January 11, 2009

On the iPhone Take 2,384

picture-2“I can’t believe I almost tried to buy something other than this iPhone! It kicks ass,” Blogger Marshall Kirkpatrick wrote in a tweet tonight.

That got me thinking — why on Earth would anyone get any other phone? Sure, a lot of people don’t want to sign up with AT&T. And even more people can’t justify spending $200 on a phone. But in Marshall’s case, he was already on AT&T, and he could afford it, so why even hesitate?

I think it speaks to something larger at play. It seems to me that there are two types of people: Those who cannot understand why I like the iPhone as much as I do, and why I write about it so much — and those who own an iPhone.

That’s the thing, if you own an iPhone, you probably love it. It’s simply still the best tech purchase I’ve ever made — nothing is more useful to me. Some will say that’s the Apple fanboy in me just gushing about another Apple product, but it really has nothing to do with Apple. I wrote a couple days about about the Palm Pre, and how cool it looks. While I said that I wouldn’t be getting one, that was only because of my contract with AT&T.

But I’ve been thinking about it. If the Palm Pre is a better device than the iPhone, than yes, I will get one. Why? Because just like anyone else, I want the best product. It’s not who is it made by, it’s about being the best. Right now, in mobile phones, that is hands down the iPhone.

To any company out there that would ask how they could get me, the consumer, to use their product, I would say it is so simple: Make the best product. Of course that is much easier said than done, but if any company out there is not trying to be the best, they shouldn’t be making their product. That sounds obvious, but with quite a few companies I come across, I have definite doubts of their own love for their own product. Some just want to be “good enough” or have the perception of greatness. That’s not enough, those products will eventually fail.

Do the best products alway succeed? Of course not, but more often than not they do — and more often than not that probably would not have happened had they not been the best.

 Posted at 2:03 am by MG Siegler
Posted under: Rant Tags: , , , ,
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  • Yeah, no doubt Apple has quite a few advantages, the largest of which is that is already has a big lead in what I'll call the new wave of smartphones. But there is plenty of room in the mobile market for innovative player.
  • suresh
    i have to agree -- we shouldn't be tied to buying products just because its company A or company M... we should always feel like we are buying best of breed products from best of breed companies.


    And i think that is my point -- when you are buying a product -- you are also buying and relying on the reputation of that company.

    What do i mean?

    - Well, a company like Apple doesn't just provide you with the iPhone 2-years ago... its builds and extends on that with a DRM free iTunes media service. Palm can't offer that.

    - Its guaranteed to use innovative and advanced hardware through strategic licensing from Imagination Technologies (Power VR GPU) and ARM (CPU - multi-core) and its ownership of PA-Semi (RISC chip design). Palm doesn't have that leverage.

    - It has single-handedly created a developer ecosystem with the App Store which has guaranteed that mobile developers have now bet on the iPhone platform for rich mobile applications. Palm neither has that or cano offer that by developing Web 2.0 applications.

    My point is this. Palm Pre is excellent. And probably the best contender after Android. But when you compare that extra things i have mentioned -- what it really demonstrates is that there is a difference in companies.
  • Josh
    You ask why anyone would possibly not get an iPhone...

    I'm currently very seriously considering getting one and have no problem saying that yes, the iPhone is the best mobile phone available at this point, however there are some compromises which may still make me purchase another phone.

    The biggest reason is the lack of keypad. I disagree with you on this one becuase I know you strongly agree with the notion keypads are on the way out, and in fact I used an iPhone for a few days to see if claims about the virtual keypad being good enough where true.

    They were not... good though it is, it doesn't beat a real keypad and I got very frustrated with both the lack of space of screen with the keypad filling most of it up and the annoyance of taping non tactile buttons. My friend, whose job is selling phones, agrees and says that yes, they tell people they'll get used to the iPhone virtual keypad, but really you don't.
  • Certainly, it's a matter of personal preference Josh, but I do know a lot of people who thought they would never like the virtual keypad, but now laugh at the notion of switching back to a physical one. You say it takes up too much screen space, but that's all virtual, the physical keyboard takes up WAY too much physical space, and sooner or later devices are going to have to chuck it. Even the Palm Pre, which has the slide down one, could be that much sleeker and sexier without it.

    But I do agree about tactile feedback, but believe me, that'll be here soon -- and nearly every one of these smartphones will start using it.
  • Josh
    Secondly the Camera is also quite lacking... however its worth noting that Nokia has the incredibly frustrating habit of bumping their phone's cameras Megapixels up, but making the software so slow they become almost unusable.

    Lastly the lack of MMS support. Perhaps not a biggie for you, but I actually use picture messages all the time and this would be big pain.

    However I'm pretty sure I'll still be getting one =P
  • Yeah to that point, I have a Nokia N95 as well, with a great 5 megapixel camera -- but in no way does that make me want to ever use it over an iPhone.

    For me, MMS isn't a huge deal as when I post a picture I send it directly to Twitpic or Flickr via email. If I really want to send it to someone, I email it to them, but it is annoying that there is no MMS, I agree.
  • 7The i-Phone is truly amazing. I live in Japan and the phone is over $800! In America it is only AT and T and here it is a company called Softbank. Getting an i-Phone involves an entirely new plan which is much higher than the other plans. So until I get back to America no i-Phone for me!
  • Much like a lot of Apple products you have to bear in mind that not everyone can afford an iPod. I did the math and ended up getting the G1. (the fact that I have 50% off at T-Mobile helped a lot though)
    Many of my friend wouldn't be able to afford either.
  • Yeah, I realize that (and noted briefly above). That and the whole AT&T thing seem to be the only legitimate reasons why someone wouldn't buy one.
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