Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, iPhone
The value proposition of iPhone without phone calls
The other day, I got sucked into a deep iPhone discussion. (It happens. Don't cast stones.) As you may know, I'm not big on the iPhone-as-phone. "What's the point," a friend asked, "of having an iPhone and not making calls on it?"
Back and forth discussion happened. Here's the conclusion: the iPhone transforms people like me from insufferable know-it-alls to insufferable know-it-alls with the entire Internet in our pants. (Or fashionable handbag.) (Or manziere.) (BRO!) Google and Wikipedia don't equate to wisdom and understanding, but they provide inexhaustible streams of on-the-spot factoids. End those "Who's right?" arguments fast.
So if you haven't jumped on the iPhone bandwagon yet, consider this. Put the Internet into your own pants. With EDGE, the Internet is anywhere you've got pockets. Until WiFi becomes ubiquitous, always-on connectivity is better than only being "sometimes-on." Especially when it's your pants (or purse) that are chock full of Internet-goodness.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
listenclose said 4:47PM on 2-26-2008
An inside joke at my work place whenever a debate ensues. Everyone turns to me, "Google that @#$%"
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zetasmack said 4:47PM on 2-26-2008
couldn't have said it better myself.
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Kevin said 4:48PM on 2-26-2008
uh - you still don't address why if you can do all of that, you prefer to NOT be able to make phone calls...
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Alex said 5:17PM on 2-26-2008
thats exactly what i was wondering, the whole intro led to something completely different.
Example:
So this is the problem with the iPhone, the service.
So in conclusion, its clear to see that you should never order orange soda from a McDonald's drive thru.
varun said 6:37PM on 2-26-2008
What I find fascinating is how the device that is marketed as "the internet in your pocket" is the device that all these custom pages are propping up for. I mean, I like that there are these mobile pages now - works great on my S60 browser too - but they kind of defeat the "whole internet in my pocket" deal.
JeFF said 4:48PM on 2-26-2008
Beginning countdown to "teh internet in ur pants" meme-dom...
10...
9...
Seriously, that's a great line.
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Zews said 4:48PM on 2-26-2008
You could have achieved the same with an iPod touch. I.e. you could have been an "insufferable know-it-all with the entire Internet in your pants" by getting an iPod touch.
The question remains, "What's the point, of having an iPhone and not making calls on it?" Why did you get a phone when you don't use that function?
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mentalsticks said 4:54PM on 2-26-2008
the Touch doesn't have EDGE, does it?
robogobo said 8:19PM on 2-26-2008
or bluetooth, or a camera.
Miranda Kali said 4:49PM on 2-26-2008
There are things I call "Holy iPhone" moments. Those times when you're able to utilize your iPhone in such a way that advertising execs would hear about them and say, "Wow! That's soooo cool! It should be in a commercial." (like they do)
Such as the time my friend and I were driving and she said, "I wonder why they call this Chain Bridge Road?". I looked it up in less than thirty seconds and a portion of our drive became a historical tour.
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Jim Barr said 4:52PM on 2-26-2008
While I do agree, alternately, you could always add an application like Wiki2Touch (http://code.google.com/p/wiki2touch/) to an iPod Touch and have an offline, always-accessible searchable 3GB snapshot of all Wikipedia text content.
-Jim
http://IPTtips.com (iPod Touch Tips)
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Danny Parker said 5:01PM on 2-26-2008
The pub quiz will never be the same again..
: D
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JeFF said 4:58PM on 2-26-2008
OK, my last post was silly, but a serious response to Zews:
I've got an iPod Touch. Until I jailbroke it, I was unable to access the WiFi network at my university.
At the time I was on 1.1.2 firmware, which only had support for WAP connections. The school only had VPN or WEP access. Non-technical summary - my iPod couldn't talk to the school's WiFi.
Adding the iPhone's Mail app gave me new network options that have allowed me to access the VPN connection on campus. Of course, they've announced that they're taking that connection down next month, which means that whether I'm jailbroken and in possession of a sneaky Mail app or shelled out $20 for it or bought a brand new iPod Touch recently, I can't get online at my university with the Touch. I've read numerous posts outlining the same at universities all across the country.
For the people who either don't have ubiquitous WiFi access, or, like many universities, have a very specific kind of access, the iPhone could have been more useful. Internet access remains significantly easier on the iPhone than on the Touch.
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Doug said 5:11PM on 2-26-2008
I got the iPhone on a trip to the US to bring back to Canada knowing full well I wouldn't be using it for cell service. The Touch doesn't have the camera (great for snapping photos of things I see / want to remind myself to do/get later), the microphone (voice memos are essential), the hardware volume buttons (double-tap the home button and look at the screen to adjust volume? no thanks), and (I think) no external speaker.
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Fritz Laurel said 5:00PM on 2-26-2008
Alas, the irony of the iPhone not being able to solve this argument for you...
Cheers,
FL
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Brian said 5:05PM on 2-26-2008
Because of its EDGE support, the iPhone minus the phone would be the obvious choice if there were data only plans available.
When is one of the other carriers going to wake up and offer a data only plan for unlocked iPhones.
Tmobile, I'm looking at you!
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Leif said 5:07PM on 2-26-2008
If you're endgame is biology and technology merging, and tech-dependency is a good thing in your book, than you're totally right. I'm just not sure myself, and apparently, from the press I've been getting about our 'soul tech' workshop (check out this Today Show piece, somewhat representative of the actual workshop) I'm not alone.
-Leif
www.SparkNW.com
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mahalis said 5:10PM on 2-26-2008
I would have thought this obvious. Long waits of any sort - lines, bus rides, whatever - are vastly improved by the presence of an iPhone and the "Random page" link on Wikipedia.
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Bob S. said 5:07PM on 2-26-2008
Well, fair enough, but the Sidekick and Treo have both made that available for years and have huge advantages over the iPhone, such as the full keyboard of the former and the huge software base of the latter. Someday the iPhone may mature into something better than either of those platforms (especially as Sidekick's now a Microsoft platform) -- but it isn't ready to take on either of them yet. (I wouldn't get an iPhone until Apple allowed users to pair Bluetooth keyboards like the ones that have been available for Palms for years. The virtual keyboard -- and I've had an iPod touch for a while now -- sucks.)
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matt said 3:14AM on 2-27-2008
Exactly. I would go further, though; the iPhone, not jailbroken, offers no more functionality than most mp3-capable and web-enabled phones. Jailbroken, it offers no more than a Treo or Java-capable phone (some would argue less, given the hobby-developed status of iPhone apps).
The reason for a $400 iPhone? Aesthetic. Any other explanation is delusional. The only technological innovation is the interface and ease-of-use with Apple machines.
Is the interface worth $400? To an iPhone owner: yes. To non-iPhone owners (with access to networks with SIGNIFICANTLY better speed and coverage): no.