iPhone

[MyndFyre]

Other atrocities include PS3 and Xbox3.  Not only do they cost more than a high end home built computer, but they do absolutely EVERYTHNG a game console shouldn't be doing!  Why do simple ideas like "game console" and "phone" become "game/dvd player/computer/internet browser/mp3 player console" and "PDA/digital camera/video viewer/mp3 player phone"?  By God, and in my humble opinion, when I want a phone, I want just that - A PHONE ... they already sell PDAs, mp3 players, video viewers, and digital cameras and these standalone products usually do a better job at their purpose than the cell phone. 

You know, in the very end...I say we scrap the phone idea.  Lets make something new, call it Thing, or Object and just append every possible conceivable function into it.  Object can be used to open cans, or it can be used as a spoon,  it can take pictures, play movies, be used to shave, have bluetooth and USB, hold files, play mp3s, run Windows, play PSP, DS, XBox, PS2/3, and Computer games, runs Linux, has a toilet paper dispenser, can be worn as a hat or shoe , be used as an umbrella, print documents ... oh and I almost forgot, Object comes with a knife.  Everyone would have an Object, and no other product would ever be needed to do anything else since Object does everything.

Actually, my Xbox 360 has gotten much more use than just the video game device.  Sure, it's a functional video game device and I get plenty of use out of it in that capacity.  But we also appreciate the media center capabilities it has for several reasons:
-- The wireless network in my house supports streaming music to it from any of my roommates' PCs as well as my own.  We use this whenever we have a party since my Xbox, TV, and audio receiver are in the central location in the house, whereas our computers are all in our rooms or the den.
-- Having DVD features on the Xbox is handy because it frees up a device input.  I don't know how many audio receivers you can afford, but the fiber optic inputs on mine are the least-repeated features (that is, there are seven input channels available, but only four have fiber optic input).  Eliminating the need for a separate DVD player freed up an optical connection as well as the necessary cabling to support it (since the Xbox 360 already supports fiber obtic output for audio).
-- HD-DVD support on the Xbox 360 and Blu-Ray support for the PS3 make them the cheapest players for their respective brands.
-- The Xbox 360 also supports Windows Media Center Extender functionality out of the box for Windows Media Center Edition PCs.  There are a LOT of these out there.  My house has classic, analog cable - this functionality allows us (for the cost of a TV tuner card) to add the nice features of digital cable and Tivo to our basic cable system and not have to relocate the PC or anything like that.  Until I built my new computer and repurposed the media center PC to be a centralized file server, this would have only been available via the Xbox 360.  (Incidentally, it still is only available through the 360, but in theory it *could* be connected directly to the TV).  Especially with the widespread release of Windows Media Center Edition on new PCs (rather than XP Home Edition) and the undoubted mass-market manufacture of Windows Vista Home Premium, TV functionality will be coming into the mainstream for PCs sooner than later if Microsoft can get TV tuner manufacturers to make something worth buying.  It's still more practical for people with a 360, though, to use the PC and 360 extender than have a dedicated appliance.
-- I'm the kind of person who is interested in video game development.  Down the line I might like to look into that.  Oh, look, my Xbox 360 supports that functionality through the Game Studio Express package.  I don't even need to mod the box to put my own software on that.
-- Especially once I get a big screen TV, I think it would be preferable to me to use the 360 as an internet browser, especially if you're doing something social and don't want to get up to look something up on your PC.  Fortunately, this functionality is also available through Media Center extensions.
-- It's able to play videos, pictures, and music directly from USB now, so if someone brings something over on a USB stick, we don't need to put it onto the file server or another computer first.  Bluetooth would be handy too, but I don't think it's fast enough nor has enough market penetration (I remember when my networking teacher said it was the wave of the future, lol) to be a worthwhile feature.

So, there is something to be said for having a device that can be as varied in function to include playing games, videos, DVDs, photos, music, browse the internet, and the like.  In terms of shaving or using it as an umbrella, well, I think you have psychological issues.

Now, to comment on the iPhone - I think that it looks really neat (it has a certain techie sex appeal), but I would be concerned with the #1 thing that I'm always concerned about with both my phone and my iPod - battery life.  If I'm listening to music then I'm going to be depleting my phone battery.  I'll stick with my Razr for now - I get about 2 days of use out of a charge.

