Journal #9

Journal #9

Tim Wu’s Slate article “iPhony” is quite the bold statement. Determined to cut the iPhone hype concentrate with some good, old-fashioned water, Wu is completely unafraid to call Apple’s new iPhone remarkably unrevolutionary, and he’s terribly glad you asked. Wu calls the iPhone’s closed-platform design and single carrier availability quite the contradiction to Apple’s corporate mantra of “Think Different”. Pointing to the sub-par internet outside of limited immediate Wi-Fi service areas, Wu questions exactly what Apple thinks is revolutionary about a hand-held personal computer that does so little to challenge the status quo of the wireless industry. Remaining hopeful, he does provide some ideas for improving any future editions of iPhones, such as permanent roaming that allows users to choose the carrier that provides them the best service or changing to an open-platform design that will allow developers to make the iPhone as great as it could (and some argue should) be.

Question 1:

Is there any indication of whether Apple will be releasing OS upgrades/updates or phones with greater capabilities like Wu wishes the current iPhone had?

A small amount of research seems to indicate that OS upgrades could be downloaded via computer or to the iPhone directly but there is no indication at this point whether any will be released.

Question 2:

What does Apple have to say to critics of the iPhone?

Steve Jobs replies to most criticisms that Apple has plans for developing applications for the iPhone’s web-browser Safari, but the fact remains that these applications would remain limited to when the iPhone has Wi-Fi access. Beyond that there seems to be no response to other criticisms.