Tech blogs have been literally stampeding over the top of each other today to report on the latest version of the iPhone, announced at Apple’s WWDC event in San Francisco. Our network blog last100 has an excellent overview of the news. Personally I’m a huge iPhone fan and so I was looking forward to this announcement as much as the next Macbook-toting geek. However a RWW commenter, Raph, injected a healthy dose of realism into the comments of our earlier post. It makes you wonder: is the iPhone really that revolutionary?! Let us know in the poll and comments below…
First, the highlights of today’s iPhone 2.0 announcement, courtesy of last100:
- Yes, it supports 3G and faster data networks.
- Yes, it supports GPS.
- Yes, it has a few cosmetic changes and is thinner.
- Yes, it carries a (dramatically) lower price: $199 for the 8 GB iPhone, $299 for the 16 GB model.
- No, it’s not immediately available, but you can get it in 22 countries starting July 11.
- Microsoft Exchange and full enterprise support is enabled out of the box.
- “Exchange for the rest of us” will be available through MobileMe and Me.com, the re-branding of .Mac.
- Third-party applications and the App Store will be available in early July.
- No, there does not appear to be an improved camera or video recording (including video chat) of any kind. There’s no Flash support. Or external storage slots. And still no cut and paste!
To which I’d add, longer lasting battery! Very big feature IMHO.
And now for the contrary, non-geeks view, courtesy of our commenter Raph:
“Even though this blog has been particularily quiet around Apple’s WWDC08 and the new iPhone announcement, I’d like to voice an opinion that is likely to make me look like I’m an old dinosaur that is just bitterly jealous over Apple’s success.
Well in fact, I’m not. But I am still looking for words to describe how pathetic Bubbleland looks like from a higher perspective, buzzing crazily around Apple, their conference, and the new iPhone.
Just look at that : an army of bloggers “liveblogging” what ? An event primarily addressed to people who write programs working on products of a (still) relatively small company that until now addresses only the 10% of the richer people in the world with their fancy gadgets.
And writing about what ? A BIG event : the second release of a phone that until now lacked what 80% of the phones sold in Europe and Japan have had for the last 2-3 years – 3G connectivity. And guess what : it also does portable music playing and GPS. Woaaah ! Excellent ! Nobody else does that on the market, do they ?
Now, don’t tell me guys that the iPhone was a revolutionnary phone : it wasn’t, except maybe for its stylish look. And this release is anything but exceptionnal. It basically is a “survival release”. Adjust the competition or die. And also adjust the competition’s pricing or die.
People are talking about this as the latest genius move from Apple’s Steve Jobs. It’s not a genius move. It’s the only strategy to avoid the short-term failure of the product. Except to Apple groupies (which are numerous in Bubbleland’s crowd), this phone had been bought until now for its stylish look. And that wouldn’t have gone much further than it was.”
Raph, you are a brave man. So folks, what do you think?
Photo credits: Engadget
