Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone
Can't touch this
Now that my pulse has slowed a bit, there are a few lingering questions about this iPhone thing that's supposed to be the Next Big Revolution from Apple, Inc. We've already pointed out you won't just be able to slap VLC on the thing. Engadget has confirmed it's a first-party only platform. Hey, what about YouTube on there (hello Google)? Flash player? Sketchup? But I'm more interested in the hardware side. For example, what's that stuff on the side? A card slot? An IR port? Yes and no. The iPhone has a standard dock connector on the bottom. There appears to be a charging port and volume control on the side, and a SIM card slot somewhere. Obviously there's a speaker, mic, and the 2MP camera... Plus those wireless guts and apparently one heckuva battery jammed inside.
The billion-dollar question, quite literally, is the screen. That lovely, lickable screen. Surely someone recalls the iPod nano scratch debacle, yes? Not that there aren't solutions to the problem. But how durable is this touchscreen? ABC News got to play with one for all of about 120 seconds -- hardly time enough to jab a shiv into the center. So what happens when some weirdo crams a shiny new iPhone in a pocket with the inevitable ring of house keys? With iPhones currently restricted to floating in acrylic cylinders, far away from our grimy fingers, we may not know the truth for some time to come...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
LittleJoe said 2:42AM on 1-10-2007
From the David Pogue article just referrenced on this very weblog:
* You operate the iPhone with your fingertips. Apart from buttons that appear on the touch screen, the only physical buttons are volume up/down, ringer on/off, sleep/wake and a Home button.
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Mr Lizard said 2:47AM on 1-10-2007
I'm sure Steve said it was a volume button on the side, but I could be completely wrong.
In any case, there's no external storage for the device, so no card slot I'm afraid!
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Oje Ihonvbere said 2:48AM on 1-10-2007
Well obviously the accessory makers will cash in as always on Apple's love to glossy surfaces. By the time you slap a case on your $600 phone/ipod, it won't be so sexy and svelte.
The REAL QUESTION you guys should be addressing is the lack of an expansion slot and the lack of a removeable battery. What possible reason would Apple have to not include that other than to screw customers over when they release iPhone v2.0, iPhone v3.0, etc?
I think this is a big deal, doesn't anyone else?
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Shalin Jain said 2:51AM on 1-10-2007
The biggest disadvantage I see of the multi-touch technology is you'll actually have to look at the phone to type anything. Not really otherwise with the "plastic" buttons. I can very sub-consiously type message without bothering too check every character I type.
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Steve in Denmark said 3:02AM on 1-10-2007
"So what happens when some weirdo crams a shiny new iPhone in a pocket with the inevitable ring of house keys?"
They deserve all they get.
You don't go cramming a 300-odd note (£) gizmo in yer pocket along with yer house-keys! At least I don't.
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wastern said 3:27AM on 1-10-2007
I think you need to watch the keynote again
Side buttons are volume and silent button
top is a headphone jack and a sleep/wake button...sim card I think is under the back cover
speaker and mic are on the bottom on either side of the dock connector
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Nick Fox said 4:52AM on 1-10-2007
David Pogue mentioned that the screen felt different and it didn't seem to smudge or scratch. I regularly carry my Treo and/or iPod in my "key pocket" and neither one has any damage yet...and I've been doing this for a little over a year now.
Oh, and for anyone who wants to see ABC's 120 seconds with the iPhone...I threw it up on my Youtube account, next to a video of a fake iPhone from a few months ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxSqBeYCuOc
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Victor Agreda Jr said 9:16AM on 1-10-2007
Nick, thank you! ABC's "news" site is a tangle of links and chaff...
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Steve said 9:21AM on 1-10-2007
One of the better iPhone hand-wringing posts. Why won't people just let themselves be excited for a day or two? Screen smudge was something that concerned me as well. Anyway, I'd bet on Apple shipping a cheap-o case with the thing (like the vPod).
Third party apps don't particularly concern me, as I think you'll see this in future iterations of the product.
