It does n’t have every feature of speech in the world , but what it has works very well ( with a few glitches ) . It ’s also fun to use ; its purpose and port are stunning ; and it integrates seamlessly with the content on your computer . masses may not see it yet , but it ’s go to change the market place .
If someone had read you that description a few calendar month ago and inquire you to name the product in question , there ’s a good chance you would have guessed “ the original iPod . ” And you ’d have been right — inaugurate fashion back in October 2001 , the first iPod fit that description to a T. But the textalsodescribes Apple’slatest piece of shiny hardware , released just last week .
Because , you see , the iPhone is the iPod of phones .
At least that ’s what I ’ve been enjoin ( the many , many ) people who ’ve ask for my opinion on the iPhone over the past week , because the dim-witted musical phrase summarizes my experiences as compactly as I can put it .
And if you understand the inspection , and verbalize to people on the street , I ’m not the only somebody to describe the iPhone in words like to those used nearly six years ago to describe the first iPod . “ Normal ” people are wowed by the attractive design and ease of use . Mac fan alternate between dribble over the things it does right and criticizing it for not being perfect . ( Hey , we have high standards . ) The techie crowd complains about all the features it does n’t have . And the great unwashed in all three groups grouse about its price .
Whichshould all vocalise quite conversant : The original iPod was praised for its port , ease of consumption , and several groundbreaking ceremony features , while being criticized for being too expensive and for omitting features included on other portable players .
But it ’s more than a coincidence that the first iPod and first iPhone have experienced similar receptions . Apple understandably had standardised goals in mind when design the two machine : Get the independent features flop and make them elementary to apply . desegregate those feature of speech in a way people have n’t experienced before . Use a computer for those things that are more easily doneona computer and sync the two seamlessly . And make the intact package look and function in a fashion that will make peoplewantto use it . As the platform matures and new model are put out , add new feature — without going overboard — and improve existing I , all the while stay fresh the production easy to use .
Which means that the first iPhone , just like the first iPod , is n’t perfect . It ’s missing feature , some of which seem like forehead - slapping omissions . Some of the features it does have do n’t find quite finished . And there are plenty of phones out there that do more . On top of that , it ’s not cheap . All of which , together , would appear to support the argument that , Apple ’s praseodymium spin aside , the iPhone is far from rotatory .
But here ’s the matter : Although the Apple- and iPod - hater wo n’t want to learn this , the truth is that the iPhone is every bit as revolutionary as was the iPod . Not in damage of which features it offers , buthowit offers them — the stunning interface , the ease of usage , the innovational way you interact with the gimmick , the slick integration with iTunes and your estimator , and the direction features that are obscure and unused on other phones are accessible and useful on the iPhone .
That ’s not to say we ca n’t bicker over little port issues and which small feature of speech should have been included in version 1.0 . And there are valid complaints about major characteristic omissions . But many of these complaints — include my own — neglect the larger item , which is that the iPhone has , in one cruel swoop , transformed the nomadic - phone market , just as the iPod did the portable - media - player grocery store six years ago . Expectations and standards just cause a bunch higher , for everything from external design to software package interface to the activation physical process . As a upshot , just as portable medium players have improved enormously thanks to the iPod ’s influence , you ’ll be see other sound seller ( finally , it seems ) take the overall substance abuser experience seriously . ( At the same metre , just as Apple stayed out front of the iPod ’s competition by regularly present Modern modelling with new features and at different price points , I suppose we ’ll see a similar procedure with the iPhone . )
Oh , and after using the iPhone for a hebdomad , I can tell you there ’s one other way in which the first iPhone is like the first iPod : Whatever your initial impression , the more you employ it , the more you appreciate it — and the more you wonder how you perplex along without it .
