Yes, yes, you’ve heard it already: the iPhone is a revolutionary new wireless device meant to completely redefine the mobile experience, blah, blah, blah. There's been so much hype about Apple's show pony, it's hard to figure out fact from frenzy.
So to separate the truth from the Steve Jobs keynotes, you have to get your hands on one – which is exactly what I did while in Los Angeles the day the device came out. Back-ordered everywhere, I convinced a dodgy car phone installer “sold out” of iPhones to sell me one hidden in a back room, for a premium of course, which I then immediately rushed back to Sydney.
It likely made me the first person to have a consumer-purchased model on Australian soil, so if you've been wondering if the iPhone is really such a big deal after all, I can tell you. And my take? Believe the hype – the iPhone will change your life.
Here's why. From the first encounter with the packaging, the nicely designed appropriately Apple looking packaging, the cool GUI tricks (that's the graphical user interface) that surface through use and the ease of content loading, you realise Apple has put its signature cool into this product.
Most importantly, besides the cool factor, it really works well. Well, not really well in Australia as it's locked to AT&T (the old Cingular) in the States. So, unless you hack it (and it’s already been done) or get someone to hack it for you (which you can also do) it doesn't even function as a phone in Australia. But have a play and you will see – you will want one nonetheless.
To answer the question: Why does the iPhone have such power (and thus media attention), we have to look at the device from two main perspectives:
1. Consumer impact. How does the device empower the user; and,
2. Impact on the mobile business.
First, the iPhone unites the needs of the user through merging design and technology into a very petite and undeniably compelling experience.
It’s fun to use and I find myself spending more time playing with it than any device to date (and that’s saying something as there are lots of options regarding cool mobile kit out there right now).
The iPhone is a real lesson in GUI. Not only can you find anything and do almost anything in just three clicks (which is the golden rule of usability), it’s the first mobile device for which you really don’t need a manual.
Mobile devices are often challenging to figure out – most people (not including mobile enthusiasts like myself) tend to stay with the same device, as that’s what they know and are comfortable using.
Are you a Nokia, Motorola, Blackberry or Sony Ericsson person? Often people can’t be bothered switching devices as they don’t want to go through the hassle of learning a new interface and operating system. Moving your contacts, downloading your photos, sorting out your ringtones, these tasks are often challenging at best. Apple has sorted all this out through a great hardware and software design. Apple again sets the pace for new forms of human computer interaction but this time creating a glimpse into the future of mobile devices. The latest announcements from Apple earlier this month takes it even further ahead in the ringtones arena.
And you do all this interaction through a clever touch screen. The fantastic video screen looks great and you want to watch it. This is not the little tiny screen of the current crop of devices. The screen on the iPhone is incredible, all traditional interaction or input methods such as buttons, soft keys, dials and numeric keypads have disappeared.
What is left is a stunning 8.9cm screen with Apple's highest resolution to date on a mobile device. Text is crisp and easy to read, with a resolution that makes you want to use it (166 dpi).
Viewing mobile sites is a great experience. The consumer is able to shift the page, literally pointing to what they want to read. The iPhone is arguably the first serious contender to do this on a mobile device.
Touchscreens are not really that new on mobile devices (think Palm), but what the iPhone uniquely brings to a handset, is to allow for multiple finger taps functionality. They call this type of interaction multi-tap. Multi-tap creates a dynamic and intuitive user experience which allows functions to appear on screen when needed. This functionality quickly provides access to many things; a qwerty keyboard, sorting your video, podcasts and audio and sharing your personal photos.
You can also wave your finger through a list, scroll through your contacts, music or widescreen video, or resize or zoom photos all in one masterful stroke, with one finger or two.
The iPhone doesn’t end with just great design and usability. That is only part of the pleasure. The best bit is the fantastic implementation of a new technology called an accelerometer. The iPhone has a number of proximity sensors, called accelerometers, to detect device rotation and position. You might know this technology from playing with Nintendo's Wii. Interaction is driven by how/where the device is held and moved.
For example, by lifting it to your ear, the phone seamlessly shifts between phone mode and media player just by where you position it. So when I’m listening to Kanye West on iTunes and a client calls, the phone immediately pauses the music. This type of integration of excellent technology changes one’s expectation of what a mobile device can do. Consumers will alter their understanding of mobile devices and they will see that a phone can be more than just a phone.
