From time to time something will occur that will move me to comment on even though it has nothing to do with the T or Boston. Today Apple Inc. ( they changed the name of the company ) introduced the iPhone and suddenly my Treo looks old and tired.
There have been rumors going on three years that Apple would introduce some sort of a cellphone that would double as an iPod but MacWorld would come and go with no announcement. Now we know why they waited.
For the Apple users out there this device seems to have it all. The phone will run a version of OS X, Apple's Web browser - Safari, a 2-megapixel camera, a 160 dot-per-inch screen, and is less than 12 millimeters thick. It will not use a stylus instead users will use their fingers on a touch screen that will zoom if needed. On top of that Apple has partnered with Google and Yahoo for e-mail, GPS satellite mapping and Internet services on the phone. Yahoo claims they will deliver a Blackberry type of email system that will push messages to the device in real time.
Of course this comes with a steep price that will probably jolt me back to reality. The device is expected to cost between $499 and $599 and will only be offered by Cingular which doesn't have the best network in the Boston market. Apple projects they will sell 10 million of them in the next year. That maybe a reach at these prices but they sure will sell a lot of them. The one big question I would have is battery life and if Apple has solved that problem they will be golden.
1 comment:
I dunno, I have a treo and it can do all those things. Sure it doesn't look as pretty but it gets the job done. I feel that apple calling what that thing runs OSX is a lie. I really doubt you'll be able to just load any old app onto it. If I don't like safari will I be able to load on firefox? I somehow doubt it seeing as there is no real desktop and no real expansion capabilities. I also feel that 4-8 GBs will be way too little memory if you plan on using it for all the things that apple says you can use it for.
And no way will it be easier or faster to write an e-mail on that then on a treo or a blackberry. I'll believe the hype behind "multi-touch" when I see it.
I feel that the apple bubble is going to burst within two years and that this may be the boondoggle they need to start. I really don't see who they're marketing it to. The average schlub on the street doesn't need this (and it's way too pricey) and the average business exec is already happy with their blackberry and I don't think this will be better for sending e-mail.
Of course the apple-nuts will go into a fit over this (complete with foaming at the mouth) and gobble them up no matter how flawed they may be though so that's at least a good amount sold. I just don't see the mainstream picking these up.
With all that said I still want one but will not pay for it myself.
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