After seeing the first reports of signal drop off I tried to reproduce it with my iPhone 4G and couldn't. Sweaty palm or dry, right hand or left, holding it for taking a call or using it for data - it didn't matter. Only when I pressed my thumb over the gap did I see anything.
I have no doubt the issue is real for some people - probably it is a matter of hand size and shape and I don't have the right configuration. I have little doubt that even as I type Apple is researching an inexpensive fix - probably applying a protective coating to the antenna. I also have little doubt that we'll soon see Apple offering free bumpers or some kind of a coupon to anyone with an original iPhone 4. It just makes good PR sense.
The ironic thing for me is that I am able to make calls from locations I never could before and I've not dropped a single call - something I couldn't say about my previous two iPhones.
When I first saw the demo and specs I wondered why a 16:9 ratio hadn't been chosen so I grabbed some cardboard and started playing around. The likely answer is that it would make for an unwieldy device. In portrait mode the additional size would make holding it at the bottom more difficult. In landscape mode a full-size virtual keyboard would be harder to use.
Pixel density? I've spent 2 days using the iPad almost nonstop and I used the kindle app at least 3 hours each of the two days. I find the white text on black background superior to the Kindle 2 I just passed on to my wife.
Your first complaint may have a sliver of merit but your second is way off base. Specs alone DO NOT tell the story about the iPad.
You assume that Apple went out of its way to brick the iPhone. It is possible that's true but it is also true that the update may have been so extensive that bricking was a side affect that was unavoidable. Impossible you say? Not in the least.
Once upon a time I worked for a company that produced Mac software. The company utilized quite a few hacks rather than using the toolbox simply because their hacks were more convenient. Apple had warned programmers not to do this and from time to time these hacks failed as the OS changed. Then came OS 8.5 and soon thereafter there went the company I worked for. Fixing our programs, management decided, would be too difficult, time consuming, and costly. Gee, if we'd only done it right to begin with.
The hackers who found ways to make things work on the iPhone may well have been pulling the same kind of (brilliant) tricks my former employer did. In fact, it is likely since no developers toolkit exists, other than the web based one. But then the update ruined them, just as OS 8.5 ruined my employer's software. But the fault wasn't Apple's, was it?
Vista is a good operating system? The best Microsoft has put out? If you had said that of WinXP I'd have agreed but given that my new Vista work notebook had to be upgraded to WinXP three days ago for me to be able to scan, print, and say on our network, I just cannot agree. And at home? My media PC was down more than it was up. No, Vista is the biggest mistake MS has ever released.
First, you ignore that every product is a compromise. Every car, every pair of jeans, every engagement ring, every item you buy. The iPod is no different. And the consumer is also always forced to compromise - sometimes on price, sometimes on features, sometimes on need. Heck, the best selling automobile in the US in one no one really wants to buy - the minivan. Its features best meet the needs of the modern family.
Apple is offering four distinct products because the market wants them - because we each have our list of needs, wants, and constraints.
* some want an iPod but have very little to spend. Apple covers them with the shuffle.
* some want to carry their large catalog of music and videos. Apple give them the classic
* some want a sturdier device than the classic, light like the shuffle, but with more features. Apples give them the nano
* some are awed by the iPhone but for one reason or another aren't going to buy an iPhone. Apple gives the the touch
Does the product line make it hard for some of us to choose? Sure...just like I found it hard to choose when I bought a new TV this summer. But I'm better off than if Sony offered only one HD TV.
Phew! Talk about arrogance - you have it in spades.
Had you substituted 'short sighted' for arrogance I'd have been more likely to go along. But still, as a Treo owner, I can think of one good reason why Apple, in the short term, wants to keep the iPhone locked down.
I like my Treo 650 and have no intention of replacing it with the iPhone in the near future. The main reason is because there are certain programs I need/want that the iPhone doesn't have. Aha! That supports your entire thesis doesn't it?
But the flip side is this: While I like my Treo it also infuriates me by crashing at least once a week while I'm on the phone or getting a call..and then it takes about a minute to reboot. A minute isn't long...except when you are waiting to return to an important phonecall.
Now here's the kicker...with no added software my Treo is rock solid stable. Several times in frustration I've wiped it clean and used only the default applications and each time it has plugged away with nary a crash. Its only when I start adding software that the problem occurs. Kicker number two: try as I might, I cannot establish what pushes my Treo over the edge.
In the short run, locking the iPhone down is best labeled SMART. But you are arrogant.
