Relax, the iPad isn't going to kill the iPhone
I'm on record as not being a huge fan of the iPhone as a phone. Ergonomics aside, I'm deeply grateful to all those TUAW readers who pointed me to a bluetooth earpiece solution. Sure I look like a dork with that thing in my ear (not much difference, mind you, from my normal look) but with my 8-dollar unit (thank you Tuesday Morning clearance aisle), I can talk pretty comfortably for long periods of time without holding the iPhone to my cheek.
When chatting, that iPhone normally stays either in my pocket or in the front holder in my stroller while in use. With the iPad, it would be pretty darn hard getting it to fit in either location. If I were to use the iPad as my main cell phone, it would have to be dragged along in a backpack no matter where I went. And, frankly, I like grabbing my keys, my wallet, and my phone and heading out the door without a backpack, a purse, or a man purse satchel.
Let me give you another real life example of where the iPhone outshines the iPad. I love tracking my walks using TrailGuru. There's no way, I'd do the same with either a netbook or an iPad. It's just the wrong solution for that kind of need. They're simply too big. Fact.
There are ways I want to use my iPhone. There are ways I want to use my iPad. And I'm perfectly happy owning both. Because there are things the iPhone does really well (GPS stuff, iPod listening stuff, and so forth) that make it pocket-awesome and there are things the iPad does and will do well (eBook reading, bigger Web pages, better movie size, iWork) that make it backpack-awesome.
Loving one does not mean you have to stop loving the other. Any parent can tell you that.
Sure, the iPad with its 3G-assisted Skype service may be able to allow me to chat comfortably with others. And that's not a bad thing. In fact, I seriously look forward to doing exactly that while traveling cross country with the family. But the iPad's ability to subsume iPhone functionality does not make the iPhone obsolete.
There's a reason why I haven't hooked up my Mac mini to a portable UPS system to carry along with a keyboard and monitor to my local Starbucks. Form does matter. And it matters just as much as function. The iPhone isn't going anywhere any time soon. It complements the iPad rather than replaces it. Long live the iPhone. Long live the iPad.
Photo credit courtesy Iconfactory.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Sinecure Industries said 3:06PM on 2-01-2010
I notice the continual comparison of the iPad to everything else that's already out and this article definitely points out something obvious that people are forgetting... yes, it has similar functionality to an iPhone... but it's still not a phone, it's the size of a clipboard! It's carving out a niche somewhere between an ebook reader and a netbook, carrying a lot of functionality without a lot of complication. The iPhone is very on the go while the iPad will be when you can sit down and spend some time on something. It's easily portable but you're not about to pull it out to check stuff while standing on a subway. I'll be keeping my iPhone and picking up an iPad (well, we're trying to develop apps for it already!) too.
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Joachim Bean said 3:06PM on 2-01-2010
I didn't think the iPad would ever kill the iPhone. These are great points why it won't. I'll still be using my iPhone when I get my iPad. :)
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KP said 3:08PM on 2-01-2010
It may not kill the iPhone/iPod Touch, but I can see it almost killing Mac OS X. I figure we'll get two or three more major releases before most of Apple's computers are running some version of iPhone OS.
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GeorgeK said 3:55PM on 2-01-2010
That better not happen. I can't see it happening. Apple might want to push for that, but I can see Microsoft pushing even harder. Just think how sales of Windows would take off if Apple ever tried that.
Roberto Felgueiras said 5:05PM on 2-01-2010
that is the most ridiculous thing I have heard about the iPad yet... Kill OS X? Have you seen how many people have been buying macs lately? How would people be able to bring over their files and applications when it's time to upgrade a few years down the road? You do know people WORK on theses computers. There are too many power users to alienate.
brian said 3:24PM on 2-01-2010
"Regardless of what some people may worry about, the iPad is not going to kill the iPhone. Why's that? To keep the answer really, really simple, it's because the iPad does not fit in people's pockets. Can the answer get any simpler than that?"
Yes: the iPad will not kill the iPhone because IT DOESN'T MAKE PHONE CALLS.
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DrWho said 3:21PM on 2-01-2010
lol
Erica Sadun said 3:25PM on 2-01-2010
Actually, it probably will both make and receive phone calls using VoiP. TUAW has covered the recent decision by AT&T/Apple to allow that over 3G.
NutMac said 3:22PM on 2-01-2010
Negating the phone functionality (iPad could work as a phone with VoIP, but you'd have to run the app to receive a call), the form factor should make it obvious that iPad is meant to be used indoors (e.g., home, work) whereas iPhone is meant for everywhere in between. (Train/bus rides and flights are exceptional cases.)
That said, both devices are functional at each other's home turf, just not optimally. I'd willing to wager that many working professionals will buy WiFi-only version of iPad, and many will either utilize work computer's WiFi network or buy USB WiFi dongle to "connect" their iPad at work. Sort of as a secondary screen to organize their personal data and communication needs.
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Logan said 3:37PM on 2-01-2010
I don't get the Mac Mini line at the end. Ever heard of a MacBook?
Which brings me to my point: If I need a backpack/man purse for the 10" iPad + keyboard, why not just bring my 13" MacBook Pro instead? I could then use a real computer and save well over $600 for the iPad, keyboard, and iWork 10.
I know not everyone has a 13" (though 95% of students do), but I can't see it being a $600 difference.
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[Tre hangs out on the mirror's edge] [blogs at trespeak.co.cc] said 3:45PM on 2-01-2010
Funny how one of those giant iPhones is jailbroken.
