CES 2007: The Apple iPhone

[Sorry, that's "Macworld 2007: The Apple iPhone." I was momentarily confused.]


I just watched the keynote address where Jobs introduced the iPhone. It appears that all of the press coverage does not do it justice.

Jobs’ demonstration of the user interface blew me away! It truly is revolutionary! The interface is unbelievably elegant. It’s dead-easy to use and immensely powerful. I’m comparing it to my Samsung cellphone and Palm TX PDA.

I’m suffering from buyer’s remorse. I have the Palm TX and it’s nowhere near as fun and easy to surf the web as it is on the iPhone. Part of the reason is that the iPhone runs OS X and thus can run desktop-class applications! As a “mobile computer,” the iPhone is far superior to Pocket PC or even the clunky UMPC. I...am...not...exaggerating.

And it’s certainly superior to all other “smartphones” such as the Motorola Q, BlackBerry, and Treo. Windows Mobile is pathetic compared to OS X on this device.

I’m suffering from buyer’s remorse. I have the Samsung cellphone I bought several years ago and while it’s perfectly usable, it feels like a Stone Age tool compared to the iPhone. The random-access voicemail is especially nice.

This is probably the most brilliant example of Apple’s industrial design ever, surpassing the iPod (all flavours), MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, Mac mini, and iMac (G5/Intel)! The hardware is beautiful. The software is brilliant. The interface is sublime. The total package is resplendent.


Apple is really amazing when it comes to interfaces. In 1984, Apple brought the mouse to the masses. In 2001, Apple brought the Click Wheel to the masses. In 2007, Apple brings the “multi-touch” touchscreen (which is at the heart of the iPhone’s amazing interface) to the masses. The iPhone really is a revolutionary device.