iMoan
You have to admit it, the people at Apple are absolute genii and the launch of the ‘revolutionary’ 3G iPhone a couple of weeks ago proves this.
They have launched this product which offers (and this is from the iPhone website):
A phone
iPod
Internet (the ‘real’ web)
3G Speed
GPS mapping
Email
As well as these features it offers a funky touch screen.
So shy are Apple such masters? Well, they’ve managed to sell these things to the same people every 6 months for £200 and then £100! This is a staggering achievement.
I wouldn’t mind if they were in any way cutting edge but the fact is that the features of the iPhone are nothing new:
‘Real’ internet on a phone – Nokia did this in 2006
iPod – music players have been on phones for years, not that it matters – I’d need three 16gig iPhones to get all my music currently on my iPod on the latest craze.
3G speed – first available in 2001
GPS mapping – again, Nokia 2006
Email – Blackberrys have been around since 2002 but 2006 saw them on more traditional mobiles (Nokia as it happens)
Touch Screen – LG, early 2007.
So, Apple charge you £200 for an iPhone and then 6 months later con another £100 out of you for the upgrade. On top of this they get a fiver a month off all the punters. So iPhone loyalists will end up spending £420 over 2 years for the privilege of using a phone which doesn’t do anything that the Nokia 95, LG Secret or Blackberry 8110 will do, all of which you can get for free!
Don’t get me wrong, I like Apple, they’re really good at taking existing technology and improving it but it takes a while. For example. my iPod is superb but it took them a few goes to get it right, early iPods were rubbish compared to HP’s iRiver, Creative Zen and the Sony HD3; it wasn’t until the fourth generation of iPod that it was worth getting one and I think it’ll be the same for the iPhone – hopefully all they hype would have died down and they’ll be in line with the rest of the market in terms of price and demand. The advantage they had with the iPod was that they were there from (almost) the beginning but they are playing severe catch up with their one model of phone.
You may have guessed that not a lot has happened since my pledge to blog at least every Monday, it’s pretty much been a weekend off before Andy & Laura’s party and then California for the Duricas’ wedding so it’s been taken pretty easy. We did have the little angels over from Susan & Paul but we managed to negotiate having them for only 18 hours, most of which was spent asleep.
So, apologies for the moan, I chose the iPhone to have a go at but other topics on my moaning mind were:
Dwain Chambers
Weather
Nasser Hussain
Children
I will try and have a more exciting week before we go to California!
Andy
xxx