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Tom said 3:47PM on 2-01-2010
Did everyone at TUAW not watch the keynote? The iPad is a 3rd category for pete's sake!
It's not a phone.
It's not a traditional powerhouse laptop.
It's a lighter-weight highly portable worksurface who's size is great for more in-depth work and visualization (writing, reading, painting, omni-graffling, gaming).
Apple's offering NON-EXCLUSIZE choices here!
Once the iPad comes out, my Macbook Pro will stay home most of the time and I'll be taking my iPhone and iPad to work.
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Chris Aubeck said 4:03PM on 2-01-2010
"It's a lighter-weight highly portable worksurface who's size is great for more in-depth work and visualization (writing, reading, painting, omni-graffling, gaming)."
Tom, how could one do in-depth work with a single app window open at a time? What work works like that? If you needed to compose text relating to some article, image or spreadsheet you'd be using a printer more often than with any other tablet or computer I have seen.
Tom said 4:56PM on 2-01-2010
Chris,
1) The iPad has copy and paste, so I don't see any issue with copying graphics from the web and pasting them into a Pages document, for example. I imagine the folks who developed PasteBot for the iPhone will also have their multi-clip app with persistence and syncing updated for the iPad.
2) The iPad doesn't have multi-tasking now, but the original iPhone OS didn't have copy and paste either. It's not that those features aren't available in OS X...it's that Apple is trying to perfect the experience. Now all iPhones have copy and paste thanks to the free OS updates, and I imagine we'll start seeing Apple's approach to multitasking with iPhone OS 4 this summer. (Multitasking for the iPad has to be more than brushing windows aside...I imagine there will be ways to split the surface into peer views of running apps side by side, and other multi-touch affordances.)
trayser said 3:48PM on 2-01-2010
I started imagining of the life when I would be having iPad and iPhone side by side. I imagine this happing.
1. Carrying around 2 copies of iPhone Apps, one on iPad and another on iPhone will look redundant and not elegant to me. I imagine myself transferring all the heavy-duty apps to iPad and deleting them from my iPhone.
2. When the iPad versions of iPhone apps start appearing on iPad, more apps will start being used only on my iPad. Finally I would have apps that are only meaningful on small form factor on my iPhone. (grocery list apps, quick notes, NPR app and the apps mentioned in this post)
3. Apart from this, wifi-only iPad seems limited to me (since my office does not offer wifi on mobile devices), so I will need a wifi+3g iPad. At that point paying the $15/$30 extra data fees will seem redundant, especially since the data plan on iPhone would be heavily underused, so I will want to cancel the iPhone data plan as soon as it is possible. (I would love if AT&T offers some kind of bargain for iPhone owners, like iPhone + iPad data plan for $40-$45)
4, Now the iPhone devoid of most of the apps and data plan would look terribly like a non-smartphone. I would keep it, or simply trade it for a sexy small phone without any smartphone capabilities. I might be able to get a much better data plan once the iPhone dependency goes away. Also, for listening music, I could start using my heavily underused iPod.
I could imagine similar things happening to more iPhone owners and possibly future iPhone owners.
I know an iPad does not make phone calls, but an iPad + plain vanilla phone combination makes more sense to me than iPad + smart-phone combination.
and of-course an iPad + iPod Touch combination doesn't make any sense at all.
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NutMac said 4:14PM on 2-01-2010
> 3. Apart from this, wifi-only iPad seems limited to me (since my office does not offer wifi on mobile devices), so I will need a wifi+3g iPad. At that point paying the $15/$30 extra data fees will seem redundant, especially since the data plan on iPhone would be heavily underused, so I will want to cancel the iPhone data plan as soon as it is possible. (I would love if AT&T offers some kind of bargain for iPhone owners, like iPhone + iPad data plan for $40-$45)
I would love unlimited family data plan that covers every data consuming wireless devices in the subscription. Short of that, I would simply buy USB WiFi dongle (about $40 for Linksys 802.11g and $65 for 802.11n) and enable WiFi sharing at work. Many IT admins probably won't like that idea though.
Rob E. said 3:59PM on 2-01-2010
Well, it's not going to kill the iPhone, and I don't expect it to replace the iPhone for most people, but it will for me. Sort of. Except that I don't have an iPhone. I've been wanting an iPhone, but I can't justify the cost of the data plan given the relatively limited amount of time that beyond the reach of a wifi network. I got an iPod Touch instead, and I love it. Even so, there continues to be those times when I pull out my iPod only to find that I have no signal, especially times when I'm travelling and don't know when the next wifi hotspot will come my way. It's those times I really wish I had an iPhone. But with the contract-free, less expensive data plan that goes along with the iPad, I think I will be able to satisfy 90% of my iPhone cravings. Sure, the iPad probably won't be in my pocket every time I want a connection, but with some forethought, and especially when I'm traveling, I expect the iPad to replace my iPhone and eReader envy at the same time.
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Ben said 4:01PM on 2-01-2010
I think I am going to drop the iphone and switch to the iPad.
I like data plan on the iPad better than the iPhone.
Also the bigger screen helps a lot.
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Konknok said 4:11PM on 2-01-2010
When will TUAW implement the "@not-ipad" tag?
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Mr Lizard said 4:15PM on 2-01-2010
"Let me give you another real life example of where the iPhone outshines the iPad"
I've got one - it makes phone calls!
:-)
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