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macguyincali said 11:17AM on 1-10-2007
You quoted Engadget as saying this is first party only, but Engadget doesn't say where they heard this. I find it very hard to believe that it is first party only when it says that you can run widgets on it and it is purportedly a "OS X" machine. I hate it when blogs quote other blogs who quote other blogs and perpetuate a non-truth. I have read nowhere that it will be 1st party only. Even if it were, we all know how the enterprising hackers in the Mac community would not let that happen.
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Christian said 12:02PM on 1-10-2007
I have a theory why we saw no iWorks or iLife 07 at Macworld!
There is going to be a combination with the iPhone and iWorks/iLife the documents are made syncable...
By the time the iPhone get's released to the public Leopard is going to be there...
We didn't see all the widgets and final software - the device's software is probably in stable alpha or beta - did we see a single calendar screen? ;-)
There are more widgets to come from apple and probably 3rd party devs can add software later as well...
iChat can be incorporated later - SMS is more business for the carriers as they charge for every single message - so this is a giving from apple to cingular...
By any chance i WANT one of these phones - this is the greates technological move forward in mobile phones since the beginning of cellular phoning.
Sure there are areas that could get improvements but see the phone as it is - a piece of hardware that is driven by software! On the go iTunes buy and download can easily added via apps as well as music sharing between iPhones (if record labels allow this).
Enjoy the next year with me getting the best cellular phone currently announced.
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Billy K said 12:27PM on 1-10-2007
I've tried to impress on my new-to-Macs and new-to-iPod friends that these devices are not toasters. They are also not $30 el cheapo cell phones where no one cares if they get beaten up. If you treat Apple devices with respect you'll be fine (or in my case, maybe a little reverence).
I'm not saying iPods, MacBooks, iMacs, etc. are fragile pieces of porcelain. They're not. But they are high-end devices that work best and are best enjoyed with a little care. If you shove a $200 Nano without a case into your purse, you get what you deserve. Would you let your car keys scratch up a Rolex?
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Steve Lang said 12:43PM on 1-10-2007
Just to re-iterate what someone else said, Engadget confirmed NOTHING regarding 3rd-party apps, they just link to an analyst who says this in a blog (and who listed no source either.)
Please be a bit more careful with the headlines. It may come to pass that there will be no 3rd-party apps, but I don't think anyone knows for sure right now (maybe not even Apple!)
I think if apps are locked, it will cause a large furor as well (this is a 'smarterphone', right?) Apple may end up re-considering, depending on security and wireless (Cingular) factors.
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David said 12:44PM on 1-10-2007
The thing that surprises me, after reading the various posts and comments around the web, is that everybody is complaining about software-specific items that aren't included, like a YouTube widget for instance. Wouldn't it make sense that, since the iPhone is essentially a shell that surrounds it's software, that it can be upgraded in the future like the iPod. I can get firmware updates for my 5G video iPod through iTunes. Why not the iPhone? I think that as far as iPhone software goes, the possibilities are endless.
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Victor Agreda Jr said 12:54PM on 1-10-2007
Steve, my headline referred to the fact that almost no one is able to TOUCH the TOUCHSCREEN on the iPhone. My post goes into more about the hardware. I'm sure widgets will come along, and surely resolution-independence plays a role in some dev love later this year. Whatever.
The point is the Achilles Heel of this thing is gonna be that screen. A screen only a priveledged few have even touched. Hence, "you can't touch this."
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Steve said 12:57PM on 1-10-2007
In regards to 3rd party (hardware) products and the inevitable iPhone case industry, I'm putting a feature request in now for a little push-in, push-out storage for that bluetooth earpiece.
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Occh said 7:50PM on 1-10-2007
"So what happens when some weirdo crams a shiny new iPhone in a pocket with the inevitable ring of house keys? "
Well, they get what they deserve.
Are all American consumers this dumb?
Did some of you do this with your Nano and then whine about it?
If so, you have really screwed-up priorities.
You buy something expensive, you take care of it.
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