Saying DRM sells iPods is nonsense! The iTunes Store is a convenience that MIGHT tend to keep an iPod user tied to the iPod, but its importance to selling iPods right now is minimal.
Why is it so hard to understand that the iPod is king because it combines THREE powerful tools: an easy to use mp3 player that looks great too, a way to catalog music and get it onto the hardware, and a way to acquire music.
The iTunes store is just one way to acquire music, using the iTunes software to rip CDs is another, downloading from other sites (legal and illegal) is yet another. In other words, the iTunes store (and DRM) is a very very small part of the whole enchilada. (Not to mention, easily avoidable.)
DRM or no DRM - that has nothing to do with the iPod's success.
Three comments -
1) where am I gonna put this thing? looks too big for my breast pocket and with that large screen I certainly don't want to put it in my pants pocket. (Is that an iPhone, or are you just glad to see me?)
2) the AppleTV looks promising but with a TiVo, an XBox, and a DVD player already connected I'm not sure I'll be getting one...unless the drive capacity is easily upgradable, then maybe I'll just rip the DVDs
3) where's the iWork and iLife announcements? The AppleStore still shows version '06
Correct, with valid ID Apple Stores will sell HARDWARE at education prices. My last purchase was a MacMini a few months ago. But Apple stores don't sell software at education prices mainly because most education prices software comes in special packaging/serial numbers.
Two things amazed me back when I worked in the tech support world. First, most Windows users were so clueless their first thought when something was wrong was to place a TS call. They almost never tried anything on their own. I cannot begin to tell you how many service calls I made that were fixed by simply plugging in the power cord or surge protector. Second, they were like cows at the slaughter house in their dumb acceptance of bugs, disaster, and inconvenience.
The fact is, it is still Windows and the warts are still there under the spackling compound. The Registry still rocks - oops - I mean to say the Registry is still a rock tied around the user's neck. Microsoft still thinks everyone is an idiot so it is still difficult to get to the proper configuration dialog and just enter the values that need entering. The Explorer is still too busy visually. I could go on. Yes, Vista, like all the other iterations of Windows is 'just good enough' and there are plenty of people who find that suffices. Fine, let them use it.
Actually your post was stupid because it was like asking, "If you were going to a deserted island which would you take, water or food?" Obvious it is a no win situation. And having to choose between a Windoze box with internet or a Mac without internet would be the same no win situation. Given that choice I'd have to say, "I'll take the third choice - a volume of Shakespeare's plays."
The answer to Microsoft's fear of the iPod is simple once you accept the simple idea that Microsoft is a software company. Why did MS build the Xbox, certainly not to make money selling the hardware. MS saw Nintendo and Sony making cash hand over fist selling games and MS wanted a cut of the game pie. So it's all about money right? Well, no.
That Apple currently owns the digital audio player market isn't the issue. Apple also owns the audio download market too and is making inroads into televisio as well as rumored to be in talks with Hollywood. And this is the problem. If Apple manages to tie up the audio and video download markets then who will buy Microsoft's DRM solutions?
In the future DRM is either going to be huge for whoever gets the nod, or it is going to be a massive boondogle for whoever gets the nod, or it is going down the tubes. Take your choice but I don't think DRM is going away anytime soon. Whether the 'winner' will turn out to be the winner is another question. But the fact remains MS thinks the delivery of content and the protection of content will be another license to print money. But MS only has a chance if it is still seen as a player in the market.
Thanks to Apple's success and the failures of everyone else, MS now risks being locked out of a big market if it doesn't take decisive steps. Whether the company can pull off something that is in no way a part of its core strengths is another question. Someone inside the company should be asking this question: "If Sony can't do it, why should we think we can?"
Microsoft doesn't care one bit about the MP3 player market. But it cares a great deal about the WMA and WMV market and without a viable audio/video player why would anyone care about using Microsoft's WMA and WMV tools?
Being a software company assumes someone is producing hardware that people are buying. Without that, the software is superfluous.
Listen to people talking about their cell phones or their digital cameras and you'll soon discover that they are a largely disatisfied group; disatisfied not because their gadget doesn't do enough but because they can't figure out how to make them do what their supposed to do. Listen to people talking about their iPod and you'll soon discover that a small number of them are disatisfied because their gadget doesn't do enough.
So tell me. Who would you rather be? Apple or Motorola, Nokia, Canon, Samsung, and Sony?
You want extra features? Buy an add-on gadget for your iPod or some extra-featured iPod knock off. But leave your mitts off the iPod design.
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