Coming Full Circle
Ξ January 10th, 2007 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Mac Stuff |
Coming Full-Circle
Why the Apple iPhone has changed Man-Kind – By Joe Hancuff
Introduction
Here we are again, another CES and MacWorld in full swing. The usual suspects are about at both shows. Microsoft making the typical large showing at CES as well as all of the various device vendors and manufacturers. The latest and greatest of what’s coming up this year on shiny and bright display. Each company hoping to make bigger waves in their respective markets. This is what millions of the employees of the many technology companies hope for, to come out ahead of the pack at CES, to gain the ultimate notoriety as best in show.
Sometimes however there is an announcement, a new product, a new technology that appears to be something really new and advanced and everyone looks at it with baited breath and ooo’s and aaa’s and ogles as mere onlookers to the advancement of technology.
CES has been happening for 40 years now believe it or not. Some of you younger folks probably didn’t even think there was technology worth talking about 40 years ago. Believe it or not we, as a people have been talking about what’s new, what’s next, and what’s cool for just that long. However, this CES/MacWorld season is special. This is the first time something so amazing, so advanced, just so mind-blowingly impressive has come out and changed the world.
Microsoft at CES
Microsoft made their typically well put-together showing at CES. I watched the Key-note live on the web. While I’m a big fan of Microsoft software there wasn’t really all that much that really took my breath away. Either that or I already knew a lot about it. What I didn’t know also really wasn’t all that great, simply rehashing, repackaging, rebranding of already existing technologies. I believe that the most notable item Microsoft had to show was the Microsoft TV for the Xbox 360. This is an IPTV based system. It looked fantastic on the stage there and the interface was amazing as dictated by years of lessons with Media Center.
So far though, nothing has really stood out. There are some neat gadgets and such. Sony and HP worked with Microsoft to help bring forth the rebirth of the hand-held PC or Origami as some have called them. Super slim, super cool, full featured computers. Again, a repackaging of what’s already there. Nothing actually new or revolutionary. Most professionals outside of marketing or development have grown accustomed to what to expect at CES and MacWorld: Smaller cell phones and cameras, Faster video cards, better audio cards, new and wacky mice and keyboards, and generally the last ditch attempt at a company getting a product out because if you’re product is in CES it sells better than if it’s not.
The Big Step
Ever since the year 2000 rolled around, we, as a people have been asking those in the know, “Where the hell are our flying cars and hover boards?” And every year after that we’ve looked on into the media reading the latest of the late news on the newest gadgets waiting… holding our breath in anticipation of the one big thing that will either destroy us or take us forward in a giant leap.
Nobody really ever thought Apple would be the company to accomplish this. I’m sure the vast majority of techie followers out there still haven’t been hit with this. The reason being is that Apple has been more than just hush-hush about it, they’ve been completely silent. The YouTube videos (here, and here) has been out for almost a year now. Little did everyone know that the very technology being tested was an Apple technology for which they hold the only patents on currently? Get ready, we’re almost there.
Good Call
Here we have the iPhone. Apple’s amazing little gadget weight just 4.8 ounces and measuring in a staggeringly thin 11.6mm. Keep in mind, that’s thinner than a Motorola Q and the Samsung Blackjack. Well, here… see for yourself.
Watch the MacWorld iPhone Introduction
As you can see. It’s very special. I’d like to think this truly is the greatest thing since sliced bread. History buffs will get that reference as sliced bread was something of a major advancement in culinary technology. The idea was to make bread ergonomic and the perfect size to create other foods with it. The interface of sliced bread opened up an entire realm of culinary understanding and growth that never was before thought possible. This is exactly the same thing (except you don’t eat the iPhone); this removes the device from the equation and simply lets you touch your software. Touch what you want. Do what you want. Don’t worry about the hardware. Amazing.
