The iPhone Software Revolution

Hrm. So on the one hand, your personal beliefs prevent you from using a computer that is completely controled and locked down, but because everyone else is doing it for phones, it's ok then? I'm not criticizing Jeff for buying an iPhone, but let's be very clear on the price of the 'hacker mentality' in this case. :-)<p>An important lesson here for free software advocates as well. Only now are free software operating systems catching up in usability and user friendliness. Let's not make the same mistake on mobile devices as well.

This is a very USA centric post. Nothing wrong with that of course.<p>"Locked in to a single vendor? Everyone signs a multi-year contract."<p>in the United States.<p>Here in India (set to become the second largest cell phone market in the world, behind China and replacing the USA by 2010), most (&#62; 99.5%) phones are unlocked and so vendor neutral. You can switch vendors and phones independently. The Telecom Ministry is putting in place a regulation to allow phone number portability. This should happen in a couple of months and then you can switch service providers and your old cell number remains valid with the new vendor.<p>"I predict they will dominate the market for years to come. "<p>The US market. Sure.<p>"and signing up for the $99 iPhone Developer Program -- can build an app and sell it to the worldwide audience of iPhone users."<p>Rant mode on.<p>I'll be damned if I pay 99$ a year to be "allowed" to develop software for a device I paid for. AFAIK (correct me if I am wrong) I have to pay to deploy an app on <i>my own phone</i>.<p>Rant Mode off.

"A landmark, genre-defining product, no longer a mere smartphone but an honest to God fully capable, no-compromises computer [...]"<p>You lost me there. Can I run whatever software I choose on it? No? Then please shut up about "fully capable, no-compromises" computer.

Apple is master of the user Interface hands down. Where else besides a device you use contantly, in quick bursts, while on-the-go does user interface matter more?<p>Sure some folks on HN will prefer an open OS- but for the general public it will be a very long time before any other mobile OS catches up in terms of ease of use. And when they do catch up it will be from copying Apple's every move.

If you do not yet read it, I highly recommend Daniel Eran Dilger's RoughlyDrafted Magazine for cogent, prescient, detailed, forward-looking analysis of Apple as Apple evolves. Unfortunately, some of his better stuff is buried in his archives.<p><a href="http://www.roughlydrafted.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.roughlydrafted.com/</a><p>"The big 3.0: How iPhone will shift peripheral devices"<p><a href="http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/03/20/the-big-30-how-iphone-will-shift-peripheral-devices/" rel="nofollow">http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/03/20/the-big-30-how-ipho...</a><p>"Why Windows 7 is Microsoft's next Zune"<p><a href="http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/05/09/why-windows-7-is-microsofts-next-zune/" rel="nofollow">http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/05/09/why-windows-7-is-mi...</a><p><a href="http://www.google.com/#hl=en&#38;q=%22By+daniel+eran%22+%2B+site%3Aroughlydrafted.com&#38;aq=f&#38;oq=&#38;aqi=&#38;fp=xxOAMYytekc" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/#hl=en&#38;q=%22By+daniel+eran%22+%2B+...</a><p>From June 2007:<p>"Apple’s updates will draw a stark contrast between the iPhone as a handheld Mac, and the basic smartphones that can only run mini-apps and a few poorly drawn, overpriced software titles.<p>Apple has turned the mobile industry into a consumer facing market, where consumers will buy the phone, get updates, and buy software from Apple. That makes Apple responsible for their security, their demanded features, and their support. That’s not how things work today in the mobile world...<p>Once users get accustomed to a full handheld computer that works intelligently, are they going to make any attempt to break free and grab a smartphone that really does very little, like the Motorola Q?<p>It will also be very difficult for other hardware makers to match Apple's product on an engineering scale. Sure, Nokia, Sony, and others can make fancier phones with features the iPhone lacks, whether its a 6 MP camera, a GPS unit, WiMax, an FM radio, or a cheese slicer, but the real trick to engineering is to know what to leave out."<p><a href="http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q2.07/73805E44-AEF4-4F7F-BEF4-C759574D1D09.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q2.07/73805E44-AEF...</a>

&#62; But a cell phone? It's a closed ecosystem, by definition, running on a proprietary network.<p>It might be a closed system <i>now</i>, but give it a few years; I don't see any reasons why a cell phone (small computer, really) will remain closed for long.

