Macopinion

New iPhone. Yawn

by Marc Zeedar macopinion@designwrite.com

Due to secrecy leaks, there was little surprising information revealed by Steve Jobs this week at the WWDC keynote address. We all expected a new iPhone that supported 3G. The rumors of an included GPS unit proved true, but in terms of new hardware, that was pretty much it: the iPhone 3G is almost exactly the same as the previous generation except for a few minor improvements (different back for the case, non-recessed headphone jack, better speakers, etc.). Good things, but not necessarily worth trading in your old iPhone.

The really big news wasn't even announced at the event. It was revealed by AT&T in a press release where we learned that the new iPhone will require a different rate plan. Not only is the new "3G" plan $10 more expensive per month, but SMS messages are no longer included -- those are $5 more! And here I was thinking the original plan's 200 text messages was being shafted. Ouch.

Of course this news shouldn't have been surprising: AT&T is spending millions to build up their wimpy 3G network and since it provides a compelling feature -- faster downloads -- it's only natural they'd charge a premium for the service. (It's really just an excuse, of course. AT&T just wants to earn back their iPhone 3G price subsidy.)

And even bigger problem, from my perspective, is that 3G isn't even offered everywhere (by the time it is, 5G will be the hot technology). That means most people will be paying more for the same Edge service! I get passable Edge service in my rural area (south of Portland, Oregon), but it'll be years before 3G is standard. If I traveled regularly to big cities I might be more interested, but right now I'm mighty glad I bought iPhone 1.0 -- iPhone 3G's monthly fees are too high for me to justify the cost. (For the limited cell minutes I use, I'd be better off with a regular pay-as-you-go phone and an iPod Touch.)

But of course the media is excited about iPhone 3G, acting as though it's a better deal than the original "over-priced" model. I never understood the obsession with 3G -- it's one of those buzzwords that tech writers seem to have on their requirement checklist, but it's just not practical for most people. All 3G does is burn though the battery twice as fast (a mere five hours of talk time, and that's Apple's ambitious prediction, not reality) and cost a lot more in networking fees.

Granted, the $200 price drop of the iPhone hardware is nice -- but from the beginning my worry about the iPhone was not the initial price but the monthly cost. Of course too many consumers aren't intelligent enough to think about such things and go for what they perceive as a cheaper initial cost. (That's why rent-to-own furniture and appliance stores exist.) I've no doubt the plan will succeed admirably -- watch for sales of iPhone 3G in the millions -- but I'm blissfully happy with my iPhone Original.

The Real News
The big news at WWDC also wasn't a surprise as third party applications have been expected since Apple announced the SDK in March, but it's far more significant than 3G networking. A big part of the reason for that is that applications -- along with the iPhone 2.0 software upgrade -- work with all the existing iPhones.

That is huge. No other phone in the world works like that. Sure, some other phones have third-party applications, but relatively few people bother with them because the process of downloading and installing them is overly complicated. Apple's forthcoming App Store will make iPhone apps so easy to buy I am predicting unprecedented third-party software adoption. In fact, I think the average quantity of third-party apps iPhone owners will use will exceed that of personal computers! (This is typical of iPhone: the device makes everything so easy, owners typically do way more than with other devices.)

But few other phones offer system software upgrades like Apple is doing. Cell phones have traditionally been throw-away devices, simply replaced when obsolete. Apple has instead created a platform and while new models might add convenient new hardware features, existing owners can still run the same software. It's like getting a brand new phone for free!

Don't Forget the iPod
Though hardly mentioned at WWDC, keep in mind that everything iPhone can usually be applied to the iPod Touch. When Apple reduces the price of the Touch in the fall (when, not if), expect millions to sell for the holidays. With no monthly networking fees, the Touch makes a terrific portable game player for kids and an awesome PDA for adults (not to mention the world's best-selling music and video player). The Wii got hot selling innovative and unique games; iPhone and iPod Touch games with accelerometer controls will have similar appeal.

Exchange for Consumers
Another important announcement is the reinvention of .Mac as MobileMe: it's basically Microsoft Exchange for the rest of us. In this world of multiple computers and handheld devices, MobileMe promises to keep everything in sync, instantly forwarding changes on one device to all the others. Calendars, contacts, email, photos, bookmarks -- everything can be the same on all your computers and handhelds. That's awesome and has me seriously considering the service for the first time. It's also fascinating to note that the service is compatible with Windows users for the first time -- Apple obviously wants them to buy iPhones and iPod Touches and be lured into the Mac lifestyle (once infected, their next computers will be Macs, of course).

As Expected
Pretty much everything at WWDC was as expected. One new thing was information about the next operating system upgrade, Snow Leopard. I love the name -- it's not only cute but appropriate, as it sounds like a modest "stability" release of Leopard rather than a whole new cat. It's a brilliant idea: Leopard is so far ahead of Vista that Apple does not need to unveil flashy new features but can simply release a version of OS X that will be improved under the hood and set the foundation for the next few releases of OS X. (With my own experience as a software developer, I can say this is something needed: it's difficult to improve the underlying code and add new features at the same time.) Snow Leopard will make OS X more stable, faster, smaller, and easier to update. Sounds perfect!

macopinion@designwrite.com