Letters to the Editor
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Market Share
I think market share is a perfect indicator of how successful smartphones have - or rather haven't - been. They've dropped enough in price over the past few years that they should have gobbled up a huge chunk of the overall cell phone market. After all, they offer nifty features like e-mail and web browsing.
But they haven't exactly taken the world by storm, in large part because manufacturers and cell providers have delivered to market poorly-designed, intentionally crippled devices. Just read online customer reviews of these devices - immense dissatisfaction. Consumers have voted with their wallets - unless their employer forces them to be chained to their e-mail 24/7, they've made other choices.
Apple's iPhone stands a good chance to reverse that trend. I played with one today at an Apple Store, and I was very impressed. It feels much more solid than most other smartphones, it's much more comfortable to use, the screen is flat-out incredible, the touch keyboard was easy to use, the browser was zippy and text was easy to read. The sound quality seemed fine, though it was hard to tell in such a crowded, noisy store.
I think for most consumers the iPhone succeeds as a single device they could carry that handles everything - PDA functions, cell phone, music and video playback, web browsing - you might want to do with a pocket computer. I don't think they'll have much trouble selling millions of units to affluent customers. Adjusted for inflation the iPhone costs substantially less than early home computers like the Apple //, Atari 800 or Commodore 64 did when they entered the market, and it's clearly at least as useful as those devices were.
I'm guessing the other cell phone manufacturers and cellular providers are scared witless. They should be. Maybe this will finally slap some sense into them.