Apple's iPhone
The cellphone used to come in two flavours - a simple phone with maybe a cheap camera or a “smartphone” that gave you access to your email. The problem with the later was there was little that was “smart” about these devices. They had challenges linking up with your computer to sync to your address book; the email worked fine, but the small keyboards and typing with your thumbs made for some hilarious messages; the menu’s where endlessly deep and useless features abounded. When was the last time you used your cellphone as a calculator?
I hindsight it is clear that this was a technology ripe for revolution and, as we have seen in American, that revolution came in the form of Apple’s iPhone. Recently analysts have revised their sales projections up from 14 million phones sold worldwide in 2008 to over 14 million, while 2009 is expected to be even better, with 24 million iPhones sold.
Why? What is it about this phone that makes it the phenomena that it is?
Every one has a theory, but the one you seem to hear the most is that its technology is user friendly. I recently had a chance to play with one for a few minutes sitting in a lawn chair watching my son play ball. A pal who works as an Apple Service tech knowing my love of gadgets pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and I was on it like fly on …well you know.
iPhones have not been released in Canada yet, but will be soon, as Apple inked a deal with Rogers earlier this spring. My pal’s phone was active because he had “unlocked” it and got it working with another Canadian Cellphone carrier using witchcraft beyond this reporter’s meager skills.
Without knowing a thing about the iPhone I was able to get online and browse websites, and pinpoint the nearest coffee shop on a Google map. It is this ease and intuitiveness that makes the iPhone such a marvel.
The phone is about four-and-a-half inches tall and 2-and-a-half inches wide. It is only .46 inches thick. There is only one button on the unit’s face - a home button that takes you back to main screen. You turn it on and off using a slider on the screen; this prevents the phone from accidentally turned on in your pocket. As the iPhone screen comes alive, a series of virtual buttons appear on the screen. In a grey bar near the bottom are virtual buttons for the phone, email, web browsing, and an iPod. In the black space above are all the other programs you have loaded like a photo viewer, maps, camera, calendar, clock, etc.
So with no keyboard how do you make a call? Well, it’s simple really. Touch the phone button and there is your address book. Scroll through the entries by brushing your finger down or up on the screen and your contacts scroll by. Choose the one you want and bingo you’re making a call.
What if you don’t have the number in your address book? Choose the keyboard button at the bottom of the screen and there appears a virtual keyboard. Type in the phone number and hit send.
Accessing the web and email are even easier. Choose the Safari button (iPhone’s web browser) or the mail button and you are there surfing the web or answering email. Attachments can be opened and read or changed and websites look like they do on your computer at home rather than the stripped out versions you find on regular cellphones.
The coolest feature is the way the phone’s orientation can be changed. Holding the iPhone vertically gives you a screen that is taller than it is wide. Turning the phone horizontal changes the screen to a wider than tall view.
Being a music guy, I also loved the iPod feature. The iPhone is the best iPod you will ever own. All your music is at your fingertips. You can even play it without needing a set of headphones using the built in speakers. It’s not hi-fidelity but its good enough. Plug in a good set of headphones and you’re in heaven.
Apple is getting ready to release a new version using the new G3 technology (don’t ask you don’t want to know). So when Apple finally launches the iPhone in Canada this fall Canadians will have the very latest version running on a high-end network.
Chris Brown
I hindsight it is clear that this was a technology ripe for revolution and, as we have seen in American, that revolution came in the form of Apple’s iPhone. Recently analysts have revised their sales projections up from 14 million phones sold worldwide in 2008 to over 14 million, while 2009 is expected to be even better, with 24 million iPhones sold.
Why? What is it about this phone that makes it the phenomena that it is?
Every one has a theory, but the one you seem to hear the most is that its technology is user friendly. I recently had a chance to play with one for a few minutes sitting in a lawn chair watching my son play ball. A pal who works as an Apple Service tech knowing my love of gadgets pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and I was on it like fly on …well you know.
iPhones have not been released in Canada yet, but will be soon, as Apple inked a deal with Rogers earlier this spring. My pal’s phone was active because he had “unlocked” it and got it working with another Canadian Cellphone carrier using witchcraft beyond this reporter’s meager skills.
Without knowing a thing about the iPhone I was able to get online and browse websites, and pinpoint the nearest coffee shop on a Google map. It is this ease and intuitiveness that makes the iPhone such a marvel.
The phone is about four-and-a-half inches tall and 2-and-a-half inches wide. It is only .46 inches thick. There is only one button on the unit’s face - a home button that takes you back to main screen. You turn it on and off using a slider on the screen; this prevents the phone from accidentally turned on in your pocket. As the iPhone screen comes alive, a series of virtual buttons appear on the screen. In a grey bar near the bottom are virtual buttons for the phone, email, web browsing, and an iPod. In the black space above are all the other programs you have loaded like a photo viewer, maps, camera, calendar, clock, etc.
So with no keyboard how do you make a call? Well, it’s simple really. Touch the phone button and there is your address book. Scroll through the entries by brushing your finger down or up on the screen and your contacts scroll by. Choose the one you want and bingo you’re making a call.
What if you don’t have the number in your address book? Choose the keyboard button at the bottom of the screen and there appears a virtual keyboard. Type in the phone number and hit send.
Accessing the web and email are even easier. Choose the Safari button (iPhone’s web browser) or the mail button and you are there surfing the web or answering email. Attachments can be opened and read or changed and websites look like they do on your computer at home rather than the stripped out versions you find on regular cellphones.
The coolest feature is the way the phone’s orientation can be changed. Holding the iPhone vertically gives you a screen that is taller than it is wide. Turning the phone horizontal changes the screen to a wider than tall view.
Being a music guy, I also loved the iPod feature. The iPhone is the best iPod you will ever own. All your music is at your fingertips. You can even play it without needing a set of headphones using the built in speakers. It’s not hi-fidelity but its good enough. Plug in a good set of headphones and you’re in heaven.
Apple is getting ready to release a new version using the new G3 technology (don’t ask you don’t want to know). So when Apple finally launches the iPhone in Canada this fall Canadians will have the very latest version running on a high-end network.
Chris Brown
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