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IPhone: The bet Steve Jobs didn’t decline

23 points by nreece 18y ago

netcan 18y ago
Apple's like a case study in multiple competencies.
tom_rath 18y ago
I don't think the iPhone was so much a bet as it was an escape from a dying market. It's Apple's answer to the 2004 problem: "All phones will soon include free MP3 players. As this will eliminate the iPod cash cow, how do we compete with these new telecom competitors? "Answer: We'll add a phone to our MP3 player."
- martythemaniak 18y ago
  Very true, which is why the iPhone came as a surprise to absolutely no one with a clue. This is evident by the fact that it's primary purpose is to serve as a nice multimedia player and internet browser, but nothing really productive. I say this from experience. I used to use my blackberry (sometimes heavily) for work. I have an iphone now and can't fathom doing anything approaching work with it.
- axod 18y ago
  Funny thing is the killer feature of the iPhone is not that it has a phone. It's that it is a decent portable pocket internet tablet with edge/3g/wifi. The fact it's called the i"Phone" is quite weird in a way I think, as I'm sure 90% of the usage on it is not phone related for most people. I had mine a couple of weeks before I used it for making a voice call... So I see it more as a "How can we make a cool pocket macbook which has a killer browser" rather than how to save the iPod. After all, no other mobile browser can compete at the moment.
  - netcan 18y ago
    Yes that's true. But it still plays in the phone league. It replaces a purchase of another phone. If hadn't bought an iphone, you probably would have bought a nokia.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
- raganwald 18y ago
  "Answer: We'll add a phone to our MP3 player." The beauty of Apple's approach is that rather than allowing phones to make playing music a secondary feature of phones, they have found a way to make voice calls a feature of portable tablet computers. And while they were at it, they made playing music a secondary feature of portable tablet computers as well.
UandIblog 18y ago
He also had quite a miserable experience with the ill fated SLVR. This had to have a considerable effect on the tactics used as he got into bed with AT&T. I would imagine having his creativity vetoed by the suits at Motorola had a silver lining.
mattmaroon 18y ago
A lot of his "issues" would be issues for someone other than Steve Jobs, but Jobs has never in his life had a thought like "[I] may think Jonathan Ive can easily design the hardware, but [I]’ll have to invent a stunning UI and a truly innovative interaction paradigm". Or at least he would never consider that an issue. His thoughts are more like "everyone designing interfaces for cellphones is a fucking asshole who can't get their UI straight, and I'm going to do it right." Or so I imagine. Also a normal person might think "holy hell, I've got pancreatic cancer" while Steve just shrugs and starts eating lots of carrots.
- thaumaturgy 18y ago
  Spot on. I started thinking the same thing when the blog started a point with, "If you fail...". I doubt that Steve Jobs ever really worries about failure.
- pistoriusp 18y ago
  "You've baked a lovely cake, but used dog shit for icing" is what I imagine he would say.
- kingkongrevenge 18y ago
  Speaking of carrots and cancer and Jobs, when it came out that he had cancer I realized a lot of celebrity vegetarians have had cancer.
  - mattmaroon 18y ago
    Most vegetarians just jumped from one unhealthy diet to another. They're still eating as many preservatives and HFCS calories as anyone else, often more.
whalesalad 18y ago
Seeing that capital "i" in the title hurts... I need eye bleach!
wallflower 18y ago
If you haven't read this, nice feel-good-about-Apple-and-can-doism read: "The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry" http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/16-02/ff_iphone http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/16-02/ff_ipho...

23 points by nreece 18y ago

Apple's like a case study in multiple competencies.

I don't think the iPhone was so much a bet as it was an escape from a dying market. It's Apple's answer to the 2004 problem: "All phones will soon include free MP3 players. As this will eliminate the iPod cash cow, how do we compete with these new telecom competitors? "Answer: We'll add a phone to our MP3 player."

martythemaniak 18y ago
Very true, which is why the iPhone came as a surprise to absolutely no one with a clue. This is evident by the fact that it's primary purpose is to serve as a nice multimedia player and internet browser, but nothing really productive. I say this from experience. I used to use my blackberry (sometimes heavily) for work. I have an iphone now and can't fathom doing anything approaching work with it.
axod 18y ago
Funny thing is the killer feature of the iPhone is not that it has a phone. It's that it is a decent portable pocket internet tablet with edge/3g/wifi. The fact it's called the i"Phone" is quite weird in a way I think, as I'm sure 90% of the usage on it is not phone related for most people. I had mine a couple of weeks before I used it for making a voice call... So I see it more as a "How can we make a cool pocket macbook which has a killer browser" rather than how to save the iPod. After all, no other mobile browser can compete at the moment.
- netcan 18y ago
  Yes that's true. But it still plays in the phone league. It replaces a purchase of another phone. If hadn't bought an iphone, you probably would have bought a nokia.
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
raganwald 18y ago
"Answer: We'll add a phone to our MP3 player." The beauty of Apple's approach is that rather than allowing phones to make playing music a secondary feature of phones, they have found a way to make voice calls a feature of portable tablet computers. And while they were at it, they made playing music a secondary feature of portable tablet computers as well.

UandIblog 18y ago

He also had quite a miserable experience with the ill fated SLVR. This had to have a considerable effect on the tactics used as he got into bed with AT&T. I would imagine having his creativity vetoed by the suits at Motorola had a silver lining.

mattmaroon 18y ago

A lot of his "issues" would be issues for someone other than Steve Jobs, but Jobs has never in his life had a thought like "[I] may think Jonathan Ive can easily design the hardware, but [I]’ll have to invent a stunning UI and a truly innovative interaction paradigm". Or at least he would never consider that an issue. His thoughts are more like "everyone designing interfaces for cellphones is a fucking asshole who can't get their UI straight, and I'm going to do it right." Or so I imagine. Also a normal person might think "holy hell, I've got pancreatic cancer" while Steve just shrugs and starts eating lots of carrots.

thaumaturgy 18y ago
Spot on. I started thinking the same thing when the blog started a point with, "If you fail...". I doubt that Steve Jobs ever really worries about failure.
pistoriusp 18y ago
"You've baked a lovely cake, but used dog shit for icing" is what I imagine he would say.
kingkongrevenge 18y ago
Speaking of carrots and cancer and Jobs, when it came out that he had cancer I realized a lot of celebrity vegetarians have had cancer.
- mattmaroon 18y ago
  Most vegetarians just jumped from one unhealthy diet to another. They're still eating as many preservatives and HFCS calories as anyone else, often more.

whalesalad 18y ago

Seeing that capital "i" in the title hurts... I need eye bleach!

wallflower 18y ago

If you haven't read this, nice feel-good-about-Apple-and-can-doism read: "The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry" http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/16-02/ff_iphone http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/16-02/ff_ipho...