Are iPhones Really Worth All the Hype?

I consider Iphone just a gimmick phone. most standard phones here in japan can do what the Iphone cann't, and now one can watch TV on it download games go on the internet and more.

Sour grapes?

My only complaint is that my company did not create it. You may full of gripes, but from a marketing perspective it has been a hit. People still buy it and it generates revenue.

I think that your biggest gripe is that the iPhone is so far ahead of its competition that the competition has not yet caught up enough to offer solutions to your needs. Obviously, if you are dissatisfied, go buy a competitor's product. However, you will just have to wait for that vacuum to be filled.

Are iPhones worth all the hype? That's a personal decision that is different for every person. However, from a marketing perspective any and every accountant would give it a thumbs up.

Oh from a Marketing perspective I agree with you, it's a goldmine. They tout all the really cool features and no one bothers to ask about the basics (like sending picture messages). Signing a contract for one of these you are putting over $2000 in AT&T's pocket.

Look at the comment below, my friend loves to pay $100 a month for a 16GB iPod when he already had an iPod that held 5 times that amount.

Also check out the link in the resouces section about how the Japanese view the iphone (and confirmed by Epke)

yes, but your friend also doesn't see the point of having weeks of music on you at all times when he only listens to a few albums a week...

I have the 16 GB model and all of my music fits on it and I have 40% left over after the few applications I "need" were installed.

Basically, it is a tool first for me, and an entertainment (iPod) second.

The big advantage is the email and internet access. I never text anyone. Why? I have email. The internet access allows me to check and research information on the spot.

The GPS and mapping have saved my butt a few times.

Having my address book with me and syncing it to my PC (Mac) at my office makes life easy.

I don't have the resources available to the Japanese, but I do find the iPhone very useful by solving my business needs and doing it in a fun way.

I also recognize it has limitations, but so does everything else in life. You simply need to learn how to leverage the resources you have to the maximum. No complaints from me.

i think that you got that backwards!

the competition is technoligically far ahead of the iphone but the iphone is far ahead in terms of marketing!

That may be true! However, I haven't followed that market too closely.

From an integrated package standpoint the iPhone does more for me than what the competition did (when I bought it) and does it with a better human interface (at the time I bought it).

There may be areas where other products excel, but holistically, the iPhone offered a superior package, when i bought it.

And, you are right, Apple does a superior job of marketing. I have advised many business owners who have asked me how to improve their market/product to look at Apple's marketing techniques and Apple's human interface, which has a track record of virtually being second to none.

While there is more to Apple's success than those two attributes, marketing and human interface are the biggest reasons Apple does so well.

I think that the marketing used for the I-phone (and others) used the Las Vegas casino model exactly. The bells and whistles were installed gradually so "users" could not put them down. The rebellion should come from the "users" who were sucked in by the "mainframe computer" . (Tron) we may have reached that point, where we have got to realize that the "Mainframe Computer" has been building its smaller, and smaller, and smaller computers, for a very long time. It's plan is to take over the world and has been hiring robots to take over "marketing" from humans. Jeff Bridges and his programmers should have stayed "inside" the mainframe, and wrote another script.

if you own a cell phone and an ipod of any size its a no brainer to get the iphone, provided your carrier can supply them.

i totally disagree

i have an ipod and i absolutely love it! it does exactly what i want and holds my whole music collection and numerous videos as well.

but my mobile phone is what i use for texting/email/phone calls

i would and do not want these to be integrated into one device!

it is so much easier to multitask with these 2 devices and doesnt take much more pocket space to carry them both!

I'm very happy with my $30 a month phone from Verizon which includes unlimited text messaging and for only $5 more unlimited internet.

Sure it doesn't have all the bells and whistles but I would rather keep my MMS messages, Video camera, and physical keyboard.

As for my next device, I will hold out for 2nd generation Andoid phones.

Good answer Nighthawk

I'll add that 16GB may not be enough for all the music you have, but you really don't need it... I have about 4GB of music on my iPhone, and I honestly don't use the iPod app very often.

You probably would have mentioned these apps, but Pandora fufills all my music needs, and when I need to listen to a particular album or song, 16GB is more then enough space to put those.

In the event that I needed more space, there are applications that will stream all of your music to your iPhone with ZumoDrive.

i would have to agree with nighthawk on this one...

I think a majority of the folks in the anti-iPhone group have put themselves there for one (or both) of these reasons:

1. The iPhone's cost-to-own
2. They just don't like Apple for some reason

You can say it doesn't have this, or can't do that...OK nothing is Perfect; the truth is, the iPhone is a high-quality machine that blows every other cellphone away!

Anti-iPhoner's: If cellphones were free and you could just pick the one you wanted (put manufacturers, carriers, and price aside), would you even consider anything but the iPhone?

If you're answer is "No" then I don't beleive you...

