[boead]

So calling people that bought iPhones mutants and whatever isn't aggressive?

Why do you have such a problem with this?  I just don't see Apple as being
part of a big mind control plot, or whatever you think it is.

If you don't want one, vote with your dollar.  Don't buy one.  Kind of hard
to believe Apple is still here after all these years because they make junk.

Steve Jobs is laughing all the way to the bank over people like you...
All your getting in a frenzy does is make people go investigate the iPhone.

It's actually quite funny!

Oh come on now, don’t twist my word to accommodate your point. The mutant word (in order to be politically correct, we will refer to mutants as “DNA challenged” or just simply the ‘m’ word) was used after I was informed of my aggressive tone (although I still see no reason for it).
Mind control plot? Ummm, what are you smoking? Send me some! 

Frenzy? No frenzy here unless seeking to understand is a frenzy. No one can explain how this is such a revolutionary new product. And I’m not sure how well this will actually go over for Apple. Like I have been trying to say, the business applications fall short and I don’t actually know anyone who is getting one and I should!! I work in ‘that perfect type” of industry where this sort of thing would be BIG news. The only comments I’ve heard were complaints how it’s entirely useless to them and how it wont replace their Smart Phone and how they are just not interested in it. THEN I read Google news where the reality that I live in doesn’t exist. BizarreO world, this is.

I was looking forward to a new cool phone/music player to replace both my aging iPod and my phone. Something like the Chocolate phone seemed perfect but the audio output is said to be less then that of an iPod or Nano. I then considered a MotoQ but it’s more then I wanted in a phone and too big (wide).

The iPhone is a BIG disappointment to me.

Its funny because when the new Motorola Razor came out my entire office was buzzing with excitement. Weeks after it was released, a third of the office had one and a few of my friends too. The Apple iPhone has only brought silence and again, when I ask people they don’t seem to care. Yeah, they have seen the commercials and think its cool but they’re not interested in it. Maybe it’s mostly because of the AT&T thing. Here in NY AT&T wireless sucked for the longest time and most people use Verizon or Sprint and Nextel.

Anyway… Enjoy your phones.

[Bemopti123]

My work will buy me a blackberry (and pay the service) if I want one, but so far I've avoided it.  It would be nice to be able to d/l a bunch of my research onto it for reading to and from work, but so far printing it out and carrying it with me works just fine.   There is nothing via email that is *that* urgent that can't wait till the next day or if it was that important, someone would call me about it and I'd remotely sign into work.

That is a smart move Josh, for people are more chained than liberated with things like the BBy.  I remember a friend of mine who was vacationing in France for a week and she had to check and crank out emails, all because she was given a BBy. 

[PhilNYC]

No one can explain how this is such a revolutionary new product.

I think people have tried to describe that the user interface is the "revolutionary" aspect of the iPhone, but that doesn't seem to be very important to you.  Why not just leave it at that?  I'll admit that IMHO you do come off as being very aggressive in your disdain for the iPhone...to the same extent some of those "mac enthusiasts" are in praising Apple in many ways.  If that's not your intention, I apologize...but that's how it comes off IMHO...

Its funny because when the new Motorola Razor came out my entire office was buzzing with excitement. Weeks after it was released, a third of the office had one and a few of my friends too.

My wife has had a Razor for a while, and she still can't figure out most of the features/functions...

[macrojack]

boead - I gotta agree with the others. You seem to be chafing your cheeks to an inordinate degree over the intro of a simple gadget. I mean, there are things in this world that get me annoyed because they seem to be living on a reputation they are unable to support like The Grateful Dead and Harley Davidson, but they are proven failures where the I-Phone is new and remains an unproven failure. Your vehemence seems to betray a concealed agenda of some sort. After all, why would a sophisticated, well-traveled, and tech-savvy mensch such as you bother to even notice a gizmo that doesn't cut his mustard?

[boead]

I felt compelled!

I just can’t take all the brouhaha anymore.

