Today, the intertubes may have brought [tag]Apple[/tag]’s announcement of the iPhone to your attention.
In case you’ve somehow gone without hearing about this marvel of the modern age, the [tag]iPhone[/tag] is a completely sex-tastic cellphone, PDA, iPod, wonder gadget that seems to have sprung, fully formed, from the thigh of Zeus.
When some companies attempt to design a device that combines the roles of several existing products, the result is often a clunky Frankenstein’s monster that fails to perform any of its duties particularly well.
What impresses me about the iPhone, is that it actually seems well-suited to each of the tasks you might ask of it. And then there’s the little things, like the way knows which direction you’re holding it, or the way it adjusts its brightness based on ambient light, or the elegant gesture navigation.
These features may not sound hugely important. But, once you’ve been spoiled with the mag-safe power adapter or the MacBook’s scrolling trackpad, you appreciate what a difference they make.
It seems like everything the iPhone does is designed with the total user experience in mind. Watching the demo movies on Apple’s site, I found myself thinking, “well of course that’s how it should work. Why hasn’t anyone done this yet?”
Granted, I haven’t actually seen or touched one yet. But in my head I’ve already had my way with it. After violating its glossy sensitive surface, my trusty [tag]iPod[/tag] – faithful friend and traveling companion – is starting to look mighty long in the tooth.
The one feature seemingly not designed with the user in mind: locking us in with Cingular. Argh.
Yeah, I would prefer to have a choice of carriers as well. It makes sense for Apple to partner with with one stable carrier to get the device off the ground.
The iTunes movie store launched with just one studio, and now that it has traction in the industry it’s branching out. I hope the phone follows a similar course.