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Aug 11, 08 - 12:28 pm Comment from: jtc

MDN HAHAHAH good one. What email client does this dude use that the iphone doesn't have support for.. Possibly he's using lotus notes which should soon this year be coming out with notes for the iphone.

My vote for best MDN take ever!

Good gracious. Why buy something just because it's better?

Apple should be ashamed for such things as the graphical user interface and multi-touch. The consumer knows as well as anyone that what they currently have is all they'll ever need or want.

Aug 11, 08 - 12:33 pm Comment from: Predrag

As amusing as that MDN take was, it may not be adequate. Substitute a bike for horse and it's a bit closer. In fact it is probably very appropriate.

I myself don't have an automobile. I don't care for one and have absolutely no need for one. I have a bike and I go to work on it, I go grocery-shopping on it, and whenever I need to do a chore that requires goins out of my house somewhere, I use the bike. Having a car would present myriad of logistical complexities (never mind exorbitant expenses) that it would be idiotic. Before some here dismiss me as an idiot, let me qualify my story: I live in Manhattan. Having a car in Manhattan is about $1,000 + per month affair. Using it to get around is a colossal waste of time and money. Subways (and a bike) gets you faster pretty much anywhere in Manhattan.

In other words, if the author of the article doesn't want to listen to music, watch videos/movies, take and store pictures, surf web, play games, etc., on his phone, then a crappy BlackBerry is about the closest thing to not being an overkill for his purposes.

It does strike me as a bit odd that such a person would have any interest in modern technology, let alone write about it.

Aug 11, 08 - 12:33 pm Comment from: Spark

Yawn. If you don't care about the iPhone, why devote a column to it?

dick.

Aug 11, 08 - 12:34 pm Comment from: R

MDN's take is right on.

It's not the comfortable crowd that moves things forward. So let this guy stick to his blackberry. Maybe it'll help him program his VCR.

Aug 11, 08 - 12:36 pm Comment from: macaholic

@ Spark
Exactly!!!

Aug 11, 08 - 12:37 pm Comment from: Spark

@Predrag
Bikes are great in Manhattan (maybe not great, but a viable alternative to autos), and they make a lot of sense. L.A. is so damn spread out and hilly that bikes are not nearly as useful as functional transportation.

Aug 11, 08 - 12:38 pm Comment from: CYxodus

What a great take. That's why I read MDN.

Aug 11, 08 - 12:42 pm Comment from: jtc

@Predrag
I agree why bother being in technology when he admits he isn't even into technology.

@Spark
From reading the whole article it sounds like he is a little pissed off at steve jobs and this is his little way of takin a stab at him.

"because my work life is so e-mail-centric that I get anxious when I'm off e-mail for too long at a stretch."

Sad. Just Sad.

Aug 11, 08 - 12:47 pm Comment from: Predrag

to Spark:

I don't think there are many US cities where bike could be a practical and viable mode of transportation, other than Manhattan (and not even the entire NY City; just Manhattan). Over in Europe, the story is a bit different; the Amsterdam, Hague, Rotterdam are very flat and bikes are natural; Paris isn't much different (save for Sacre Coeur), as well as many other big cities throughout the continent. Not to mention $8-per-gallon gas prices.

I do have a driver's license and used to have a car (before moving to Manhattan). When I travel, I rent one. However, owning one, as technologically advanced and modern as they are (compared to a bike, or a horse) would be foolish.

I can see plenty of people who just don't want any of those things on their mobile phone. Why they are trying to write about Tech, it beats the heck out of me.

...the proper question is:

"What is the point of tech-pundits" who can't figure out the intuitively obvious?

Aug 11, 08 - 12:49 pm Comment from: Ray

Now that I think about it, why should I give a hoot about Windoze....

just my $0.02

His number is just stupid. "4) racing to make my own web business mobile-friendly (read: iPhone-friendly)"

The iPhone has a full web browser. You don't need mobile-friendly unless you have Symbian, RIM or M$ software.

What a twit!

Aug 11, 08 - 12:50 pm Comment from: ericdano

God, there is soo much more you can do with the iPhone. You can browse the web. Really, browse. It works. Seriously. You can have your Contacts and Calendars synced with your computer, without you having to dock it. Oh, and your bookmarks as well.

Then there are all the applications that are coming out.......it truly is an interesting, ground shaking product. Like the Palm was back when they first came out with a Palm phone. Except, Apple isn't going to sit on it's ass with the product.

