Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, iPhone
I hope Apple has absolved the iPhone from their '1st gen reputation'
Plenty of potential iPhone customers - particularly ones who are familiar with Apple's less-than-ideal track record with 1st gen products - are on the fence as to whether they should wait for the 2nd version of the iPhone. In recent years, problems like the 15-inch Aluminum PowerBook's white spots (and the resulting repair program), battery recalls, and plenty of MacBook/Pro defects are all too familiar to their unfortunate victims. I personally have experienced almost every one of these, going through three RevA 12-inch PowerBook (867) before I got one with a hard drive that didn't immediately die (never-mind the fact that I could almost cook breakfast on it and save money on apartment utility bills), a 15-inch Al PowerBook with the infamous white spots issue, and even a MacBook battery recall. Looking back on all these issues and the fact that I'm planning on getting an iPhone next week (though I'm still on the fence as to whether I'm nuts enough to camp out; hopefully I won't have to), I really hope Apple has done their homework and ensured the iPhone has gone through the best mass production process it can. A large stake of their reputation is going to depend on it.
Why is there more pressure for a flawless delivery on the iPhone than previous Apple products? Put simply: when a few early adopter nerds (including myself) get pissed that their $2500 PowerBooks have white spot defects in the display, that's one thing. When the unprecedented masses find some serious manufacturing flaw on a device they had to sign their life away for two years just to get - that spells hell for a company. The iPhone is enjoying a level of interest, hype and syndicated popularity that virtually no other Apple product in history has had - if something goes wrong (the displays konks out after a week of touchy-feely use, the battery life is significantly under the mark, etc.), it will undoubtedly be sung from on high by everyone from the enthusiast blogs to the big hitters like the Today Show and CNN. Apple is leaping straight from 'high school drama club' status to Broadway on June 29th, so any mistake is going to get magnified in the giant spotlight that will be shining on them in the wake of the iPhone's launch.
For the sake of all the rabid iPhone hopefuls and those who are waiting to see if the 2nd gen is the way to go, I say: break a leg, Apple.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
pangelav said 6:17PM on 6-22-2007
Being married to a manufacturing engineer, I learned better than to adopt 1st generation technology many years ago. You early users get to work out the kinks for people like myself who are willing to wait for iPhone v2.
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Aron Trimble said 6:21PM on 6-22-2007
"any mistake is going to get magnified in the giant spotlight that will be shining on them"
I saw what you did just then... *giggles* spotlight... tee hee!
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Frank said 6:22PM on 6-22-2007
I NEVER buy Rev. A Apple products, but I'll be buying a Rev. A iPhone. Why? Because, like you said, this thing's gonna go right to the masses. If it's a bum device, I'll be in good company with the millions of other pissed off iPhone customers, and Apple will have no choice but to make us happy or face a storm of bad press.
So I'm confident.
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Marco said 6:23PM on 6-22-2007
yeah, i still remeber my macbook problems. luckily i'm in europe, so i won't be a beta-tester, although i would like to be. ;-)
there is one more thing. has anyone noticed the inconsequence of ives design on the lower back? This black plastic thing? i bet there is battery below it. it makes no sense to change it, otherwise.
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Frank said 6:26PM on 6-22-2007
... adding, I guess there are two Rev. A issues to talk about:
(a) the actual defects in the design that prompt a special repair program
(b) the feature set. Rev B models often have better battery life, better features, less of a price premium, etc.
I think this post is about (a).
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David Walker said 6:32PM on 6-22-2007
I have had gen1 of both the aluminum powerbook, and now the MacBook Pro, and I have had not a single problem with either of them. I say go for it.
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Stan said 6:56PM on 6-22-2007
I think first gen iPods and first gen macs are different. I've had my first ipod from 5 years ago and it still works the same the day I got it. My first gen macbook was a totally different story
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Frank said 7:00PM on 6-22-2007
i'm with, er, Frank -- i've never bought a 1.0 of any apple product in my long history of using them (since the apple 2), but i'm buying a 1.0 of the iphone. i'm willing to gamble that apple has done their homework on this one. there's too much at stake!
