so disappointed!

[punkzanyj]

I guess, to me, these quibbles don't rise to the point of becoming an IT support person's worst nightmare. Surely ram isn't getting angry calls about people being unable to cut and paste or connect their headphones.

The inarguable point, it seems to me, is that whether it makes us happy or not, the Iphone is a spectacular success, and we are not helping ourselves by pretending it isn't. To conquer your enemy you must first understand them thoroughly.

I don't think you understand IT very well. It's not that these issues happen, it's that they KEEP happening. IT people aren't annoyed by problems, it's what they deal with, they're annoyed by having to deal with the same issue, again, and again, and again, on the same piece of equipment.

I haven't actually listed any of the problems our clients call about. I'm the admin, so I don't actually help with the issues, but I do hear our techs talking about problems with the iPhone left and right.

In truth, I don't care about iPhone's success, it's based mostly on a robust marketing machine more than anything else. They don't actually invent anything new at Apple, and like most companies these days, they don't even make the hardware themselves anymore. I'm not interested in a shoot-out between G1 and Apple, so "defeating the enemy" isn't a priority for me. I'm sure there are people who care about that sort of thing, but I'm not one of them.

 

[Sundog]

I don't think you understand IT very well. It's not that these issues happen, it's that they KEEP happening. IT people aren't annoyed by problems, it's what they deal with, they're annoyed by having to deal with the same issue, again, and again, and again, on the same piece of equipment.

I haven't actually listed any of the problems our clients call about. I'm the admin, so I don't actually help with the issues, but I do hear our techs talking about problems with the iPhone left and right.

In truth, I don't care about iPhone's success, it's based mostly on a robust marketing machine more than anything else. They don't actually invent anything new at Apple, and like most companies these days, they don't even make the hardware themselves anymore. I'm not interested in a shoot-out between G1 and Apple, so "defeating the enemy" isn't a priority for me. I'm sure there are people who care about that sort of thing, but I'm not one of them.

As the inventor of online graphics, and the lead developer in a team of 25 for a Fortune 500 company with over 20 years in the business, I think I understand IT pretty well. It's been many years since I was down in the support levels, but I remember. It would be better for your point of view if you could actually name the problems that keep happening over and over. As I said, I seriously doubt that people are calling you over and over to complain about a headphone jack.

My point was not that the IPhone didn't have problems, but that these problems did not prevent a spectacularly successful rollout. And IMHO to pretend that the success is all due to hype is sheer denial.

You misinterpreted my comment about "defeating the enemy". I mean "enemy" as "competitor", which they may not be for you, but as a developer, they certainly are for me. Quite obviously, we would all like the G1 to enjoy similar success; that's my point.

 

[pestilence]

What, exactly, is an 'inventor of online graphics'?

 

[Sundog]

What, exactly, is an 'inventor of online graphics'?

Me. Long story, and way off topic for this forum, but true.

In a nutshell, I created the first method for using real (non-ANSI) graphics, animation, sound and mouse movements on a BBS, back in 1987, way before there was a World Wide Web. Made a pile of money off of it, too. And that's enough bragging...

Since my points appear to be more irritating than informative in this thread, I'll stop posting on it. Sorry if I ruffled anyone's feathers.

 

[punkzanyj]

Sundog, No need to exit, I shouldn't have gotten so ruffled.

As someone who works with technology, I haven't really been impressed by what Apple has put forth. There just seems to be this buzz that Apple's products are flawless, and I often see people having one minor problem with another manufacturer's device and suddenly declare "That's it, I'm not dealing with this crap, I'm getting an iPod, iPhone, Mac, etc" as though it were the end-all, be-all of perfect design.

And I'm sorry, I'm not in denial about apple's marketing hype machine. I got my information, straight from one of their former marketing employees:
http://www.marketingapple.com/marketing_apple/the-marketingapple-ebook.html

He reveals that Apple basically takes an existing product, tweaks it, makes the presentation slick, and markets it to death. Their first rule of thumb is "NEVER be first to market" That's why the Newton flopped and the MacBook Air did so poorly. Recall that the iPod commercials don't show you the OS, or demonstrate the music quality, it shows you cool silhouettes of dancing people with white headphones, as if to say "this could be you! You could be a cool, dancing, happy person, too!" Apple sells a membership in a cool kids club with their dumbed-down products, and it works, there's no shame in that. But to suggest that Apple-apologists don't look over it's flaws due to fanboydom is sheer denial as well.

And that's about as far off-topic that I think we should go, suffice to say we'll probably have to agree to disagree.

 

[Sundog]

Sundog, No need to exit, I shouldn't have gotten so ruffled.

As someone who works with technology, I haven't really been impressed by what Apple has put forth. There just seems to be this buzz that Apple's products are flawless, and I often see people having one minor problem with another manufacturer's device and suddenly declare "That's it, I'm not dealing with this crap, I'm getting an iPod, iPhone, Mac, etc" as though it were the end-all, be-all of perfect design.

And I'm sorry, I'm not in denial about apple's marketing hype machine. I got my information, straight from one of their former marketing employees:
http://www.marketingapple.com/marketing_apple/the-marketingapple-ebook.html

Only a fool would deny the awesome power of Apple hype. But IMHO it really isn't a defensible position to state that the IPhone has nothing going for it but hype. Your own example of the Newton is on point; same hype machine, but an inferior product.

Maybe I look at this in a different way as a developer. To me, it is a huge mistake to underestimate your competitors or deny their strengths. You acknowledge their strengths and try to top them.