylus action! Apple's Multi-Touch software makes the stylus redundant. I rate this near the top of the features to love.
2. Smart design. Sure it looks nice. What Apple product doesn't? But the real triumph is Apple's commitment to a design philosophy that it not just about looks. Thin (11.6 mm), sparse and elegant, designed so that the software and hardware work perfectly together.
3. Smart heart. The iPhone runs Mac OS X. It's hard to tell from the Keynote if it is a cut-down version or full-strength, but it promises the same intelligence, stability and elegance that I currently enjoy on my MacBook Pro.
4. Smart sensors. With three built-in sensors, the iPhone knows more about what it is doing than I do. A proximity sensor, an accelerometer that automatically switches from landscape to portrait mode and back and ambient light sensors make this more self-aware device on the market
5. Smart email. Rich HTML emails and true Blackberry-like "push" email make my Nokia E60 look like a dinosaur. This looks like a phone that it will be fun to email on, rather than a phone that you use to check your email is really, really have to.
6. Smart browsing. I've enjoyed using Opera mobile on my Nokia, but the full-strength Safari included in the new iPhone just blows it out of the water. It does really look like "the Internet in your pocket" as Steve suggests.
7. Smart headphones. Why are music phones less successful than the iPod? One of the key reasons has to be that you have to use the manufacturer’s special headphones, which you inevitably leave at home/work/in the other backpack. Phone manufacturers love the special headphones because replacements are a source of high-profit incremental revenue. Users usually hate them. Apple’s solution is special headphones that take advantage of the phone functionality but still fit into a standard headphone slot. Typical Apple elegance.
8. Smart voicemail. Steve says, "Wouldn't it be great if you didn't have to listen to five [voicemails] to get to the sixth?" Oh, yes, it would. The new visual voicemail on the iPhone lets me choose which messages to listen to. No more waiting until the phone lets me hear the one I'm interested in.
9. Smart speaker. I'm not sure what quality the built-in speaker in the iPhone will deliver, but I bet my freelancing income for the next six months that it is better than the speaker included in any other four mobile phones I've used before. Even if I leave my standard headphones at home, I'm not stuck anymore.
10. Smart integration. In a perverse way I've grown to love the nightmare of syncing my phones and hand-helds with my Mac through third-party conduits and software. Everyone loves a challenge. The iPhone will bring all that to an end with seamless integration of contacts and all the info I need.
Smart... [Dear Editor, do I really have to stop at ten?]
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