OK, so the hysteria has somewhat calmed down. The reviewers are indeed mostly raving, but I can’t help being puzzled. The iPhone is supposed to change the industry, yet it uses yesterday’s technology.

1. EDGE is a different name for horrible browsing experience. The only equivalent I can think of is a scooter engine trying to pull a Rolls Royce.

2. Side-loading only? you mean I need to connect my phone to the PC again? wasn’t it all about mobility?

3. Camera without zooming? Are we back in 2003 and nobody told me?

Hats off the Apple and Jobs. Their marketing strategy belongs in the MBA hall of fame. I am sure the iPhone will be a great phone, eventually. Right now it’s a good looking iPod that gets you stuck with one mobile operator for 2 years.

      

Apple today announced that iPhone™ will deliver significantly longer battery life when it ships on June 29 than was originally estimated when iPhone was unveiled in January - ‘Cmon Steve, you expect me to believe this is a last minute improvement?

Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve also upgraded iPhone’s entire top surface from plastic to optical-quality glass for superior scratch resistance and clarity”. - is there such a thing as PRE launch upgrade?

A truly remarkable news release by Apple today. Not because we are 11 days away from the iPhone’s being in a regular users hand but mostly because at this stage this is a great ‘pumping of the guns’ move by Apple (showing up in blogs like mushrooms after the rain) . What will they discover 5 days before launch? - That it folds in half? that bold people are showing signs of new hair growth, that the blue pill is no longer needed (it will most certainly become a sign of manhood right )

Regardless, my guess is that this announcement has been planed for months before…why not fool around with the press and let everyone talk about possible battery problems ONLY to come out with the great news just before launch and fuel the hype.

“The entire top surface…” , as well as the “battery life extension” are logistic tasks that take months to execute. From testing, ordering, building up stock, replacing existing…etc. - this is NO last minute swicharoo. No way Steve got his team together two months ago and said…“listen guys…we can’t launch like this…you got to do better with the battery life problem…give me solutions people…go-go-go…and wait…while you are at it…lets upgrade the screen cover” .

It doesn’t work this way. To serve the expected nationwide supply, iPhones have been gathering dust in the stock rooms for many, many months now.
Once again, this is a classic Apple / Steve Jobs marketing hype case study - nice one Steve…I like it.

      

MacNN reports that “iPhone makes rare appearance at CTIA - Apple’s iPhone has surfaced in the public eye after a long absence”. Have we all gone insane? I mean, I wrote a poem about it but even that can be excused as a ‘momentary lapse of reason’ driven by the peer pressure that surrounds the digiworld we live in.

A few months passed and I thought we all kicked our hangovers by now. There are still open issues such as battery power, touch screen usability, price, quality of service (no one really knows) etc.

When you encounter a beautiful craft for the first time you tend to ignore the obvious impediments and focus on the romantic and the fantastic. That’s great. Then we should snap out. That is what separates the “men from the boys”. The responsible adult can get excited but also keep realistic.

I found this hilarious widget on apples website - the sasquatch news tracker. If you haven’t snapped out of it yet I this one is for you. Never miss a public appearance, a mysterious unveiling, a behind the scenes glimpse…ooooh

having said that…I still want one badly