Originally posted by: gobucks
does anybody else think apple is missing out on a huge opportunity here? I mean, don't get me wrong - I think the design is beautiful, the interface is great, and it certainly has an awful lot of stuff. Still, it seems like they made some stupid choices, such as
1) No replaceable battery - I've owned several cell phones, and even with the extended batteries, battery life takes a nose dive after a while, and would certainly happen within the 2 year contract period that is required for an iPhone. Unless they have a great replacement plan, this is stupid.
2) It's not really a smartphone - it doesn't have stuff like office support, and it doesn't seem like 3rd party apps will be allowed. Obviously the hardware must be fast enough to handle all this stuff, so it's just a matter of putting the software on it, or at least allowing users to do so (although i bet somebody will crack this limitation)
3) Storage - people who want an iPod purely to store a few hundred songs to bring to the gym will want an iPod nano or shuffle, not this big thing. People who want a full-screen video player (which this phone will appeal to) don't want to be limited to 1 or 2 movies and a couple hundred songs, they want to be able to load it with movies and music, especially considering that the "mini OSX" and other apps will probably take up over 1GB. Why not make it a tiny bit bigger and add a 30-40GB 1.8" hard drive, or simply pack in extra flash memory (16-32GB)? Also, just about every phone has a memory expansion slot, why not this one? At least if you added an SD port, people could load up additional movies/music on extra memory cards.
4) Connectivity - No 3G? I personally would probably only use the wifi since it's free, but i can't imagine other customers trying to use stuff like Cingular video on EDGE. In fact, if they want this device to be truly forward-looking, why not look at adding WiMax?
5) Camera - sure, 2.0MP is nice, but it's not good enough to get most people to leave their digital cameras at home. Samsung and a bunch of other cell makers are outfitting their upcoming phones with 3.2MP (these chips take up the same amount of space as the old 2.0MP ones, btw) or even 4.0MP ones - good enough for the average person to use as their ONLY camera
6) Carrier exclusiveness - why only cingular? why not all GSM carriers (i hear t-mobile is great in Ohio where I'm from). For that matter, why not release a CDMA version for verizon and sprint? They are limiting themselves to a fairly small market in America. I suppose this might bring new customers to Cingular, but if so, that brings up the issue of -
7) No carrier subsidation - apple is refusing to allow cingular to subsidize the price of its phone to customers - cingular buys the phone for $500 or $600, then sells it for the same price. This is a great deal for Cingular, who will probably get more business AND it doesn't have to take the normal ~$400 hit to subsidize the phone cost, but it's a huge missed opportunity for Apple. How much would any company be willing to subsidize just to be able to carry the iPhone? $400-500? What about being the EXCLUSIVE carrier of the hottest product in years? I know Apple wants to keep the iPhone expensive ($500 and up) so that it doesn't cannibalize iPod sales. However, why not let Cingular (or other carriers) pick up some of the tab, and then simply LOAD UP the iPhone with features - 30-40GB storage, 3G and/or WiMax, 3.2MP+ camera (that is useful for something other than taking spur-of-the-moment embarrassing photos of friends), replaceable battery, office/business apps, and maybe even throw in some sweet bluetooth headphones or iTunes downloads. Why not sell it to the carriers for $1000 and then make them pay $500 of it? Apple would make more money and people would feel like they are getting a good deal. If you're not gonna do this, then why not just sell the phone unlocked for retail price and let people set up their own, contract-free plan with Cingular or T-Mobile?