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Billy K said 7:35PM on 6-22-2007
Well said, David.
And like Frank & Frank above, I've never bought a 1st gen Apple product (for good reason), but I'm taking a chance here.
Please don't let us down, Apple.
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Scott Bourne said 7:58PM on 6-22-2007
I hope you're right - but then again the constant stream of problems with phones like the N95 and the Treo 650 didn't sink Nokia or Palm. Hopefully, Apple would prove better at responding to problems than the aforementioned companies. If they had, I wouldn't be standing in line for an iPhone Friday.
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Ishir Bhan said 9:01PM on 6-22-2007
I donno. Sure, some people have Rev A issues, but I've had a lot of Rev A Apple products that have been just fine including:
- Mac II (first color Mac)
- PowerBook Duo 230
- Original iPod
- Original iMac
- Original 17" PowerBook
- Original MacBook
I can't say that I've really had any major problems that Apple hasn't expeditiously fixed. The most problematic was the MacBook with the "moo" and the "sudden shutdown" problems, both of which have been remedied at no cost to me.
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Jeff Brown said 9:03PM on 6-22-2007
The bigger problem with the iPhone is that they are being a little Newton-ish with it(ie it isn't really QUITE ready). No 3G wireless, a little bulky for a phone, and WAY too little memory for something that size(nano memory in Ipod size - this to me is a huge mistake). For $600 would it have killed them to have 16 or maybe even 32 GB in the thing? And 4G is ridiculous. I don't think it will be viable until there is enough storage space to be a legitimate media device.
I'm still wondering whether they are being a little too ambitious with the iPhone - trying to do too many things at once leads to complexity, which can kill universal appeal(and give something a lot more ways to break). The reason the iPod is so successful is it more or less has two buttons on it and your grandmother could figure out how to work it in 5 minutes.
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guerro said 9:36PM on 6-22-2007
I purchased one of the very first PB 12" 867 (it was one of the first 600 or so flown over from taiwan or where ever they made them at that time) and have had nothing wrong with it. It gets a little warm but not too hot to keep on my lap. Geez, have I really been using this laptop for over 4 years ????? Without a problem???? Amazing quality Apple!
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Mars said 12:54AM on 6-23-2007
@Dave I'd venture to say that this is why you have had iPhone sightings all over the net. These seem to have been given lots of real world use over the course of the last few months. Nobody has ever been spotted on a train using previous Rev A apple gear prior to launch. Let's hope that this is a sign that bodes well for the iPhone.
@12 You seem to be the kind who would have dismissed the iPod in it's early days, but fear not, you have plenty of company. I hear lots of people rambling about the price, the size, the fact that touchscreens have been done before, but each and every one of them misses the point. None of those devices has ever been done like *this*
There was lots talk on the streets when the Compaq iPAQ came out... and look at the world 6 years later. Pocket PCs have tacked on sliding keyboards, have tacked on phone, gps, and wifi... but the user interface has stagnated. The same quirks that have frustrated users since the inception of the Pocket PC still exist today. (Weak web browsing, weak calendaring, weak displays, touch screens designed around stylie, and [here's the big one] piss poor multimedia)
Apple is taking the industry bull by the horns and reinventing the user interface just like they did with the original iPod. (Anybody here remember the Creative Jukebox?... just try finding a song in it's massive 6GB harddrive in under 2 minutes.)
They are planning on hitting all of the quirks that have bothered WM users since it's inception and doing so in a device that ends up being no larger than the iPod. (The size of which hasn't kept half of New York from lugging one around at all times)
While Apple isn't talking down the hype, it's the consumers that have created it. So while you and your friends my watch the iPhone launch from across the street sitting on the grumpy bench... rest assured that the market share that Apple is praying for will either be in line, or *extremely* jealous of those who are.
