The iPhone is a phone? Who knew? Um... who cares?

By Jeff Moriarty (Intel) (33 posts) on July 17, 2008 at 3:44 pm

Last week I was musing about getting an iPhone but hadn't committed.  I had a decent enough Windows Mobile smartphone that wasn't perfect but was sufficient.  Then in a fit of iLuck, I was walking past an Apple store last weekend just as a new shipment of phones came in.  My inner Geek took control ordered me to pull out the credit card.  I had no activation problems, so an hour of clicking on "I Agree To These Terms" later, I was a proud new iPhone daddy.

I immediately began abusing it, trying to get it to synch with multiple computers, confusing  the dynamic map, setting up email and wifi, and all the rest.  Then the app store.  Stupid app store.  I spent hours messing around, installing programs, surfing the web, gloating over my new iPhone online, and regularly having to plug it in because of the drain I was putting on the battery.

Then the craziest thing happened… it rang!

I didn't even know how to answer it at first, but puzzled it out and had a quick conversation with my mother.  Since then I've had three conversations, all with family.  My total talk time in the past week is 20 minutes.  If the phone stopped working entirely it might take me days to notice.  Other than my family (and total strangers), I interact with everyone else via non-voice methods.

I informally polled some fellow iPhone users and everyone pegged their actual phone-call use as 10% or less of the totally time spent using the iPhone.   It's because the iPhone is really a MID with a phone feature, and developers who start looking at it that way have a wide and profitable field in front of them.  Here's how I break down the apps eating my interest and battery life:

Social Media Applications - Keep me connected to my friends and coworkers.  Plug me into the existing networks out there, like Twitterific and the Hahlo web site for Twitter, and the Facebook app.  Beautiful and clean.  Give me new things to try, like Loopt and it's wacky proximity checkins.  Marginally useful right now, but pushes the boundaries and has lots of potential.  Make the Old Standards easy to use. iPhone's SMS utility is clean, colorful, and nearly threaded.  Don't neglect SMS over web browsing - it's critical.

Games - Port what you can, but get creative.  This device helps me pass the time, and there are more ways to do that than Tetris.  Super Monkey Ball is a discussion all by itself, and I'm personally miffed at the makers of Engimo for the kink in my neck and missing hours of my life resulting from that game.  There is even an MMO out which I would love to see tied in some way to phone location.  Or how about Katamari Damacy where you have to actually run around to roll up the ball?  Potential, meet endless.  Endless, this is potential.  I hope the developers push you both around.

Rapid Information Access - I don't want data, I want information.  Last week I used Yelp and it's location awareness to find a new, delicious pizza place.  I want to know what's cool and where it is.  WeatherBug doesn't have to do much because Phoenix just alternates between Hot and Hotter right now but if there IS weather nearby, I can see radar scans and live webcams. Pandora streams my already favorited music to me in my car.  Shazam is just downright creepy in its ability to identify which song is playing on the radio, TV, or in a movie.

This would be different for a business phone and my endless conference calls I'd have to enjoy, but I still think voice is becoming one of the less important applications on these devices.  It's an amazing shift, and I'm fascinated to see where it leads.

Categories: Intel® Software Network 2.0, Mobility, Social Media & Virtual Worlds

Comments (5)

July 17, 2008 4:59 PM PDT


tysoncrosbie		 Nice breakdown. Almost convinces me to get an Ipod touch instead of the iphone...
July 17, 2008 5:00 PM PDT

Josh Bancroft (Intel)
Total Points:
3,492
Status Points:
2,992
Brown Belt
 Yeah, I hardly ever use the phone features, but that has to do with the fact that I hate unplanned phone calls. I use it to access the web, email, SMS, and all the fun apps/stuff you talked about. It's really something more like, I don't know, some kind of Mobile Device for the Internet. ;-)

And Katamari Damacy for the iPhone would be awesomesauce. :-)
July 17, 2008 5:01 PM PDT

Josh Bancroft (Intel)
Total Points:
3,492
Status Points:
2,992
Brown Belt
 @tysoncrosbie The problem with the iPod touch is that 1) no location feature, so all of the cool apps that use that are useless, and 2) you're completely dependent on the ambient availability of wifi. The iPhone is worth it to be because it can get online ANYWHERE.
July 17, 2008 5:04 PM PDT

Jeff Moriarty (Intel)
Total Points:
2,891
Status Points:
2,891
Community Manager
 @Tyson - I hadn't thought about that, but that's a good point. As Josh points out, though, it lacks that constant connectivity and location awareness. If the iTouch had those, for as little as I'm using it to talk, I would have gone that route myself.
July 18, 2008 10:53 AM PDT


Diana		 Even us non-iPhone users use our smart-phones more for the applications, etc then to talk....... Interesting thoughts on that Jeff and am interested to see if anyone else weighs in on the subject.

Trackbacks (0)


Leave a comment  

To obtain technical support, please go to Software Support.
Name (required)*

Email (required; will not be displayed on this page)*

Your URL (optional)


Comment*