[trust]

The iPhone definitely isn't an iPod killer or anything that would require most people who would be enthusiastic about buying this (current iPod/Mac owners) to give up their iPod. It shows us what the nextgen iPod could look like (totally awesome?) but the 8gb memory leaves much to be desired. Next year the iPhone may be something I look into, as the phone/pda functionality would help me in college. The fact that it has multiple things in one is what appeals to me, and in fact it saves space because instead of having to carry 3 devices around I'll only have to carry one. Though, my Verizon contract isn't up for another year and a half - and as long as my parents continue to pay my phone bill I'm staying at whatever company they use. So....Apple needs to get on a standalone PDA.

[Skywing]

I got rid of my SmartPhone for a reason. My dad switched providers. I had to! I want it back.

They should make this iPhone part-vibrator and just market it as the iBrator. It'll get all the teenage girls. And kill the vibrator industry.

The iPhone reminds me of those printers/scanners/faxes that are 3-in-1. They're all mediocre at what they do. If you got three separate entities, they would do their job a lot better.

The stock market would beg to differ, I think.  Apple is up, up, up, and traditional smartphone makers are down.

[disco]

Looks pretty cool.

[CrAz3D]

Mobile OSX? Not done.

The core of OSX is essentially Unix. Mobile Unix has been done before. NetBSD is a prime example of portability.

A phone that sexy looking? Not done.

Subjective opinion. Heh. I personally think it has the same shitty OSX interface that OSX has.

The phone seems huge, too. In an age where everything tries to be small (the shuffle?) the iPhone comes out and fills your hand.

Apparently it's only a bit bigger than a normal iPod. Just about as thin, too. Heh. The photo just distorts it.

Looks beyond awesome still

[nslay]

Other atrocities include PS3 and Xbox3.  Not only do they cost more than a high end home built computer, but they do absolutely EVERYTHNG a game console shouldn't be doing!  Why do simple ideas like "game console" and "phone" become "game/dvd player/computer/internet browser/mp3 player console" and "PDA/digital camera/video viewer/mp3 player phone"?  By God, and in my humble opinion, when I want a phone, I want just that - A PHONE ... they already sell PDAs, mp3 players, video viewers, and digital cameras and these standalone products usually do a better job at their purpose than the cell phone. 

You know, in the very end...I say we scrap the phone idea.  Lets make something new, call it Thing, or Object and just append every possible conceivable function into it.  Object can be used to open cans, or it can be used as a spoon,  it can take pictures, play movies, be used to shave, have bluetooth and USB, hold files, play mp3s, run Windows, play PSP, DS, XBox, PS2/3, and Computer games, runs Linux, has a toilet paper dispenser, can be worn as a hat or shoe , be used as an umbrella, print documents ... oh and I almost forgot, Object comes with a knife.  Everyone would have an Object, and no other product would ever be needed to do anything else since Object does everything.

Actually, my Xbox 360 has gotten much more use than just the video game device.  Sure, it's a functional video game device and I get plenty of use out of it in that capacity.  But we also appreciate the media center capabilities it has for several reasons:
-- The wireless network in my house supports streaming music to it from any of my roommates' PCs as well as my own.  We use this whenever we have a party since my Xbox, TV, and audio receiver are in the central location in the house, whereas our computers are all in our rooms or the den.
-- Having DVD features on the Xbox is handy because it frees up a device input.  I don't know how many audio receivers you can afford, but the fiber optic inputs on mine are the least-repeated features (that is, there are seven input channels available, but only four have fiber optic input).  Eliminating the need for a separate DVD player freed up an optical connection as well as the necessary cabling to support it (since the Xbox 360 already supports fiber obtic output for audio).
-- HD-DVD support on the Xbox 360 and Blu-Ray support for the PS3 make them the cheapest players for their respective brands.
-- The Xbox 360 also supports Windows Media Center Extender functionality out of the box for Windows Media Center Edition PCs.  There are a LOT of these out there.  My house has classic, analog cable - this functionality allows us (for the cost of a TV tuner card) to add the nice features of digital cable and Tivo to our basic cable system and not have to relocate the PC or anything like that.  Until I built my new computer and repurposed the media center PC to be a centralized file server, this would have only been available via the Xbox 360.  (Incidentally, it still is only available through the 360, but in theory it *could* be connected directly to the TV).  Especially with the widespread release of Windows Media Center Edition on new PCs (rather than XP Home Edition) and the undoubted mass-market manufacture of Windows Vista Home Premium, TV functionality will be coming into the mainstream for PCs sooner than later if Microsoft can get TV tuner manufacturers to make something worth buying.  It's still more practical for people with a 360, though, to use the PC and 360 extender than have a dedicated appliance.
-- I'm the kind of person who is interested in video game development.  Down the line I might like to look into that.  Oh, look, my Xbox 360 supports that functionality through the Game Studio Express package.  I don't even need to mod the box to put my own software on that.
-- Especially once I get a big screen TV, I think it would be preferable to me to use the 360 as an internet browser, especially if you're doing something social and don't want to get up to look something up on your PC.  Fortunately, this functionality is also available through Media Center extensions.
-- It's able to play videos, pictures, and music directly from USB now, so if someone brings something over on a USB stick, we don't need to put it onto the file server or another computer first.  Bluetooth would be handy too, but I don't think it's fast enough nor has enough market penetration (I remember when my networking teacher said it was the wave of the future, lol) to be a worthwhile feature.