And I noticed it, how could anyone NOT notice it. I wanted one! But just so much missing for one type of application and way to much for the other and then the AT&T thing!

Sorry, didn’t mean to chaff my cheek but your right.

My wife has had a Razor for a while, and she still can't figure out most of the features/functions...

My 9 year old daughter can show her.  its easy.

[jon_010101]

Do you have any idea how you will have to wait to download a video? I provide video broadcast in 3GGP format to Smartphone users. Basically no phone system supports it except Sprint and each clip is limited to 2MB.  Verizon uses a closed system called VCast so its useless to anyone like us. Regardless, it takes a stupidly long time to download anything. I cant’ see anyone doing it more then just a few times as a novelty and then forgetting about it. Unless your like 16 years old.

Seriously, this isn’t what WE want. It just something they can do, so they do it and market it as the next best thing but its not. It’s just stupid and useless.

boead, is this why you don't like the iPhone?  Is this a corporate competition issue?  This is an honest question -- I'm not trying to be inflammatory here, but I get the impression that there is some deeper level to your distaste for the iPhone, as macrojack has suggested.

Also, I agree with your AT&T concerns expressed above -- nevertheless, I am switching from Verizon, because I am tired of using my clunky old Motorola E815, and tired of paying for every "feature" I want to use.

[Watson]

My wife has had a Razor for a while, and she still can't figure out most of the features/functions...

My 9 year old daughter can show her.  its easy.

It's easy if you're willing to invest the time to learn how to find the features and understand the interface.  But it isn't natural or inviting.  I have more experience with Nokia and LG phones, because I've owned them personally, and on neither would I consider the experience pleasant.  I made a decision earlier this year not to buy any more Nokia phones because the user-interface, while comprehensible, was not consistent.  I enjoyed my LG phone interface more -- it is far more consistent -- but finding things is a bear.  The iPhone has none of these issues.  It's usable immediately by ordinary people, and it's fun.  Even ignoring the phone for a moment, the music-playing interface is so fantastic that you want to play with it.  Flip through your albums like a real collection of CDs, etc.  And it's not just eye candy; I like being able to customize the buttons at the bottom of the screen to immediately let me jump to a "by composer" view.  That's great for classical music.   The music interface on my other music-capable phones is just clicking or scrolling through lists.  It's not enjoyable at all.  It's not even worth paying for.  The iPhone experience is worth paying for.

A good analogy, if anyone remembers it, is WordPerfect 4.1 for DOS.  It was a great program, very powerful, with all kinds of advanced features.  But nothing made any sense.  Quitting the program was Shift-F7.  Why Shift-F7?  Who knows.  Escape didn't cancel the current command; for some reason F1 did that.  They provided you with a little command reference card that would sit above your function keys so you could remember stuff like that.  It even had this command system that let you find advanced functions by going through layer after layer of hierarchical text-based menus.  It was, in many ways, just like most phones today.  Then graphical, more usable WYSIWYG word processors came along and ate their lunch.  Word 2.0 did not compare to Wordperfect 4.1 on a feature-for-feature basis, but it was much more pleasant.  Some people still swore by the Wordperfect 4.1 text interface for years after, but most just swore at it.

[ctviggen]

I'm one for bringing back keyboard shortcuts.  I hate the fact that in Word I cannot assign a keyboard shortcut to certain items (like reviewing buttons). 

As far as the whole Apple v. Nokia v. Motorola, I guess if I thought that a phone was supposed to be more than a phone, I'd probably love the iPhone.  As it is, I use my mp3-enabled, 2 megapixel camera, can get video on demand phone to call people.  That's it and that's really all I want it to do.  I don't need music or videos or anything else (save maybe the camera every once in a while).   Heck, I have a megabuck home theater system that rarely gets use; what would I do with a video player that has a screen size of a few inches? 

