Want an iPhone? Me too.
The official release date is June 29 2007 and a lot of the people in the industry are wondering if it will live up to its promise. When you read the marketing content and watch the TV ads it sounds like the iPhone is going to turn the mobile word upside down.
Most people I know (and blogs I read) are skeptical that the iPhone will be all it’s cracked up to be. The most common issue sited is that slow bandwidth will prevent them from really delivering the mobile web, video and music content at the speeds they are suggesting. I must admit it seems they are promising access to the world through a pipe the size of a straw so I’m skeptical too.
Another common issue is corporate adoption and enterprise support and integration. At the moment Blackberry seems to have that wrapped up with Microsoft closing on its heals. The idea of Apple breaking into that market seems unlikely simply because corporate enterprise LAN/WAN folks tend to be very careful and slow to add new (redundant) services to their networks.
I think the first iPhone will be quickly adopted and a sales success but in the field it will be hardware ahead of its time. Hopefully for Apple has built enough value into that hardware and software that the slow speeds and lack of corporate enterprise users will still make it a success.
To be sure though, the iPhone will set the bar very high for all mobile devise makers and mobile carriers. It’s just a matter of time before we have access to broadband speeds on mobile devices as well as highly interactive interfaces and the iPhone will certainly be seen as a catalyst to speeding change.
My best guess is we will see competitors release comparable Microsoft based mobile devices shortly after the iPhone becomes available. I also suspect blackberry will loose to Microsoft OS mobile devices. But I’d be surprised to see the mobile carriers be able to keep up with mobile broadband demand in the next two to three years. So I think we are most likely stuck with our fledgling mobile web with its tiny pages and plain design for another three to fours years. After that your phone should be able to handle the real web.
I still plan to buy a first generation iPhone though. Always like a new Apple toy.
