Yeah, yeah, I know I’m an Apple hater (although I do have a Nano, so I lose a little bit of cred right there… come on Microsoft, give me a Zune!). But I started thinking the other day, and decided it was a good enough thought for a post. The iPhone is no longer the game changer it once was, and here’s why I say that…
AT&T – Almost everyone I know that has an iPhone and is using AT&T complains about dropped calls. Angry Julie has mentioned it to me, my friend Danielle, I could go on and on. If people want an iPhone they have to (unless they hack it) use AT&T. People put up with it before, because the iPhone was so revolutionary, now there are so many choices (and BETTER choices I think) that people don’t need to deal with it anymore, and are leaving AT&T and their iPhones behind.
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Other Choices – the iPhone is no longer THE phone to have. There are so many choices now, Android, Blackberry, Google, my personal favorite Palm Pre, etc. There are other phones out there that have amazing features! Palm’s multitasking is essential for what I need in a phone. Some people want/need a physical keyboard. iPhone isn’t the end all be all in phones anymore, and I couldn’t be happier about it. The iPhone’s form factor NEVER appealed to me.
In the wonderful world of blogs and social media I live in, I still see iPhones in almost everyone’s hands. I’m predicting a shift in that. There are so many quality choices around, and the iPhone is shooting itself in the foot by being tied to AT&T. So enjoy your last few moments of glory iPhone, cause you are about to be obsolete!
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Great post, and I could not agree more! I’ve been a faithful BB user, but I’m starting to get frustrated with my old Curve so am shopping for a new one now. Everyone keeps tellling me to get the iPhone! In some ways it’s tempting, but sorry, but I like my phone to work as a phone first and foremost – silly me.
Am considering a newer BB (Bold maybe?) or the Palm Pre….
I don’t own anything Apple, nor do I even have iTunes on my computer. I know, gasp! 🙂
Android just beat out the iPhone for the 1st quarter this year. And if the rumors are correct that the iPhone is staying with crappy AT&T then they will continue to fall.
Taken from Gizmodo
NPD Group’s smartphone survey* puts total iPhone’s sales for the first quarter at 21%. That’s third in the ranking. Second position goes, for the first time, to the Android platform, with 28%. El Número Uno belongs to BlackBerry, with 36%
I’m an Apple fan, so HOW DARE YOU…
Actually, I got to agree with you about the phone. I’m coming up on 2 years of having the iPhone. While it’s great and all, I’m not used to having the same phone for more than 1 year and 1 week – this entire 2 year contract situation is a downer. The thought of replacing my iPhone for another iPhone, even if it is the all mighty iPhone 4G, just doesn’t sound like a great option to me.
I previously owned a BB and considered switching back once my contract was up, but after playing around with my brother’s phone (Bold I think) I realized I need something better. I got to admit, I’m a fan of all those cool HTC phones. I’m trying to make myself like the Pre, but something about it just doesn’t cut if for me.
Oh well, I still got a a month or so to figure all this out.
My husband was given an iPhone by his last employer and even tho we have had AT&T for years and been very happy with their service, he had nothing but problems with the phone. Horrible reception, dropped calls, and he hated the layout and “keyboard”. He talked to them and ended up getting the Droid instead and switching it to AT&T and loved it. I loved it so much, I got a used one and switched it and couldn’t be happier. I have no problems with dropped calls or anything else. I switched my calendar and address book over to my gmail account so I no longer have a palm, it’s all in one place. It’s also not a huge brick that doesn’t fit well in my purse’s phone pocket or my pants pocket like the iPhone (I tried fiddling with it for a bit when my husband had his). I have ear problems so hate the headsets so having a phone that fits nicely in my hand to use as a *gasp* phone is super important to me and the Droid does that wonderfully too.
And no apple stuff at my house either. My kids have normal mp3 players instead of iPod anythings. I took them out and had them price comparison and they agreed it was dumb to buy anything with an apple on it.
Yeah, I also think that the user interface needs a serious facelift. The new phones out there look AMAZING, and have much more attractive interfaces than the iPhone
So I think the dropped calls are more of an issue in the West. In the East Coast, AT&T coverage is just as good as others–I’ve had T-Mobile and Verizon, and I actually think in our area, AT&T works better. I’m not a gadget freak, so am not in the know re: the latest phones, but the iPhone has been a monumental improvement for me–both for work and family matters. There’s also the cool factor, which you can’t underestimate… Apple has impeccable marketing, and that goes a long way.
Android user here and I completely agree with you. Apple is constantly shooting themselves in the foot by trying to completely control the user experience at every point. True enough their product should be very simple to operate but more capable users like to have options at some point in the process.
Like other products we’ve seen in the tech industry the iPhone was a game changer when it arrived, and like other products it became stagnant untill faced with some strong competition.
.-= Wardell´s last blog ..Testing Twitter @Anywhere =-.
So wait, Palm? That company isn’t even a company anymore. 🙂 Android is doing a great job beginning to compete with the iPhone. The big thing with the platforms is attention. devs love the apple app store because right now its the easiest way to reach the most customers. Android is doing great, but as the various carriers and hardware makers build their own “versions” of android (motoblur for example) your won’t see the consistency of the shared experience that comes with iPhone owners right now. that’s hard momentum to break.
Palm Pre is a great example of a great platform without an ecosystem and sadly for those users, that platform doesn’t have a clear future.
Shared experience is a huge factor in product adoption and therefore its ecosystem and longevity.
.-= Brendan´s last blog ..Who I Am =-.
Very good points from my hardcore Apple friend Brendan. I think WebOS does have a good future with HP. HP wouldn’t have even bothered if they weren’t going to continue to develop WebOS, and make devices for it.
I completely agree with you that Android is too “variable” right now, making it kinda a crap shoot.
So while I agree that iPhone has the majority of the market right now, I just think that they need to innovate, or they are going to be left behind. I have no doubts that Apple probably has something up their sleeves. The GUI though, right now, needs some definite work to compete in the long run.
You need to get it right. We like to call our iPhones, a mini-computer with a walkie-talkie function. We switched to AT&T because of my husband’s work phone. He is quite excited because he can now get his work e-mail on his iPhone. Blech, I just want to be able to have a conversation without telling someone to call me back fifteen times within a ten minute call.
.-= Julie {Angry Julie Monday}´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: Destined To Be A Geek =-.
also….sarah….why don’t your comments have an avatar?
Whatever do you mean Brendan? I totally have an avatar… 😉 (ok I didn’t when he posted that, but it’s fixed now)
Thanks Wardell, I totally agree!
Favorie quote from Jena ” they agreed it was dumb to buy anything with an apple on it.”
April, my vote, obviously is Palm Pre. That goes for you too haioson! Although, Jason, I think you’ll probably be happier with an HTC.
Julie… can you hear me now? 🙂
I can hear you now….I see a guest post in the future, “Why I switched to Apple.”….just sayin’
.-= Julie {Angry Julie Monday}´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: Destined To Be A Geek =-.
ROFL!!! That’ll be the day!
Just dropped my iPhone for the new Captivate for all the reasons you had above. The iPhone is great for lots of things, making an actual call isn’t one of those. I agree, the tides are turning as some of us half-techies can’t keep telling people “can you hear me now?”