[Bemopti123]

Boead, I say let the masses decide whether the Iphone is all hype and no substance or otherwise.  If 1% of all phone users adopt it, as S. Jobs/Ahem/A.k.a: The "god" for those that you label Macfans etc...., then perhaps that would be an inherent endorsement that the thing actually works.

Remember the discussion about Windows Vista etc...and you claimed that Vista was superior, while I said just because people around 95% of the world have no choice of OSs in their PCs, and you simply replied "Exactly."

If that is the case, let numbers decide and if the Iphone is herald of a new world order in terms of what we are to expect from smartphones.  The jury will be out very soon.

User interface is what the Iphone is attempting at the core of its existence.  Perhaps it will not have all the software that business people are looking for, but then perhaps the business segment was not considered as part of the 1%. 

As for myself, I say nay to the Iphone until the public verdict is out.  I was 5 years late into the Ipod party.  I can wait.   

[boead]

Boead, I say let the masses decide whether the Iphone is all hype and no substance or otherwise.  If 1% of all phone users adopt it, as S. Jobs/Ahem/A.k.a: The "god" for those that you label Macfans etc...., then perhaps that would be an inherent endorsement that the thing actually works.

Remember the discussion about Windows Vista etc...and you claimed that Vista was superior, while I said just because people around 95% of the world have no choice of OSs in their PCs, and you simply replied "Exactly."

If that is the case, let numbers decide and if the Iphone is herald of a new world order in terms of what we are to expect from smartphones.  The jury will be out very soon.

User interface is what the Iphone is attempting at the core of its existence.  Perhaps it will not have all the software that business people are looking for, but then perhaps the business segment was not considered as part of the 1%. 

As for myself, I say nay to the Iphone until the public verdict is out.  I was 5 years late into the Ipod party.  I can wait.   

well said.

[PhilNYC]

Perhaps it will not have all the software that business people are looking for, but then perhaps the business segment was not considered as part of the 1%. 

Just curious...what software is missing from the iPhone that would be a big deal to a business user?

[Bemopti123]

I read somewhere, I do not know if it was here or elsewhere.  Some people related to business seem to be grumbling at the Iphones lack of software compatible with the Windows  OS that they are using in their PCs.  Furthermore, some I believe were also complaining that its lack of keyboard pretty much cut out those who have BBys etc...  That was the extent of complaints that I remember. 

Paul

[Scott F.]

Perhaps it will not have all the software that business people are looking for, but then perhaps the business segment was not considered as part of the 1%. 

Just curious...what software is missing from the iPhone that would be a big deal to a business user?

Phil,

I have a phone that uses MS Mobile. Besides the contact list which mirrors MS Outlook, the programs I use the most are MS Word and MS Excel. I also have several engineering programs that are written for MS Mobile that I use as the need arises.

[PhilNYC]

Phil,

I have a phone that uses MS Mobile. Besides the contact list which mirrors MS Outlook, the programs I use the most are MS Word and MS Excel. I also have several engineering programs that are written for MS Mobile that I use as the need arises.

On my Treo, there is an application called Documents-To-Go that gives me the ability to view and edit Word and Excel documents.  I would assume that a similar application would be developed for the iPhone.  Same thing with Adobe Acrobat.  I can't imagine Apple isn't planning something like these, right?

[Watson]

The iPhone already views PDF, Word, and Excel documents.  I wouldn't hold my breath for Word and Excel editing -- the subset of the market who actually edits Word documents on their phone is just too small, especially given that formatting is imperfectly and unreliably preserved, even on WM6.  It's a geek checkbox feature, and not typically the sort of thing Apple would aim for.  (If a person really needs to edit documents there is always Google documents and spreadsheets, and they're available now.)  Apple does really need to get the third-party software development kit out the door, but it's understandable why they haven't.  They're working on a new paradigm in user interaction and they want to get it right.

[boead]

It needs to have a real-time active sync with Office.

