So Last Week

The iPhone has been hailed as revolutionary. But to me, it feels very last week. Yes, as a phone it melds together many different devices - cool. But since it is tied to Cingular, I'm not in its reach. As is true with millions of others.

For some reason, I'd completely forgotten Skype in all this, but Tom Evslin reminded me of it. He also shows the economics behind this: "the network operators subsidize the cost of the phones to us endusers in order to get us to sign long term contracts with them."

Let’s do a thought experiment: There are lots of users of Verizon Wireless in the US. Many of them are not going to be willing to switch to Cingular because Verizon really does have better coverage in many places. But they can’t get a Verizon iPhone according to this announcement. If they want music and video integrated on their phone, they WON’T be able to get it on Apple device. So now there’s a huge opportunity for a competitor in the entertainment space that Apple currently owns.

Did you see Seth Godin's list of how to make a revolutionary cell phone?

As my cell phone starts acting weird lately, from too many drops, I suppose, I'm thinking of what phone I might get. But even if I were a Cingular customer, I don't think I'd get the iPhone. I have a feeling a truly revolutionary phone isn't far away. There's too much opportunity to get it right when no one else has.

by Brett Rogers, 1/15/2007 8:44:23 AM
Permalink

Okay, this is totally off topic..well, pretty off topic anyway, but it's still amusing me a day after I saw it so I have to mention it. And if y'all aren't fans of '24' it probably won't mean anything...and if you don't pay attention to product placement, it really won't, but l I have the day off and don't really want to clean snow off my car, so you will be subject to my bored ramblings...Brett, when considering that next phone decision, remember that with a Nextel/Sprint combo, you too could thwart a suicide bombing in a major American city. Assuming the phone has GPS and you know how to use it. A friend of mine called during a commercial and exclaimed, "Oh my God! So that's what that is for!". He never has his GPS on. :-)

Anyway, '24' may be Kieffer-iffic, but subtle it ain't. And it does raise a bit of a point about the iPhone...even if it is cool, and you do need Cingular, who really is going to utilize every feature? Unless of course, you are trying to stop a terrorist attack. I guess it might be a case that if you have it, you learn to utilize it more.

Posted by Bella, 1/15/2007 11:56:08 AM

Bella, I'd never have pegged you for a 24 fan. I too found the shot of the phone amusing. Now did you actually watch the biting scene?

The Verizon enV gets my choice for the neatest phone out this week. I don't see anything on the iPhone that would make me want to spend $500+ for it. Plus I love the keyboard on the enV. Finally a qwerty keyboard my fat thumbs can work with. So although briefly tempted by the iPhone, Verizon here I come.

Posted by Pale Rider, 1/15/2007 1:07:07 PM

Ahh, PR....you'll find I'm always good for a surprise. I love Jack's world. The women are tough( Except for Kim. Hate her!), the terrorists are all exotically pretty and there is a devestatingly handsome black man in the White House. It is the world as it should be. I also like that they kill people, because the world is a violent place and there is such a thing as doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Also, I'm a writer by nature, so the real time thing intrigues me. It never fails to amaze me that they keep all their balls in the air all season long. And yes...I did watch the biting scene, and had a flashback to my high school days and seeing "The Lost Boys". I was on the phone a lot of the time with a friend of mine who also watches, but sadly, lives far away. Our reaction was like this:

"Oh God! Did he just..."
"Eeeuw!"
"He did not!
"He did! He just ripped that guys throat out with his teeth!"
"Why didn't he just do that in the Chinese prison? He would have been out months ago..."

My friend is a man of logic, not a man of drama.
:-) But seriously, damn! Those CTU phones kick the iPhone's butt. And '24' has done more for the cell phone than even "The X-Files" did.

Brett needs some TV topics. He reads too much.
:-P

Posted by Bella, 1/15/2007 3:24:03 PM

lol - you know me well.

Actually, though, Tamara is bringing me into the world of TV just a bit. We're getting dished. So maybe I'll get Kiefer on DVD and catch up to the whole series and then watch.

Mercy... me and TV. lol

Posted by Brett Rogers (http://www.beatcanvas.com), 1/15/2007 3:45:34 PM

LOL! A dangerous step, dishing. I won't even get cable for fear of getting too sucked in. It's bad enough that I have three hours a week that are spoken for (Lost, House and 24). Sadly, through the magic of DVD, I've also been trapped by "Battlestar Galactica". I may as well just get the damn cable since I'm spending the money 2 bucks at a time, downloading from iTunes.

But, um...yeah. Cell Phones... :-)

Posted by Bella, 1/15/2007 6:07:20 PM

My whole image of you has shifted Bella! "24", technology, you're a writer. Keep talkin! Sitting by the pool drinking margaritas will be fun!

Time for tonight's episode!

Posted by Pale Rider, 1/15/2007 8:14:54 PM

Forgive me, Brett, for turning this into '24' world, but I gotta do it...

PR---ya think Curtis is dead, or did he just get wounded? I would think if he was dead, he would have got the silent clock, but my circle of watchers disagrees.

"We have to do better than we're doing, and we have to do it faster!" --Bill Buchanan. I cracked up. Seriously, it's my new signature line. :-)

Posted by Bella, 1/16/2007 7:32:54 PM

Bella I'm with you on this one, plus that shot looked far enough from the neck that it wouldn't be fatal. I know they like killing off characters but they had enough drama for one night. Even though expected, seeing the mushroom cloud gave me a "what if" moment.

That line from Bill got a roll of the eyes and a big laugh here. Beats my "work smarter, not harder" line. LOL!

Posted by Pale Rider, 1/16/2007 10:34:17 PM

Bella he's takin' the dirt nap. Listed as "deceased" on the website http://www.fox.com/24/profiles/cm.htm

Posted by Pale Rider, 1/16/2007 11:28:43 PM

Dammit! Rat Bastards! I loved Curtis. He was such a big ol' silent lug of a good guy, y'know? Sad now. :-(

Posted by Bella, 1/16/2007 11:47:57 PM