MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

collective pants dirtying!!!

how very droll

"We don't want to follow design fads"

Interesting, then explain why the Treo looks just like the other phones. Aplle doesn't folow design trends, they crete them.

Their focus may be on ease of use but when will we see any signs of that actually becoming reality?

Methinks he doth protest too much.

wow where have i heard this before?

This is too funny...

The future of communication devices is totally dependent on software and Apple makes great software. All these other hardware guys are not in the same league. Are they betting on Microsoft for great software? Good luck with that!

Many people (business executives or otherwise) continue to think that design is simply how something looks. A consumer product with great design will probably look good, but great design is really all about how it works, making it truly functional with an ease of use that often surprises.

MDN: "Where's that 'Taps' ringtone?"

I really did laugh out loud at that one!

People are looking into my cubicle to see what's so funny.

I just saw this article on BBC's web site:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6353227.stm

It is all about the 3GSM in Barcelona but is entitled "Everything but the iPhone" -- discussing the long shadow the mysterious device is casting on the show, even though it's not even there! And the only photo in the article is of Steve at MacWorld in front of the enormous screen image of the iPhone. For once, it's props to the Beeb!

Right Mac90,

Symbian and WinCe will be no match for OS X.

It's really looking good for Apple!

There is nothing like the smell of fear...

continue to focus on ease of use and reliability rather than design

This is the problem. They think these are different things. How do you get ease of use without design ?

(independetly saying the same as NewsReader above).

Goodness from the BBC,

thanks for the link; it was an interesting read, but the writer doesn't really contradict any of the companies' false claims. True to the BBC standards of tech. journalism, that's probably a matter of sheer ignorance.

E.g. It's not the touch screen that's original on the iPhone, but the 'multi-touch' screen, and THAT is covered by patents as are all the other true innovations.

That's why the iPhone is so conpicuous by its absence at Barcelona.

will continue to focus on ease of use ??

When did they start? I think they need glasses. Apart from the cool design, which may not be a buying factor for some, the fact that you have a REAL and FULL operating system by the same company who makes the hardware (a softeware making computer company), is totally lost on them.

Or maybe its not and hence the ....Fear Factor!!!!!

It's called making a virtue of necessity. They can't follow, so they claim not following Apple is a virtue. If you have Windows Mobile or Sybian, you just can't access the rich resource available to OS X. If you do not have the patents, including those for multi-touch, then you tout the inferior crap that you do have.

It sucks to not be Apple.

MW: learned, as in, "The competion has learned that they are screwed."

What movie was that where the people on an island denied they were sinking? Was it a Monty Python flick? Anyhoo, they denied it even as the water was up to their necks.

MW:called-now that's funny!

Now if Apple will just get to the point where the iPhone can have apps added to it, and expand the storage for MP3's, I might even consider it. $500 for a device with shorter battery life and less flexibility than a Treo and less storage than my current iPod isn't going to get me to switch. Add to that that I would have to change networks (and increase my monthly bill), and it's no deal for me.

I like the style and form factor of the iPhone, don't get me wrong. But if I can't add apps to it like I can a Palm-based device, and if it doesn't hold as much as my current 5th gen iPod, why exactly would I plunk down the money to buy it? I already have a decent phone and a great iPod- it's not worth $500 to me to combine the two and reduce features, while at the same time increasing my monthly bill.

I definitely see it as a good start for Apple, and I sincerely hope they can grow the product line, but the neither of the two models they've announced so far would work for me.

Now, when Apple releases an iPhone that allows me to add applications to it (some sort of PDF viewer, something to work with office-type files, an SSH client, a true IM client (not SMS-based), misc games, etc) , and has 30+ GB of storage, and is sold unlocked, I'll likely be first in line.

"will continue to focus on ease of use and reliability rather than design"

If they think these are two different things, then they will never do sither well!

"...will continue to focus on ease of use and reliability rather than design..."

This is either a lie or they have completely failed at all attempts. My Treo700P has a poor user interface and is one of the most unreliable things I have ever owned. It completely crashed on my AGAIN this last week - lost documents, had to nuke and pave again.

"...he stressed that Palm's core business user is most interested in reliable applications and great functionality."

I agree this is what they are interested in - but Palm and the like are not delivering - which is why Apple will eat their lunch. Perhaps not at first, but it will happen.

"...he needs to bring products to market that are just good enough to disincentivize customers from switching."

