Trying too hard to be a contrarian
Silicon.com’s Jo Best just can’t come up with a convincing argument why an iPhone wouldn’t be cool.
But it doesn’t stop her from trying.
My iPod needs charging every day to play music for an hour or two.
Ah, yes, the Macalope has that same model. It looks like this.
Apple’s DRM is, well, awful.
When discussing Apple’s DRM, it is only really useful to compare its implimentation to anyone else’s. It is not useful to compare it to no DRM. It is self-evident that any DRM will be inherently worse than no DRM.
Because, honestly, the worst you can say about Apple’s DRM is that it’s at least as good as anyone else’s. Most people would argue that it’s better.
I’ve spent hours of my life convincing iTunes I should be allowed to play songs I either ripped from lawfully bought CDs or purchased from Apple itself on my laptop or my iPod.
Hours? To play songs you ripped? Then you are doing something seriously, drastically, idiotically wrong and need to seek professional help immediately.
Get thee to a Genius Bar.
I know Apple isn’t stupid and probably won’t put copy protection on my PIM-type content but I do not trust them in this area and would inspect closely their DRM policy on the iPhone before considering a purchase.
Sooo, you don’t fear that Apple will try to copy-protect your contacts, but somehow you don’t trust them… not to copy-protect your contacts? Wha-huh? You should really sort out your stand on these issues before you sit down and just start typing willy-nilly.
But I’ve got an iPod and a mobile and it hasn’t bothered me yet, despite the plethora of phones with built-in music players flooding the market.
The Macalope is in agreement here. His original shuffle probably has about as many songs as an iPhone would be likely to have, hardly takes up any extra space and acts as a USB drive to boot (well, not to boot… er… well, you know what the Macalope means).
Best then goes on to say what she likes about Apple products and why an iPhone might really be cool, but ultimately concludes she wants Apple to partner with Nokia on a phone that…
… take a deep breath…
…runs a mobile version of OS X.
Jo, dear, you haven’t been in Jason O’Grady’s meds, have you?
Much of Best’s piece is quite reasonable, which is what makes the conclusion so dunderheaded. It is an absurd truism that workers in the “marketplace of ideas” frequently feel the need to provide a contrarian opinion just for the sake of it.
“Hmm. No one has said that puppies and kittens are a blight upon our society. Quick! To the keyboard!”
Possibly they do it because it drives hits from, well, sites like this.
But is that the kind of business you want to be in?
Oh, I think there’s a lot of material here to be contrarian.
“…It will come out, despite the lack of confirmation from Cupertino.”
Why, just because rumor sites say so? I’m in the camp that doesn’t believe it. But I’ll pretend for the sake of the rest of this excercise.
“Phones need to just work. Will the iPhone be able to deliver that?”
Gee, I don’t know. Does Apple have a reputation for creating products that “just work?” Let me check… why yes, yes they do. Those exact words are commonly used, in fact.
“iTunes is a great advert for Apple’s ability to make software and hardware intuitive and easy to use.”
Now, hang on. A few paragraphs prior she was complaining that iTunes was messing with her over her ripped tracks. Now it’s intuitive and fine? Which is it?
“I want a Nokia which runs a mobile version of OS X… Nokia’s durability and battery life, Apple’s intuitive software.”
Because it was portable OS X which made the iPod so easy to use. Except it wasn’t. It was software designed to operate a small music player. I would have accepted “Apple should engineer the software” or even more generally “A Nokia with an interface as intuitive as iPod’s.”
A partnership between nokia and apple is not that bad of a deal. Nokia is known for making phones that have very intuitive interfaces. Heck even my mom can pick one up and use it just fine.
Thing is, i ( and i reckon most apple fans) love apple’s design. If such a partnership were to even occur I’d rather have apple design the hardware and some kind of interface for the symbian OS (this is where nokia would come in handy since their s60 interface is way up there on my fav user interface list).
To get back to that article:
“Like a lot of people, I own an iPod – and it’s a pretty foxy beast – but like a lot of people, my iPod has been back to the shop more times than I care to think about.”
…uhh lady, i have a 4th gen iPod, about 1 1/2 years old. It has never given the slightest of headaches yet. And seeing how it lived in my jeans pockets every single day since i bought it, it had every reason to.
This may be a bit off topic but, I would like to hear some feedback. It seems to me there is no shortage of interest in an Apple phone. My question is, why can’t Apple simply create the device in an open fashion? Choosing GSM, users can slap their SIM card in it and go. This could either be from a contract with an existing provider or pay as you go service. It would offer international compatibility and allow Apple to care about what is important, providing a useful, seamless experience to Mac users with a touch of the iPod magic to entice yet more users to switch.
I don’t see why T-Mobile should care if I use a phone they don’t have to subsidize. They get my monthly bill either way, what do they care if I walk into an Apple store and purchase an iPhone as my device of choice? It just seems to me that this whole scenario could be easy but, My knowledge is limited to my experience.
The SIM card makes it seem so easy. Apple could make a device that syncs with my Mac filling my address book, calendar, notes and a couple playlists in a way that simply can’t be had by any other means.
Is there any chance it could ever be this simple or is it a pipe dream?
It seems that Silicon.com don’t want to publish my comment, I’ve been waiting for hours and I don’t think I was rude. Oh, well. You will find me sobbing in my bedroom.
TABI:
T-Mobile doesn’t care. I use an unlocked Treo 650 with T-Mobile. Before buying the Treo, I called them, and the rep said they don’t care.
I support the idea of the iPhone only because it means the prospect of a cell phone with a rotary dial. Throw in a [url=http://shop.hulger.com/products.php?dept=1001]retro headset[/url] and you’re golden! Now, if it only came in brown…
Let’s try that again. Linky? Bah.
GSM Sucks. EVDO or UMTS are the future. Wishing for GSM is like hoping apple will use windows instead of OSX. Sync with your mac over bluetooth and you don’t have to worry about sim cards.
GSM is like wishing I didn’t have to deal with a network provider to use a new phone of my choosing.
The flexibility of the SIM is the point. Buy the phone, insert the chip, your good to go with no BS. UMTS networks should be compatible with GSM SIM technology. The SIM would allow Apple to market directly to the consumer without much consideration given to the providers. In my mind, it makes a sensible first step into an aggressive and decidedly non-consumer oriented market.
This is simply my perspective. I’m a T-Mobile customer, so for me, it is the path of least resistance. They may not have the best network from a technical point of view, but, they have yet to screw me unlike every other phone service I’ve given my business to plus they are international. I can travel to Europe with the same phone I use in the US.
As it turns out, my SIM-usning GSM phone does synch over Bluetooth, thus I am not worried in the least.