Hmmm is it just me or does it sound like Jeff has fallen under the Apple marketing spell.<p>I think so :D Kudos Apple.<p>The Iphone is a fantastic product (dont get me wrong): but even more interesting is the unbelievable marketing job Apple did on it. They put an OK phone into the markets ahead of it's time (with V1) and whipped up a demand. Then fullfilled it with the 3G and now the 3G S - nothing else can get a look in at the moment.

It seems ironic for someone who derides learning anything about computer science and finds knowing anything about the C programming language to be totally ridiculous and antiquated to be lauding a system that is primarily programmed in Objective-C (rather than VB6 or whatever), on a programming blog no less.<p>But to be fair, not much programming is talked about on that blog from what I can see so maybe it is more Engadget-lite-lite.

"Here's how far I am willing to go: I believe the iPhone will ultimately be judged a more important product than the original Apple Macintosh."<p>I've been saying the same thing for a while. Like many revolutionary products the iPhone isn't the first device to ever offer these features but it IS the first device to make them accessible to the masses. Part of that is a good user interface but an equally, or possibly more, important part of it is advertising. Apple educated customers on what the device could do out of the box. Now they're even advertising third party apps. As a result many people are able to use services &#38; technologies that were out of reach to them before -- or they were ignorant these things even existed. Lots of people will say marketing doesn't matter and it's just fluff and blah blah but making people aware of something, and making it possible for them to use it, is a huge part of what makes a technology revolutionary.

I guess I just don't get it. I was recently in the market for a cellphone and with a $200-300 budget I was choosing between the new iPhone and an A1600 Motorola Ming. I ended up shelling out about $250 for the Ming for several reasons:<p>1) The iPhone feels bulky - I don't like such a massive phone.<p>2) The Ming has a clamshell model - this ties in with the iPhone's size problem, but it also deals with protecting the screen... I've seen people using skins just to protect their phone.<p>3) The Ming's battery is trivially replaceable (~$10 for a battery).<p>4) The Ming runs Linux.<p>I've used both and find the software interfaces comparably pleasant, although different. And contracts were a non-issue because where I'm located (China) the carriers don't lock the handset down.<p>The only downside I've found - and this comes with the size reduction - is that some of my activity is stylus-based. For some things (like calling contacts) fingers work fine though. Overall, I'm quite happy and I wonder if the iPhone is overhyped.

I have a new game, where I see how many sentences into a Jeff Atwood article I can get before the first completely idiotic statement, and then I stop reading. I don't spend a lot of time there.<p>"But as I predicted, 12 months later, the iPhone 3G rectified all the shortcomings of the first version."<p>The 3G had a slightly different form factor, a flush headphone jack, and 3G. I guess I just never internalized how serious some people were in their demands for less aluminum, adapter-less private music consumption, and the ability to flush their battery for spotty slightly-faster data downloads.<p>Threadjacking attempt: if you could excise one overly-influential blogger from the interwebs, who would it be? Atwood's quickly approaching Enderle/Dvorak/Scoble territory on that list for me.

Sigh. How many software revolutions can there be in a year...?

What does this article say that is interesting that caused people to upvote it?

I was thinking about how much I used my iPod touch on my last vacation: to check e-mail, browse the web, as an alarm clock, for games and, occasionally, to play music.

Couldn't help but be reminded of this article:<p><a href="http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone" rel="nofollow">http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone</a>

This is an amazing web site! where do you get from the news?! you have so many good web sites you refer to...