iPhone: not a revolution

by Richard

(Tim Wu provides an excellent write-up of everything that I say when someone asks me what I think about the iPhone: Why the iPhone isn’t really revolutionary.)

My three observations about the iPhone:

  1. It’s not an open platform and there’s no development kit (yet). For now, Apple is the only company that can make applications for the iPhone, apart from what developers can make work from a web browser. But what makes a computer great is the ability to freely utilize its storage ability and processing power to solve problems. In general, Apple can be trusted to provide good, flexible solutions (You can customize fields in Address Book, for example), but how much can Apple afford to program to the idiosyncratic needs of bloggers, photographers, DJs, stock traders, teachers, and students? An open platform is the way to allow unique solutions and people-powered innovation to come to light. Solutions require innovation, innovation demands creativity, and creativity is fostered by openness. Apple is enlightened enough to know this, but they unfortunately realize that they would be undercutting their own short-term revenue potential and business relationships with the wireless carriers if they opened the iPhone up for public development.
  2. No tactile feedback. I’m sure you can eventually learn how to type without looking at the “screenboard,” but please don’t argue that the learning curve isn’t going to be significantly higher than a device with a dedicated, physical input component.
  3. AT&T? For now, you can only get the iPhone by signing up with one carrier for two freakin’ years. And have you seen any of this or that?

Meanwhile, the leading-edge of the revolution in phones is quietly bubbling up in the shadow of the almighty iPhone. Nokia recently announced the stateside availability of the E61i, a open-platform phone running on Symbian. You can buy it unlocked from Dell. And then there’s the Neo1973, being offered via Internet order on July 9th, running the open-source, Linux-based OpenMoko.

Computers got “big” when everyone had a chance to play. Isn’t it time we got to have the same fun over our handheld devices?