The Apple iPhone is a breakthrough in many technical and philosophical regards. There hasn’t really ever been anything nearly like it. I’ve heard some call it “the PSP of cell phones” but quite honestly, the PSP isn’t even in the same ballpark as this device. It is truly amazing that in your hand you carry desktop power in a device so intuitive and so clean and easy to use. Not to mention features, the phone portion has roughly the same feature set as a desktop office IP phone. Take a Cisco 7960G for instance. Call waiting with ID on screen, yep. Conferencing? Yup? Dial codes for conferencing? Nope. Graphical, obvious, and clear operation in all aspects. As a media player it’s as slick and refined as one would expect from a 6th generation iPod but even more so given the phones amazing interface. The browser is also full featured desktop version of Safari which many a Mac user will love and any PC lover will immediate fall in love with because you get full featured plug-in compatible internet browsing, this means Java applets, Flash 9, Active X controls. Truly amazing. This device as Steve Jobs said, is at least 5 years ahead of anything else out on the market. When I first heard him say that I had reservations of such a bold comment, and then I saw the thing in motion and it really opened my eyes.
Full Circle
There was a time when all man did was draw pictures into the sand with his finger. This was the most basic form of communicating indirectly. Where a message could be stored in the dirt, on the cave wall, or on our bodies. And as technology moved out so did our interfaces to devices. Next came coal and stone, and pigmentation. A brush, paints, inks, leads. Pens, pencils, erasers. In the dawning of the digital age the only interface to a computer was a keyboard. And while the keyboard was laid out in a static manner it still took a great deal of “brain programming” to interface your brain with the content you saw on the screen. This brain programming is what you do so that your experience with a device whether it be a piece of paper or a laptop becomes transparent. You have to automate the controls of your muscles in order to type. Just as I’m typing this right now I’m no longer needing to consciously think about what muscle moves where, which finger moves when and in what sequence. I probably may make it look easy, but as most of you can attest its taken years to learn this muscle memory or “interface programming” as I like to call it.
Back in 1984 Apple introduced the Apple Macintosh, the first real personal computer. This too changed the world. Because not only did you have the standard keyboard, you had this silly looking puck of plastic. All of a sudden you had multiple functions with a single interface unlike the buttons on the keyboard which could never change. The revolution of the personal computer was accomplished not by graphics, cost effectiveness, or speed. The mouse is what kicked it all off.
In 2001 Apple took everybody a step forward in terms of personal devices. The Apple iPod was then a fairly featureless device with a monochrome screen and horrendous battery life. It did however have one of these most innovative interfaces ever seen on a mobile device and to this day is mocked and imitated by a great number of companies. The touch ring. No buttons means no having to remember the position of a function. The functions become intuitive. The iPod used a rolodex style scrolling and what do you do with a rolodex? You spin. Thusly, you spin your finger around the ring to control scrolling, volume, seeking, etc. Work that thumb. While this wasn’t as extreme in architecture as the iPhone it was the test bed for such a technology which has been in major development for over 2 years now.
Now, in 2007, Apple shows us the iPhone using the mythical multi-touch interface. How many buttons does it have? In total, two. The main interface only has a single button and the body has a sleep/wake button. That’s it. No slide out keyboard of keys that can never change function or shape. No proprietary buttons on the side for opening an application. The 3.5″ multitouch screen is your only interface. As you saw, there is no stylus. You use your finger.
This is huge folks. Apple has taken us back to our very basic interface. Your grandmother can pick this device up and with no interface programming be able to use it as proficiently as those of us used to Windows Mobile or Blackberry’s. Perhaps even more so due to the fact that she’ll not have to unlearn her previous interface programming in addition to those of us with PDAs with touch screens, we really have a stigma with regards to touching our screens with our fingers.
What makes this interface key is the hardware becomes transparent to the user. You touch what you want and it does exactly what you’d think it would. You touch and drag it does exactly that. The screen is rich and vibrant and the software is quite revolutionary in implementation. We’ve now come full-circle.