So, there is something to be said for having a device that can be as varied in function to include playing games, videos, DVDs, photos, music, browse the internet, and the like.  In terms of shaving or using it as an umbrella, well, I think you have psychological issues.

Now, to comment on the iPhone - I think that it looks really neat (it has a certain techie sex appeal), but I would be concerned with the #1 thing that I'm always concerned about with both my phone and my iPod - battery life.  If I'm listening to music then I'm going to be depleting my phone battery.  I'll stick with my Razr for now - I get about 2 days of use out of a charge.

-- A computer is designed to be able to do programmable and general tasks, thats what makes it a computer and not a game console, phone or toaster.  I see a trend where everything is converging to computing ... but I truly think that things like phones and game consoles should be left out.  There was nothing wrong with phones before they could watch videos, take pictures, listen to mp3s or browse the internet ... very few people I know actually use these features, and a majority of people I see on campus use an iPod to listen to their music.  Why would you use a game console to browse the web, look at pictures, or stream radio?  Why not use D-Link's or Linksys's specially designed Media Centers?  Wii seems to be successful and it does none of these things, costs a fraction of the price, and all it does is play games ... why else would you have a game console?  Much like, why would you want a board game that could be used as a cutting board and a place mat?  Such features have nothing to do with board games ... notice that I don't complain about bluetooth headsets for phones, how natural is that?  Then ask yourself, how natural an idea it is to incorporate cameras into phones?  How natural is it to add mp3 player functionality to a game console? 
-- My sister's husband is a game developer ... its a very hard career to pursue, not because its hard per ce, but because a game developer job is unstable ... it's very common for game studios to go under or lay off employees (many will additionally work you hard on occasion ... say 60 hour weeks).  All I can say is, pursue game development if you really love it, that is why my sister's husband does it.  As for game development on Xbox360 ... you could also write games on the PC and even before the Xbox existed, I don't see why this is anymore revolutionary.

[Joe]

Browsing the internet from a cell phone is definately useful. I'd love to check my email on the go.. in fact I'd even check my email from my phone instead of my computer while sitting at my desk if I had the choice. And checking my email at lunch would be nice, considiering even if I had a car it's a 15 minute ride one way to my house, so I'd run in, check my email, start a reply but realize I'm out of time, book it back to my car and speed to be back on time -- very impractical.

[trust]

Wii seems to be successful and it does none of these things, costs a fraction of the price, and all it does is play games ... why else would you have a game console? 

Actually the Wii has a weather forecast, will have a news feed, and an Opera browser. What do they have to do with gaming?

Furthermore, even if you don't use all of the features all the time it's still nice to have. On my phone (Chocolate) I have a microsd card with a few songs on it. I don't usually use the mp3 features of the phone since I have a computer and iPod, however sometimes at work my friend and I will play a song into the microphone in one of the banquet rooms while we're setting up. The fact that you have the feature there if you need it is great. Phones worked just fine before you could get GPS software on them, but I don't know how many times VZNavigator has saved me and it's a very commonly used program of mine. The fact that iPhone allows basically seamless integration with other parts of your life (esp if you have a mac) is great and it's a feature that's there if you need it. With Mac's being able to have Windows now as well as OSX many people are making the switch (I'll most likely be getting one for college, unless I find a tablet I like more). That's another great example, you don't need a computer that's able to boot Mac and Windows...but it's definitely an added convenience. And isn't that what technology is all about? Convenience?

