So we’ve all seen the new Apple iPhone. It’s gorgeous. I’d be totally psyched to write software for it. Heck, I’d be totally psyched to get one and see what everyone else in the world comes up with for it. But is it not to be? From slashdot (emphasis mine):

I have a feeling that this is not going to be a geek’s toy.

Probably not. Which is so self-destructively stupid of Apple. I signed up on their developer network within minutes of seeing this thing, and was ready to plop down a few grand for a top-of-the-line Macbook to learn development on OS X until I read that reps at the show were saying that it wasn’t going to support third-party software. As much as this device is going to sell, it will have zero presence in enterprise markets, and serious people will never buy one because no one is going to carry two phones. They could have owned the mobile market.

I don’t know why I was surprised. They only implement software as a means to end – to sell hardware. And as illustrated by their name change, the trend for their hardware is going to be overpriced toys.

WHAT??? The whole point of an Apple phone was that it was supposed to come UNLOCKED!!! Who cares if it’s running OSX or DOS 3.0 if you can’t put whatever software you want on it, if you can’t program for it…

I should hope that this was a misinformed Cingular rep that said that. Or if it was an Apple rep, that they seriously reconsider. There is no way that I’m going to shell out $600 for a computer that comes locked. I’d rather downgrade to a crappy el-cheapo phone and get a UMPC with EVDO, maybe embed it into my dashboard as a carputer or something.

Also, if this rumor isn’t true, then Apple had better squelch it quickly. If people, namely tech geeks, who are purchasing influencers, believe that this product isn’t going to be programmable, that it’s going to be sold locked, then they won’t wait 6 months to make their next purchases. That money will go elsewhere instead.

So Apple, please, say it isn’t so…

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 11th, 2007 at 8:12 am and is filed under technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.