Lastly, from the consumer perspective, the iPhone revolutionises use of the mobile web. It does this through bringing the mobile internet front and centre, creating one of the first decent internet experiences on a mobile device.
Apple is not the only device manufacturer to do a good job with mobile internet browsing experience; some of the new Nokia devices provide an excellent experience. Still, the iPhone’s screen is about double the size of the Nokia N95. And its higher resolution and the touchscreen makes it far easier and quicker to get around the page. Not only does this software and hardware design make an impact in terms of cool, but the iPhone solves one of the biggest limitations of many current wireless devices – accessing the web becomes easy and compelling. It looks like the newest iPods contained within this month’s announcements will also have the same ability to surf the web.
Second then, the mobile business. In order to fully understand the impact of the iPhone we must move away from the consumer perspective to discuss the impact on the mobile business. Jargon warning in advance, as we need to talk tech to get clarity into the business impact of the bit of revolution in your pocket. From a business perspective there will be tremendous impact on both content consumption, and thus content sales and distribution, and perhaps most importantly device design and manufacturing. Apple has simultaneously revolutionised the mobile media player, the wireless device, how you access the mobile web and, most importantly, the concept of what your mobile service provider actually provides (and I’ll give you a hint it’s not your carrier if Apple gets its way). It is amazing that Apple packs all this innovation in one masterful blow.
In terms of functionality, the iPhone has most things that you would want from a mobile device. You have the usual stuff like 8GB of memory/hard disk space. That’s eight times more than your average new smart phone.
You have a good 2 megapixel camera, which is not the best resolution but decent for on-device viewing and small prints. Bluetooth is also a feature fantastic for inter-device connectivity. The old chestnut Wi-Fi is here which lets you access the net through your home, work or someone’s free wireless network. Wi-Fi is becoming increasingly popular with many new mobile devices.
Before I get into the genuine impact the iPhone will have in Australia, you need to have a bit of understanding of the mobile content business.
Messaging and talk accounts for the largest slice of the mobile dollar pie, however data services will become a real moneymaker for the mobile service providers in the future.
In the mobile business, ARPU (average revenue per user) is a key metric that is driven by consumer content consumption and data usage (among other factors). People usually buy content through the telcos, at least for now. The content owner sacrifices a big revenue share to the carrier (or in this instance pipe) for access to their customers. Most of this mobile content (games, ringtones, etc) is purchased within carrier portals. If you are an iPod user you have (some) of your music in your iTunes application. You may have even purchased some of this from Apple. Good on you. Perhaps you have some podcasts or some video in there as well.
Well, in order to activate your iPhone, you have to have a US iTunes account. Currently a US iTunes account requires a US credit card (or a credit card with a US billing address). As soon as your activation is done (it’s actually very easy if you have the above) you can copy your music/video and podcasts to the device. Just like that. Easy as pie.
Sideloading is the process of moving content from your computer to your mobile device. It bypasses the telco infrastructure. Sideloading occurs through the consumer loading content onto the device directly – not over the air through 2 or 3G networks. If you think about data charges (which is driven by content consumption though the wireless networks) sideloading has tremendous potential commercial impact to the telco.
There has been lots of hype (from me included) surrounding mobile TV. After I got my iPhone, I completely forgot about streaming video over 3G. Who needs it when you can sync your iPhone with your iTunes content either purchased or created through HandBrake to your device.
HandBrake, by the way, is a free program that allows you to reformat video content so you can easily view it on various devices, from game players to mobile phones, video iPods, etc. You should get it if you don’t have it.
So the iPhone lets the user have the content they want, when they want it, and how they want it. And unlike the usual streaming 3G services, you pause the content and resume viewing it at your leisure. Plus, Apple is essentially bypassing the telcos and selling you iTunes music directly without the phone companies’ large markups and giving you superior quality at the same time. This whole thing starts to make the current state of affairs of consumer mobile content consumption look precarious.
So when the iPhone, fingers crossed, comes out in Australia early next year, do you need to rush out and get one? You probably know the answer.
