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Dev Chair : Geeks are not Apple's target with the iPhone
The way I see it is that with most, if not all, reviews that I have read so far are written by technologists, geeks, or generally technically competent people. So naturally they focus on iPhone's feature list, ticking off each boxes as they go from one application to another. And not surprisingly, the feature list for iPhone is on par if not less than other smartphones on the market. Features for features, the Nokia E90 (or even N95) can easily beat the iPhone but is the Nokia better mobile device than the iPhone? Feature table does not and cannot explain the intangible user experience that Apple has improved over all other smartphones.
With the iPhone, Apple is targeting consumers just like the iPod. Despite Steve Jobs using the term 'smartphone' during WWDC keynote, Apple has not been marketing the iPhone as a smartphone at all. Rather, all the commercials and advertising thus far are all about iPhone being an iPod, a cell phone, and a mobile internet device. Yes, smartphones can do all of these function but oftentimes in a compromised, mediocre fashion because they include many advanced features that only power users would want but make the applications far more complex and worse, buggy. Whereas with the iPhone, Apple makes each application function really well on their own and mostly bug free (Safari not included!). Then, Apple provides the integration points between applications that make sense to ordinary users: Google Maps uses Contact List, YouTube and Safari let users email the URL of the video or web page to another user, Safari dials a number on a web page, etc. Power user features such as Exchange support, user-definable calendar alarm interval, GPS support are left out in this first release.
For example, the iPhone does not currently have a disk mode so users cannot put the iPhone's memory to use as a USB thumb drive, like they can with an iPod. Disk mode is very useful feature but one must ask, what is the percentage of all iPod users actually use Disk Mode? I don't have any number to back up my point but I will hazard a guess that less than 10% of all iPod users actually use Disk Mode to carry files with them.
All of these power user features benefits only a small set of all iPhone users. To assume the Apple creates and designs the iPhone with power users like us in mind is pretty arrogant on our part. One of the reason, if not the reason, that the iPod sells so well against all other competitors is its ease of use and paradoxically lack of features. The iPod's interface makes listening to music and watching video really easy. So easy that almost every one I know figures out how to use an iPod under two minutes without referring to any instructions. Apple did the same with the iPhone. They took touch screen to its natural conclusion. Everything can be touched and the screen does not have menu bar or buttons that confuse the user. Almost all of the available features can be understood without the need to reference the manual. In fact, no manual is included in the box. It can only be downloaded from Apple's web site.
Most current iPod or new iPhone owners are not power users at all. As long as they can make phone call, listen to music, watch video, browse the net, email/text their friends, without the application crashing or device rebooting (Treo 650, any one?) they are satisfied. The smooth user experience and obvious application integration provides by the iPhone interface are what makes it head and shoulder above other smartphones in most users' eyes. The experience of using a device that works and does not get into the users' way is far more important to most consumers than the number of features in the device.
Once we start looking at the iPhone as a consumer electronic device, rather than a geek gadget, it is rather obvious why it has the features (or lack thereof) that it has right now. User experience and attention to details have always been Apple's strength and they applied those skills to the max with the iPhone. Why should we expect the iPhone be treated differently than other Apple products?
I think Robert Scoble summed it all up best:
It's not how many features you have. It's how many of those features thrill you. My Nokia rarely thrills.
Comments
15
Subscribe to commentsYayajaJul 17th 2007 1:30PM
A very smart and well thought out review. one of the only ones i've read about the iPhone. I was mystified as to why so many people are so crazy about the iphone. Being a bit of a geek, and knowing all the things that a windows mobile platform has to offer, and ican't imagine why someone would pay for the iphone. But this article makes a good point. For someone who knows for A2DP,VOIP, EV-DO, and 3G are, something like a windows mobile will most likely satisfy our nerdy appetites. For non-technology inclined people, the simple and straight forwardness of the iPhone can be attractive and charming. I have to disagree on the thrill point though: My Cingular 3125 can be VERY thrilling when I'm running a Super Nintendo Emulator or Sega Genesis emulator on it. Then again, most people are probably not going to be able to figure out how to play all of their favorite games on their cell phones.
Alex HungJul 17th 2007 1:37PM
I agree on the game front. Tactile game will be the killer app for the iPhone! Can you imagine actually touching the pieces/players/whatever that you are controlling instead of using buttons or joystick?
StevenJul 17th 2007 2:26PM
I am a total tech geek and I bought an iPhone. My previous phone was a Treo 650. I had the emulators, custom ringtones, and every other imaginable program on it.
Do I miss my Treo? NO. Apple has simplified the phone (maybe a little too much with some limitations, such as only sending a text message to one person at a time, etc.). The iPhone is really a breath of fresh air when it comes to cell phones.
The iPhone still amazes me with how fast it is and how everything integrates together. One of the reasons why I bought the iPhone was the promise from Apple to update and adds lots of features to early adopters. I have had no problems with my iPhone. No crashes, no lockups, freezes, etc. It's been just like the commericals.
Apple has put out a solid device that appeals to everyone (which is what they're good at). If you think about it, this is a version 1.0 device that is rock solid, which is very impressive considering other 1.0 devices out there. I look forward to the improvements they'll send my way in a nice little system update.
SeanJul 17th 2007 4:37PM
FINALLY! Nobody has, of yet, put this any clearer than you have. This is not a smartphone - it is not an ipod - it is a new class of device! Name - I have no idea. but this is the everything-phone for MOST everyone.
johnnyg0Jul 17th 2007 7:01PM
It would've been really fun if it had an "expert mode" that you could switch to, and then use it like a true handheld computer. Because its a nice piece of hardware, while software.. eeeh.. well you did a really good description of it :)
Most probably hackers will get through all the locks and let us geeker people use it like we should, and maybe the future iPhones could have such a feature?..
eeracJul 17th 2007 10:46PM
It seems like a lot of techy people just don't get that feature lists are not what's important. I listened to Steve Wozniak speak about this at one point with regard to the iPod (I think it was on NPR).
