I’m a big fan of Apple Inc.

Which is perhaps a strange thing to say when you consider I don’t own or currently use any Apple products! In fact, only yesterday, I removed iTunes from my computer.

You see, for me, Apple products don’t quite cut it. They are very showy and exciting, and generally nicely designed, but they don’t always get the details right.

But they are a revolutionary company. Guy Kawasaki would say they are curve jumpers.

And Steve Jobs — CEO of Apple Inc. — says in this year’s keynote speech from Macworld…

Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything [...] In 1984 we introduced the Macintosh. It didn’t just change Apple; it changed the whole computer industry. In 2001, we introduced the first iPod and it didn’t just change the way we all listen to music; it changed the entire music industry.

(26:30)

It’s a bold statement; but it’s also kinda true. Only kinda, because these things were happening anyway. Apple just speeded things up a bit.

What Apple does well, is creating a product good enough that people want to buy it, and want to use it. They make products user-friendly for more people, they cover it in good and sexy design, and they do great PR. Their products are often not the best when it comes to functionality, but they do make those leaps. Oh, and they are big enough to partner with large and powerful companies like Disney and now Cingular; that really helps.

Whether you like to use the product or not, you’ve got to love Apple for injecting the consumer technology industry with a strong dose of innovation. They drive industries forward. They wake industries up.

I personally don’t like the copy protection in iTunes, but I love that iTunes exists and has made downloadable music mainstream and is leading the way for TV on demand. It’s turning a dream into reality. And although I don’t like the DRM protection, I understand its importance in getting media companies on board. It’s not perfect, but it’s heading a long way in the right direction.

So, in this 2007 Macworld keynote speech, Steve Jobs proclaimed that they are going to do it again:

Today, we’re introducing 3 revolutionary products of this [Macintosh and iTunes] class. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary new mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough internet communications device.

(27:38)

Actually it was a bit of a white lie when he said 3 revolutionary products, since he was announcing just the one. The iPhone. One product containing a phone, an iPod and the ability to use the Internet.

I won’t go into the specific details. I don’t know enough about technology to comment on the features or anything. Is this really their best iPod? Is it really a revolutionary phone? Does it really do the Internet better than any other mobile device? I don’t really know. I guess it probably does. It looks like it does, but Steve Jobs is very good at giving a presentation so I’ll save judgement for now.

But the real exciting thing is that this is a device that combines the most commercially successful music player with a good phone and the ability to use the Internet. One device. That’s important. It means people are much more likely to carry all of them around with them — all of the time.

I think this may be the pocket computer coming of age.

It is certainly a step closer.

The thing is, a portable device like this is never going to take over the computer. It’s much more difficult to type on a little device than it is to type on a full-size keyboard. And who wants to squint at a tiny screen all day?

But what if you could plug a computer monitor and keyboard easily into the iPhone? What if you could easily dock it?

• You dock it in your home.
• You dock into your High Definition television
• You dock it at your office
• You dock it to the screen in the plane
• To the hotel room screen
• To the screen at college.
• You dock it at Starbucks
• In the library.
• On the train
• In your car
• To your Sony Reader
• To your projector

It means you won’t have to worry about carrying a laptop around with you everywhere, because all these places will provide a screen and keyboard for you.

But vitally, if you can’t find anything to dock it into, you can still use it fully.

I’m not sure just how functional this will be. It certainly hasn’t got the specs of a desktop or laptop PC. But it’s not ‘too shabby’ either. It’s certainly powerful enough to do your basic word processing or read your RSS feeds on. I’m not sure if these things are supported, but there is no reason for them not to be. It obviously isn’t powerful enough yet to be your main PC, but we are getting there and if it syncs well it will be incredibly useful.

I know for sure that I will be annoyed by the limitations of this device. I basically want a full and powerful computer I can put in my pocket. I want a system that automatically works slightly differently depending on if it is docked or not. I want software companies to be able to easily plug in support for use on a portable device like this, but keep it as just one install. Just how much will the iPhone be able to do? There are so many questions, but since Mike Cane is busy asking them already I’ll just make one more point…

Even if it doesn’t do all I want it to do, I’m pretty darn sure this will be good enough to be a truly useful tool. It will truly be a great communication device. But most of all, it will show consumers and the industry that small computers with tiny screens and keypads can work really, really well.

It’s Apple’s wake-up call.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 11th, 2007 at 1:31 UTC and is filed under Futurology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.