wahlau's online hut

yeah, before it's too late, i should also write something about the iPhone to earn some traffic to share my thoughts on this product. I will not tell things you could have read from here or here or here or here. After all, it is the most "In" mobile phone at the moment. I would bet that some might even do anything just to get themselves an iPhone. :)

from the reviews and some blogs i read, iPhone is indeed a cool device. It does most of the phone function adequately - means you can call, sms and keep a contact list/phone book with it. Other than that, you can of course use it as a mirror to do lots of Internet stuffs - Web browsing, chatting, VoIP, music and photos taking (not all features are built-in, they might need third party software). If not for the heavy price, i believe every tom dick and harry will just get one to satisfy their lust over such a gadget.

this is exactly the point i want to talk about. What makes iPhone such an in-demand device? Its innovation? The shiny look? The Apple-i-feeling?

When it comes to innovation, i personally don't think apple can claim much. Perhaps the adaptive text input might be neat, since it helps input on real-estate limited mobile devices. The high res screen and intuitive UI can be considered as new when compared to other competitors. So far phones are still tied down with keypads and small screen. The all-in-one factor can be attractive too, of course. Instead of multiple devices, i can now have everything in one (i personally don't like this, except the part where i have to bring all sorts of chargers :P). 

the thought came strong after i read the case study of miriguy. He got a point there - afterall, technology and innovation can be done by any company, actually. But to be able to create such a hype and expectation, not many are as successful as Apple. Apple had actually created the urge itself. It has the record of bringing the OOOOHHHH feeling to an apple product owner - look at iMac, iPod, AppleTV, MacBook and etc. This is not just marketting. The goal is to produce some "i must have it" feeling in every potential buyer, and then let this pressure grow. Soon everyone will think "he has one, i should too". The product itself must be good, else it would be a hype. I don't think iPhone is crap, so don't take me wrong, i am no apple nor iPhone hater. But i do think it is not the only good thing out there with similar features. For one i still believe in the Internet Tablet from Nokia - the N800 just got better. It is not fair to compare them, but i believe similarities proved that in the future, we will have such devices helping us in our daily lives.

on a side note, openmoko with the FIC Neo 1973 is coming up strong. looking at it, it looked like a small brother to the iPhone. The whole thing is rather promising. Only thing - it does not have the marketting and push like the iPhone. Unless different parties attempt to create the same feeling as how apple did with iPhone, it will be regarded as a hacker phone and inferrior gadget to iPhone. Even now, i believe people who knows about it are already looking at it as a hacker phone. It is not really a good image - look at how people look at linux even today. Linux desktops are sometimes still being recognized as hacker operating system, while windows are for the norm. duh... this is not really right. :)

do comment on your views on trends and marketting efforts like this. Who knows the ideas will generate new movements to promote technology and good things. 

thanks to Eliya for the above picture of iphone, taken from his flickr page.