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Will Apple's iPhone revolutionize mobile computing?
Results so far:
| No | 48% | 270 votes | Total: 565 votes | |
| Yes | 52% | 295 votes |
No
by Todd Pheifer
Created on: April 10, 2008 Last Updated: March 29, 2012
The Apple iPhone is certainly an innovative product. A personal communications device that literally has "the world" at it's fingertips in terms of information and digital access. The interface is very interesting, the touch-screen is fairly intuitive, and the seamless integration with other Apple products has made it a very helpful product for users across the world. Still, it might be a bit of a stretch to state that the iPhone will "revolutionize" mobile computing. Here are a few thoughts on the impact of this product on technological and consumer behavior, both now and into the future.
• WHAT IS MOBILE COMPUTING?
In some ways, we are still trying to figure out what mobile computing is really all about. Cell phone usage seems fairly entrenched for the moment, but other features are still growing, and are sometimes restricted to particular age groups and subcultures. For example, text messages are a big thing with young people, but those can be done on just about any phone. Also, searching the Internet is also a desirable feature, but this can also be done on a variety of devices. Portable music, global positioning, calendar functions, and picture management are also nice features of the iPhone. But, are these the types of functionalities that will "change the world"? As mentioned, other devices do these things as well, and we have yet to establish whether or not some of these "bells and whistles" actually change societal behavior in terms of functionality and convenience.
• WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
The mobile device is wonderful in some ways and very frustrating in others. It is helpful to have a huge wealth of information at our fingertips, but our fingertips can get tired of trying to poke at tiny keys. Small screens, slow Internet connections, and limited computing power can make a device more hassle than it is worth. In those regards, we cannot be sure that the mobile device will even be part of our societal culture a decade from now. The Personal Data Assistant (PDA) was a huge trend for a few years and now it is difficult to even buy one. Granted, they did give way in some ways to the "smart" phone and device like the iPhone, but the point remains that no technological innovation is guaranteed a long shelf life.
Overall, the iPhone is a very interesting device and it may start to yield innovations that are truly revolutionary in terms of usage and societal trends. However, for now it is mostly just a high-tech phone with a lot of fun features. It has yet to simplify the world that we live in or replace a large quantity of other devices.
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Yes
by The Green Fairy
Created on: July 30, 2009
The word 'revolutionize' means to radically transform something, to make it very different. If I look at the Apple iPhone's effect on my life, it has been to revolutionize my use of mobile computing.
I used to be an enthusiastic user of Palm PDA's. To have all that computing power in my jacket pocket was, at the time, incredible. I could store a wide range of information electronically and, more importantly, carry it about it with me in an easily accessible form. My business contacts and my diary were at my fingertips, synchronized with my PC. Word documents and spreadsheets, the essential tools of my job, could be reviewed and amended on the fly.
I had two frustrations with my PDA. The first was that it wasn't a phone - I had to carry that separately. The second was that it couldn't access the internet. Synchronization was via a cable plugged into my PC. As time passed these issues turned from frustrations into problems that needed to be fixed. I required a new tool that delivered what I wanted.
Technology doesn't stand still. Even before I realized I'd have to move on from my PDA, new tools were being developed that integrated the functions I wanted into a single unit. The Blackberry appeared, allowing email to migrate to the mobile phone handset. Other PDA/mobile phone solutions emerged, all vying to be the killer solution to the problem of accessible, functional, hand held mobile computing.
Finally I decided to make the move to from my PDA. I read some reviews of phone/PDAs, such as the Nokia N95 and Blackberry. I heard about the user interface frustrations of Windows Mobile users. I knew I had to go into a store and try some of these units for myself. Because it doesn't matter how much functionality they have, there's something massively important about the ergonomic design and the user interface of a mobile computing device.
I didn't set out to buy an iPhone. I happened to walk into the only store that sold iPhones. I began looking at the N95 and Blackberries. But after a few moments my teenage daughter called me over to the iPhone display - they had only been released a few days earlier. She was impressed - she could download her favourite YouTube video in seconds.
I took a good look at the iPhone and explored it's functionality and I liked what I saw. True, some functions were more limited than my PDA. But the issue that had become my overriding need, mobile internet access, was a dream. The price plan was ideal for my needs - unlimited data downloads. I had glimpsed the future and I couldn't put it down - so I bought it.
I'm no Apple geek. I'd never owned anything Apple before then, and I'm not rushing to replace my PC with a Mac. But I know that the iPhone has revolutionized my mobile computing experience. I'm now more connected than I've ever been - email, phone, text messaging, Twitter and more. I know that's not what everyone want, but it works for me.
I could go on at length about the ergonomic design, the high quality of the user experience and the graphics. There are also downsides - the battery life, the lack of cut-and-paste. But when it boils down to it, the iPhone has altered the way I live my life.
My mobile computing experience has been radically transformed.
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