Mankind got along just fine before electricity, just as we did just fine without the ability to check our email from our phone; but should we get rid of electricity?

[nslay]

Browsing the internet from a cell phone is definately useful. I'd love to check my email on the go.. in fact I'd even check my email from my phone instead of my computer while sitting at my desk if I had the choice. And checking my email at lunch would be nice, considiering even if I had a car it's a 15 minute ride one way to my house, so I'd run in, check my email, start a reply but realize I'm out of time, book it back to my car and speed to be back on time -- very impractical.

Oh yes, cause you can always reply on phone's 0-9, *, # dialpad in the knick of time instead of on mobile computers (PDAs, Laptops, etc) that are suited to such tasks.

[trust]

Browsing the internet from a cell phone is definately useful. I'd love to check my email on the go.. in fact I'd even check my email from my phone instead of my computer while sitting at my desk if I had the choice. And checking my email at lunch would be nice, considiering even if I had a car it's a 15 minute ride one way to my house, so I'd run in, check my email, start a reply but realize I'm out of time, book it back to my car and speed to be back on time -- very impractical.

Oh yes, cause you can always reply on phone's 0-9, *, # dialpad in the knick of time instead of on mobile computers (PDAs, Laptops, etc) that are suited to such tasks.

The iPhone has a touchscreen QWERTY keyboard.

[nslay]

Wii seems to be successful and it does none of these things, costs a fraction of the price, and all it does is play games ... why else would you have a game console? 

Actually the Wii has a weather forecast, will have a news feed, and an Opera browser. What do they have to do with gaming?

Furthermore, even if you don't use all of the features all the time it's still nice to have. On my phone (Chocolate) I have a microsd card with a few songs on it. I don't usually use the mp3 features of the phone since I have a computer and iPod, however sometimes at work my friend and I will play a song into the microphone in one of the banquet rooms while we're setting up. The fact that you have the feature there if you need it is great. Phones worked just fine before you could get GPS software on them, but I don't know how many times VZNavigator has saved me and it's a very commonly used program of mine. The fact that iPhone allows basically seamless integration with other parts of your life (esp if you have a mac) is great and it's a feature that's there if you need it. With Mac's being able to have Windows now as well as OSX many people are making the switch (I'll most likely be getting one for college, unless I find a tablet I like more). That's another great example, you don't need a computer that's able to boot Mac and Windows...but it's definitely an added convenience. And isn't that what technology is all about? Convenience?

Mankind got along just fine before electricity, just as we did just fine without the ability to check our email from our phone; but should we get rid of electricity?

I agree, its nice to have lots of features ... its much like a swiss army knife.  Now then, tell me why you don't play mp3s on your phone?  I would guess that your iPod is better at it.  An iPod is designed solely to play and store mp3s ...  I'd much rather have a solid product than a clunky and more expensive one that can do more things with mediocrity than tools designed for such a specific use.  I mean take for example, cameras...you could buy a high end digital camera for about the same price as some of these cell phones with less powerful cameras.
Yeah I knew about Opera ... but whether forecast?  Are you serious?  You sit in front of a TV to play Wii...is it such an inconvenience to turn to the Weather channel or at least walk to your computer and look it up?

[MyndFyre]

-- A computer is designed to be able to do programmable and general tasks, thats what makes it a computer and not a game console, phone or toaster.  I see a trend where everything is converging to computing ... but I truly think that things like phones and game consoles should be left out.  There was nothing wrong with phones before they could watch videos, take pictures, listen to mp3s or browse the internet ... very few people I know actually use these features, and a majority of people I see on campus use an iPod to listen to their music.  Why would you use a game console to browse the web, look at pictures, or stream radio?  Why not use D-Link's or Linksys's specially designed Media Centers?  Wii seems to be successful and it does none of these things, costs a fraction of the price, and all it does is play games ... why else would you have a game console?  Much like, why would you want a board game that could be used as a cutting board and a place mat?  Such features have nothing to do with board games ... notice that I don't complain about bluetooth headsets for phones, how natural is that?  Then ask yourself, how natural an idea it is to incorporate cameras into phones?  How natural is it to add mp3 player functionality to a game console? 

