Just another iPhone post

So that’s how the iPhone should be use huh. Sorry but I still don’t buy the touch screen idea. I believe that at this day of age, just any interface should assume the users will be multitasking.

To me, the biggest problem is Apple hasn’t clearly define their target market. Same with iPod, since it isn’t targeted towards a specific age group, nor demographic. But iPod created a need – a need we don’t know we have. iPod let us organize our music intuitively, no more manually creating folders and dropping music files. iPod also introduced the economy of abundance to the portable music player market. Similar to Gmail, which offers more than 2GB of storage space so you no longer need to delete your emails, video iPod offers a maximum of 80GB so you can bring your entire media collection with you. Apple hit a sweet spot with iPod, since anyone from any age group or demographic can relate to music. But is it going to be the same with phones?

It is hard to foresee what need Apple is trying to fulfill with iPhone. Apple keeps emphasizing the combination of phone, iPod, and Internet in one, but is that enough to distinguish itself from the market? Mobile phone users can be separated into multiple categories, and each group has its own set of prerequisites when it comes to cell phone features.

Enterprise Users
According to this article, iPhone lacks support for Microsoft Office applications, which many enterprise applications depend on. The touch screen interface can also present a problem for Blackberry and Treo users, since they can no longer depend on their keypad. The touch screen keypad may propose a big learning curve for the users. Remember back in the days before taking a keyboarding class and how difficult it is to type? After our proper training and years of practicing our mind and fingers subconsciously punch in our words smoothly, without stopping to remember where the keys are. Typing with our fingers on screen asks us to learn another typing habit, which unnecessarily presents a learning curve for the iPhone users.

Savvy Users
“Where’s the 3G?”
“There’s only 8GB of memory for the entire phone?”
“There’s no memory slot?”
“There’s no additional batteries?”
“I can’t unlock this thing?”
…
Regular Users
I used to drive daily, and while I rarely use my phone while I am on the road, doesn’t mean I don’t do it at all. I depend heavily the touch of the keys to determine which number I am pressing on the phone. So with the touch screen interface, I can no longer depend on those touch cues.

Another 3 key factors affecting decisions are data plan, price of contract vs. prepaid plans, and getting tied down with Cingular. I am currently on the Cingular network and my phone can’t get any reception in my Fort Greene apartment. Even if I walk out of my building, I have to walk to the end of my block to get some decent reception. As for the data plan, I certainly hope they are planning to charge $30 unlimited usage as rumored. If not, I already own a device with EDGE which can browse the internet just fine.

MAC Devotees
I think I fall between this category and regular users. One of the executives at Apple said, “It’s the most sophisicated iPod we’ve made”. But it certainly can’t replace the 30GB video iPod I am using. My mp3 library alone is 10GB, videos around 7GB, and use about 3GB to store files. So I guess I have to switch to a video Nano? And I am sure you heard about the stories with the iPod early adopters.

Anyway, I am not a MAC or iPhone hater. I love MAC and owns the first generation Powerbook. In fact I will be upgrading to the new Macbook Pros recently released on Tuesday.

I believe in the awesome user experience Apple products provide. Why I feel so strongly is I am actually ready to call it my new phone, but the specs totally changed things around.

technorati tags: iphone, economy, of, abundance, users, market, target, touch, screen, keypd