Given the choice of any phone, I would take the Palm Pre hands down which is out next week. (Compared directly to the iPhone in that link)

I even know some die-hard Mac supporterss that agree the iPhone has nothing on the Pre.

The difference is that the Pre isn't even out yet!

If there is a phone that could be all hype, it is most certainly one that hasn't even been released. How could it have flaws? It doesn't have any user's picking it apart yet...

Not that the Pre couldn't blow away the iPhone, but I have yet to seen Palm come out with a product that matched all the hype before it's release, and on top of that, didn't have anything wrong with it... which is what will need to happen if it is going to beat the iPhone.

Maybe "Will Pre Really Be Worth All the Hype?" would have been a more accurate blog post...

"the iPhone is nothing but sunshine and rainbows."

I agree Sharkles, it definitely is.

do you think there is an isunshine and an irainbows app...?

Also, I am a big fan of The Best Page in the Universe (look it up for hours of hilarity) and it's author, Maddox has weighed-in on the iPhone:

Note: If you are easily offended by foul language, I do not recommend Maddox for you.

Maddox on the iPhone

I don't think anyone is posing a personal attack on him, but most do not agree with his take on the iPhone.

Well I am replying to this thread with my iPhone. Can you do that with your phones I think not... Good Day Sir...

my blackberry can!

Nice!

- Sent from my iPhone

wow, impressive...!! I am replying to your reply from my "techically prehistoric" Blackjack 1... not even the new version. Sorta makes your arogant "Good day sir..." sound even more juvenile. Are you so in love with Steve Jobs that you would sacrifice your integrity? Are you so out of touch that you think the iPhone has cornered the market on replying to web forums?? funny thing is, i could have tethered my Blackjack to my laptop to makes this an even more compelling response (can the iPhone do that ??) and when I'm done replying, I think I'll change my battery 4 or 5 times, just cuz I can... and maybe listen to several hundred mp3's on my extended memory, over my Bluetooth headset, just cuz I can. It's a phone... not a personal statement. This market is big enough for all kinds of gadgets. I love the iPhone, but I won't buy one because of Apples business practices... i'll just remain content with my very capable Blackjack and iTouch. and yes, i typed this all on my full qwerty Blackjack keyboard...

The iPhone would have corrected those embarrassing spelling errors:

1. techically
2. arogant

Not to mention auto-correcting improper case on several i's. It's like reading an assignment a 2nd grader attempted for his typing class in Notepad.

Is that the best you have, to criticize typing errors..? Especially when done on a small keyboard. It lends itself to the argument of how juvenile your argument really is, and that is where you should be embarrassed.

There is nothing wrong with my ability to spell, or use correct grammar... so how about addressing the "actual" issues, lest I go back and pick apart all of your impeccably linguistic posts.

and then to have the audacity to rate that as a "Good Answer" is a discredit this forum.

Quotes:

"It's unlikely an entire corporation will be be affected by just one person taking their work with them"

"to a hexidecimal instead of a binary value? Storing data without a voltage supply limits us to using bits, or 0s and 1s, right now. With todays "

TO this forum... saved you the energy.

I give...

I'm going out right now to buy me one of them there iPhones..!!!

I have a basic japanese (more than 2 years)"old" phone, i can e-mail with it sendpictures with it, make photo and small movies,it plays music, it has a memorycard, it has internet and it cost me less than 30$ a month. The iphone is a nice gadget but it is realy a trend item and like most apple thing somewhat over priced.

Good discussion.

I have a technical question. My battery is almost worthless, and I've searched everywhere for a replacement, and frankly I'm a bit confused by the results. How do I change the battery..?

addendum: oh, and if anyone can help me with my bluetooth pairing, I would appreciate it.

It's physically impossible. The way the iPhone was designed, the battery cannot be replaced, even by the manufacturer. You just need to throw it out and buy a new one!

Here is a good comparison and review of the iphone:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone

that was already posted but good try...

I believe Sharkles already shared that wonderful link above

interesting point of view. don't think i could live with out a phone although i do agree sometimes its better to turn the thing off like when your in the restroom (ewww).

I'm a big fan of digital video streaming to phones...Korea, Japan...there's a few other places where its common to watch tv broadcasts on your cell and It's beautiful quality. I wish that the U.S would catch up to Korea / Japan with digital media devices.

I used to feel the iPhone was a gimmick phone as well - overpriced and overhyped. Then, my fiancee got me one, and I cannot put it down. Granted, it is the 1G, but I could care less. There are so many apps and things to do on the phone, it is amazing. I have it jailbreaked, so I don't even mess with the AT&T crooks. Great phone. However, the no MMS and no text forwarding is definitely missed.

To help unfetter you from the overseers, I posted some of the benefits of jailbreaking your iPhone. Check it out.

Jailbroken iPhones Go Mainstream