You didn't really address any of the features that I said I use or the concerns that I raised.  Why should I drop $300-$600 for an additional, standalone Media Center device that will use yet another one of my fiber-optic connections to my audio receiver?

The Wii costs $250.  The Xbox 360 costs $300.  The Wii is not really a "fraction" of the price unless you consider "5/6" to be a "fraction" in the dramatic sense that you seemed to imply.

Particularly since MP3s are great containers for audio used by many game studios, it seems like adding MP3 playing functionality to a game console is an extremely natural step.

[Furious]

Browsing the internet from a cell phone is definately useful. I'd love to check my email on the go.. in fact I'd even check my email from my phone instead of my computer while sitting at my desk if I had the choice. And checking my email at lunch would be nice, considiering even if I had a car it's a 15 minute ride one way to my house, so I'd run in, check my email, start a reply but realize I'm out of time, book it back to my car and speed to be back on time -- very impractical.

On a serious note, you aren't anybody important - so you checking your e-mails 15 minutes sooner won't make or break anyone.  Now, for someone who runs a company or small business of some sort, or someone like a Governor the e-mail may be something useful.  And that wasn't meant to put YOU down, I just used you as an example.

This is just another one of those things that will make people lazier and another distraction on the road.

[CrAz3D]

Browsing the internet from a cell phone is definately useful. I'd love to check my email on the go.. in fact I'd even check my email from my phone instead of my computer while sitting at my desk if I had the choice. And checking my email at lunch would be nice, considiering even if I had a car it's a 15 minute ride one way to my house, so I'd run in, check my email, start a reply but realize I'm out of time, book it back to my car and speed to be back on time -- very impractical.

On a serious note, you aren't anybody important - so you checking your e-mails 15 minutes sooner won't make or break anyone.  Now, for someone who runs a company or small business of some sort, or someone like a Governor the e-mail may be something useful.  And that wasn't meant to put YOU down, I just used you as an example.

This is just another one of those things that will make people lazier and another distraction on the road.

It can't make anyone more lazy or add as a distraction while drive because (as said before) these things already exist, just in seperate devices (sometimes not even then)

[trust]

I agree, its nice to have lots of features ... its much like a swiss army knife.  Now then, tell me why you don't play mp3s on your phone?  I would guess that your iPod is better at it.  An iPod is designed solely to play and store mp3s ...  I'd much rather have a solid product than a clunky and more expensive one that can do more things with mediocrity than tools designed for such a specific use.

Because I'm too cheap to buy the Verizon media software which means I have to take our my microSD card and put it in an SD adapter and then put it in a USB SD Card stick and then put it in the USB drive and then manually transfer songs to it and then take it back out and put it back in my phone. That's the reason. Plus it's only a 512mb one so my 30gb iPod can hold alot more songs. An 8gig iPhone is more than enough for most people (I've only used about 10gb on my iPod and it's mostly music I don't listen to, and I expect the iPhone capacity to increase.)

I mean take for example, cameras...you could buy a high end digital camera for about the same price as some of these cell phones with less powerful cameras.

Yes, but camera phones are cheap these days and many carriers offer them for free with a contract. A camera phone is a great tool because your phone is much lighter and portable than a regular camera and it's something you'll almost always have. For example today something funny happened at work and I wanted a picture, I used my camera phone because my digital camera isn't something I carry around with me unless I'm going on a trip or something.

Yeah I knew about Opera ... but whether forecast?  Are you serious?  You sit in front of a TV to play Wii...is it such an inconvenience to turn to the Weather channel or at least walk to your computer and look it up?

Yes I'm serious, weather forecast was the first Wii channel Nintendo released aside from Mii and the Wii store. I only brought it up because of you tooting Wii as a no-frills-added video game system. Unfortunately, Nintendo recognized that the Wii has the ability to have cool little addons and it took advantage of that. It makes it easy for someone to look at the weather without leaving their current location or turning off the console.

Another example is my current firefox setup. I have the weather forecast plugin installed so that I don't have to load up a website or turn on the TV. It's not something I need but it's certainly time consuming and convenient.