No more 1984

On June 29th, Apple will introduce iPhone. And you'll see why 2007 won't be like 1984.

In just a few short hours from now, months of fevered anticipation will finally be delivered upon, as Apple Inc. & AT&T release the iPhone to retail. The theatrics will reach a peak in the US on Friday as AT&T stores close prematurely mid-afternoon only to reopen at 6pm into a whole new world of Apple's design.

Now as previously stated, I covet all things Apple - although I've donated surprisingly little to the Cupertino coffers of late. As a dedicated Treo owner with the capability of MP3 playback, I never felt the need for the addition of an iPod to carry around (though don't get me wrong, I still covet one!). I haven't held or touched (or even seen by direct line of sight) an iPhone yet, but I've absorbed enough of the device to know that I already think it's a beautifully engineered example of iconic Apple design, just as I've come to anticipate & expect of them. If the deafening crescendo of Friday's activities deliver as promised, then I believe that Apple might just have another hit on its hands. I know it's going to be costly, it's first generation, it's network-tied & all the rest, but iPod was pricey when it came late to market & that gizmo didn't suffer.

For Apple's sake, I hope it's as good as they'd have us believe. If they put a foot wrong, their inflated stock will fall through the floor & then where will us Apple fanboys be? Also, they've achieved such remarkable presence for the product prior to launch, they simply can't afford for much to go wrong, & I'm sure they've done everything humanly possible to ensure it doesn't. Anyone familiar with the 1984 backstory will know that Jobs is no stranger to the odd Richard Branson-style skin-of-the-teeth white-knuckle-ride (snappy huh?!), but this time he's had to play it straight with the big boys right from day one, and I'm certain AT&T will have kept Apple honest.

I really hope Jobs & co. have created a viable touch screen interface & keyboard that enables effortless real-world data character entry - if they have, hats off to them. When they can give themselves time, I really hope they'll address their insult to the OS X development community that is its support for 3rd party apps. 'so long as they're web-based', and then we might see the platform truly expand beyond the phone/iPod/browser/organiser/camera product it currently intends to be - we've waited long enough surely for Job's revision to the Newton?

So why, you may ask, won't 2007 be like 1984 for me?

Well, the answer is tied to the previous paragraph. iPhone is - to my mind at least - oh so desirable, but oh so limited in its intent. I'm past justifying my expectations, and I wouldn't want anyone to think I consider what I have as perfect (it certainly isn't), but my Treo 650 does so much more: It achieves the same result as iPhone - I make calls, listen to MP3s & could, should I wish to, enjoy an inferior movie experience, & at a push I can surf; not with any of the style of the iPhone, but I can't warrant $499 to do what I already do more elegantly. Treo syncs with my address book/iCal (& Entourage, & Outlook/Exchange on XP simultaneously); I access my office docs and PDFs; it serves as my TomTom Navigator 6 GPS platform; heck, it even controls my AV equipment at home. Sure, its camera might be a howler, but it's good enough that if I'm ever the sole witness to a Paris Hilton nervous breakdown (or chipped nail - same thing really), I'll get rich selling the reproduction rights. But critically, what my Treo also does is run the other 160+ applications (I just counted, and yes I'm ashamed of myself) that it holds; sure, hardly any of them are even remotely essential to my daily life, but they all go to making my Treo experience MY experience.

Apple make great computers & even some of the great software that runs on them, but they also encourage the development community to think outside the box. Way back, I first bought into OS X for its protected memory & the fact that suddenly just the applications died, not the whole computer. Don't sell me OS X on a phone 6 or 7 years later & tell me you left out protected memory & so won't support 3rd party applications!

Jobs never told me what I could & couldn't do with my Mac - he said 'think different'. I can accept his vision for how a single-purpose music player should be used. But don't expect to sell me on a 'smart' phone that can only function to one user's expectations - it all feels a bit - forgive me - 1984.

I'm sure my concerns will be addressed in due course, and it won't be long before I'm an iPhone owner. Looking back, while the Mac was the attention grabber of 1984 (with its lack of software, lest we forget), it was the LaserWriter that really changed computing history - without it, the Mac would never have won through; I'm sure that with the iPhone Apple have just focussed on what wins straight from the box & will encourage development for the platform in due course.

I'm in the UK, so all of this is somewhat academic. But I'll sure enjoy watching the circus state-side. I'll also be keeping a keen eye on Ed Colligan and co., hoping against hope that there might be the dawn of realisation of what it takes to at least 'appear' to be at the forefront of technology; as custodians of the Palm OS they've managed a most unsightly decline - its time they look into the eyes of 2007's marketplace and decide once and for all if they've the stomach for the fight.

If not, Palm should just sit back & watch how it's done properly.