it's expensive but so pretty...

wait till you're drunk at a bar one night and drop your $600 "iPhone" on the floor...LOL

Seriously though, you could buy a laptop or desktop system for that price.

yoshimaroka said:

I watched the video and it's impressive enough, hardly worth calling names over but impressive features. Still not something that I personally would shell out $600 for and not worth the headline news slot it's been given. It's a gizmo, and it will likely be outdated within a year.

FruitToAttractBears said:

You can't understand why it's special unless you see it in action. Watch the keynote. It's amazing.

TommyRoss said:

I wonder if some of you have ever really tried to use the alternatives. What Apple has done IS revolutionary in comparison.

If you don't care about having a truly usable web browswer in your pocket and you just want a phone, yeah, get a Razr. But anybody who has actually tried to use other devices to do these things can watch that keynote and appreciate how remarkable the thing is.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

hun, i 100% agree, but some people will never believe in apple or anything they put out, they all made it clear here

apple can have my money

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Yeah, you look real convinced.

SammiJ said:

I think you're right that some people are just anti-anything-Apple.

I think there are also people who truly don't have much appreciation for good design. Even the functionality, amazing aesthetics aside. A lot of supergeeks who are used to figuring out very complicated shit don't actually seem to much appreciate the elegant usability of Apple products. Like having to struggle with your technology somehow makes you a bigger, better geek.

And I think there are people who have no desire for the mobile technology and just want a phone. Which I can understand.


I used to get really frustrated by the anti-Apple crowd. Like, for THEIR sake. "Don't you understand that your life could be BETTER?!" Now I don't really care. Which I think is further evidence of the downward spiral of compassion in my life.

FruitToAttractBears said:

Oh, the was just my ultimate apathy in regards to whether or not you or anybody else ever "gets it". As long as enough people buy it to keep it on the market, I don't care.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Steve Jobs, is that you?

HereToRockYourWorld said:

I grew up using apple IIe's and apple IIgs's at home, and power macs at g4's at school. Only reason I used them is because my brother bought them and that's what was available - I hadn't bought a computer of my own yet.

Windows isn't perfect, but between the two, I can get more done on a Windows machine and it's easier to tweak out to my liking.

Lammastide said:

why not have the phone AND be active with any or all of the issues above?

Stymie said:

wow, talk about bad luck! sorry to hear about the electronic woes.

ron's had an iMac for over 3 years (and it was my roommate's for 2 years prior to his owning it), he's had an ipod forever, i've had two ipods (i lost one but it worked when i lost it, lol) and we've had no problems. i also have a macbook pro and its not given me any problems whatsoever.

did you buy the ipods from an apple store?

sallysassalot said:

I suppose it's possible. Just seems $499+ for a phone that does everything the expensive items most of us probably already have can do seems... well.. redundant and unusually indulgent at a precarious time like this.

But, hey, to each his own.

Ok I watched the keynote thing. Now explain to me what is so "revolutionary," "breakthrough," "remarkable" and pants-shitting worthy about taking something that already exists, making it prettier, shinier, a bit more convenient to use and $600.
[Edited 1/9/07 21:42pm]

Phones aren't good for browsing the web in general because small screens and squashed pages are no fun, and especially something like this where there's no keypad. Even if one appears on the screen, can you imagine how hard it would be to type on being completely flat like that?

FruitToAttractBears said:

If you watched the keynote and aren't impressed, you certainly shouldn't buy one.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Yeah, thanks for that

But I really do want an explanation.

Tom said:

It has a bigger screen than a normal phone. You scroll by swiping your finger over the screen. You can zoom in and out on the pages by tapping the screen. Yes, it's better to browse the web on a full-sized screen, but for those of us who appreciate having something that we can carry in our pockets rather than toting a laptop around and hoping for open networks. . . it's pretty damned good.

As far as typing, they're claiming they've made this fantastic touchscreen technology. I'm looking forward to trying it. But the keys are bigger than on other phones (which they can get away with because you can make them go away when you don't need them), so I think it should be easier to use. It's still thumb typing. It's still better to have a full keyboard. But see my portability comments above.

FruitToAttractBears said:

I can't explain it any better than he did.

Have you actually used much of that functionality on other devices? If you're really that underwhelmed, I'm guessing it's because you haven't tried to use a web browser, email, etc. on the alternatives.

The voicemail handling is fucking cool too. It's how it SHOULD be.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Are you serious! I thought Jefferson Han was responsible for that!
It's cool as fuck, anyhow...

http://www.youtube.com/wa...2KBo6dy8FY
[Edited 1/9/07 22:13pm]

Lammastide said:

i agree and, personally, would not buy one. i have a nano, i have a blackberry, and i have laptop...its a useless item to me. but there are plenty of people who are total technophiles and have to have every new item on the market. they should enjoy it.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

I'm sorry but you're wrong and jumping to conclusions. I'm not anti-anything. I own Apple products. I'm happy with my iPod. If you read what I said, I said that I "personally" wouldn't but it but that it was impressive. I'll continue to buy their products, but I don't want this one. Too much of an investment, and I don't need all that in one. Some may think they do. Still, I don't think it should be a huge news story.


...
[Edited 1/10/07 5:18am]

This is the first Apple product in a long time that I do think is pretty cool.

I was never tempted by iPods because the alternatives are cheaper and better, but I could see myself really loving this.

But sadly, Apple won't be getting any of my € until they clean up their act :

http://www.greenpeace.org/apple/

I can't be bothered to look, but does this thing support 3G networks??

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Jesus christ have you ever used any form of modern PDA or pocket PC?

Internet browsing is 100% flawless, and actually scales better that Apple's iPhone. Oh, and yes, they are also phones, mp3 players and all that to boot. The difference? They're uglier. Otherwise? nada. Apple have revolutionised nothing, but they have made it look bloody nice!

Spookymuffin said:

yeah, I have a HTC smartphone and it basically does everything this iphone does. It's bigger, yes, but it has a full slide out keyboard, which is important to me. And my web browser is perfect.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

No, you are stereotypical of Apple fan ignorance and intolerance. You like Apple, but seemingly can't see elsewhere.

I run a PC (cause I have to for school), a Mac (at home) and a Linux Laptop (running Ubuntu 6.06 for those that care). So I use the big 3 operating systems.

I have always had an iPod, since Gen1 - and I'll never use any other mp3 player. iPod's are fantastic; the iPod/iTunes sync is flawless...they're brilliant. Nothing out there can beat them. Nothing.
Mac's are unbeatable for any form of graphic design, music production and video editing. That's what I use that Mac for. It's unbearable for Windows.

Windows is unbeatable for internet browsing, office work and general miscellaneous computer usage (such as downloading with bittorrent). It's fast and does the job really nicely, better even than a Mac. And don't blame PC spec - My iMac is the newest intel build with 3gb of RAM. My PC has a worse processor and 2gb of RAM.

Linux probably beats both for hardcore PC usage, and internet browsing - but so few people use it I'm not really going to hammer out points on why I use it, etc, and why it's good.

Basically - I'm totally neutral. I don't give a shit about either, but what really fucks me off is fanboys who go on and on about how one is better than the other, when, in reality, it's down to the fucking user. It's nothing to do with the OS, it's how the user connects with the OS and which one they find more usable. It's such a null and void argument to say things like "why any user would choose difficulty over elegance and ease of use is beyond me" because they have chosen that, and mainly because they don't see it that way, they find it easier that way.

Spookymuffin said:

Thank god i can't afford this and i have t-mobile because I KNOW i will be a slave to the iPhone more so than any blackberry product on the market. damn you steve jobs!

sallysassalot said:

No, I got them from Best Buy.