The ability to connect either directly to an exchange server or to your desktop’s outlook. People use their calendar too keep schedules and appointment. Peoples colanders are shared across networks and the need to make and receive updates in real time is important.
Email works the same way. Although POP email can work ok, many offices choose to use Exchange Sever instead. And you still can’t use shared calendars unless you use a web browser which is very cumbersome and not in real-time with alerts.
How about seeing PDF’s regardless of their size. That means an application that receives PDF’s in Outlook, converts them to a mobile format and sends them to your phone. We use that function on Treo’s all the time (documents to go).
Reading and writing (editing) word documents and making notes on PDF’s is also more then a novility. My boss edits word documents all the time on his treo.
How about a voice recorder with text conversion that you can also attach to calendar events or emails.
Many companies that have sales people and service accounts use Smart Phone integration apps with contact management databases such as Maximizer. You can connect into a giant contact management application, login and retrieve customer information. Place an order, make notes, schedule additional appointments with yourself or others and so on.
Sprints uses something called “Biz Connect” that lets you connect with desktop computers and also leave other parts of your phone free for other or personal usage so you smart phone isn’t entirely dedicated to your job. My bosses Treo is set up like that. He has separate contact directories with different email accounts on top of the cell phones account.

[boead]

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i6xMHK4t50&feature=active_sharing


A MUST watch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBZnF02Lqjg
This guy is such a geek.

[PhilNYC]

I like this one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xXNoB3t8vM

Regarding the business apps, most of the functionality regarding working with Exchange server, real-time active syncing with Office, etc, are things I would expect to be done on my laptop, and far less importantly on my cellphone.  In my days in the corporate world, it was enough if I could sync my phone once in the morning (to make sure I had my day's calendar and up-to-date contacts) and once in the evening to consolidate any changes...and really only when I was on the road (about 30% of the time).  I'm sure that more "road-warrior"-type business guys (eg. people in sales) might need more real-time compatibility with Exchange.  Just my opinion, of course...

I also think that its somewhat telling that JoshK, who works for one of the world's largest investment banks, feels that all he needs is a phone with an MP3 player....

[boead]

…most of the functionality regarding working with Exchange server, real-time active syncing with Office, etc, are things I would expect to be done on my laptop, and far less importantly on my cellphone.  In my days in the corporate world, it was enough if I could sync my phone once in the morning (to make sure I had my day's calendar and up-to-date contacts) and once in the evening to consolidate any changes...and really only when I was on the road (about 30% of the time).  I'm sure that more "road-warrior"-type business guys (eg. people in sales) might need more real-time compatibility with Exchange.  Just my opinion, of course...
 

Exchange server, real-time active syncing with Office, etc… is the definition of a Smart Phone. Your time in the business (corporate world) must have been ages ago. Morning syncs? That’s like having a beeper and saying its good enough, who needs a cell phone.

Please let’s just agree that the iPhone is NOT A SMART PHONE AND WAS NOT DESIGNED FOR THE BUSINESS USER. That’s obvious.

[Bemopti123]

Boaed, I think that Apple is targeting the audience as a whole, instead of the narrow business consumer.  The masses are bigger and they have voted on appliances such as the Ipod prior to the business sector or politicians endorsing it. 

Unlike the origins of the cellphone itself being somewhere in the corporate world and then its acceptance trickling down to the masses, perhaps Apple will try the opposite thus defying cultural/technological gravity.

There is not going to be agreement on this topic at all.  Perhaps Jobs call it a smart phone, but more than the preconceived notion of what features makes something "smart" perhaps he was being a little loose with his usage of that adjective. 

I have not tried it, but for what I can discern, in the user end point of view is smart. 

To say that Phil's usage style in the corporate world does not fit your criteria of what a real corporate user must be like is rather rude in assumption.  After all, how JoshK said previously and I am going to paraphrase him loosely that "there is nothing too important that it cannot wait until I go back to the office." 

In that vein I believe that most cellphone usage is rather non important.  Before it became ubiquitous, things got done in the corporate world or anywhere else.

 aa