“Steve Jobs heralded yesterday’s Macworld keynote address with the words, ‘We are going to make some history today.’ While the introduction of Apple TV and the multifunction iPhone certainly are a new direction for Apple, we believe that Apple’s marketing muscle will have a big effect on the rest of the consumer electronics and telecom industries will be just as profound,” Carl Howe of Blackfriars Communications writes for SeekingAlpha. “Just how is that? Here are nine effects we see:”
1. Apple TV is a wake-up call to cable TV companies for unbundling
2. If it doesn’t have an Apple deal yet, TiVO should camp out at Apple looking for one
3. Nokia and Motorola just got Excedrin headache #15
4. Microsoft’s Windows Mobile now looks dated
5. Mac OS X software development got a huge shot in the arm
6. Microsoft’s Zune marketing just had its legs cut off
7. AT&T’s acquisition of Cingular now looks like a huge advantage — sort of
8. Skype voice over IP client will make its way to the iPhone
9. Apple will create huge competitive changes in consumer electronics
Full article here.
Cingular is going to have to create new plans for these phones to have voice and data as a single service, Not an add on as it is now. Service price needs to be quite a bit less expensive than it is now.
Does any body remember the phone call that Steve Jobs make yesterday to a Satarbucks coffee? Does she have an Idea that she has became part of the tech history? I really would like to hear her opinion about that.
I agree with whatever. I have internet on my Cingular phone, but I have never used it. It’s too expensive and completely useless. The iPhone however could have me on there for long durations. Hopefully they will have some sort of unlimited plan that’s more-or-less affordable.
If Apple has had any influence on Cingular, the service plan will be a sweet deal that will persuade heavy adoption. Smart phones have typically been considered for business-types, but iPhone really has consumer appeal.
If Apple could convince them not to extort their customers any more, there’s going to a nice pile of cash for both teams.
I hope the multi-year partnership will help Apple to have some sway on Cingular to price the plans appropriately for the mainstream.
Like the effect of Apple’s 99 cent singles and 9.99 albums on the music industry, Apple needs to impress upon Cingular that the volume of subscribers will make up for the lower pricing of the voice and data plans.
Apple should say: “Look, last year there was only a net of 16m subscribers in the US. We (Apple) will help you to get 6-7 million new subscribers in the US over the next year and reduce the churn (subscribers leaving). Those few million subscribers will be premium users in that they want voice and data. If you give it to them at a reasonable price of x dollars, we’ll get that many net adds. If you insist on pricing too high, we’ll get 1-2 million and the whole thing will be a failure. And for the next phone, we’ll go with T-Mobile or somebody else, or we’ll do an MVNO.”
How exactly did at&t acquire cingular? att&t (formerly sbc) has always owned a part of cingular. Cingular grew out of a conglomeration of 11 regional companies. The 11 brands included Southwestern Bell Wireless, Pacific Bell Wireless (SBC), Nevada Bell Wireless (SBC), Ameritech Cellular (SBC), SNET Wireless (SBC), SBC Wireless (SBC), BellSouth Mobility, BellSouth Mobility DCS, BellSouth Wireless Data, some Cellular One markets, and Houston Cellular The bellsouth purchase gives them 100% of it now but I wouldn’t call it a recent acquisition as it is being referenced number 7. You would think people would do a bit more research before they write an article.
WAR:
It is my understanding they did not “own” them…not even part of it. Cingular was a Partner. Nothing more.
I love this quote:
“Every cell manufacturer that has bought into the Windows Mobile business model where Microsoft dictates a bad user experience and makes the phone manufacturer pay for the privilege should be looking very carefully at their Microsoft contract today.”
Haha, this one was a realy zinger!
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“5. Mac OS X software development got a huge shot in the arm”
I don’t think so.
First, remember this is not running Mac OS X. It is running OS X. A subtle but important difference–it’s a stripped down version of Mac OS X.
There’s also the obvious question of whether or not Apple will allow third-parties in. Currently, the rumor mill says No. So that ends most third-party development right there.
2. If it doesn’t have an Apple deal yet, TiVO should camp out at Apple looking for one
TiVo had a deal with Apple – a couple years ago – but it fell through. Someday I hope to find out what really happened, but I know it is true. TiVo retail boxes were shipped to all the Apple Retail Stores, then recalled a couple days later before they were placed out on the shelves for sale.
There must have been some larger force behind this almost-story.
@ Peter
How is taking the word “Mac” off of “Mac OS X” the same as stripping down the system?
Thyere is no hint on the web site, or in Job’s address, of a stripped-down OS…
Peter, technically it is NOT NECESSARILY a stripped down version of OS X. It is entirely possible the Leopard kernal and many core components will be ported to the iPhone hardware. Sure, some components may not make it, but that is very different than splitting the development path off of Mac OS X.
Personally, I am most excited about the future prospects of the iPhone tech – for example, imagine how instantly obsolete the recent Ford/Microsoft “smart” car announcement would be were Apple to ally with (an) other major manufacturor(s)… iTunes videos for the seatback. Integrating GPS would be a snap for an in-dash tool (no videos for the driver, though – that’s just dangerous.) It’s a logical next step – just a matter of time, really.
Also airline’s could have a massive Apple TV SAN with individual seat-back screens, or customers could wirelessly access stored media… etc. so forth (I know these are half-baked ideas which great designers – not me – are working on.) But you get the gist of where I am going…
It’s the start of a whole new next great thing!
You will all remember where you were when you heard the iPhone had been released.
Cheers,
Tim.
