Dvorak: The iPhone is Not a Computer

Cranky ol' John Dvorak has this one right, I think. I wish people would stop calling the iPhone a computer. The iPhone is a powerful portable device, but it lacks the functionality of a computer, mainly in the realms of input and creativity.

I went without Internet for a couple weeks and found myself severely limited in what I could do with my iPhone. Anyways, its wrong to compare a desktop to the iPhone, as they're both meant for two different purposes.

"What's worse is that people leave these little devices everywhere. And, generally speaking, they leave them all over the place unlocked and with limited encryption enabled. The ease with which someone can steal these things and rob the data is a little ridiculous. I cannot tell you how often I've shouted the words, "Hey, you left your phone!"

And, yes, the kids are all looking for alternative platforms, but what do kids know? Seriously, what do they know?"

Link to article.

Wired's Latest Article on Apple

Wired has just posted online their latest look at Apple, "How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong." The author, editor Leander Kahne, has a new book coming out in a few weeks, Inside Steve's Brain. The article is worth a read, if not entirely accurate. And check out some commentary around the web.

Robert Scoble: Steve Jobs "Lying" About Flash

Former Microsoft employee Robert Scoble says he has a source that says Steve Jobs is being a liar liar about flash:

"Today I got a note from someone I know who works closely with Adobe and Apple. He saw my “Apple stabs Adobe in the Back” post and wanted to give me some details about what’s going on between Adobe and Apple. He says that he’s seen Flash running on an iPhone in a lab and that it’s been running for quite a while and that it’s not a technical issue that caused Steve Jobs to go public about not putting Adobe’s Flash on the iPhone. He wrote “Geez - my Chumby with half the CPU horsepower can run Flash8/AS2.”"

So what if it can run flash? It also runs World of Warcraft. Jobs said it runs too slowly, so how does the above information make him a liar?

Blogger's Rant: From iPod Hater to Apple Agnostic to iPhone Owner

Check out this Dennis Leary-esque rant about everything from iPod hating to finally deciding to buy an iPhone. I have to admit, I went through a couple years as an iPod hater as well. I never thought they were an attractive device until the first black Nanos were released, and I thought iTunes was a piss poor way to manage a music library. I like iPods now, but iTunes still can be pretty frustrating.

Gruber Rips Fast Company a New One

John Gruber has an amazing post on his Daring Fireball site ripping apart the Fast Company article "All Eyes On Apple," an article so poorly fact checked and copy edited you know it was published for one reason, to put a hot topic like Apple on the cover, bash Steve Jobs, and sell a lot of magazines. Hey, if Reader's Digest can increase sales using Apple iconography, Fast Company can too. At least Fast Company actually mentions the topic featured on their cover.

I wrote about the Fast Company article on this site previously, but Gruber gives it a much more thorough going over.

Link.

Also, there's a CNBC video of the author talking about the article. Click below.

Open Season on Apple

Fast Company: Open Season on Apple

Fast Company’s lastest cover story paints a picture of Apple in 2008 as a company under attack by numerous enemies.

“In a way the company has never seen, the barbarians are massing at the gates. From hardware to software to services, major competitors with serious R&D and marketing budgets are laying siege to the House of Jobs. As Apple moves into new markets, it has made powerful new enemies, some working in concert.”

I would argue that Apple is the one “massing at the gates.” Apple is seizing new territory from cell phone makers with its iPhone and gaining more ground in the computer market with its OSX and MacBooks. Nokia, Dell, and other companies in these matured markets have been forced into a defensive position. Take, for example, Nokia’s plan to release a touchscreen phone and Michael Dell’s recent promise to create “product lust,” an obvious attempt to copy Apple’s advertising savvy.

The only area in which Apple finds itself on the defensive is with the iPod. Its most deep-pocketed competitor, Microsoft, finally has a product that could seize ground in the contrarian market (people who will not buy an iPod no matter what), but Apple’s innovation has continued to outpace Microsoft and the rest of competition. Based on current product lines (including cell phones that play mp3s), there are no signs the iPod’s market size or market share will shrink in 2008.

In the near future, based on its current product profile, Apple seems unlikely to give ground in any of the markets it currently competes. In fact, Apple has plenty of market share to gain in two of its three core markets (OS/computers and cell phones). It also could be argued that the third market, mp3 players, will continue to grow in overall size as mp3 players begin to catch on in unsaturated markets globally (Asia).

For continued growth in 2008, Apple will need to focus on the affordability of its products and the openness and versatility of its products.

Jermaine Dupri Pops a Cap Off at Apple

Rap mogul Jermaine Dupri has an article on Huffington Post criticizing Apple for not selling Jay Z's album American Gangster on iTunes. The problem is that Jay Z wants to restrict sales to an entire album and not allow the purchase of single tracks as Apple requires. If Apple's behavior continues, Dupri wants to unite the record industry giants against Apple in a boycott in order to destroy iPod sales:

"Apple thinks that's never gonna happen. They think that we as the record industry will never stick together. But Universal sells one out of every three records. All it'll take is for Warner Music to say, "You know what, I'm with you," for us to shut 'em down. No more iPods! They won't have nothin' to play on their players! We can take back the power if we're willing to sacrifice some sales to make our point."

While I agree with Mr. Dupri's overall sentiment about siding with artists and also agree that Apple should just go ahead and sell the entire album, he needs to do a little homework on the history of mp3s if he thinks the boycotting of the iTunes Music Store would put a dent in iPod sales. In fact, an argument could be made that iPod sales would increase by such a move, as those who have reformed back to legal purchasing of music would soon discover how easy bittorrent is, more so than Napster in terms of downloading huge chunks of music. Want every great rap album from 2007? Click here, wait an hour, and enjoy.

Apple Agrees to Sell Unlocked iPhones....in France!

Apple is going to sell unlocked iPhones in France. It's not clear what software and hardware changes will make French iPhones "unlocked," but it likely make them a highly sought export around the world. I'd like to see their unlocked-phone law be exported around the world.