Filed under: Interviews, iPhone, Apple TV
Apple Matters interviews Peter Rojas
I have to admit: it's virtually impossible to keep up with our own Peter Rojas of Engadget and Weblogs, Inc. I swear the guy must have ripped off Michael Keaton's idea from Multiplicity to get around the way he does. Hadley Stern at Apple Matters recently snagged some time with Peter to wax poetic about the iPhone, Apple TV, and how there simply ain't no web like the Mac web.Peter brings an interesting perspective to Apple's recent announcements, pointing out that the iPhone and Apple TV aren't necessarily ground breaking products - but they *are* Apple's classic play of doing old, stagnant things in refreshing new ways. The interview is a good read, especially if you're looking for thoughts from someone whose job it is to report on similar products from tech companies across the entire industry.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Michael said 9:59AM on 1-24-2007
Peter Rojas doesn't know a damn thing about cell phones or the industry.
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Andy said 11:16AM on 1-24-2007
wax poetic? why is this the number #2 most oft-used 'cool' phrase/quirk right after using the strikethrough-a-word thing for bloggers? Oh and then there's "deets" instead of "details"...
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The Usher said 12:13PM on 1-24-2007
I guess he doesn't make enough to get a hair cut?
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Martin said 3:24PM on 1-24-2007
I have no idea who he is, but surely with a head shaped like that he's an extraterrestrial...
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SteveYVR said 2:20PM on 1-24-2007
I have listened to peter's banter for over two years. He needs a broader perspective and a deeper insight into what he speaks of.
Perhaps, what we are seeing is lack of maturity, lack of experience.
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tr said 2:19PM on 1-24-2007
yeah, i'm not a big fan of the rojas. from what i see of him, it seems he thinks he some sort of superstar or something. but whatever.
sort of off topic, but how come everything i read, there's always a statement like "what apple does isn't groundbreaking..." but, isn't radically improving products or ideas that already exist, to improve usablity, isn't that kinda groundbreaking? if it isn't, then why would anyone be talking apple products at all?
it's just disheartening to hear people equate 'innovation' with 'shoving a bunch of features into it'. it's not about what it superficially 'does', it's about how you use it, and your experience with it, and how it becomes part of your life.
sorry, just a little rant from a designer.
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sjmills said 3:41PM on 1-24-2007
It's obvious from his British schoolboy dandy haircut that he thinks he's hot shit. I don't know who he is, but jeez, get over yourself with that hair. You're just a dork.
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Alex said 3:30PM on 1-24-2007
haha
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JeromeOD said 3:49PM on 1-24-2007
It's obvious he wasn't really listening in the keynote when steve was dissing keyboards...to suggest the iPhone needs one is seriously weird. So he's used a Nokia one...he's not used the iPhone, obviously. I think i'll reserve judgment until i've used it.
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Donald Burr said 5:03PM on 1-24-2007
Is it just me, or does he sorta look like a slightly-scruffier Justin Long (aka The Mac Guy)?
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Martin Sketchley said 5:07PM on 1-24-2007
I thought it was the Mac guy, too, at first. But, alas, I was wrong. He is apparently a dork – from the planet Dorkon.
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Padriac said 5:42PM on 1-24-2007
Make fun of him all you want, but that dork is getting way more play from the ladies than the lot of you put together.
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Calexifan said 6:23PM on 1-24-2007
Listen to Padriac. He knows what he's talking about. After all, he's one of Rojas's "ladies."
;-)
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bmcfadden said 2:09PM on 1-25-2007
Peter Rojas is a stupid dork. HIs Engadget podcast is soul-draining ... his ignorent whine makes you want to take a hammer to your iPod.
Who the F**ck is he to say Apple isn't innovating with the iPhone? In my estimation the iPhone is the most innovative piece of tech to come out in more than five years. Peter is like those kids in high school who think they are cool by putting down everyone else. Somehow only "they" get it, and the rest of us are just stupid, boring lemmings. Well, it takes a lot more than a gay haircut to know what you are talking about Peter. So please do us all a favor and shut your stupid-opinion-filled piehole.
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another reader said 7:34PM on 1-24-2007
Apparently none of you geniuses actually read the interview. Here's what he said:
"The iPhone is most definitely a much-needed fresh take on what a phone can and should be especially in terms of the user interface. But the iPhone doesn’t do anything that new, it just does old things in new ways and that’s what is exciting."
That hardly sounds like bashing to me, and he clearly recognizes that it's innovative. He's just point out that the iPhone does a lot of the same things that other phones do -- make phone calls, play music, browse the web, take pictures -- it's just doing them better and with a new interface.
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Donald Burr said 7:32PM on 1-24-2007
He also (at least to my feeble eyes, when displayed on this crappy monitor at work) bears a passing resemblance to Martin Sargent.
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Evan Blass said 7:49PM on 1-24-2007
Wow, did any of you folks even read the interview, or is everyone just blindly following the first hater in this thread? Granted there's going to be an inordinate amount of fanboyism here, but why do pundits need to constantly toe the Jobsian line or risk being insulted? In reality, Peter is one of the smartest and most perceptive people I know, and many of his criticisms of Apple TV and the iPhone are right on the money. All of us here at Engadget own and enjoy a variety of Apple products -- a good 90% of us use a MacBook as our primary PC -- but that doesn't mean we think Apple is a perfect company incapable of mistakes -- nor should we.
Oh, and for those of you harshing on Peter's hair: grow up, get a life, and stop being so bitter about your own premature baldness.
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supesguy said 3:56AM on 1-25-2007
He's a decent writer but his Podcast is another story. I used to listen but then realized he spent most of the podcast interrupting Ryan with "yeah but... stutter... yeah but..." He seems unable to let Ryan finish a sentence. Ugh. It all got old really fast and I don't listen anymore.
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Jerome said 9:30AM on 1-25-2007
#16, yeah I read it...and I really still don't want a thumbboard on the iPhone, neither does Steve or "Jony" Ives. They suck a huge amount and wishing for one is like wishing for a 3.5" floppy drive in a macbook.
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