4. Microsoft’s Windows Mobile now looks dated
Actually, it looked dated last week, too. Now it looks positively antique.
Well we all know what the new iPod interface will look like… It is going to be great..
War,
Bell South owned a large margin of Cingular. AT&T bought Bell South. Therefore, AT&T basically bought Cingular too.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if the iPhone has no on-board drive that means OS X is running on Flash RAM. Of course it’s “stripped down” as the iPhone has no need for the full panoply of OS X functionality. But has no one considered the implications? It suggests Apple is ready, once the hardware is ready, to release laptops with the entire operating system resident in RAM. Only the add-on applications and data would reside on a mechanical drive. Think what it would do for boot-up time, battery life, waking from sleep, etc. Even if the disk crashed the system will still boot, will retain settings, and will still be functional as one rebuilds the system.
@Peter:
Mac OS X is OS X with the Aqua GUI on top. The main operating system beneath hold all the power. Apple has seemingly tacked a new GUI on top of the OS X stack. I, like you, am curious about the true nature of the OS on iPhone, but Steve’s intimated quite strongly that it was the same. That whole OS X kernal could be put on a ROM or EPROM chip pretty easily I would think.
Lets see ATT sells ATT Wireless to Cingular and then Cingular is part of SBC then ATT buys SBC and has all their customers right back and all along still own the name ATT Wireless – I wonder how long the name Cingular will stay????
@Viktor
I too was wondering is some intrepid reporter dashed over to that Starbucks to clue the telephone woman into the prank call she received. Someone definitely has to track her down.
Service pricing from Cingular is going to be key on this. I suspect however that they will view iPhone adopters and premium customers willing to pay premium prices. This will certainly harm Apple. I hope Steve worked out a deal in advance that offers Apple customers attractive pricing like he did with record execs.
Mac Genius: “[…] technically it is NOT NECESSARILY a stripped down version of OS X. It is entirely possible the Leopard kernal and many core components will be ported to the iPhone hardware. Sure, some components may not make it, but that is very different than splitting the development path off of Mac OS X.”
Oh, I’m sure that the Leopard Kernel is there. But now we run into the question of what didn’t make it. ColorSync? OpenGL? Carbon? What is important for Mac OS X and what isn’t?
Spark: “Mac OS X is OS X with the Aqua GUI on top. The main operating system beneath hold all the power. Apple has seemingly tacked a new GUI on top of the OS X stack.”
Well, one thing I thought was funny was that Steve had a slide that showed the various pieces of iPhone OS X flying around. Things like Core Animation and Cocoa and such. Carbon was missing (so forget Word or Photoshop for iPhone). No mention of OpenGL. Now, it was a foofy slide so I don’t expect it to be a conclusive list of what’s available and what isn’t.
@ Viktor,
I was thinking the funniest thing would have been if she’d *69’d the call (whatever you do) to auto-redial your last caller, and Jobs would have had to answer an unexpected phone call live on stage!
everyone is forgetting the best thing about the keynote. it was when john mayer said “apple is the kind of like the EXACT OPPOSITE OF TERRORISM”
never been a better time to be an apple employee!
@Peter
It is so obvious that at the next WWDC a SDK for the iPhone will be handed to developers that it hurts. Just take a look at the widgets on the iPhone’s screen, the beta of Dashcode and the fact that the iPhone runs OS X…
I guess the point I was trying to make is to distinguish the difference between a stripped-down Mac OS X versus a separate development fork. Obviously the former would mean that development of the OS could be leveraged across multiple devices – Mac, Apple TV, iPhone. (and iPod, should Apple release one without the cell and internet communicator features, not to mention any other unannounced products Steve has up his sleeves…)
It must be a stripped down version of the OS or SJ would have touted its ability to run other aps other than the few things he mentioned. I personally WANT to run all the aps possible! I need the PDA/computer functionality. For that to happen, someone will have to come out with a BT keyboard to use with the “iPhone”…or will current BT keyboards work? An install for the current OS takes up so much space that, on the 4 GB model (and the 8), there wouldn’t otherwise be a whole lot left for anything else. We will need much more storage space on the phone to handle what it should be able to handle if the OS were complete and fully usable.
MW: “wrong.” Am I?
@ Cingular
What a great opportunity to own the market. Don’t screw it up.
@ The Others
What a great opportunity to increase your share of the international market. Line up outside 1 Infinite Loop.
@ All
Don’t be greedy.
OK, some folks don’t like the deal Apple made with Cingulair and AT&T. I sure that the contracts don’t extend until eternity. If things don’t work out well in Apple’s favor Apple will likely search for other business partners. If the iPhone is as successful as anticipated, others will be wanting to cozy up to Apple.
I like Job’s announcing that Apple will vigorously protect its patents. This means that all other wannabes will have to invent their own technology to copy Apple. Lotsa luck, fellas, you’re gonna need it. You’re already five years behind Apple with you’re pants to your knees.
All,
Whether it is stripped down or optimized for mobile devices doesn’t seem to matter to me. The most exciting thing is that Apple have some very powerful processors in there that can handle some of the demanding processing that OS X offers.
I’m sure Apple reduced the OS size as much as possible since as Hg pointed out you wouldn’t have much space left on a 4 GB drive. Of course the OS may reside on a separate flash chip to separate the OS from the storage.
This is a beginning for sure. The iPhone is v. expensive so won’t be mainstream for a few years. There are huge potential for a WS iPod (i.e. I want one with a 60 gig HD for $399), but we’ll have to wait for that one I guess.