Will the iPhone move markets the way new operating systems used to?

by David Spark on June 5, 2007

Yes, But What Does That Have to Do With The iPhone?

I saw this funny comment on TechCrunch from Steve Gillmor who likened Google’s deal with Salesforce.com to have something to do with the release of the iPhone at the end of this month (June 29th – start standing in line now. I hear they’re playing Episodes I, II, and III of Star Wars).

It’s like the way us self-centered Jews always question the outcome of any event with “Well, what does this mean for the Jews?”

But Gillmor may have a point. There was a time that operating systems had the capability of moving markets. An upgrade of an operating system meant you needed new RAM, a bigger hard drive, and possibly a faster processor. Heck, you’d need a brand new computer. But the reason you wanted that operating system is that it would allow you to do something you couldn’t do before, like access the Internet, play video games, or edit video.

Unfortunately for Microsoft, its latest operating system hasn’t been able to maintain that trend and people are failing to see the reason they need to purchase Vista. That doesn’t mean people have reached their limit with technology. All it means is there’s nothing motivating them right now, except the iPhone.

The question is can the hype hold on. Will the iPhone become the platform everyone will want to have for mobile communications? What can the iPhone do that I can’t currently do? Right now, not much, but the simplicity and interface definitely beats the competition. I’d hold off on version 1.0 as was originally announced the iPhone is going to be riding on Cingular’s EDGE network which is its second slowest or second fastest network depending on how you look at it.

The next generation of iPhone will be on a fast enough network, and it’ll hopefully have smooth operating applications (a major failure with mobile devices). The iPhone could be to Apple and the computing industry what Windows 95 and Windows XP were to Microsoft and the computing industry.

  1. iPhone rumor specifics. Warner CEO’s kids are music thieves.
  2. New iPhone? Boston Wi-Fi. CNN copies Current TV. Dotcom desperation redux.
  3. Will you line up for Windows Vista? Beatles on iTunes or anywhere else. Google Switch
  4. On KQED’s "This Week in Northern California" talking about the iPhone
  5. Vista will succeed, but not immediately. And getting on the YouTube payroll.

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  • http://www.pjk.net pjk

    All I know is I recieved two unrelated calls from within the bowels of a leading handset manufacturer the day iPhone was first demonstrated. Both had the same shellshocked tone of “oh shit…”

    Which is not a bad thing. Look how many innovative new phones have been released, or are on the horizon as a result. Geez, if the Nokia N95 had a qwerty keyboard, I would have literally everything I need in a mobile device right there. Granted, they are using the Symbian operating system and a lame WAP browser, but you have to think that the bar is being set.

    Good example using Star Wars movies. Not the best movies ever made, but they certainly set a new bar with every release. In a “so what” US marketplace, bored by the “innovation” brought to us courtesy of the carriers, it is nice to see someone just cannonball into that still water.

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