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Kicking the Habit
Luma Mufleh, the soccer coach in the made-for-Hollywood refugee story I blogged last week, left a comment for me about starting non-profit agency to help the kids and their families. As she notes on their website, "We are humbled and overwhelmed by the enormity of the national and global response to the New York Times story. We have received thousands of letters and emails. To us, this says there is a deep hunger to respond with concrete actions to the heart-breaking struggle facing child survivors of war and their families." Apparently, the story has a connection Universal Studios. I am curious to see how that turns out. Meanwhile, I donated to the cause because the kids' stories are so compelling -- and I'm looking to kick my habit of complacency.
Unbelievable Soccer Story Made for Hollywood
By far the best article I've read all month is Refugees Find Hostility and Hope on Soccer Field in The New York Times. The reporter, Warren St. John, needs few edits to turn his story into a script for Hollywood. Meanwhile, I'm just waiting for someone to start an online fundraiser and flood the immigrant soccer coach with money for a proper playing field, euqipment for the kids, a decent bus and camera phones for the kids to capture the ugly epithets and heartwarming cheers for the movie end credits -- just to prove this is all real.
Über News on the 'iPhone'
On lust: iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.
On patience: Mossberg reviews Palm's 750 and Samsung's BlackJack, but writes "You might want to wait until June for the Apple iPhone. The Apple entry is so full of promise that anyone buying a smart phone in 2007 should at least wait for the full reviews and a chance to try it out. ... It has the largest and most beautiful screen I've ever seen on a cellphone, even though it's incredibly thin. It felt great in my hand. It has a brilliant new user interface; the handsomest email program and Web browser I've ever seen on a phone; a full-blown iPod music and video player built in; and even a cool new voicemail system."
On secrecy: Apple didn't show Cingular the final iPhone prototype until just weeks before this week's debut. In some cases, Apple crafted bogus handset prototypes to show not just to Cingular executives, but also to Apple's own workers.
On faith: When Cingular executives went to the company's board last year to get approval for a deal with Apple, they did so without so much as a prototype of an Apple phone to show the directors. The board signed off anyway.
On markets: Asked by BusinessWeek in 2000 whether he'd stray into new areas, Jobs said it was possible—but not so far afield as the cell phone market. There were plenty of huge players that already had that industry wrapped up, he said at the time. Some of those players may soon wish Jobs had kept his promise.
On convergence: The iPhone is the latest example of how lines between the entertainment and telecom industries are blurring. Verizon Wireless recently began offering YouTube videos on cellphones, while Sprint Nextel Corp. produces its own TV shows for cellphone screens. Comcast Corp. and other cable companies, are offering Internet calling services and have partnered with Sprint to offer wireless service and television for cellphones.
On competition: Shares in mobile phone makers including LG Electronics, Nokia, and Samsung Electronics slipped on Wednesday on worries about their ability to compete with Apple's new iPhone. Apple's brand power and its prior success in marrying sleek design with functionality have bolstered optimism about the iPhone's prospects, boosting shares of its potential suppliers.
On economics: With cellphones, the historical model has been for prices of such devices to come down quickly, with wireless carriers sometimes taking a loss on the products in order to get consumer subscription revenue. Cellphones priced above $300 account for only about 5% of the global market.
On locations: The iPhone will be available in June at Cingular's 2,100 company-owned stores and kiosks, 10,000 Cingular authorized agents, and at Apple's 160 stores. It’s not clear what type of agreement Apple and Cingular have signed. It’s unclear if Apple is wholesaling the iPhone to Cingular for sales in their stores and authorized dealers, or if Cingular is charging Apple a fee for access to its computer network for completing purchases made at Apple stores. Also unclear is whether Apple will receive any portion of the monthly fees generated from sales made at Apple stores.
On scrolling: What you can't get from any printed description is how it's all sewn together with typical Apple polish and grace, with delicious animations and gorgeous graphics. (The crowd went nuts when Steve Jobs demonstrated how you scroll through your iTunes music list: you flick your finger upward or downward on the screen. The list flashes by, slowly coming to a stop like a roulette wheel.)
On input: It feels amazing in your hand but typing is difficult.
On carriers: Apple's new iPhone will require a two-year cell phone plan from and will not be sold without it.
On plans: Currently Cingular offers 21 different data plans. 21! Where will the iPhone's data plan fit in? Somewhere in the $40 range for unlimited data is one guess.
On partners: Apple has teamed up with Google to bring two of its most popular Web applications to the iPhone: Google Search and Maps. Users with Yahoo Mail accounts will have access to free push e-mail services, like the sort found on BlackBerrys and Treos. The handset will also be compatible Yahoo's mobile application, Yahoo Go.
On punditry:The talking heads desperately need to something to say. Here's what they'll all be saying, and why they'll be wrong. Ten "myths" get debunked.
On possibilities: The name iPhone may be doing Apple a disservice. This machine is so packed with possibilities that the cellphone may actually be the least interesting part. Unanswered questions remain: Will you be able to turn your own songs into ringtones? Will there be a voice recorder? Will the camera record video? Can you use Skype to make free Internet calls? Will the battery really last for five hours of talking, video and Web browsing (or 16 hours of audio playback)? Will you someday be able to buy songs and videos from the iTunes Store right on the phone?
On questions: Computerworld lists 20 things they don't know about the iPhone. Still, the reporter wants one.
On CES: Apple doesn't have a booth at CES and it clearly doesn't need one. The iPhone announcement seems to have overshadowed most of what's going on in Las Vegas.
On Palm: Bear Stearns ups Apple target to $125 and states Apple's new iPhone presents a serious risk to PDA-maker Palm.
On Razrs: The initial price of the iPhone, however, is unlikely to turn the device into a mass market hit like the Razr. The phones will sell for $500 to $600 and will only be available from Cingular Wireless. Some prospective customers could also face termination charges of up to $200 if they tried to break an existing wireless contract and switch to Cingular.
On pricing Apple is not immune from pricing pressures. But BMW doesn't cut its prices to match the Honda Civic. Apple is going to feel that they can keep the price high because they are not trying to attract everyone who gets their phones for free right now.
On rivalries: "Nokia, Motorola, Cisco, Microsoft, Apple face new rivals: each other. Nokia is calling the N76 handset a computer. Cisco is calling its VoIP stations iPhones. The very definition of a computer will change during the next few years.
On lawsuits: "Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name,"' Cisco stated. "There is no doubt that Apple's new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission."
On naming: "Intellectual property is the lifeblood of Silicon Valley and we all have to protect our property," Cisco wrote in a comment on GigaOm. "The iPhone trademark is owned by Cisco, as noted in your story. We (Cisco) had hoped to reach an agreement to share our trademark with Apple, yet they decided to use the name without our agreement, so we, unfortunately, are having to go to court to stop them from using the name. It is not about money. We still hope we can reach an agreement, but when your neighbor steals your property, you have no recourse other than to call the cops and file a complaint."
On embedding: This is the first time that the Mac OS will run on anything other than a desktop or portable computer. "The iPhone marks the opening of an era where consumer electronics that are physical descendents of the iPod and spiritual descendants of the Mac increasingly dominate the product lineup at Apple" Inc. (From a comment on the article: "There are two very impressive operating systems at Apple: Mac OS X and Steve Jobs."On hating: Top 10 things to hate about the Apple iPhone include built-in batteries, slow mobile data and no video iChat.
On loving:>Top 10 things to love about the Apple iPhone include smart ... well, everything.