Ahhh, the truth is told. That is the real focus of these companies - build products that are just good enough to get them sold. Laden with "features" that don't work or are so frustrating that they are useless, with a horrible UI that is prone to crash when you look at it wrong.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen the time is ripe for Apple to show them how it should be done. But I don't think Apple has anything to worry about but inertia as people start to see what it can be like on the other side.

Is the iphone a fad or a look at things to come? Remember those crazy ideas that Apple did and everyone thought they were nuts? You know those, "why would anyone ever do that?" things. Getting rid of the floppy drive, switching entirely to USB and dropping the legacy ports, the iPod, and various others. If history is any indication I am betting on Apple here.

apple is leading the way of inovacion when others are laming poor industries that only want their money to do nothing in history,all sofware companys should have their own UI and products but thats impossible in these days because they can see the truth in their eyes,and design,design is the most important thing besides hardware;why apple is the only company that can do this?because it has everything she needs.

"Palm, Inc, the maker of the Treo smart phone, will continue to focus on ease of use and reliability rather than design." LOL! Apple is almost alone in recognising that it's not a case of either/or and that you can't have one without the other.

And as for iPhone, why not wait until it appears, instead of second-guessing what capabilities it might or might not have? I doubt that Steve revealed all in his keynote.

Avalanche!!!!

Well at least Nokia and Palm smartphones allow third party applications to be installed on them.

> Palm, Inc, the maker of the Treo smart phone, will continue to focus on ease of use and reliability rather than design

Palm's CEO apparently does not understand that "design" creates "ease of use and reliability." Palm is MORE doomed than ever.

If he meant to say "design fad," how can maximizing screen size while maximizing interface flexibility be a fad.

Denial. What else are they going to do? They can't make a phone like Apple so all they can do is wish it away and comfort themselves with a false belief of it's just a passing fad. Since the iPhone isn't even out yet they must anticipate it being a success.

A bit of a mistake to think Apple is only about design.

(As Microsoft are discovering when pitching Vista against Tiger.)

(And Dell and HP have discovered when pitching their boxes against iMacs and MacBooks.)

TT - I don't remember that MP movie, but this quote comes to mind.

"It's just a flesh wound!"

It's amazing how many things the iPhone has already been called even though it hasn't been released yet.
So now it is a fad? Hmmm.... Well Palm you better get used to following the fad iPhone because it is going to do a lot of busniness for Apple come June. This fad product really hasn't shown all of it's features yet as some of the software wasn't ready for show at Macworld. So there's more to come this June than just a Fad. Design is everything if it's done right. Palm can't figure that out yet apparently.

Too bad my Treo 650 is little more than a piece of trash... right out of the box. It's known more by its users for its UNreliability than anything else. There is nothing special about Palm's products. Palm OS is house of cards that barely makes phone calls well.

Wishful Thinking,

It's hard to trash Apple's iPhone but you did it. The list is right from Microsoft's iPhone talking points list as well. How much do they pay? I could use a part time job. I read these blogs anyway, may as well get paid for it.

As for your complaints. If you sync daily to your computer while charging you can change your tunes playlists daily and you do not need to keep your whole collection with you on your mobile device. Millions of Shuffle, Mini and Nano customers can't be wrong.

Apple makes the whole computing experience for most computer users. A Mac with all Apple software and without third party solutions is all 90% of computer users need.

Apple makes the whole digital music experience for most digital music users. An iPod and a Mac without third party software or hardware add ons is all most digital music users need.

What makes you think that Apple will not provide a complete solution with the iPhone when it comes to software? What makes you think that Apple is not going to court that killer third party app for their iPhone? What makes you think Apple cannot make better software than anyone else for their baby?

The games will be there. You can count on that.

As for an unlocked phone. Not in North America. The carriers don't like them here. Laws must be passed to force that issue. Besides, if you think a locked iPhone is expensive, wait until you price an unlocked iPhone.

pog
3rd party software; is that what virus, spyware and malware is?

Ah yes, the disinformation from Apple competitors - the design before function argument. Yeah, that's what the iPhone is, just another pretty device.

They said exactly the same thing about the iPod, and there were already many "mp3 players" on the market by then. I was the biggest nay sayer of the iPhone before it's release, not because I thought it was all glitz and no substance as Colligan implies, but because I just didn't believe a cell phone could ever be more than a cell phone whether it played music or not, and whether it had a keyboard or not. But what happened was, the iPhone ended up going so far over being just another cell phone, that it's telephony feature looks like just another one of its functions as opposed to being it's primary function. I believe that Apple was stuck touting it as primarily a phone because of the association with Cingular. The reality is that, the iPhone is the closest thing we've had to a hand held computer since the early Palm stuff, and its clearly going to quickly evolve into the next generation PDA (That Palm has somehow never been able to come up with), that we've all been waiting for - not just Mac users have been waiting for this either.

