Elgan: Why the iPhone doesn't matter
- 22 June, 2009 08:11
- Comments 7
The new iPhone 3G S is here! The new iPhone 3G S is here!
Big deal. New cell phone hardware doesn't matter that much anymore. What's important now is software. And networks.
Two years ago, the choice between an iPhone or an alternative to the iPhone was mostly about hardware. Cell phones had always been about hardware first, software and networks second.
The iPhone decision back then was: Can I live without a keyboard? The upside was a huge, high-quality screen. Do I want to control apps with touch? Or would I rather navigate menus? What about that horrible battery life? On the other hand, look how thin it is. It was all about hardware.
Now the decision is different. Do I want the iPhone's thousands of apps or the Palm Pre's multitasking ability? Do I want Android's Google search centricity or Windows Mobile's Microsoft Office compatibility? It's all about software and networks.
Don't believe me? Try the following thought experiments:
1. Apple rolled out this week an awesome iPhone 3.0 upgrade. The software improves iPhone 3G performance and functionality. Of course, the new iPhone 3G S runs the new 3.0 OS as well. But if you had to choose between the old iPhone 3G with the new iPhone 3.0 software, or the new iPhone 3G S with the old iPhone 2.0 software, which would you choose? I think most would choose the old hardware with the new software.
2. If you had to choose between the original iPhone, but have full access to iPhone Apps, or choose the new iPhone 3G S but have zero access to Apps, which would you choose? I think you'd go with the Apps.
3. Which would you choose: The Palm Pre with the iPhone 3.0 software, iPhone Apps and iTunes - or the iPhone 3G S running WebOS and accessing the Palm App Catalog. I think most iPhone fans would choose the Palm hardware with the iPhone software and network. And most Palm fans would choose the iPhone with the WebOS. (What Palm users like best, according to my own unscientific poll, is the WebOS and its gestures, "card" system and multitasking - in other words, the software.)
In fact, Apple is dominating the cell-phone handset market precisely because it realizes the new primacy of software and networking. Apple set up a development system that resulted in a huge number of standard-functioning low-cost applications. This month, they also rolled out new hooks into MobileMe, which give the iPhone new functionality - and users new reasons to demand an iPhone.
A similar phenomenon is happening with other devices. For example, the Amazon Kindle is by far the best selling e-book reader. But the Kindle hardware device is nothing to write home about, especially the first one, which was a piece of junk. What's great about the Kindle, and the thing that makes it "better" than the Sony Reader and even better than all the color "Kindle Killers" that have been demonstrated in the past year, is the Amazon Kindle Store. Hardware doesn't matter. Network is everything.
And look at the console gaming contest between Microsoft and Sony. The Sony Playstation hardware is vastly superior to Xbox 360. But Microsoft wins primarily because of the appeal of the Xbox Live network.
What's happening with these consumer electronics devices is that they're going through the same transitions as PCs did in the early days.
Back in the 1980s, people bought hardware, and the software was secondary. Over time, however, each PC hardware line increasingly resembled all the others, and what really mattered was software. Eventually, even Apple ended up moving over to Intel-based PC hardware. But nobody cared.
What really matters now is the Mac OS X or Windows or Linux, and all the software you can run on these platforms.
And just look at what's different about the iPhone 3G S. Like a new PC, the new phone is pretty much the same as the old phone, just faster. (The "S" stands for "speed.")
Why this matters
So what does it mean that cell phone software and networks are more important than the hardware?
In a nutshell, it predicts which non-cell phone devices are likely to succeed and fail in the months and years to come.
For example, we're almost certainly going to see new netbooks and tablets running cell phone operating systems real soon now. We'll be able to buy systems running the iPhone OS, WebOS, Windows Mobile and possibly others. These devices will hook into the respective app stores and take advantage of other services offered by the companies.
Because of the new primacy of software, I can safely predict even now, sight unseen, that Apple's offerings will probably dominate as thoroughly as the iPhone, and for the same reason: The App Store, iTunes and MobileMe.
The new importance of networks also raises an interesting set of questions. For example, who will create the first or best Xbox Live-like multiplayer gaming network for a cell phone platform? What if Microsoft rolled out a version for Sidekick users, and pushed Xbox gaming development in that direction? Or, alternatively, what if Apple built an Xbox Live-like gaming network?
What if one of the major handset makers, through partnership or acquisition, gained exclusive control of Amazon's Kindle and Audible.com distribution? Or Netflix? Or Facebook?
The game-changers of the future will not be new hardware features, but new software and network capabilities.
So if you'll be buying a new iPhone 3G S, enjoy it! But realize that the best thing about it is that it gives you the iPhone 3.0 software, the App Store, iTunes and MobileMe just like the old iPhone did. Just faster.
- Bookmark this page
- Share this article
- Got more on this story? Email Computerworld
- Follow Computerworld on twitter
- IDC Whitepaper: Generating Proven Business Value with EMC Next-Generation Backup and Recovery
- Managing IBM License Complexity
- Essar Group - Essar Group executives enjoy printing on the move
- Agile: Transforming small-team thinking into big business results
- Selecting an Application Lifecycle Management Vendor: An Ovum Report
-
A comparison of Telstra's 4G phones
-
Drupal gains ground down under
-
NBN build gaining momentum daily: Quigley
-
Chambers: Networking's changing competitive landscape
-
The NBN, service providers and you... what could go wrong?
