Sorry for this being another iPhone post….(especially because I have one more iPhone post I’m working on too, so beware), but after a couple days of using the iPhone and talking with others about it, I can’t shake my enthusiasm for the device.
Yeah, I’ve gotten a lot of ribbing about waiting in line for the iPhone on Friday. And I’ve heard a lot of people question the notion of getting a 1.0 device. And there are things about the iPhone that bug me.
However, I can’t help but see the potential behind the way the iPhone brings its UI and hardware together.
Here’s the thing though, to really sing, the iPhone really does not an SDK. No doubt about it. And I don’t mean just a scripting language, although that’s OK. I’m talking in terms of a compiled language that works with the OS. There’s lots of potential here for some amazing, third-party apps.
Will Apple change its tune in this regards? I don’t know. But for those competitors that are now assessing the impact of the iPhone and trying to figure out how to respond, please don’t imitate Apple in the no-SDK department if you decide to go toe-to-toe with the iPhone.
The iPhone shows how to do touch well. No doubt about it. It’s not perfect: There’s no support for selection and copy/paste. And programming around the touch gestures is an unfortunate challenge in the browser. That’s not a good design. However, overall, it’s quite impressive compared to most other devices. One way to tell how good the touch experience is: Watch people use the iPhone for 15-20 minutes and rarely do they say, “Forget it, there’s no keyboard.” They get touch on the iPhone.
A third point that strikes me about the iPhone–it needs Flash. Say all you want about how there are other technologies better than Flash. It doesn’t matter. I dislike going to blog posts and the like that embed YouTube videos that I can’t see. I don’t mind if Apple fakes out these videos and translates them into their own format. I don’t care. Do as you see fit. But just don’t leave a tiny square where the videos should be. It degrades my browsing experience. Surfing the Net is a big deal on the iPhone. This browser hole ought to be fixed.
The iPhone is so good at what it does, it screams for good connectivity. The EDGE network is marginal–well, passable. WiFi is really what makes the device a pleasure to use. You need the speed. In fact, the iPhone makes me long for free and open WiFi networks. Unfortunately the trend (at least in the US) in terms of WiFi is going the other way. Short of Google or Apple sponsoring open WiFi throughout major cities, stores, and the like, it looks like the iPhone is more of a harbinger of impressive devices to come, rather than the end all. Who knows though, maybe the iPhone will change the economics here and encourage more open WiFi. Why? Because for the first time, millions of people may soon be walking around with WiFi-enabled devices that have good browsing capabilities so that they might actually use the browser as they move around–a lot.
I also think the iPhone illustrates how larger, non-phone-centric devices have value. Not everything works so well on a tiny screen. Zooming in on every web page I visit is fine in the beginning, but it gets old fast. Until we have fold out displays, I think there will be many of us that purchase devices of multiple sizes and capabilities.
So my ideal world, would have an iPhone with an SDK, better connectivity: included or free WiFi as I go shopping, eating, etc, and sibling devices (notebooks, subnotebooks, UMPCs) that have as rich a mobile experience as the iPhone.