I think the best thing that could happen now is that, Palm will be awakened from it's stupor and start cutting that edge again, providing Apple with some real competition, and maybe between the two of them they will literally drive us into the age of handheld computing. The PDA market really needs this scenario badly right now. I think that where 99% of all cell phones in all classes are right now, from concept to product, are just plain junk. I don't give a rats ass if my cell phone can play music (even though its nice that it can I'd gladly trade it for something useful), or that I can watch useless little video snippets. Right now cell phones are nothing but glitz, form without function, and PDAs are just plain behind - in every way.

From Peabody's Wayback machine I say: No matter how competing cell makers or PDA makers try to spin it, the iPhone is obviously the most mature, professional, functional, personal electronic device to hit the market for the better part of the last ten (10) long years.

Nokia is boring, both of 'em, the Corporation and the city. I've got too much experience on both.

Corporation is slow dinosaur that lacks innovation and quality, and I can say the same about the city I live in. And the two aren't even related, just the name.

My current phone is the last Nokia product I'll buy for a long time. I'm getting an iPhone as soon as my piece-of-shit-of-a-phone dies.

Perhaps those Palm executives ought to stock up on some astronaut diapers -- to better hide thier unfortunate condition throughout the work day.

Doesn't the Palm CEO understand that design is not just about the ways a product looks? Design is just as much about functionality and ease of use.
As for Nokia, where is the great Finnish tradition of design?

jobs makes pure sense. it's the same thing they did with computers. why have physical buttons all over a computer that can't change with each software app. That's just clumsy.

And in the case of phones, you DONT need the keyboard there all the time, so make it 'soft'...

Palm will have to follow.. even if they don't know a thing about software.

Enjoy competing against OS X guys..

"Palm's core business user is most interested in reliable applications and great functionality."

This is true. However, even considering that to be the case...

Over here, I have a phone. I can use it to make calls and perform business functions. Over here, I have another phone. I can use it to make calls and perform business functions. And it looks really cool!

Gee, which would I choose?

All else being equal, I'm going to choose the phone that looks really cool.

Of course, the obvious question: Will the capabilities of the iPhone match the wide variety of applications available for Palm? Not unless Apple lets third-party developers fill in the holes.

Palm,

Ease of use?! Functionality?!?! Your Treo is a piece of crap. I speak from painful exprience.
If Apple's iPhone gets it right (and I am most positive that it will), the full-blown panic of the existing mobile phone market will be a delight to observe over the next 12-18 months.

I hope palm comes up with something somewhat cool and innovative. I wont switch to Cingular. So for us poor folk whom live in areas where Cigular is a disaster, it would be nice to have something...even though it will pale in comparison to the iPhone.

"design" and "ease of use" are intimatly related, a point that seems lost on these folks.

Hywel

You nailed it on the head. Squarely. This is the essence of why companies cannot truly copy the Apple formula. They don't get what design really is.

Is Palm the new Dell?

MDNW: Plan, as in plan on regretting that decision in like a year.

I really, really, really would like to LOVE my Treo 700p, but the thing is just a pain to use and crashes way too often.

Wushful Thinking

Now if Apple will just get to the point where the iPhone can have apps added to it
I'm sorry but what are all these "apps" people think their "smartphones" need? I am completely gadgeted out, and everything comes down to address book, camera, basic file manipulation, basic web access, and notes. That's it. That's all.

All of which the iPhone has and more. Plus it's running a real operating system that can integrate to a desktop as easy as dropping it in a dock.

So please, detractors, list these "applications" that a phone is supposed to have before it is "smart"?

"Kallasvuo knows he cannot match the iPhone feature for feature"

Suuure. Because high-end Nokias have much more features than iPhony.

Reality Check

"Kallasvuo knows he cannot match the iPhone feature for feature"

Suuure. Because high-end Nokias have much more features than iPhony.

Is this sarcasm or bad formatting?

has it ever occurred to you folx that theres big chance that when iphone will be reelly big and popular, and apple as company will get even bigger, it will lose some of ability to be adventurous.
Bigger market share equals more people to that need to be satisfied. That will result in, like it or not, more "gray" products.
How many household brand names you know of that are known for their crazy ideas? Apple with its current user base has lost big share of its pre-iPod coolness.

More food for thought, majority can never "think different", aight??!?!