When the guy guarding the train crossing can't see the train coming, he doesn't last long.

Obviously he is an ancient technology pundit wowing us with the precise nature of the construction of the pyramids. To be fair most technology pundits get stuck in yesterdays technology and have little or no capability to anticipate or understand tomorrows.

Did he even give a reason WHY he doesn't give a poot? Sounds a little apple-bitter..seeing alot of that lately. Why do we hate success so much?

To paraphrase Wallace from Wallace and Grommit, "It's all about the data Grommit." It is all about the web experience. Everyone I know that has an iPhone, has it for #1 data (mobile web surfing), #2 email, and then #3 phone and SMS features.

The iPhone provides THE BEST mobile web experience, period. I use mine for personal blogging, keeping up on the news, and now with the new applications... it is becoming a well rounded mobile computing platform.

Finally, the nice thing about the iPhone... is that unless a website uses Flash, you really don't need to optimize a website for mobile viewing. Unlike the Crap-Berry.

"If you don't care about the iPhone, why devote a column to it?"

Eventually, "hit whore" will be added to the dictionary.

Aug 11, 08 - 12:57 pm Comment from: DanielM

To each his own.

His Blackberry does everything he wants to do, i.e., phoning and email. He does use a Mac extensively. He's satisfied.

However, as he states, "Now in part I am out of the mainstream, because I have never been a huge picture-taker…." seems not to be supported by his Gallery, (http://www.newwest.net/gallery/) which by the way would show beautifully on an iPhone, or the MP3 links on his website (http://www.lijit.com/search?view=contained&uri=http://www.lijit.com/users/newwest&type;=&q=music) which would be less impressive on his Blackberry.

Jonathan Weber is not any different from the other talking heads that never use the Apple product or service but think that they fully understand it enough to trash, down grade or call it a fashion statement.

At least he knows he is clueless!

"What is the point of tech-pundits who can't figure out the intuitively obvious?"

It's the end of their cranial cone.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zippy_the_Pinhead)

@Predrag

It's not that the iPhone wouldn't make the authors email/mobile life easier, it's that he believes it COULDN'T make his life easier. You ride a bike in Manhattan, but the moment you go outside of Manhattan, things get trickier.

If all that the author did was check his emails, then the iPhone is more than enough. The beauty of the iPhone is that the moment you want to do more, the iPhone grows with you.

The guy's right, it's not a good phone, not a good email device, is read only with email attachments in office format, is not good on battery life, has a toy mapping application, poor bluetooth support and needs background application support in the SDK.

But it's got a sleek case, good music playing capabilities, kinda OK email support and the best mobile browser. If those things are what matters most to you, it's your phone.

But it's not the best at everything, it's just another mobile device which does some things well and some badly.

Aug 11, 08 - 01:20 pm Comment from: CitizenX

Good take and it fits his comment to a.. ahem... (Model) T.

Yet another brain dead tech guy, oh how the wheel of change moves as fast as molasses in the deep winter of seberia.
The fact that he does not give a hoot only contrasts why America is so slow to change as other parts of the world. It is not our technology- it the people in position to see the change. Only he could get off that crackberry and see reality with more clarity.

;(

The reason he only uses his blackberry for reading email and making phone calls is because THAT'S ALL THE DEVICE CAN DO.

Obviously another guy addicted to his crackberry. There are a lot of people like that. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But, to put down the iPhone and Apple just for the sake of putting it down is really kind of ludicrous.

No doubt just another Windows fanboy wanting to get hits on his web site, but frankly, I don't care about Johathan Weber. Nothing to see here folks. Let's just ignore him and maybe he'll get replaced by somebody who actually likes new technology, or at least admires it.

I have no need for an iPhone myself, but I still admire the iPhone technology and have been following it with great interest. To say, "Oh, it's not for me so I won't write about it except to put it down and say that it doesn't interest me." That's an obvious hit whore. I wouldn't give his web site the benefit of the doubt.

Aug 11, 08 - 01:31 pm Comment from: jjjj

I vote that Jonathan Weber no longer be called nor allowed to use the word 'Pundit' when describing his line of work.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to do some currency calculations on my abacus, and handdraw a map to my next destination. Good thing those calligraphy and cartography lessons came in handy.

