Full FeedWhy Apple can do whatever the hell they want to
Today, I read an interesting article on MrGadget about why Apple needs to release the next generation of the iPhone soon. If they don’t, apparently Palm is going to break the deathgrip that Apple has on its growing portion of the cell phone market today. Needless to say, I wholeheartedly disagree (even though I want to see another iPhone just as much as the next Apple fanboy), and here are my reasons why.
The article had a comparison chart between the 3G iPhone and the coming Palm Pre. Now, for the sake of this article, I’ll assume that Apple will not violently enforce their patents on multitouch technology, and that the Palm Pre will actually make it to market. I tend to think this device will in some way make its way into consumers’ hands, so I don’t think this assumption is too far fetched. I’ll also ignore the (at least one) error that I immediately saw in the chart. You’re required to sign up for 2 years at AT&T for the iPhone, not 5; a minor error, but there are quit a few more holes in the logic here.
The Palm Pre has a 3MP camera, stereo Bluetooth (A2DP), copy and paste, tethering and some other “Heym look what I can do that the iPhone can’t” features. I can tell you one thing it doesn’t have…an Apple logo on it.
That was intended to be a joke, but there is a measure of truth in my jesting. Apple gives you more than a piece of hardware when you buy an iPhone; they give you an experience. Yes, the Palm Pre does some fancy things that connect all the different ways you can communicate with people on your mobile. I’ll admit that I think this feature is actually pretty awesome, but it’s not enough to get a geek like me to switch. Now, that’s due largely to the fact that I’m an Apple fanboy, but I urge you to take a quick look at the type of people who buy iPhones.
First, you have your Apple fanboys like me that will buy anything with an Apple logo on it. Then your all-around geeks that love the technology and convergence (excuse the buzz word) that the iPhone provides. But a huge portion of iPhone users are just regular people. They aren’t geeking out, they aren’t the type who upgrade their phones every six months, and they certainly wouldn’t have purchased a “smart phone” if the iPhone hadn’t entered the market at the right time with just the right mix of amazing features. Do you really think these people are going to pay their way out of their current contracts to get a Palm Pre? Good luck trying to argue that point.
Inevitably, people will buy the Palm Pre when it comes out; this sort of thing always happens. But I doubt that this device can really tempt the average cell phone user. The iPhone isn’t going to grab them all either, but if given the choice between the two devices, I think most would choose the iPhone since the brand and device recognition is off the chart.
The Palm Pre can have all the features in the world, but it’s going to take a lot more than that to get your everyday user to leave the comfortable and familiar experience they get with the iPhone. And don’t even get me started on the App Store. There are thousands of apps already available for the iPhone. You don’t have to trust that developers will adopt the platform if you buy an iPhone. We could probably look to Android to for a good estimate of what’s going to happen with the Pre. I guess that wasn’t the iPhone killer it was cracked up to be. Plus, no one is talking about Apple going out of business, but I’ve heard enough times that the Pre is Palm’s last hope for profitability. Place your bets where you’d like, my friends, but I’m going to call you crazy if you decide to bet it all on a dying company’s last stand.
Now back to this articles’ title. Apple doesn’t have to respond to this at all if they don’t want to. Apple could wait another year to release a hardware revision for the iPhone and we’d all still have enough to love about the current hardware. Do I want a better camera? Do I want stereo Bluetooth? Do I want copy and paste, push notifications, tethering and wireless syncing? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. But half of those are software updates, and I trust Apple. There are so many things they can do with simple firmware updates. If Apple released an update to enable copy and paste along with push notifications you might start hearing things like “Palm who?” in the not too distant future.
So no, I don’t think Apple has to do anything about the Pre. And I don’t think we’ll be reporting about Apple shaking in their boots at the thought of the Pre. I do, however, believe we’ll all look back on this and find it rather silly.
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True, dumbass Mactards like you would buy even a turd with the Apple logo, so Apple is safe.
on February 24, 2009 at 02:05 AM - LINKAll true. It’s amazing lately, that every single website talks about iPhone killers.
What you see, is 10’s of iPhone lookalikes, trying to copy the iPhone interface, putting features the iPhone does not have (yet).
The experience I have with my iPhone is plain fantastic. Everytime I’m surprised by the use and feel of it (in conjunction with its apps, and the apps I bought).
Here in Belgium it is an expensive machine, but the others are expensive too, and with no near the experience and eco-system of the iPhone.
Euhm, and where are all the so-called iPod-killers now?? 23 million Apple iPods sold last quarter… ‘nugh said…
on February 24, 2009 at 04:15 AM - LINK@Sebhelyesfarku, you’ll have to explain to me why when a consumer who bought one Apple product buys another Apple product, it’s because he’s a “Mactard” or a fanboy. Can it maybe just be customer satisfaction? I mean, I was pleased with my Samsung EDTV, so when it came time to upgrade to 1080p, I bought another Samsung. When I buy a new car this fall, it’ll be another Honda. Does that make me a Samtard or a Hontard?
on February 24, 2009 at 08:57 AM - LINKIn @Sebhelyesfarku’s defence, nothing in this article suggests that you’ve spent any hands-on time with the Palm Pre—thus your glib dismissal of it has little merit.
Perhaps you (and your readers) would be interested in the opinions of some mobile professionals who’ve actually *tried* the Palm Pre?
http://is.gd/kurg
on February 24, 2009 at 10:11 AM - LINKHad the folks at Mr. Gadget spent time with the Palm Pre when they wrote their article about how Apple needs to update the iPhone in order to compete? No, as indicated by this comment: “I’ve had my iPhone 3G since June last year so I know it fairly intimately, so I can personally say that just by watching the Palm Pre vids online, I know it’s met its match.”
Jake’s opinions are just as informed as those upon which this article is based, as those of the bulk of web journalists who are hailing the Pre as an iPhone killer without actually having used the yet-to-be-released Pre, so unless you’ve made the some post on the Mr. Gadget site, I’ll ask you to be fair in your assumption of what our readers would like to see.
on February 24, 2009 at 10:21 AM - LINKSee that’s half the point I’m trying to make though. I haven’t had any hands on time with the Palm Pre, no secret there. But why should I. Palm hasn’t given me, a person who loves gadgets, a compelling reason to abandon my iPhone and its apps. I’ve paid to get out of cell contracts in the past, so I’m not afraid of that. I am afraid that Palm will be out of business next year though.
on February 24, 2009 at 10:36 AM - LINKyes yes, iphone up and down, everyone thinks god himself made it. I think It’s a great phone, but I also think the Palm Pre is better in a lot of way’s, all that palm need’s right now is advertising like apple does, just telling people that’s the only phone they will ever need.
on March 3, 2009 at 03:40 AM - LINKAnd by the way the iphone is not a true smartphone any way, i would love to have one, don’t get me wrong, but the basic’s that it has are in all phones (mail, sms, internet, call’s), the only big thing is the touch screen and the app store (which the users you talked about don’t use, couse they are not geek’s). True smartphones are blackberry’s and windows mobile phones, they have way more options then the iphone, and I like functionality more then just good look’s.