-
PowerPoint 2000 for Windows for Dummies
-
ALS Designing a Microsoft Windows 2000 Directory Services Infrastructure (70-219)
-
Excel 2003 VBA Programmer's Reference
-
Wiley Pathways
-
Computer Simulation in Business 2E
-
Handbook of Usability Testing
-
Red Hat Linux Networking and System Administration, Third Edition
-
Imovie 3 Solutions - Tips, Tricks & Special Effects with DVD
-
The Web Application Hacker's Handbook
Comments
Anonymous
I think you are behind on this. The iPhone has been all about software from the initial launch.
Anonymous
you are obviously an idiot
Anonymous
Absolutely right, but like Anonymous before me, I think Apple had this figured out years earlier. Which is why the obviously visible iphone H/W is simply a button and a huge screen...
Anonymous
Its the software
Couldn't agree with you more.
All Apple hardware can be easily rectified and upgraded thru the software from a problematic screen of a laptop to a better user experience of the hardware.
And when there is a problem there is always someone the user can turn to - Apple.
g0nz0
Have to disagree
If someone were actually being forced to choose between your hypothetical situations, then your argument makes sense, but the devil isn't popping up anywhere and offering people the choice between a new 3Gs with 2.0 software and a 1st gen phone with 3.0 software... Just isn't happening.
Additional CPU and GPU speed mean alot to software makers and users.
"...just faster" has really a really misleading connotation, too. If I were stuck with a 1st gen phone and the Edge network, I'd NEVER use the web browser. There are times with my 3G that I won't bother because of it's rendering speed. But if it rendered, mmm... say twice as fast, I'd be twice as likely to use it in a time-sensitive situation. "...Just faster" should be "...just twice as usable."
Sure, the magnetometer is kind of an add-on, but so was GPS when you could triangulate based on WiFi hotspots and cell-towers. Doesn't make the actual inclusion of a GPS unit any less important, because it works faster and more accurately.
And then there's video. A large chunk of video-techie users who were iPhone users previously had to carry around a Flip and an iPhone. This eliminates yet one more device.
Marcos
...
I think it was MacRumors or AppleInsider a couple of weeks ago that posted an article of why Apple doesn't release the internal specs of the iPhone, rather than it's capabilities. This is due to avoid auto boycotting the app store itself. Today you get in there and find games "Compatible with iPhone OS 3.0/2.0". Would you imagine trying to download tap tap revolution and reading it requires "a 600Mhz arm cortex a8 processor or faster with 256 mb or ram" (iPhone 3GS specs if i'm not mistaken...). That would be horrible indeed, confusing, creepy. That's the reason why most people before apple have failed in developing their own systems to deploy apps...it was confusing to the end user and really, nobody cared, since most cases you didn't have a way to upgrade your device to meet those requirements, rather to buy new hardware. So, what's the point of all this? The iPhone it's not based around the hardware it has, it's based around the software, but not because hardware doesn't matter. It matters, a lot, but Apple wants to hide what's inside because otherwise, they would crack their own ecosystem.
And not only this, but the iPhone 3GS does matter a lot. In the beginning there was only the first gen iPhone. They had to remark everything, software and hardware that's revolutionary in contrast to other phones. Harware did matter, but when did they stop caring about it? That was the iPhone 3G. The iPhone 3G had very little difference between the original device, excepting for the GPS and additional battery life, but they could run the same software, no matter which device you are using. There was no need to advertise hardware, everyone knew about the first gen iPhone, so, they put in the name what makes the iPhone 3G a new iPhone generation, and that is the 3G network capabilities, the rest, remains the same. And now, the iPhone 3GS, "the S stands for Speed", that's a perfect way to tell most customers "it's faster, nevermind what's inside", and most people won't mind what's. Hardware is something important because it's tied to the software, I'm sure the Pre with the iPhone OS would be something terrible and will never run the same as in the iPhone, mostly due to hardware and how the iPhone takes advantage of it, so stop making those stupid hypothesis. What makes the iPhone it's the combination of both hardware and software, and how it achieves to give mobile users a great experience through the concept of "direct manipulation". Hardware does matter, but it's not something they would like to advertise, given the confusion it creates and the risk it presents to the product. And besides, I think it's better than what happened with the computing industry during the past years. Today you get some software and hey you need a certain amount of ram, processor, or whatever... wouldn't it be great to have something that requires you to make use of your brain, rather than to strip off the computer to see what's inside?
While I do believe that a customer looks for a device in terms of usefulness, then design and then hardware, I believe that's not only the software what settles the decision, it's how well, a company has managed to balance both hardware and software to give an incredible experience, which is only achieved graphically to the end user through what's displayed on the screen ( that would be the software), and it would be hard for someone to get a device and get some functionality out of a bunch of wires and boards. It's the combination what makes the perfection, but the advertising it's what keeps the product going. I think Microsoft proved us already that everyone can sell useless crap and get rich, but not everyone wants to be rich by delivering something lousy, but something that's indeed revolutionary. Apple, and many companies out there, have changed the focus away of what you consider when you get a phone, computer, or whatever, but hardware does matter, only that advertising it would break an entire platform, and if you don't believe me, look at what happened to Palm on the last years...
RayCon
Definitely
Every time someone brings out an Apple (choose your product)-killer, the biggest failure is almost always in the software. That's not to say that hardware doesn't have some importance, but it takes a second seat to the ease of use provided by good software. The Microsoft laptop commercials conveniently (and with good reason) leave this out. I've seen some very aesthetic PC laptops that I would consider were it not for the fact that they can't run Mac OS X. Even with all the hardware being on par (or better) than Apple offerings, it's the user interface, stupid.
Post new comment