Aug 11, 08 - 01:33 pm Comment from: sparkplug

<b>HENRY FORD<b>, what a visionary, his saying (<i>shown below<i>) still holds true today with <strike>idiots<strike> people like JW around.

"<b>If I'd asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for a better horse.<b>"

Hey now, I have a blackberry and I absolutely, positively love it! Would not change it for a million iPhones..

Hey thanks everyone for the discussion. I'd suggest the iPhone is not exactly on the level of the automobile as a world-changing development, which is basically my point. It's true that I am an ancient pundit, and thus I have seen more than my share of hype. I think someone mentioned Palm? Indeed I wasted my money on that one (never did really synch very well with the Mac among other things, and now totally obsolete). Why buy it just because it's better? 'cause it costs a fortune! And there will be better and cheaper ones soon!

Anyway, one point of pundits of any kind is to be provocative. I hope not pointlessly so.

He's right, you know. The iPhone does what a Blackberry does, and since there's no real difference, RIM is rushing to make a touch screen Blackberry which has been delayed a couple of times already.

Oh, wait, I guess forcing the market leader to change its design philosophy and feature content would make the iPhone relevant, wouldn't it?

I think he meant "tech prude", not tech pundit.

Try biking in Houston, it's a 600 sq mile city, and you're in 100+ degree heat for much of the year.

Between that and my job (I average 40,000 miles annually), I think I'll stick to my car!

Aug 11, 08 - 01:59 pm Comment from: cogitoergomac

@it's true: I beg to differ.I am on my second phone, having used the first iPhone for a year, and then moving to the 3G late last month. The 3G is an excellent phone. Call quality is superb, and its visual voice mail and integration of contacts is much superior to my Blackberry (yes, I have one issued by my company; it is set to call forward to my iPhone). Does battery life suck? Yes, but less than all other 3G devices that suck worse. Unlike my BB which cannot reliably open ANY attachments, let alone edit them, the iPhone can open All Office attachments and PDFs, and they are gloriously readable. More than readable, they look exactly as their author intended. Do I wish I could edit them? Yes, But for now, it's still better than my BB. Many times, when I am with colleagues, they will forward their email to me so they can read attachments. Toy mapping? According to whom? Better than what is on my BB. Got me and my family around last week on vacation quite nicely, thank you. And isn't that what developers are for? Needs a background SDK? Um, no it desn't. Either you get this issue, or you don't, and you clearly don't. As for Bluetooth, ironically, it is more than adequate, and certainly better than my BB. I know many people want stereo audio BT, but I am not one of them. I would love voice dialing & commands, but developers are already filling that gap.

As for your list of the iPhone's positives, that list clearly demonstrates that you do not get what makes the iPhone special ("sleek case"? how lame can you get?), and suggests that you have not actually spent any extended time actually using one. Additionally, you say this in the first paragraph: "not a good email device," and then say this in your second paragraph: "kinda OK email support," suggesting that you really do not know what you are talking about.

Aug 11, 08 - 02:15 pm Comment from: Martin

this guy has a point, he probably wants a keyboard, since email is his only reason to use a phone.

he should also be an accountant, because he is boring.

Usual process. When a tech pundit wants the iPhone (or any device, usually from Apple) to fail, they'll pick any, ANY slightly negative angle and blow it out of proportion.

However, when there's no negative to blow up, they'll simply fall back on the tried and trusted method to ignoring it completely.

Aug 11, 08 - 02:22 pm Comment from: The Other Steve

There is a place for people who like the old way of doing things and don't want to change.
That cool.

But why the hell is someone paying him to be a technology pundit?!?!?!?!?

Aug 11, 08 - 02:35 pm Comment from: HMCIV

Did anyone catch in the Times Online (UK) article that this "tech analyst" is in Montana???

WTF!!! (Where's the Fried Possum)

Aug 11, 08 - 02:59 pm Comment from: iamdj

Best MDN take ever! ~ Comic Book Guy

i am a mac fan since 2005, and i tried iphone twice. Like the author i need a phone and emails on the road. I ended up with Nokia E71 which by means of BluePhoneElite2 integrates with my macbook pro better by far. I can receive and send sms from my mbp, i can make and receive calls, it iSyncs as soon as i'm in bluetooth range. It pauses itunes while i am on the phone. E71 lets me save images from web and make blog posts where copypaste comes in quite handy. Not to mention qwerty keyboard which is way more pecise than that of iphone. I am currently posting this on E71 which on iphone's onscreen keyboard would be a nightmare. Iphone is good as a proof of concept, but not more for someone who values functionality over bells-and-whistles.