This Changes Everything
What does this mean for the markets that the iPhone is included in? It means those markets were just “Pwn3d” in the worst sense of the word. Three days ago I loved my Microsoft Zune despite my reservations about the firmware. After seeing the iPhone, I just sort of look at my Zune and go, “oh….”
There is absolutely nothing on this planet that can even begin to hold a candle to the iPhone in terms of the jump in technology it represents–or the jump in philosophy. I can’t even possibly imagine a way to improve on its design or implementation. I couldn’t even begin to try to envision something in the same class that could even compare in terms of ease of use coupled with extreme power. This device just changed the entire game for everyone. Not just cell phones, music players and GPS devices. I feel primitive using my 170 dollar mouse and my 200 dollar keyboard. I feel like my brand new Dell XPS was just made obsolete by a mere cell phone.
The technology and miniaturization displayed in the iPhone is now the template by which all makers of electronics should design by. Simple and elegant, yet powerful and omnipotent in features. Calling this device a phone is almost an insult to such a jump forward in time.
I’m sure many of you where watching the video asking if this was some kind of joke (assuming you hadn’t seen it before coming here.) I was asking myself the same thing it truly seems simply too good to be true. This is Star Trek here and now. Remember Star Trek: The Next Generation? The touch pads they used in their hands? Here we are folks. This is another example of science fiction becoming science fact.
The Future of Consumer Electronics as We Know It.
What does all this mean? Well, to put it quite simply, the industry will either have to flourish in this era or they will die. Once someone gets their hands on an iPhone and plays with it for 2 minutes they’ll never ever want to use a Mouse and keyboard again. Nor will they ever want to play with their Zune or iRiver. They’ll never want to use a cell phone again. It is THAT good.
Basically Apple came out during the CES/MacWorld season and closed the doors on competition on any of those handheld markets. As if to say on a mere January 7, “Sorry, fellas. We’re all done here.” It’s game over for 2007.
What I’m about to say will probably sting many of you. This is what happens when a company actually finishes a project. This is also what happens when the same company is responsible for both hardware and software. A company which is known for great quality control and ultra-refined user experience. Nothing compares and I feel nothing will compare for many years to come.
In the coming days, many other competing companies such as Microsoft will come out in response to the announcement of the iPhone and make excuses as to why the Zune isn’t remotely as functional, stylish or even cool. I honestly don’t think makers of other devices are even going to comment on it. I’m sure they’re just as blown away as I am about the whole thing. If I were Microsoft I would clearly embrace this technology and help to make it better. Because let’s face it, when I think great hardware, I think Microsoft. They don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of devising something of this caliber. Sorry Microsoft fans and Employees. As much as I am a fan of Microsoft, you all know I am 100% right on this.
What’s next?
Out of my own head comes innovation that I never thought possible until now. This refers back to the sliced bread bit. Now that I have my sliced bread, what kind of sandwiches can I make with it? The possibilities are limitless! Wrap your brain around this. Think of an Apple Tablet PC. 17″ screen with multi-touch. That same wonderful single piece metal structure and the beautifully polished glass or Lexan surface for you to put your fingers on… Try to imagine this device a full-fledged computer running OSX and Microsoft Windows Vista sitting on your lap standing off of your lap at only ½” thick. Just imagine what the future holds. We’ve come back to our roots. We’re back to drawing in the dirt with our fingers. Except the dirt is no longer dirt, it’s a device powered by this Multi-touch technology. I predict we now see a marked acceleration in development around this very concept.
The Cover-Up
You just have to give mad props to Apple for the way they covered this up. Go Google the iPhone. Go ahead and do it, I’ll wait. … See? All the bloggers and all the insider websites that claimed to have leaked photos and leaked specs on the iPhone were way off, completely off. Not a single pic of anything that looked remotely like the true iPhone. That is amazing. The government should subcontract to Apple for their cover-ups. Even some of the most trusted insiders were given misinformation and the effect was jaw-dropping at MacWorld. Nobody saw this coming. Nobody.
Conclusion
Get ready for a wild ride, folks. It can only get better.