>Apple’s iPhone: Part I: Does the iPhone measure up? Literally!
There are many reasons you’ll either love or hate Apple’s upcoming iPhone. The iPhone is a brilliant piece of engineering, but this first generation product has many shortcomings that will limit the success of the product. The point of this series is to seriously scrutinize these shortcomings, and offer predictions and suggestions on how to improve on the product. I want to have the ultimate cellular phone, PDA, and music player in one. The potential is clearly there for the iPhone to be it. However, for now, and in as basic a review as possible, I can’t imagine anyone but executives on expense accounts or those with a ‘me first’ mentality jumping at this over-priced, work-in-progress product.
As Part I of this ongoing series, this editorial will compare the actual physical size of the iPhone and how it compares to the most popular cell phones and music players today. There are reasons that some phones and iPods are popular… and why they reach their various demographics. My goal is to explore where the iPhone stands in this regard in today’s market.
First we’ll address scale, then style.
Scale:
There is no denying that the iPhone is huge… compared to even the largest iPod, and Microsoft’s Zune, the iPhone is even larger.
In scale to each other, Apple’s iPhone, Microsoft’s Zune, and Apple’s 30/80 GB iPod.
The point here, is while Apple’s largest iPods are consistent with the ‘deck of playing cards’ size of the first generation iPod, the Zune is larger, and the iPhone larger still.
The original 5 GB iPod was a remarkably successful first-generation product and helped Apple establish what were the requirements and limitations of their market. It’s primary target was Macintosh computer users, and was extremely successful in the technical and college market, however it simply didn’t capture the attention of the other major half of the market. Women. The iPod’s size is just too large and bulky to be comfortable in smaller hands, and would certainly weigh down purses. It wasn’t until Apple released the iPod Mini (or ‘Minnie’ as I liked to consider it) that women really started to jump onto the iPod band wagon. The iPod Mini was smaller, came in various colors and was in general more ‘woman-friendly.’ The iPod Mini went on to be one of Apple’s biggest successes, and most imitated products.
However, in the case of the iPhone, perhaps there is a benefit to its larger size. What is clearly impressive when you compare all three devices, is how much space on the front of the iPhone is being used for the screen; the music players appear almost wasteful in comparison. The iPhone’s touch screen in concept (very few have actually had the opportunity to try it) is an amazing development, and the right direction for Apple (and everyone else for that matter) to move towards. Screens should be touch sensitive, and allow for both input and output. I personally can’t wait until this technology is truly on our desktop machines as well. Think about it, the keyboard and mouse are outdated. Where’s voice and touch control? Bravo to Apple for going with a touch screen.
But what about the size of phones?
In scale to each other, Apple’s iPhone, Motorola’s Q, BlackBerry’s Pearl, and Motorola’s Razr.
Now admittedly, unlike the music players, phones need to reach from your ear to your mouth. Because of this issue alone, there is a point where small could be too small. For example, Motorola released a bluetooth headset called the H700 that is so small that it has trouble picking up your voice because it’s microphone is so far away from your mouth. When it comes to reaching the ‘ideal’ position of microphone in front of your mouth, and earpiece at your ear, the Razr clearly wins out over the Pearl and even the iPhone. Reach. Additionally, consider how much extra noise can be picked up over the longer distance. When you consider how important the ‘phone’ aspect of a cellular PHONE is, you can clearly see why the flip-open Razr has been and continues to be so successful. Motorola’s breakthrough design offers the best ‘reach’ while insuring the smallest size. Motorola truly scored a home run with their design of the Razr. Now with new models such as their latest KRZR that are even smaller, Motorola’s lead as the ideal ‘phone’ is going to continue.
Style:
Once a breakthrough product reaches its maturity, purchasing the item tends to become less about how it operates and moreso about how it looks. From clothes, cars, computers, music players, and now cellphones, it’s the bells and whistles/fashion sense that makes a product successful. In essence… how sexy is your (fill in the blank).
Motorola scored a home run with the Razr, and now you can get RAZRs in just about any color you’d want.
After the Motorola RAZR became successful, they began to release additional models and colors.
Apple introduced the hugely successful multi-color iMac, and then the multi-color iPod Mini, and now the multi-color iPod Nano and Shuffle.
The multi-colored iPod Nano Family.
The multi-colored iPod Shuffle Family.
Of the music players and cellphones, the iPhone is sexy with its color screen, but with only one model-black and silver, the first generation will likely stay with the limited men’s market.
When you consider how huge the cellular phone market is, it’s clear that the iPhone will be revised countless times over the next few years. Again, this is a first generation product, and Apple’s first entry into this arena. So long as the phone works and works well, they will have a long and strong future with countless models and colors. While I’m not so excited about the iPhone now, I’m very excited about what the future has to offer.
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