Woz pointed out that as geek, he first saw the ipod as a list of specs, and well, it wasn't that impressive. That's not how Steve Jobs saw things. For him, the iPod was about the experience of having your music and listening to it. It succeeded because it did a great job at making that experience enjoyable.
The iPhone will succeed for exactly the same reason. It takes the experience of walking around with an internet enabled phone and an ipod, and makes it much, much better. It may be lacking some features, but the things it does, it does very well. Most nongeeks aren't going to sit around thinking about what their phone can't do.
I think probably the iPhones biggest shortcoming is GPS, since it would make using google maps even more awesome. Still, most people don't know what they are missing. Also AT&T's slow internet is lame, no matter what phone you're using.
TomJul 17th 2007 11:27PM
This is what I have been trying to point out to the geeks when they complain about the iPhone not having this or that feature--it wasn't made for you! The universe does not revolve around geeks. Steve Jobs is laughing all the way to the bank. Thanks for pointing this out. You reach a much larger audience than I do.
abesJul 17th 2007 11:42PM
If the iphone doesn't get changed much due to the software updates, then these points all seem fair. However, as an owner of an iPhone, I can say its clearly not finished. The difficulty is, it's like we're all standing around a half-finished picture and try to judge its merit. Are the blank spaces there on purpose?
The iPhone would seem to at least have the hardware to do many tasks it currently cannot. For example, IM, mounting as a HDD, games, etc. Other things, could be fixed via bluetooth (e.g. GPS). While bluetooth GPS doesn't seem great at first, as it requires a whole new device, it does have the advantage that it won't drain your iPhone batteries.
I think some great games could be made for the iPhone, although owning one, I now realize some of my previous ideas of what would work clearly won't. Like the keyboard, you do have the issue that if you dedicate any space to controls, you lose screen real estate. So you have to resign yourself to either making games that work soley on touch, or having a smaller screen.
Sometimes I wish it had a pull out keyboard for the real estate issue, but if you want to do any real typing, you probably want a UMPC instead anyways. I'm still waiting for Apple to make a tablet...
Duane AndrewsJul 17th 2007 11:45PM
I would just like to offer a clarification. I agree with your general thesis that many critics of the iPhone have mischaracterized the product and that mischaracterization has clouded their review of the product. But the iPhone is a geek gadget, what it is NOT is a business "smartphone." All my "technosexual" friends and "prosumers" who are independent of corporate IT departments have all eagerly jumped on the iPhone bandwagon.
DirectorJul 18th 2007 12:40AM
It's not how it looks, it's about how it works.
I have a Nokia N95, nice phone, lot of functions like a 5 megapixel auto-zoom camera with Zeiss optics, but the fact is that it doesn't work in real life situations. It takes three-four seconds from the moment I press the shutter until the phone says "click" and then an additional second or two until it actually takes the frickin' picture.
Completely useless.
forisJul 18th 2007 12:48AM
Features don't mean a thing if they are hard to use. My N95 is feature rich, but can be a real pain to use and set up (and please don't mention the battery life or construction quality!). It's technology with a straight lineage to the cell phones of the '80s.
The high satisfaction rate of iPhone users is incredible, and it's largely because Apple understands that it's not about the device itself, but about how transparently you can use it, and what you can do with it.
joe analJul 18th 2007 12:48AM
I never feel compelled to call out bloggers on their grammar and writing ability, but this article is atrocious.
Proofread, bribe someone to edit for you, or pay more attention to what you're doing.....the pathetic grammar mistakes unfortunately undermine some very insightful points you have to add to the iPhone debate.
But in the back of everyone's mind is "what a dumbass, can't even make his subjects and verbs agree".....don't sabotage your authorial ethos just because you're too lazy to reread what you've written.
Yeah, I sound like a prick, but I'm trying to be helpful and allow you to achieve the respect you deserve.
Nice article, though :)
Neville Roy SinghamJul 18th 2007 11:19PM
In my passionate arguments I mentioned Nokia but the acutal model I love is the E90. I bought the E90 in Frankfurt on Friday morning and the iphone on Friday evening. I played with both for three days. My 18 year old son helped me evalutate the two phones (he is faster than me at adopting to new interfaces like using softkeys for sms - does mean I am a neanderthal - I buy a new phone every 6 weeks and swithc often but I am slower! :-( ).
The E61i imho is also a way better business phone than the iphone. This was the phone I had for the prior 8 weeks.
I consider myself both a geek and a business phone user. Even as a geek I still love the E90 but the iphone is sexy - but I think the issue is form factor. Until high accuracy voice recognition takes place a typing keyboard is preferebale for high volume text entry. I get annoyed when iphone lovers tell me features don't matter.
I spend 4-12 hours a day on my phone - I travel 200+ days a year and fly nearly 400k miles a year. Speaker phone quality, speed of rendition of web pages, HSDPA etc. etc. matter greatly to me.
Roy
DavidNov 18th 2007 2:42PM
The article is totally right on... and this one explains why Apple doesn't market to geeks - there's no money in it because the market group isn't big enough.
http://davidmccuskey.com/files/my-predictions-about-the-success-of-the-iphone.html
AhrenAug 16th 2007 12:31PM
I am a geek. And speaking only for myself, I bought my iPhone because:
1. It integrates seamlessly with my Mac
2. It is a video iPod with a huge screen
3. It has a very robust web browser