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Ian Adams said 1:56AM on 6-23-2007
I think it's safe to say that the iPhone has been adequately tested:
http://mobilitytoday.com/news/007758/iPhone_testing_public
With how important this new business is to the future of Apple, there's no way that they wouldn't test the thing to hell and back.
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marcosmalo said 2:00AM on 6-23-2007
I'm still looking forward to a "iPhone Dirty Little Secret" website and astroturf campaign. With such huge amounts of money at stake, you know there's at least one FUD campaign waiting in the wings.
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MajorMauser said 4:07AM on 6-23-2007
ENOUGH!!!!!!
What about all of you that got first gen - Blackberries , Razors, Motorola Blackjacks and any of the microsoft.... clones.
Why did you buy those without question .... ???
If you want the iPhone you know you do just buy it. This is what all of us have been waiting for. Why sit here an micro analyze the whole thing. The released date is days away.... you should be securing your place on line and not worrying about this stuff
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scott said 4:09AM on 6-23-2007
Excellent post.
Very different issues indeed at play here. Sure, it stands to reason that the testing for the iPhone is unlike any testing Apple has ever done, simply because of the mass adoption rate everyone's betting on.
But think about this ... you buy now with everyone else. Soon, you're not as cool as you might think, simply because millions of others have it. That's not a problem per se, but the days of being the first with an apple product are kind of behind us.
The other thing is assuming it's flawless in terms of problems, there is the cost and physical factors that undoubtedly come with any technology. The first iPod was big and 5G and expensive. Now, we're on the verge of 100 GB.
You can bet that Apple is already developing more iPhones in a variety of flavors ... from business-friendly devices with no cameras and super Microsoft Exchange support to smaller devices to devices with 16GB and 32GB of memory -- and eventually you'll pay $299 for a phone with 32GB of memory. And, furthermore (whew!) we all know that 8GB isn't all that much when we're talking about music and videos.
So ... that said .. what to do? I'm a Mac junkie. Early adopter is my middle name, even though I'm still on my al-book because it is perfect in almost every way. Anyhow, the only reason I'm holding off is because I'm stuck in T-mobile hell. If I was on a month-to-month contract, I'd be camping out on the sidewalk here in Chicago right now. I'm a firm believer in owning something now and not waiting.
You can always wait. You can wait for everything. But you don't have forever to wait. Enjoy the day. Seize the moment. And be among the proud million people walking around with iPhones on June 30th.
And then ... in a year or two ... spend $299 or $399 or $499 for the next gen iPhone ... with a 7MP camera, GPS, nike sport built in, 64 GB memory, flash support, 3G, free leather case, scratch-proof surface, etc., etc., etc., and enjoy that just as much.
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MajorMauser said 4:11AM on 6-23-2007
"Apple is taking the industry bull by the horns and reinventing the user interface just like they did with the original iPod."
Well Said Mars.
Thanks
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basscadet said 5:14AM on 6-23-2007
I wouldn't call it an "Apple's first gen curse" but an "Every Retailer's first gen curse". Let's face it, all new products that go out have some problems, and sometimes these problems are so severe that they are scrapped. Apple has created a mass hysteria in their fandom for PR purposes and that's the reason many people will extensively look for faults and reasons to bash the machine and its hype. It's nothing new or at least it's not so innovative as ipod was + its features are kinda showing a long R&D time that maybe was too long. Within the next months, you'll see so many phones cashing in on the multi-touch fashion created by Apple that you'll wonder what all that hype was all about.
One more thing: When MS entered the console market they sold their Xboxes too cheap (I think at one point MS was losing 60-80$ per Xbox) so that they could aggressively gain a sizable market share. With the iphone I see a very steep price + 2 year plan and it clearly seems that either they don't care about market share or they are so confident of their product people will buy it even if it's a brick with the apple logo on it.
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