iPhone's "coolness factor" puts it on top
iPhone's "coolness factor" puts it on top
It's been three years, an eternity for gadgets, since Apple Inc. unveiled the iPhone, and by now other phones do some things better. Yet Apple is selling more iPhones than ever.
What is it about the iPhone? Its success shows how Apple has triumphed at two crucial qualities: status and simplicity. And it's a reminder that while intense Apple fans will obsess over the upgrades the iPhone is expected to get this summer, such details won't matter as much to everyday buyers.
Other phones have higher-resolution cameras and can shoot high-definition video. The processor seems faster in new phones such as the Droid Incredible. A more energy-efficient touch-screen technology is eclipsing the one used in the iPhone screen. And competitors are matching features that once set the iPhone apart, including its slim shape and its store with thousands of applications and games.
"This thing is not state of the art," says ABI Research analyst Michael Morgan.
But whether the iPhone has the best technology doesn't seem to be the question most people ask.
Instead, many people crave the aura of cool that iPhones seem to convey.
"When you see people with them, I'm like, 'Oh, OK, they get it,'" says Jason Sfetko, a designer at Complex magazine in New York. When he sees someone with a BlackBerry, "I might think, maybe they're an accountant or something. They're answering too many e-mails."
The allure extends to China, where Apple started selling iPhones in October. "I'm quite amazed about what the iPhone has achieved," says Deng Jinchun, a manager at Jing Lang, a large iPhone retailer in China's Hunan province. With slight changes, "Apple has been selling the same phone for about three years and the sales are still increasing. I can't imagine a Nokia phone or any other brand could achieve something similar."
Others are more focused on the simplicity of using the iPhone.
Mark Britton, CEO of a company called Avvo that publishes ratings on lawyers by their clients, is on his iPhone so much that his wife jokes it's his fourth child. He says it's surprisingly easy to talk on the phone and look up something on the Internet at the same time.
The Web browser helped sell Sara Maternini, 35, who works in public relations in Milan, Italy, on the iPhone 2 years ago. She needs to always be online and says the iPhone was the only device that made Web surfing feel as it does on a computer.
Maternini says her next phone will be another iPhone.
This raises a common criticism from Apple's dissenters: Once users build their lives around the iPhone system, they're essentially locked into buying more Apple devices. Other phones can't connect to iTunes, which manages iPhone owners' music, video, photos and other files. Nor can other phones run the "apps" people download for everything from online banking to crossword puzzling.
For many iPhone users, though, familiarity breeds contentment.
Ingrid Ougland-Sellie, 41, a writer and part-time hospital employee, uses her iPhone to take photos of mystery vegetables she gets from a community-supported farm program. She e-mails pictures to the farmers to be identified, then looks up recipes on an iPhone app. She uses it for scheduling, finding addresses and swapping photos of her son with her husband, also an iPhone owner.
"I'm sure technology has come a long way," Sellie says. "But I am kind of a creature of habit at this point. I know how to use this phone. I'm comfortable with it."
The iPhone isn't as flexible as some others, and Milanesi bristled at things Apple wouldn't let her do, such as set custom tones for incoming text messages, a common tweak in Europe.
"But then you kind of get used to it, and you don't miss it," she says. "You kind of think that that's for your own good."
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- Posted on May 18, 2010
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i really wish i had an iphone so i wouldnt have a boring cellphone because you can do more things on the new iphone and i bet its awsome.
I really want the Iphone because of the cool apps you can get and the touch screen because, if you were running with a regular phone in your pocket you don't have to worry about dialing a wrong number. And I REALLY want one because almost everybody I know has one.
I wish I had an IPhone! Almost every person in my family has one! My friend has one and she is younger than me! Every time I see her I all ways ask her if I can use it.But I don't cause then I 'm going to sound like a user.
but i also would have to disagree cause these phones like the droid incredible are not as good as the i phone in my opionion because they cant tether and call call at the same time like the i phone four but i think the three g s is beter deal because you can get it for 39 dollars right now but that is a refurbished one but still is the same.
i would have to agree that the i like the i phone to because i can check every thing on my i phone and play games i also like how i can text and call people at the same time or check something on my calender etc. .
I would love an iphone for a cellphone. Although i personally like Verizon and the Droids better, because of better coverage and a faster phone.
Both of my parents have one, my sister wants one, and i'm getting one. iPhone is a great multi-application device. You can use it from work to school to just gaming. It's a completely versatile phone and I wouldn't pick anything other.
I agree with the fact that it's very easy to use. Most cell phones or smartphones nowadays seem so complicated and such a hassle to figure out. This is why I admire the iPhone. Everything has easy access, and you can organize many of your apps to make everything neat on your iPhone. I think that the iPhone will remain a favorite for many people because it is so familiar. Millions of people have this phone and many users can get feedback from one another or find out other features form online sources, which can help make the experience even better. Each iPhone generation gets better and better. The creators have improved many things about the iPhone including the display quality, organization of apps with folders, facetime, multitasking, and better built-in cameras. With more improvements, customers become more and more attracted to it.
The author is Informing because he tells us that the iPhone is selling more iPhones than ever and giving peoples' opinions about why it is a great phone.
"It's been three years, an eternity for gadgets, since Apple Inc. unveiled the iPhone, " Hyperbole because an eternity is forever and it is not possible to measure 3 years as an eternity.
" it's his fourth child" Metaphor because the father compares the iPhone to a child without like or as.
I personally think Apple has the best touchscreen. It is so much more sensitive than any other phone I've used. I am not an owner of the iPhone but I would absolutely love to be. I am on Pioneer Cellular, so I don't get the option to use an iPhone. I do however have an iTouch and love it! I just wish one day that I can switch phone companies so maybe I'll get to purchase one. Like others have said, they are easier to navigate and simple. They're an iPhone; that's ll that needs to be said.
- iPhones Aree Pretty Dopeee..!/
Ahha ima Get Onee For MyBirthDaay (: iCantWait .
i Want a iPhone 3g Or an iPhone 4 *(; iDunoooeee But im EXCITEd ..!:)
ahha Well THISS article is Pretty Good ..!(:
Laterss...!(:
-Naomi'<3