You have to admit it takes guts to publish an article that proclaims to the world at large:

"I Don't Get It!!!!"

Toy mapping means no turn by turn which is available on new Blackberrys, Windows Mobile phones and quite a few others. You must have an old blackberry if you don't see the difference between turn by turn mapping and a google map. it might be "adequate" for you. it's certainly better than a paper map, but it's nowhere near as good as what other phones do.

As to background apps. You either get what Steve said a year ago that the phone didn't need a real SDK was true, or you get that he was just saying that while Apple prepared one. It's currently the same situation with background apps. There's lots of things you want to do where the triggering event is generated from inside the phone, not pushed from some external server. Either you get that or you don't. You can parrot what Steve is saying for now, just as people parroted the "no native apps needed" line a year ago, or understand that this is a short term position and just as Apple started pushing native apps as revolutionary once they could do them, they'll back away from decrying background apps, once they can do them.

With the iPhone and 3G and GPS enabled you can literally watch the batter gauge go down. Getting hours out of an iPhone which you try to use as a handheld computer is a challenge. Forget getting a full day. You might get that if you turn off the GPS and 3G and don't use the phone too much for anything but phone calls, emails and a little light browsing. But that defeats the point of this "Handheld Computer". Other phones have much more usable battery lives when actually using them that way.

Win mobile can of course edit and create office attachements as well as view them. That's one up on the iPhone if you care about that.

You are forgiving a music phone from the biggest maker of music players on the planet for having the lack of stereo bluetooth? When every $29.95 music phone supports it? Not to mention you can't out of the box use it as a modem with your PC (without banned Apple software).

"("sleek case"? how lame can you get?), well, I'm not being lame, the iPhone has an attractive design. It's not ugly like so many other phones. it's industrial design is a strong point, as is it's browser.

But email is not. Having used iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Mobile with corporate email, I can confidently state that while pretty, the Apple implementation is the slowest to use and the least functional.

So the phone has it's good points, but really it's got it's bad points too.

Aug 11, 08 - 03:29 pm Comment from: alansky

Another moron with a grudge. How on earth does a dullwitted Luddite like Jonathan Weber fancy himself a "technology pundit." That's a good one!

MDN, congratulations on your take. Well done. I often criticize your takes because I think they come off as unnecessarily shrill, whiny defensive or biased. But this take, with humor and grace, perfectly illustrated the flaw in the author's arguments. Again I say, well done.

@Boo

I feel sorry for you.

"I can receive and send sms from my mbp," ---- interesting... You use a laptop to do SMS cause your tiny screen with crappy graphics makes it difficult to type and read.

"It pauses itunes while i am on the phone." ---- Again.. when using your mbp. How is this useful when on the road?

"E71 lets me save images from web" ---- Same thing with the iPhone.

"Not to mention qwerty keyboard which is way more pecise than that of iphone." ---- According to who? I owned and used a BB and made as many typos with that piece of junk. This is strictly preference and to state it as fact is beyond silly.

"it iSyncs as soon as i'm in bluetooth range" ------ Really, you're touting this as a feature? I'll admit that MobileMe was a complete launch disaster, but since then it been flawless. No need for proximity synchronization.

"and make blog posts where copypaste comes in quite handy." Here's an interesting take on this.... COPY/PASTE does not exist on the iPhone YET. Neither did GPS and 3G. Fortunately, C/P are just a software-update-away. how do i do a software update? Well, I take my iPhone, drive down to my local AT&T;store and have them upgrade the phone for me. I then make an impulse purchase(what the heck, I'm already there) and I drive all the way back to my home. Oh...wait... that's what the other guys do.

Boo... You like your Nokia E71 because your MBP makes it almost bearable. The Nokia E71 alone is just another cellphone.

a Hall of Fame MDN take! Thanks for the laugh, MDN!

@iPhone user

Don't feel sorry for me, i'm quite happy for my choice, and with every banned appstore app i feel even better

No, the point is that E71 becomes an extension of my mbp while i'm at the office. When i move out it has most important things with me on the go - the phone and the messaging. Why iPhone has worse integration with mac than nokia beats me. Apple has everything to do it right, but for some reason they won't.