Dubbed the "Jesus Phone," Apple's iPhone has technology pundits squaring off — fans who predict iPod-like success and haters who predict a flop. But everyone agrees that the iPhone is the biggest technology product launch ever in terms of media coverage. Therefore, I thought I'd take you on a tour of some of the more interesting coverage.
(Disclaimer — I'm an unabashed fan of Apple because of the company's obsession with simplicity and usability. We try to do the same here at TechnoLawyer — e.g., you can contribute a post by just replying to any of our newsletters.)
On our first stop, Wayne Smallsman of Blah Blah Technology in his article Apple iPhone: DOA? explains why he won't buy an iPhone:
• Not waterproof to depths of 1,000 meters.
• No multi-lingual translation of voice calls.
• Built-in camera cannot scan retina.
• No EMP shield for use during a nuclear attack.
And many more sound and logical reasons.
Next, on a more serious note, Daniel Eran of RoughlyDrafted has penned an insightful analysis entitled Secret iPhone Details Lost in a Sea of Hype and Hate. In this article, he discusses the motivations behind some of the iPhone critics, none of whom have used an iPhone yet.
Over the weekend, USA Today published Top Secret Tests, an article about 200 AT&T technicians who have secretly tested the iPhone throughout the country over the past few months. Their conclusion — it's ready. This article exemplifies Apple's flawless public relations campaign to date, which has pretty much steamrolled all the critics.
For example, Apple responded to criticism of the scratch-prone plastic screen with a surprise announcement that the iPhone would have a glass screen. Apple also made a surprise announcement about battery life (8 hours of talk time). In this USA Today article, Apple addresses voice quality and bandwidth.
Incidentally, I hope it doesn't come as a shock to you that virtually every business article you read in a newspaper is placed there by a public relations firm.
Given Apple's success at steering public opinion, the iPhone will undoubtedly end up in the hands of many senior partners. InfoWorld has two takes on the issue of supporting these users within an organization.
In iPhone: The Device IT Managers Will Love to Hate, Matt Hamblen quotes a number of analysts who predict a nightmare scenario for IT departments.
But in Seth Weintraub's opinion piece in the same publication, Analysts Miss the Point on the iPhone, he makes the case for the iPhone in the enterprise. Among his arguments, the iPhone's support for open standards like POP and IMAP email, and Apple's ability to build superior user interfaces that boost productivity.
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