Was Apple iPhone Worth The Hype?

It's been over 2 years since Jobs deciples first began to await the release of the iPhone, and by the time the product is released in June it will be over 3 years of waiting. What makes iPhone worth the wait and worth the hype? The answers depend on who you ask, and some of them may surprise you.

At the MacWorld Expo, Steve Jobs officially announced the launch of the iPhone, slated for June 2007, with an anticipated world-wide sales of 10,000,000 units by the end of the year. What was surprising to most Apple enthusiasts wasn't the news of the product release, so much as the name iPhone, following earlier reports that the name was owned by a third party who would not deal with Apple.

But what's in a name anyway? Well, quite a lot if you were to ask Phil Schiller, Apple's Director of World Wide Marketing. Schiller is smart enough to know that the brand begins with the name and how it syncs up to other brands in the family. The second step in the process is to generate a lot of media hype, which Schiller has done extraordinarily well. But does the hype really live up to the product?

To begin with, the phone isn't even complete and isn't expected to be complete for another 6 months, putting the total development time for the product at over 3 years. With a 3 year wait for a mobile phone, one would expect it to have the most revolutionary features available, particularly when the developers are the creative minds behind the Mac and iPod. But is this really the case with the iPhone? Actually, initial assessments are that it leaves a bit to be desired.

David Pogue, one of the few people to use an iPhone hands on, openly admits that typing is incredibly difficult to accomplish on the touch screen provided, and admits that Blackberry users will most likely prefer to stay with their current systems. While the web browsing is said to be great on the 3.5 inch screen, Pogue stated that the speed was incredibly slow, and remarked that he couldn't help but wonder how much slower it will be when users are connecting to the net over Cingular's notoriously slow Edge network.

But aside from it's shortcomings, you have to consider what the iPhone offers that other phone's do not. If you listen to Apple marketing, the iPhone brings a world of new features to the users that were never before capable on any mobile phone. However, I have found this to be entirely untrue. In fact, there is not one single feature performed by the $500 iPhone that can not be done on my $60 Nokia, other than seeing the same internet on a larger screen.

The iPhone browses the internet, as does 90% of other mobile phones on the market. It also acts as a digital camera, as do 80% of competing phones. Oh, but the iPhone will play iTunes. Sorry, but I've been playing both MP3, Video and FM Radio on my phone for over two years, so you'll forgive me if iTunes doesn't excite me. But wait, the Apple marketers say, our phone has an actual computer operating system so that you can edit word processing or spreadsheets. Well, not that I care to use my phone for hammering out excel formulas, but I've had Windows operating system on my phone for quite some time. So what does iPhone offer me that I don't already have? The short answer - nothing, except for perhaps a larger price tag.

So the real question is, was iPhone worth all the media hype? Well, the answer depends on who you ask.

If you ask a hard core Apple fanatik, then yes, by all means it was worth the hype, as is anything Steve Jobs will ever release, no matter how uninspired. Probably those that like to jump onto trends for the latest expensive gadgets will also fall into this category, although most of them will never use more than half the features.

If you ask a savvy consumer who wants to get his (/her) money's worth from a product, then the answer will most likely be no, what's the point behind this overpriced phone.