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Apple Unveils a Lawsuit!

Well, maybe not yet, but Cisco already owns the name "iPhone", so either Apple has purchased permission to use the name or their lawyers are already drawing up their response to the filing Cisco will be making.

In any event, at MacWorld today, Jobs unveiled the long-rumored, much discussed, always drooled over (by Macboi's) Apple iPhone.

Am I the only one not terribly impressed?

The technology looks stunning. It also looks like overkill. Massive overkill for a phone. As a precursor for future uses, this is terrific. Jobs compared this to the unveiling of the original Macintosh computer. To me, it looks more like the unveiling of the Lisa, which was overpriced and underwhelming in actual use. To be sure, the Lisa made way for the Mac. In the same way, it looks to me that this generation iPhone will give way to a genuine killer product.

Why? The price. For $500 I can get a kick-ass digital camera, a kick-ass mp3 player, and be more than satisfied with a regular, free cell phone. Aside from meaning I only carry one thing, what does the iPhone offer over that setup? Er...? And my 3-part setup means I've got a superior camera (far better than a 2-megapixel thing, not to mention the lens) and a superior mp3 player (anything from a 4GB Nano to a 30GB iPod to a 30+GB alternative). And that's in comparison to the 4GB iPhone; add $100 for an 8GB model, which improves my options.

So what does the iPhone offer? Technology for the sake of technology. It is glitz, bells, and whistles. It is this year's Razr. Paris Hilton will buy lots so she can give them out as party favors. Apple will probably sell all they make. But the price of the Razr dropped like a rock in the first year, from $500 to $100, and today it's even cheaper (that is, free). I doubt this iPhone will follow suit.

Please understand that I want one. It's gorgeous. It's amazing to look at. I could spend lots of time just playing with the new interface. But at the end of the day I'd look at the thing and go, "Whoop." Will it sync with my Outlook contact list? Will it have any way to at least import my Outlook contact list? How about my calendar? Task list?

For $600, I expect a smartphone. But wait, this isn't a smartphone. I can't work with documents (Word or otherwise) or spreadsheets (Excel or otherwise). As 3G phones become more and more prevalent, especially for using that Internet access Jobs touts, here is a phone that doesn't use any of the available 3G technologies. Instead, it's limited to near-dial-up speeds provided by Cingular's Edge network, and that is soooo a few years ago.

(And speaking of Jobs touting Internet access, he bloviated as usual, acting as though the iPhone was the first ever phone to allow you to surf the 'Net. I guess I was fantasizing doing so with my Treo 650; ditto my friend with his Treo 700W, let alone all those people using the Cingular 8125/8525. No wonder Jobs sucks almost as bad as Bill Gates.)

For $400 (and a 2-year contact) I can have a brilliant Cingular 8525 that can do all that and most everything the iPhone does. It'll even play mp3's with storage via mini-SD cards. And though that might not equal 8GB of storage, I can carry a butt-load of 2+GB cards to make up the difference. Or I can add a decent mp3 player and voila, I've kicked the iPhone's ass all around the block. Won't look as pretty, won't be some sparkling trendsetter, but I'll be doing the same and much, much more.

You can tell me about the superb software (mini OS X?) and the advanced "intuitive" interface all you want, and I'll agree. I'll also I tell you that when using a phone, it's harder to get more intuitive than just starting to type someone's name or phone number, and have the phone present a list of choices until you've either typed enough to narrow it to the correct choice or picked it off the presented list. That is instinctive, because all a user need do is start typing a name or a phone number, something people do when using a phone. That is intuitive.

Let me repeat and make myself clear. The Apple iPhone looks brilliant. I love the full-scale mockup using a similar interface for photo viewing (video of a guy using a big display and his hands). It looks like something straight out of Minority Report, i.e., science fiction. Neat! And I love all the little changes it makes to how you use a phone, like picking the voice mail you want to listen to rather than being stuck listening to the list. It really is a brilliant fusion of some brilliant technology.

But at that price point it's technology for technology's sake. Only the most vapid and elite (i.e., Paris Hilton) or the geekyist (like me, if I were rich) will buy it

This is a phone aimed at the consumer market while being priced for the business market. It may create a new demand. As such, like the Lisa it will generate the buzz and demand for similar devices. But also like the Lisa it will become a footnote to the amazing success of some future product, something else from Apple or even (you may shudder) Microsoft.

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