I-Phone Is Impressive
06/30/2007
Paul Munnis
My son Mike showed up with an 8 gigabyte Apple i-Phone in his shirt pocket and spent an hour demonstrating it to me this morning. Today I see that AT&T has sold out of them. The combination cell phone, media player and Web browser went on sale at AT&T and Apple stores on Friday at 6 p.m. in each U.S. time zone in the most anticipated gadget launch of the year.
The Apple i-Phone is pricey but an incredible gadget that launches a new era in American communications. This is the pocket version of the new Internet appliances that will soon replace many PC’s in personal use. Corporate desktop PC’s will continue to be used for years to come because many software products are local to the company, customized for company users, and are pricey to replace. But for individuals seeking to organize their life, such as road warriors, the Apple i-Pod is the cat’s meow and a prototype of what will soon replace the PC in most homes where an online Internet gadget is what is really needed. Google is busy creating an Operating System for such Internet devices. As a result prices for Internet appliances will drop steeply from the cost of a PC.
It took me only a few seconds to call up The Rochester Democrat (TRD) on the i-Phone and to read the breaking news and key news items on the hand-held unit. I got a WIIFI signal from a neighbors’ home since I do not have WIIFI in my home and rely on good old Ethernet cables. The screen was crystal clear, could be zoomed, and rotated to take advantage of the complete real-estate to display stories. I have installed a mobile phone update module permitting remote PDA updates to TRD and have yet to try it on the Apple i-Phone. I was left mighty impressed though with what I saw and when I counted up the nuber of appliances it replaces and their individual costs, it seems affordable.
Over breakfast Mike said he was approached in a coffee shop by a person visiting from Europe who was determined to buy one to bring home.
He said the guy in line ahead of him came from LaCrosse, WI, to Rochester to buy one and he had managed to auction it off on e-bay before he actually purchased it. I think Mike said that he bought for $600 and sold for $2400. Not a bad return for a trip to Rochester for that person.
As for me, well I need to wait for the $29.95 knock-off to show up in two years. By then there will be more applications too. Both me and my grandsons want more games available before we buy one (grin) ; Oh, and we want the cost to drop too.